Midweek: The Difficulty of Ezekiel's Calling

Ezekiel, a man in exile, was called by God to speak to his fellow captives. Now, never mind the difficulty of convincing "stiff-necked" people who rebelled so fiercely against the Almighty, they had to be conquered by a fearsome enemy known for cruelty and debauchery --never mind convincing them you were sent by God and are speaking His words; but just imagine seeing some of the things God showed Ezekiel --dried bones in a valley rattling to life --and being ordered to do some of the things Ezekiel was commanded to do --eat a scroll, cut his hair with a sword. Really wild stuff, right? But God was desperately trying to get His message to the people He loved and giving them opportunity to earn the judgment that was coming their way, as well. For Ezekiel, however, his calling got real personal and even more difficult.

In Ezekiel 24:15-17, Ezekiel receives a devastating word from the Lord: God was going to take from him his wife. There's a larger point I want to make so, I'm just going to throw some of my lesser thoughts out there and you can mull them over at your convenience.

    1) Ezekiel was probably about thirty years old when he was called as a prophet. He prophesied for a little over twenty years or so. It seems his wife died shortly before the end of his ministry, making him a bit more than middle-aged. I'm sure they had plans. I'm sure they expected a long life together. But, for the sake of the rebellious people of God, Ezekiel lost the love of his life.

    2) God calls Ezekiel's wife "the desire of his eyes," and says He will remove her with one stroke. Ezekiel loved his wife; they had, apparently, quite a passionate relationship. And in a flash, she was gone. I spoke to the people in the morning, and at evening my wife died (v.18). The magnitude of Ezekiel's grief is hard to grasp.

    3) And, his grief. Ezkiel was forbidden by God from any sort of public mourning. He was to "sigh in silence." Not only did he lose his wife for the sake of these stiff-necked people, he couldn't even grieve! How hurtful it must have been to have his love for his bride come into question!

And this is where we head back to the point I want to dig into a bit more deeply. In the first chapter of Ezekiel, God shows His prophet some pretty marvelous things, and Ezekiel fell on his face in awe of his God. (We explored this in my first post about Ezekiel two weeks ago, Ezekiel Fell on His Face.) God told Ezekiel to stand. How unworthy he must have felt! How he must have longed to hide himself! What came to me was the account of Adam and Eve in the garden, separated by sin from their relational Father, naked and hiding. God, who once walked with His children in a garden, was now too awesome, too fearsome for them to stand before in confidence. They were painfully aware they missed the mark; they were ashamed and tried desperately to cover themselves.

In thinking of the relationship between Ezekiel and his wife, I'm reminded of that initial freedom of two, meant for one another, made for one another, committed to one another, and being without shame. Our society has so perverted the gift of marriage with promiscuity and lack of commitment that it's almost hard to understand the importance of exclusivity and saving oneself for another. Only because of the covenant of marriage --a covenant made before and with God --are we able to stand unclothed in body and soul without shame before another human being. We stand before our spouse knowing that we are fully loved --not perfectly, but fully --and our most intimate secrets are safely kept with another human being who shares their vulnerability with us. There is no need to protect ourselves. Ezekiel lost the bride of his youth, the desire of his eyes, the one who stood before him unguarded and he before her.

It is only because of Jesus' work on the cross that we can stand before a holy God without shame or condemnation. Our Bridegroom will never leave us of forsake us; He is with us always. And He is the confidence we have. Our relationship with Him is symbolized in the covenant of marriage but will endure forever. As God called out His message to His people Israel through a widowed prophet, He longs for those who have turned away to return to Him now. Unashamed, pardoned, loved, and safe before His throne.  

Adherence to the Law by the Grace of God

Have you ever used one of those fitness apps or devices? This convenient, inflexible program meticulously records health-related details: blood pressure, weight, activity, sleep, etc. There is a not-so-terrible mission behind it all: quantification for the purpose of better health and better living. Take more steps today than you did yesterday! Get more sleep than you did last night! Stay healthy! Good numbers are equated with good health, and good health is, of course, equated with a good life. But there's something of a dark side: Take a day off, grab a treat, and watch your numbers suffer. Nothing like heavy-handed restriction to engage folks in the practice of wellness! The device that sits on the wrists of my family and friends is little more than a legalistic little tyrant. Some are crippled by its judgment, while others have become calloused and ignore it altogether. Neither choice is helpful and its mission goes unaccomplished.     

The law of the Lord has been perverted in much the same way. This is nothing new: God, through Solomon warns, There is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). When the law, the rules become your god; when specifics and boxes checked become the things you worship, perversion has occurred. Going back to the aforementioned gadget, if its numbers are meant to give us a picture or a path to good health with the objective of improving our life, we take those numbers as a part of a whole, the means to an end; not the end itself. Changing these criteria for the better will improve one aspect of my life, but they are not life as a whole. God's people, Israel, looked at the criteria God had given them and made adherence to it their god. Finger pointing and added benchmarks were the result; heavy burdens laid on the people. Others wearied of trying to keep up and simply gave up, following the practices of nearby religions instead or merging the practices of Mosaic law with other ideas in a wholly undefined syncretism. The same is true today. Again, mission unaccomplished. So, why did God write things like the Ten Commandments? Why were there so many laws in the Book of Leviticus? Am I saying we are free from obeying them?

Well, there were laws given that were specific to the circumstances of God's people at the time; laws for living as a nation and laws for living without things like refrigeration and toaster ovens; laws meant for their protection in an ancient agrarian society that was, for a period, nomadic and would eventually be called upon to fight some pretty fierce enemies. I'm not getting into the woods with those things, but the law of God's word is generally viewed as having three purposes: a rule, a mirror, and a curb. 

    A rule: God's laws give the blueprint for the life we are able to live when believers allow themselves to be governed by the Holy Spirit. It shows us how to honor the God we worship and what the standard of being holy as our God is holy looks like. 

    A mirror: When we consider a holy, perfect God, and experience our own inability to achieve that holiness and perfection, we see ourselves more rightly. Without a list of criteria to meet, we can feel pretty good about ourselves. The law is that criteria and our true state is woefully inept (at the least), wicked at its core. This is our need for a perfect Savior.

    A curb: Societies throughout history have thrived when they have obeyed God's laws. Call it pragmatic, but the law of God is good for all of humanity. Obedience to it staves off the reign of darkness across the globe.

So, yes, we should obey God's law. Yes, we should want to obey the commands of our King. No, they did not become obsolete when Jesus paid our debt on the cross. And no, they do not offer us salvation or guarantee a relationship with Jesus Christ. Praise God, His people today are offered the ability to live under the grace of God by the mercy of God poured forth at the cross. By His grace, we receive the Holy Spirit who enables us to obey His precepts and become holy in heart and conduct. Our infractions are no more calculated on some spiritual scale than our good deeds are tallied to establish our worth before Him. His children are freed to delight in His law, giving thanks for perfect boundaries set not by a legalistic tyrant but by a loving God. And His work will be brought to completion. Of that we are assured!

Rather Than Yield to Temptation...

There's an old bumper sticker: Lead me not into temptation: I can find it myself. What expert navigators we can be at times! Many of us are familiar with the part of the Our Father which asks of the Lord, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (Matthew 6:13); but how many of us really know what we are asking of Him? How many of us share the same sentiment as that bumper sticker: Why would God lead me into temptation? I am pretty adept at finding sin all on my own. And if James 1:13 clearly states that God cannot be tempted, nor does He tempt any person, why would He lead us to a place of temptation? Isn't that the same thing as someone setting up another to be robbed? Both are guilty of the crime, aren't they?

First of all, let me just share what an incredible statement of helplessness this request is. Sometimes we are going about our day, doing the same things we are accustomed to doing --sort of mindlessly, I must say --and we find ourselves in a traffic jam that isn't usually present. What is this all about? We didn't know it was before us. We had no way of knowing. Sometimes the same is true of the temptations that face us. We have no idea that someone is going to do something so out of character or so offensive we feel compelled to respond in an equally out of character or offensive way. We are tempted. We didn't see it coming. We didn't put ourselves in that predicament; we were simply going about our day as we usually do. But our Shepherd, who knows the end from the beginning, was well aware of it all. And, not that He was intentionally provoking us to yield to our flesh, but we can rely on Him to know the way. This is our admission that we don't know what will befall us throughout the most mundane of days, but, Dear Jesus, we rely on You to know the way. We yield our path and our activities to Your great wisdom.

Secondly, the Greek word rendered "temptation" is peirasmos which means both an allurement and a trial or test. So, in asking God not to lead us into temptation, and enticement that would dishonor Him and potentially cause us harm, we are not asking Him to suspend some regular activity (for, again, He tempts no man), but we are asking Him to lead us in the ways that would bring Him glory alone. We no longer want to walk the way we used to walk, in ways that made us susceptible to sin; in ignorance and independence; in foolishness. Lead me, Lord God, in Your ways and not in the way I used to walk. Lead me as I choose to avoid those things to which I was once drawn. 

And, in asking God not to lead us into peirasmos, trial or testing, we are making our petition for His mercy. Imagine waking up, your head pounding, your body aching; you've come down with the flu, but you have determined to power through it. You have errands to run and things that must be accomplished. As you go out to start your car, you miss a step; you hear a SNAP! and your ankle begins to swell immediately. You will have your rest, but you've surrendered to it the hard way. Which of us would not rather learn a lesson or have their faith strengthened by obedience to the Scriptures rather than enduring a long and painful proving. The key here, of course, is that we must learn our lesson in ways that do not require some hard discipline from our Heavenly Father. Father God, I surrender to learning all You have for me without necessitating the use of great trial. Please spare me this and soften my heart to receive Your teachings.

Do we know the way to temptation? By all means, we do. But God, in His great mercy, through Jesus Christ, has not only opened the way of communication through which we petition His guidance and mercy, but has Himself become the way by which we can endure whatever should befall us, our Deliverer. It is through Him and by Him our hearts are prepared to receive His words, and our lives are changed to reflect the integrity and strength of Jesus' character. By the power of His Holy Spirit, we yield to imitate His holiness rather than yield to temptation.      

Midweek: God Equips Ezekiel

Last Wednesday, we looked at Ezekiel, the man, and his calling. This week we're going to dig a little more deeply into those things as we look at the third chapter of the book of the Bible that bears his name.

Ezekiel 3:1-3:

Moreover He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll.

And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.” So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness.

Strange, right? For sure, but Ezekiel's consumption of a scroll signified his acceptance of God's message which he was given to deliver. I'm sure he didn't want to see Jerusalem and God's temple destroyed; I'm sure he didn't want to see God's people spread all over the globe and in chaos any more than God Himself did, but Ezekiel trusted that God's actions were true and appropriate. This made his consumption of the scroll filled with God's message sweet to the taste. Have you ever been tasked with giving someone a word of correction? Not a pleasant task. But knowing it is from God and praying it is received and followed makes the assignment a bit more palatable.

The point of such an odd lunch doesn't end there. By Ezekiel's eating of the scroll, it symbolized he had internalized the message to Israel. He took the words of God unto himself, making them a part of his substance, his essence; he made them a part of who he is. Those words were his sustenance, to strengthen him as he walked in obedience to God, and those words were known to him so well, he could speak them in his sleep. If someone had approached him and questioned the message, he could clearly expound its every detail and the reasons for it. Is the same true of our familiarity with the Scriptures today? Is it our sustenance, our daily bread? Do we know the Scriptures so well we can teach others as Philip taught the Ethiopian? Can we concisely give the reason for the hope that is in us and encourage others to place their trust in Him as well? 

Back to Ezekiel. Ezekiel had been sent to his own people, people who spoke as he spoke; but they were impudent and hard-hearted. Now, there's really no backstory on Ezekiel. There's no record of him killing an Egyptian or dismembering a lion with his bare hands. We know from his own writing, he was the son of a priest, and we will see later, he was faithful in keeping God's dietary laws. I think it's pretty safe to say he was an ordinary guy and not necessarily inclined to confronting folks. So, when God called him to speak to an impudent and hard-hearted people, I can imagine he had reservations. But God told him:

I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. ~ Ezekiel 3:8, 9

The Complete Jewish Bible renders this:

I am making you as defiant and obstinate as they are. Yes, I am making your resoluteness harder than flint, as hard as a diamond.

Ezekiel needed to be toughened up a bit. Was he a people pleaser? a coward? an introvert? Whatever his personality, whatever his upbringing, God was not intimidated or dissuaded by those things. Ezekiel, standing among the other captives, fell on his face when he saw the vision of God's glory; he didn't wait until he was in private, he didn't stop to consider what others thought (and, I'm assuming, he was the only one hearing or seeing anything. Imagine that!). It was instantaneous; he fell to his face! That type of humility, that innate, spontaneous reaction to the things of God qualifies each one called by God. Whatever your personality, whatever your background, the equipping comes through the One who knows exactly what is needed when it is needed. He is the Master at Equipping the Called as the called surrender. As we faithfully read His word and think on it day after day, as we (I'm using the word "attempt" here, since our society tends to make the memorization of anything redundant) attempt to memorize Scripture, as we listen to solid teaching, as we ingest it metaphorically, we are equipped. As we pray, worship, and submit to His will, the Holy Spirit transforms us, growing in us the qualities necessary to work for the glory of our King. We can wake up each day knowing we are not where we were yesterday and God is ever-increasing and honing our qualifications. 

  

Not Every Great Guy Does Well

He was a great guy! 

The world is full of great guys. They're usually found hanging out (or lying about) in funeral parlors or cemeteries. Wouldn't we all like to know that, when we're gone, we are fondly remembered; that we made a positive difference in another's life? Of course, we would. But is that our goal, or are we striving to hear the words, Well done, good and faithful servant, when we arrive before the King of Heaven's throne? Those two things may not be mutually exclusive every time, but on occasion, they just might be.

In Jeremiah 40:7-16, we are told of a man named Gedaliah. Most of the people of Judah had been carried off by the Chaldeans to live in Babylon, far away from their holy city of Jerusalem and God's temple. 

Short version: They'd rejected God and His standards for proper worship, why did they care if His city and His temple were taken from them? But they did, and they were sad.

However, God (via the Chaldeans) allowed some people to remain in Jerusalem, and the Babylonian king appointed a governor from among Israel, Gedaliah. Gedaliah concurred with all God (through Jeremiah) had spoken regarding this remnant. He told the people:

Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. As for me, I will indeed dwell at Mizpah and serve the Chaldeans who come to us. But you, gather wine and summer fruit and oil, put them in your vessels, and dwell in your cities that you have taken. (vv. 9, 10)

And the people listened! In fact, some who had originally fled, returned to Jerusalem and began to live their lives. Things appeared to be going pretty well, BUT there was a fly (or several flies) in the ointment. For whatever reason, a man named Ishmael and some of his powerful friends hatched a plot to get rid of Gedaliah.

Now, Gedaliah had a friend or two as well, and several of them attempted to warn him of the conspiracy. Gedaliah refused to believe it. Johanan, one of the governor's allies, even took him aside privately and offered to do away with Ishmael, pleading with him on behalf of the people in his care. If you're dead, what will happen to them? (paraphrase mine) But, again, Gedaliah refused to listen. Jeremiah 41, delivers the answer: Gedaliah was murdered and many of those under him taken captive or murdered as well.

From all appearances, Gedaliah was a great guy. He sided with Jeremiah, God's prophet. He encouraged the people and obeyed authority. No one would risk life and limb to expose an assassination plot --even offering to murder the perpetrator --for a terrible guy. But Gedaliah had a problem: he refused to believe the worst of Ishmael, and his lack of discernment became the problem of everyone under his governance. Was it pride? No one could possibly want to off me! Look at the great job I'm doing! Was it naiveté? We have such an intimate group remaining in Jerusalem; I know each one personally. They're such hard workers and kind people. None would ever betray another. Was it myopia? Did he trust the words of hope delivered by Jeremiah without actually trusting the God who authored them, putting his faith in the promise rather than the Promise Keeper? And that's where I'm going to pause.

I've spoken before of Dorothy Sayers' take on the old saying, The road to hell is paved with good intentions. If you've missed it, she says we often assume that refers to undertakings intended but never completed; but she believes it applies to those things we conceive and work diligently toward which then become an end unto itself. We start out wanting to help or speak truth or think the best of others --to be a great guy!, but our efforts become our life's blood, the thing that keeps us in the race no matter how many times God has told us to rest. We ignore His cautions to stop because this is our work, and not His. The work has discarded the very goal (or people) it was meant to serve, and we have lost sight of the forest for the trees.

Prayer is our weapon against spiritual myopia. Especially those of us engaged in leadership, service, teaching, evangelism, parenting --okay, for every believer. It is the way we confess before God our deepest fears, our greatest weaknesses --not that He is unaware, but that we have become aware of our needs and the only One who can meet them. Whatever you undertake today, the simplest bits of life, commit them to the Lord in prayer and seek His leadership in them. You may not be one of those great guys, but you will have done well.

Shhh! I Can't Hear You!

As time goes on, my husband and I are discovering the depths of "for better or for worse." We've done the richer-poorer thing, the sickness-health hurdles, but the better-worse challenge seems to be a bit different. The better-worse seems to come from within and seems to be grounded in the changes that occur in each of us as we grow older. For instance, as I age, I have grown even fonder of embracing the silence. I don't like loud noises. I'd rather do a crossword puzzle than watch TV. I like to read as Scott drives. And talking is more of an effort for me. Scott, however, has grown more talkative with age. His diminishing ability to hear means he speaks more loudly and requires me to repeat myself --often. He drives with the radio and likes to point out things along the way. And when he finds something on television we can both enjoy, he likes to talk over it. Sometimes I wonder when this will get better. Sometimes I pray it can't get any worse.

In 2 Kings 18, we find Hezekiah on the throne of Israel. Six years into his reign, the king of Assyria carried off the people of the northern kingdom of Israel and took their land. In the fourteenth year of Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib, king of Assyria came to make a play for the rest of God's people, in Judah; he took possession of all of the fortified cities there. Hezekiah kowtowed, giving Sennacherib a large ransom, but it wasn't enough. Not long after, Sennacherib sent his officials to harangue Hezekiah for refusing further payment, for discussing with Egypt the possibility of an alliance, and for declaring his trust in God. This throng arrived, positioned themselves by the aqueduct in Judah, and began trash-talking. In Hebrew. So as to stir up the people. But the citizens did not become agitated or fearful; they did not try to pressure Hezekiah into surrendering to Sennacherib's demands. In fact, verse 36 tells us, the people remained loyal to their king, doing as he commanded:

But the people held their peace and answered him not a word; for the king’s commandment was, “Do not answer him. 

He'd given them an order, and they obeyed. Silently.    

Someone once said, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt." James, the brother of Jesus, devoted almost an entire chapter on the perils of a loose or wicked tongue. Movie theaters proclaim, Silence is golden. And Eve, confronted by the serpent's perversion of Scripture, responded with a perversion of her own. Would she not have been better served by keeping silent? Was there not something within her which perceived the serpent's guile and caused her to overstep, to add to what God had said as a means of shutting down the creature's overly critical accusation? Curt Thompson, in his book, The Soul of Shame, suggests the serpent's ultimate purpose was to disrupt the relationship between Creator and creation by creating doubt. Did God really say...? Eve hastily, boldly speaks so as to squelch the doubt that has crept into her own mind.

The people under Hezekiah's reign did not --Praise God! --doubt the ability of their king. And their king (at least, at this juncture) did not doubt the ability of his God. It may have seemed right to silence the dissenting voices of an enemy, to shout them down and tell them how wrong they were. But the people kept silent. 

Scripture exhorts us to speak, particularly when it comes to sharing the good news of salvation. But obedience to God's timing matters. Ecclesiastes 3:7 says there is a time to keep silence and a time to speak. It's important we are prepared to do both as God requires of us. To say it confidently, to say it truthfully, and to say it sweetly --even when we're called to repeat it again. 

      

Midweek: Ezekiel Fell on His Face

Recently, my husband read the book of Ezekiel for the first time. He described it as "intense." I thought that was a really nice way of putting it. It's been a minute since I've read the entire book, but my mind, like most people's, tends to go to end times, gem-encrusted wheels, acid trip sort of stuff. As I've previously mentioned (and recommended), I use Jennifer Lane's HIStory in 366 Days for my daily quiet time. The scheduled reading has taken me to the book of Ezekiel, and I've begun thinking more about the man.

When Ezekiel first writes of his experience, being called by God to prophesy to the exiles in Babylon, he introduces himself as an ordinary man given a vision of heavenly things: 

And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. ~ Ezekiel 1:26-28

His response was to fall on his face in the fear of the Lord, humility, worship. Hallmarks of a bondservant to the Lord, hallmarks which I often feel are not as thoroughly exhibited in my life as I'd like them to be. I ask myself, Do I fear God enough? properly? I don't mean something I summon up, but have I taken the time today to focus on just how worthy of my reverence He is? Do I fully comprehend His magnitude, His glory, His holiness? And have I responded accordingly to His character? The answer is No, and it will remain that until I am fully sanctified; only then will I be able to fear Him in perfect humility and worship Him in absolute truth.

But here was Ezekiel, on his face before God. And God tells him to stand (2:1). Just go back to Adam and Eve for a minute. They'd sinned, disobeyed God's command not to eat of the tree in the center of the garden. It just so happened 😉the tree was The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked (Genesis 3:7). What did they do? They immediately sought to cover themselves. They immediately felt vulnerable, exposed. When we fall on our faces before the Lord, the very act of it covers our most susceptible places, the private areas we normally cover and our hearts. We instinctively try to modulate our vulnerability, hide our weaknesses. But God spoke to Ezekiel: Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you. Stand! To stand before a holy, perfect, almighty God with one's most secret places exposed... Take a minute to think about that. Your most deeply hidden thoughts laid bare. The truth of your heart --those days you don't want to pray or sing or even smile, the bitterness toward God for taking your child, jealousy, doubt, lust, all of it --boldly positioned, eye-to-eye before the God who is a consuming fire. Could you stand? I can't imagine that any of us could. We'd ball ourselves up so tightly, weeping and crying out for God's mercy. Don't look! But for the blood of Jesus Christ! 

It is the Holy Spirit who stands Ezekiel on his feet and God begins to reveal the plans He has for this man, plans to face a hardened and rebellious people. 

And that's where we'll stop for today. I'll leave you with some time to think about this man. Forget for a moment the visions and object lessons that were a part of his commission, and focus on the man. A man out minding his business by the river, remaining faithful to his Lord while being exiled far from home; a man whom God would use in some very unconventional and grievous ways to deliver a message to a people who refused to listen, but God longed to save.   

More on Ezekiel next Wednesday!

Application May Vary, but Truth Remains

When I began writing Broken to Breathless, it was a means to express my gratitude for all God was doing for me at the time. Since then, it has become something of an outlet also. As I discover truths in my quiet time, on my walks, or as I just "do life", I share them with you: it provides a means of documenting them, celebrating them, and opening the floor for discussion, if you are so inclined. Today, I want to show you the breath, the life of God's word. You see, over the past several days a passage of Scripture has come to my attention in some pretty unexpected and unalike ways. So, first, the passage:

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?

Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ~ 1 Corinthians 3:1-11

And, quickly, the varied contexts in which it was presented: a Bible study entitled "What Does It Mean to Be Spiritual?", a class aimed toward married couples, and a child's devotional. By all appearances, these three opportunities seem to have nothing in common but God's word. Perhaps that is the point.

At the Bible study, we examined the immaturity of divisions in the body of Christ. We serve communion at the rail. We serve communion in our seats. It seems crazy, but humans will human, and we allow these sorts of things to be a breeding ground for strife. Spiritual Christians reject immaturity. In the class we looked at the opposite side of the coin: the importance of maturity. The teacher gave the analogy of someone with twenty years of experience interviewing for a new position: they were turned down because the interviewer determined "it was one year of experience twenty times." In all those years, the person had not done what was necessary for growth in their career. Marriage is the union of two Christians --hopefully --moving toward maturity; but what happens in the interim can be difficult to navigate. Mercy is critical. Lastly, the devotional our son and I read examined the passage in terms of our efforts to share Christ with others: we are not held responsible for the outcome of our labor; our responsibility is to pray God's truths sink deeply into the hearts of those with whom we share them.

One passage, multiple applications, and all true. Psalm 119:105 says God's word is a lamp unto the feet of those who read and obey it; a light to their path. In all circumstances. In our personal growth, in our relationship with those in our home, and in our obedience to the Great Commission beyond our doors. The steadfast pursuit of maturity, with mercy, and always in prayer is the way we live our lives to the glory of God, and the living, multi-faceted word of God is our handbook. Thanks be to God!     

Point to the Hero

Only fifty years ago, the heroes of every young boy were astronauts and policemen. Every little girl wanted to be a mother or a nurse. How things have changed! The aspirations of our youth have gone from serving others to trampling others in the pursuit of self-service. And I know I'm probably sounding like and old-head --I'm sure those a generation or so ahead of me were saying the same types of things about us as we were coming up --but gone are the days when heroes were the norm. Gone are the days when a fireman descended from a tree, kitty cradled tenderly in his arms, and declared, "Just doing my job, Ma'am." Gone are the days when women lifted one another up, sat down in one another's kitchen for coffee, and took some sort of joy in their husband's comfort. Today, folks refuse responsibility for themselves; it's no wonder they refuse to take responsibility for others. Remove those things, those individuals who make life inconvenient for you. It's really very simple. But Scripture says otherwise. And, though it is difficult to traverse this little snippet of eternity --even more so when we're tasked with being kind to others and bearing our brother's burdens --it is not impossible. 

But there is a God in heaven... ~ Daniel 2:28 

In the historical record of Daniel of Judah, he has been carried off to Babylon --not his home in any sense of the word. The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, has selected the best and brightest of his captives to be trained in the ways of his country for his service. He's also grown, it seems, a bit disillusioned with some of the nationals he's had in his employment, and he's had a troubling dream. Tell me my dream and its interpretation! Now, the king wasn't looking to have his memory jogged; he was testing his spiritual advisors. If they could tell him the facts of his dream --something no one is able to do --surely, they could be trusted with an interpretation. Short version: Daniel hears of the order, and, after he and his friends pray, receives from God the details of the dream and what it means. Here's where I'd like to direct your focus, Daniel's response to the king when he appears before him (v. 27, 28): 

The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days.

Daniel confirms the argument of the other sages: no one can tell you the thoughts of your subconscious mind --not even I. He knows God has given him the information the king seeks. He's got it! But he is clear in shifting any attention from himself. He makes himself no better than any of the other spiritualists (with whom the king was thoroughly irritated). 

Secondly, Daniel plainly, incontrovertibly points to God. Daniel uses a two-step process in dealing with this pagan king. First, he deflects from himself and any good within himself (humility), and second, he points unequivocally to God (glory). Daniel did not waffle on the true Hero of this occasion, and he wasn't content with anyone else waffling either.

This is the point at which I begin to think about all of those times we are given the opportunity to be someone's flesh-and-blood "hero." Do we make it clear to them that in us lies no good thing, that apart from Christ we can do nothing? Are we adamant that the Source of our talents, our material resources, our desire to love and to help is Christ Jesus and Christ Jesus alone? Or do we preach Jesus but feel the need to draw the attention of others to our good deeds or our aptitudes? Do we blush and say, Just doing my job, Ma'am -- humble, perhaps, but failing to point to the true Miracle Worker? God was using a pagan king, revealing to him the future for ages! Did you catch that? If Daniel had made it all about himself, his abilities, wouldn't that have been the lead of this story? Daniel of Israel, seer of all seers! Not, Nebuchadnezzar, God wants your worship, too. Or, if Daniel had not pointed to the God who sought to reveal to the king of a heathen nation the promise of a heavenly kingdom, would the focus have moved past its historical value? 

John 3:27 assures us, A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. Not the gifts we share or the gifts we receive. All of it transpires under the authority of the Almighty so that none of us can take credit for what we possess or imagine we are entitled in any way. So that in all things, He will increase and we will decrease (John 3:30), and our God will always be the Hero others aspire to know.      

Midweek: Pure, Authentic, Uncompromising

I have a confession: Halloween was my favorite holiday; and if I'm being fully transparent, it probably still is. The difference is, I don't celebrate it anymore. The difference is, I view it with extreme caution, eyes wide open, knowing what it is and knowing I cannot go back no matter how much I am tempted. Attached to Halloween are over forty years of fond memories, and the perfect chill that comes over our part of the country, the heralding of the holiday season, the colors... For me, it is the perfect storm. A storm in which I can become lost at sea if I compromise my principles to enter it.

This is not a rant about the evils of a pagan holiday or the "innocent" way in which portals to the demonic are opened right within our homes, however true those things may be. What I am personally apt to do is blur the lines. Or maybe I speak of human nature in general. Listen to the words of God through the prophet Jeremiah:

And the Chaldeans who fight against this city shall come and set fire to this city and burn it, with the houses on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal and poured out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke Me to anger; ~ Jeremiah 32:29 

He's talking about Jerusalem here; the people of Judah, God's people, who offered incense (worship) to pagan gods on the roofs of their homes! How? How did God's chosen people go that far astray? Well, lest we think ourselves so far above all this... Halloween. Again, I'm not looking to hate on Halloweeners or to be legalistic about all of this, but am I personally okay with carving a pumpkin or two, entering our son in the Halloween parade, hanging some bats in the tree out front? A "Christian" Halloween event with which I used to be associated had costume guidelines: No witches, no demons, no dead. It was simply a dress-up day. So why on the 31st of October? We often justify our "alternatives" with the argument that it is so difficult for our children to be excluded from the "fun" of Halloween or the "fun" of believing in Santa Claus. Why is "fun" or being perceived as "normal" by the world so important to us?

When the children of the world are having a "good time" getting pregnant at age twelve or boosting cars at thirteen, when the seven-year-old next door is playing Call of Duty for six hours on a Sunday morning, are we finding similar-yet-just-different-enough options so they don't feel ostracized? I hope we are telling them Absolutely not; this is dangerous, this is unhealthy, this is not what God intended for you. And what about us, Moms? Do our yoga pants have Namaste printed down the leg? Does our popcorn have a Buddha on the bag? What about you, Dads? Do you have a few beers or swear just a bit --you know, the "milder" ones --when you're watching the game with the guys on Sunday? What about our playlists? What sort of music are we allowing into our homes and our hearts? Only the "cleaned up" versions? Don't kid yourselves. 

I'm guilty. I have found all sorts of ways to compromise, to fit in culturally though I am called to stand out. It's not so difficult for me to understand how the people hand-picked by God could have strayed to the point of worshipping pagan gods on their rooftops. What if it had all begun with trying to appear relevant? with wanting to be "normal"? finding a similar-yet-just-different-enough alternative so they weren't so excluded? Or maybe it wasn't a conscious decision at all, and that could be the problem. Maybe it was a complacency toward all the little ways the world's ways creep into our ways and we accept it as "just the way things are."

Our Lord and Savior died and rose again, releasing us from the bondage of this world, to walk in newness of life. It is our uniqueness of devotion, of purpose, of love for one another, of lifestyle that points others to the One who procured these things for us. It is God's intent that we do not (or should not) look like the world: that is the hook, so to speak. The world can find its own reflection everywhere it turns. Does it find the pure, authentic reflection of Christ alone in you?        

An Untrustworthy Source. A Trustworthy God.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

Okay, maybe not the mighty, but another icon of celeb spirituality has revealed himself to be a grifter, a sycophant playing to the masses, a flash-in-the-pan Christian. And, once again, Christians have taken to social media to warn us all, this is the time to be vigilant; to be discerning. Well, yes; but isn't the time to be discerning before we endorse every personality who claims to have had a "real encounter with Jesus"? Nevertheless, discernment helps us spot the fakes, right? Did you know it helps us know truth, also?  

In 2 Chronicles 35 Josiah, king of Judah, had led God's people into a time of repentance and revival in Jerusalem. The Passover that was celebrated was unlike any other for hundreds of years prior. The temple had been cleaned and prepared, brought into the fullness of its function once again. And the king of Egypt was using Judah as his thoroughfare. Huh?

Yep, we have this account of a glorious return to serving the Lord, celebrating His deliverance, and then this seemingly odd non sequitur. But this is God's book, so, of course, there's a point. 

King Josiah and Judah were riding a wave. Life was good. God was foremost. But then, the presence of evil (or perceived evil) in the form of a king --a king, specifically, of a nation from which the people had been delivered. Remember the Passover celebration? Upon hearing of the king's presence, Josiah prepared to go to battle; but Egypt's king had messengers on the way. 

What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against the house with which I have war; (v.21) 

But it didn't stop there, because there was more to the king's message:

...for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you.

Was Egypt a God-fearing nation? Certainly not. Did Josiah have a right to be suspicious? Sure! But the problem was, he failed to filter the king of Egypt's message through the lens of God's sovereignty. We don't read that Josiah prayed. We don't read that Josiah asked the leaders in the temple to seek God's direction. Instead, what we do read is the confirmation:

Nevertheless, Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself so that he might fight with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God.

from the mouth of God. God had indeed spoken to Necho. Josiah, however, ignored the word because he did not value the source. And, in the natural, with good reason. The source was the king of a pagan land. The source was the king of a people allied with some of the strongest military factions of the day. But just as God accomplished His will by working in the heart of another king of Egypt (Exodus 5-13), God was well able to speak to this king. All Josiah had to do was ask God for confirmation. All he had to do was humbly seek Truth. Instead, his mind was made up: he trusted his own thoughts, waged war against Necho, increased the strength of Babylon (who would later overtake Judah), and was killed in the process. 

So, the question: How does one get discernment? And the quick answer --I've held your attention long enough --through prayer, study of the Scripture, and application. Discernment is wisdom, knowledge applied. So, in order to increase it --like any muscle or skill --we have to exercise it: we've got to go through some drama if we want to learn how to apply what we know. That drama is not only the field on which we practice, but it usually keeps us in a place of humility, a place where we realize we don't know it all and must trust the One who does. The more we read about God's character, and the more we learn of His benevolence to His people, the more our knowledge is increased; we then take what we have learned and apply it. God is faithful. God is true. God is just. I can trust Him. Likewise, we pray with those things in mind, praying His will is accomplished, and asking Him for wisdom as we navigate life. We take our eyes off of the specifics of our circumstances --the source, the "odds", the lack of time, the diagnosis --and we place our thoughts directly on the One who can do exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or imagine, the One who is faithful and true, the One who knows the end from the beginning, the One who cares for His people and will never leave us.  

You Can't Say You Weren't Warned

I grew up in the happy little armpit of Pennsylvania known as Delco. Perhaps you've heard of it, and not in a good way. Delco is a string of little towns all known for traffic lights, pizza places, and generally angry residents. Oh, and cops. There were loads of cops! Growing up, we all knew about them. Which township was a bit more forgiving; which borough would give their own mother a ticket. We knew where they hid to catch speeders, which members of the force had an axe to grind and with whom, and what days of the week financial cutbacks worked to the benefit of those who didn't always mutter to themselves S-T-O-P at intersections. In the event one person of our friend group was stopped by the local municipality's law enforcement, the word was out. If the officer winked, we took liberties. If he got out his ticket book, each of us heeded the warning; sometimes going so far as to avoid the area altogether.

I was reading this morning in Jeremiah 35. The Rechabites were separatists of sorts. An ancestor, more than one hundred years prior, had commanded his family that none should drink wine, grow grapes, or even build houses, so as to not distract them from the worship of God. Setting up a tent every couple of months being less time consuming than dusting each week or roof repairs when necessary, I suppose. Anyhoo, God told Jeremiah to invite the Rechabites to the house of God and offer them wine. He wasn't trying to hang them up --after all, He hadn't given them the command anyway; He was using their commitment as an object lesson for all of Judah. They didn't fail Him. The Rechabites refused to drink, saying:

We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink no wine, you nor your sons, forever. You shall not build a house, sow seed, plant a vineyard, nor have any of these; but all your days you shall dwell in tents, that you may live many days in the land where you are sojourners.’ Thus we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, nor to build ourselves houses to dwell in; nor do we have vineyard, field, or seed. But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

In fact, they even explained, the only reason they'd stayed in Jerusalem so long was because of the furious attacks of Nebuchadnezzar; otherwise, they would have been long gone.

And God's point was made. An ancestor many years before, a mere mortal, had given his family a command, and here were the Rechabites, still obeying it; their patriarch no longer with them; no fear of consequences were they to have just a sip or linger one day more. Now, they were being offered drink by God's prophet. In God's house. If ever there was license, surely this was it! But they refused, holding fast to their vow. Yet, Judah, the people of the One True God, His eternal presence with them in the temple, had been warned time and time again by the prophets He sent, had seen their brothers in Samaria carried off by the cruel Assyrian army, and still refused to obey. They disregarded every admonishment and silenced the prophets. They continued in their offenses toward God. The word was out that God wasn't playing around. But even the practical lesson taught through the faithfulness of the Rechabites would go unheeded and Judah would suffer the catastrophic results of their rebellion. 

Scripture tells us that God's Torah accomplishes all He wills it to do. If we heed it, it will serve to inform us, transform us, and protect us. If we ignore it, it will be the evidence against us before The Judge. Though I was pretty hard-headed back in the day, defying the tried-and-true recommendations of friends was generally not in my playbook. Had I done so and broken the law, their warnings as well as the law itself would have served to condemn me. We warned you! For those who observed the warnings we exchanged, they were valued acts of mercy on a natural level. How much more the words of wisdom contained in Scripture and the sage advice dispensed by pastors and other seasoned saints?

Midweek: What's in a Name?

George Foreman was famously known for naming all five of his sons "George". I used to babysit for a family who had generations of "James Paul"s and "Paul James"es; they'd alternate with each generation's firstborn son. Leadership coaches will tell you it is critical to address people by name often throughout a conversation to reinforce a sense of teamwork and personal investment. "Mister John Smith" is not the same --grammatically or otherwise --as "Lord Jesus Christ". 

Now, none of this may come as a surprise to you, but we often do not understand the nuances of language and customs from other cultures. In a western world, names are typically not structured in the same way they are in other civilizations. Likewise, they do not bear the same significance as a name or the naming of a child. The culture in which Jesus was raised and His birth recorded was quite different from modern western cultures. And it's important we keep that in mind when reading Scripture. As Inigo Montoya famously stated, You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

First of all, let me address the name of our incarnate Lord and Savior, the name, "Jesus". According to gotquestions.org, Jesus means “Yahweh saves” or “Yahweh is salvation.” Transliterated from Hebrew and Aramaic, the name is Yeshua. This word is a combination of Ya, an abbreviation for Yahweh, the name of Israel’s God (Exodus 3:14); and the verb yasha, meaning “rescue,” “deliver,” or “save.”

Next, there is "Christ": not a last name --"Jesus Christ," like "John Smith" --but His title. He is the promised Messiah. Again, from gotquestions.org:

Messiah comes from the Hebrew word mashiach and means “anointed one” or “chosen one.” The Greek equivalent is the word Christos or, in English, Christ. The name “Jesus Christ” is the same as “Jesus the Messiah.”

Jesus is the promised Savior, the promised Deliverer.

Lastly, the word "Lord." Also a title, but more of a confession --or, at least, it should be. 

We hear a lot about "manifesting" these days, speaking things into existence. If you want to be successful, you look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself you are successful. No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater, that sort of confession can provide the hype one might need to take a test with confidence (providing you've studied) or conduct a difficult meeting (providing you've prepared); but generally, there's no amount of "speaking things into the universe" that causes things to happen. The verbal confession or declaration of Jesus as Lord does not mean He is. But I've issued something of a challenge to myself: rather than tossing around the name Lord Jesus Christ --whether in my prayers or in songs or among those I teach --rather than using it as thoughtlessly as I use the acknowledgment "mister," pause and ask, Is He my Lord? For He cannot be my Lord truly, unless I am indeed surrendered to Him; unless my life --all of it, every part --is yielded under His authority. If it is not, the word, no matter how often it is used, does not mean what we think it means: I am not acknowledging His lordship over me; I am not declaring His dominion over my will and my way. I am merely using a word no more meaningful than "Mister Jesus Christ."

I challenge you all, with me today to --each time you read the name "Lord Jesus Christ," each time you sing the name "Lord Jesus Christ," each time you speak the name "Lord Jesus Christ" --take that moment to think of the surrender necessary to make that statement true. And give your all to the one whose name is above every other name. 

By His Stripes We Are Healed

Have you ever watched an airplane cross the sky? From the ground, it almost looks sluggish. After all, my finger can trace a path from one tree to the next in a split second, but that 757... 

Have you ever raced a toddler? Little feet moving as quickly as they can, dozens of steps to your one.

Have you ever waited for news from your spouse's surgeon? or watched her walking up the drive as you hung the last decorations for her surprise party? The waiting is very different in each case.

Point being, perspective changes everything. That enormous jet is traveling hundreds of miles an hour; but to the observer on the ground, it is barely in motion. That toddler is frantically working to cover the same ground on tiny legs that you can cover with one stride. And time? It's all the same hour, sixty minutes, 3600 seconds; but the thing that transpires at the end of that hour impacts our attitude toward the wait. What is taking so long? Or, Stall her, please!

I have been thinking about the finished work of Christ on the cross. Yes, His work is sufficient for the atonement of my sin. His work restores my relationship with my Creator, a relationship once broken by the aforementioned sin, and receives me (and anyone who trusts in Jesus) into the family as a child of God. His resurrection assures me of mine, guaranteeing a newness of life in which I can walk today and a face-to-face relationship I will enjoy one day. And, yes, that is more than enough; but is that all? 

Take, for instance, Isaiah 53:5:

But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.

There are those who would argue this means physical healing: Jesus suffered physical stripes and by them, our physical bodies are healed. 

First of all, does mankind suffer any physical ailment worse than the deadly spiritual enemy of sin? Matthew 10:28 warns, Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. The greater danger by far is the eternal death of the spirit. 1 Peter 2:24-25 equates Christ's stripes with the death of sin and the healing of those who believe unto righteousness. A spiritual healing.

Secondly, if God's words through Isaiah are the promise of physical healing all the time, every time (for those who possess "enough faith" in them), how is anyone to get to heaven? Without physical death, those with exemplary faith would still be among us; never dying, always healed of their diseases, but not yet realizing the fullness of the promises of God.

And thirdly, if the torment Christ suffered is the catalyst of physical wellness for all who believe, did believers prior to His death never recover from illness? Did pagans always die of sinus infections or battle wounds? Obviously, healing was present in the world --by God's design and grace --prior to the death of Christ on the cross.   

David Guzik, in his Enduring Word Commentary on Isaiah 53, writes:

[Complete healing] is not promised to every believer right now, just as the totality of our salvation is not promised to us right now. The Bible says that we have been saved (Ephesians 2:8), that we are being saved (1 Corinthians 1:18), and that we will be saved (1 Corinthians 3:15). Even so, there is a sense in which we have been healed, are being healed, and one day will be healed.  

Guzik takes the position that while healing does occur in this lifetime, there is not an immediate, comprehensive guarantee of physical well-being; we can, however, rest assured we will one day be completely physically whole. Just as Matthew 8:16-17 equates the words of Isaiah (53:4) regarding Christ's suffering with physical restoration in that day, Jesus did not heal everyone on earth, nor did everyone He healed cheat a physical death later. Like the aircraft crossing the sky or the exertions of the toddler or the nature of a wait, our perspective is critical. Healing, as it occurs in God's economy is not beholden to a calendar or a clock. What we see as the plodding of days or that to which we exert all our energy trying to make some headway is under His sovereignty and within His power. The wondering if today will be the day or pleading for just a little more time --all of it is at the discretion of a loving God who cares for His people in ways we do not always agree. But He knows the end from the beginning and He is good. When He says we are healed, we are healed; His word is as good as done. But for the time being, our mortality impacts our perspective, our system for measuring time is at odds with God's infinity; a disparity that causes us to stand in awe of One so great and trust His plans for our healing.

You Haven't Got Time

Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

~ James 4:17

In the days of kings, Israel's story was troubled. Not too far off from their history with the judges God appointed --the obedience, apostacy, judgment, repentance, obedience cycle in which they remained for years. Only, in the period of kings, kings were not their rescuers; kings led the people one way or the other, into rebellion against or into relationship with God. King Ahaz of Judah was one of those "against" sort of fellows. His son, Hezekiah, was the polar opposite, and by God's mercy, he became king when his father died. In 2 Chronicles 29, King Hezekiah's reform is recorded, and it began with the opening and restoration of the temple of God which Ahaz had looted, defiled, and barred from use; returning the people to worship God's way, beginning with the priests themselves. 

Hezekiah's words to the priests (v.5) in The Complete Jewish Bible are rendered this way:

consecrate yourselves now, consecrate the house of Adonai the God of your ancestors, and remove the filth from the Holy Place.

In other words, and to us today, "Wash up! Dust off your Bible and get to reading! Gargle with a bit of salt water and start singing praises at the top of your lungs! Toss out all of your distractions, brain rot, and foolishness! Review your schedule and your finances; start pledging those things to the Lord! Give your legs the workout they've been missing and kneel in prayer!" Remove the filth from God's holy place, your heart.

In Verse 10, Hezekiah explains:

Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with Adonai the God of Israel,

God put it on his heart. King Hezekiah was open to hearing from the Lord. He was open to receiving correction and obeying it immediately and to the full. He spent the time being still and waiting for God to speak.

Verse 11:

My sons, now is not a time for being negligent; for you are the ones Adonai chose to stand before him and serve him as his ministers, offering him incense.”

As Hezekiah was called to lead the nation, so the priests had been called to lead all of the people in their worship of God. The burden Hezekiah had on his heart, he shared with those leaders and encouraged them to obey immediately and to the full. It's interesting that these priests were probably much older than their earthly king (Hezekiah began ruling at the age of twenty-five), but he spoke to them with affection and authority --My sons. And he communicated the urgency and gravity of the task ahead. Hezekiah saw a window of opportunity; he had no idea how long he would reign, if any would oppose him or assassinate him. He had no idea if God's judgment would come so quickly on Judah, they wouldn't have time to repent. He, perhaps, realized something about himself: If I don't act on this now, I will get waylaid by all sorts of other things, and it will never get done. He knew God had given him the authority and the desire: it was time to act. And act they did! (I'll leave you to read on and discover that for yourself.) Hezekiah didn't waste any time. In fact, Hezekiah approached the situation as though he didn't have time to waste time. He knew what needed to be done, and he did it immediately and to the full. As a result, he and the people of Judah were blessed because of the covenant they had made to follow the Lord and obey Him in all things. 

Is there something God has spoken to you through His word? Is there something that has been on your heart, something you believe God wants you to do? Are you even listening, taking the time to hear Him speak? Maybe you have completely lost your way, and the weight of doing life without God is His beckoning you to return to Him. We never know what life holds and we never know how little time we will have to worship God with our voice and our service. Obey today. You haven't got time to waste time. 

 

Midweek: Gaining Some Tonnage

We just returned from an appointment with our vet. Good news! Luci has lost a couple pounds. Maintaining proper weight, in our case, benefits all of us. It's less strain on her joints, I am not being dragged into traffic each time she attempts to chase a squirrel, and my husband won't have to learn to cook for himself while I'm in traction from injuries sustained while wrestling with her tonnage. And it's not just quantity. While an occasional doughnut might be okay for my husband, for Luci, it's a hard No! Her dog food provides the proper nutrients for her canine adventures. Poor nutrition and adiposity even besiege our pets in our culture of excess.

I was just talking to a friend of mine, however. She is looking to gain weight. In fact, she was excitedly telling me she wants to be obese... 

...in her spirit! 

I don't think anyone has to be taught how to add a few inches to their waistline; but do we know what it takes to fatten our spirits? Not just adding flubber, excess; but real weight, the perfect plumpness that feeds the development of the body's systems. Fitness and strength are vital. So, how do we add tonnage to our spiritual weight?

First of all, regular meals. Skipping Bible reading, prayer time, church attendance robs the body of food. Jesus is bread, our sustenance for life. These spiritual practices are not the means by which we reach God; they are the means by which we hold on, in our finitude to the One who is infinite, the One who came to earth to ransom us. Physical beings have a relationship with an eternal, spiritual Being through regular spiritual disciplines --frequently. We engage in praise, pray unceasingly, and give thanks throughout the day (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) The more we praise Him, the more we discover His worth. The more we engage in prayer, the more we find to say up to Him. The more we give thanks, the more things we find to appreciate. We get fat with the fullness and character of His Spirit in our spirit. 

And it's not just frequency, it's volume! The Scriptures are living and active; not that they change, but we can never completely exhaust them. They change us. Every.Time.We.Read.Them.With.Intent. Don't expect real change if you're reading a verse-a-day, skimming through some pithy little lesson about it, and checking a box. You will get exactly that to which you apply yourself in the manner in which you apply yourself. Pithy it is! But if you really want spiritual corpulence, ask the Holy Spirit to lead you as you read. Read as much as you can without your eyes glazing over and the children growing faint with hunger. Look up terms with which you are unfamiliar. Pray some more. Read the study notes. Memorize verses. Meditate on passages throughout the day. Pray again. And wait for God to move. Take your time and read it as many times as you must. Volume matters.

Lastly, content. I'm reading the Bible, what can possibly be unhealthy about that? you ask. Nothing, but the content we consume outside of our times of Bible reading matters. I can eat salads until I'm blue in the face, but if I chase each one with a 2-liter bottle of sweet tea and a party size bag of chips, my "healthy habits" don't stand a chance. Yes, I'll gain a ton, but none of it will sustain me for the race. The bulk of my consumption is at best, empty; at worse, detrimental. Much of what counts for "content" on social media is brain rot. We're not studying things out; we're clicking on thumbnail after thumbnail, allowing content creators to determine what we see. I'm guilty of both falling down the rabbit hole of content I never would have searched out for myself, and finding the short answer (or the answer that most resembles my own) and calling it quits. The truth is, neither of those is sustenance. Neither of those will fatten my spirit in a way that benefits me or brings glory to God. And do I have to mention the things we watch during our "leisure time"? If it doesn't edify the body of Christ (IOW: if you wouldn't show it to your Christian brothers and sisters), it's not going to edify your life in Christ.

For Luci to thrive in her adult years, it's important she remain active and well-nourished; that her intake is carefully monitored. For each of us to thrive in this very short season of eternity, we should strive for good spiritual health; a corpulent spirit, bursting with nourishment, indulged by all of the things that supply it; perpetually growing and gaining some tonnage!