“Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.” (Proverbs 23:17-18)
Dejection. Pain. Despair. Anguish. Disappointment.
A thesaurus is not sufficient to express all the words to describe the feeling I have over the latest egg laid by the Kansas men’s basketball team. Maybe you don’t care, but I bleed “Crimson and Blue” during basketball season. I love all kinds of sports, but if God made me choose only one sport and one team to root for, it would be a no-brainer: Rock Chalk, Jayhawk basketball – hands down. It would take less than a nano-second to decide. That is why things like Sunday’s fiasco make me feel so frustrated. What is it about Kansas basketball that can stomp the living daylights out of the best teams in the nation, then lose so consistently to lower level mid-major wannabes? Belmont in 2005; Bradley in the first round the next year; Northern Iowa last year; now VCU. Who even heard of VCU until this past week? If KU played those teams 100 times, they would win 99 of them, and yet they always lose to them when it counts the most – in the tournament. I guess that is one of the reasons they call it March Madness. It makes grown men cry.
There are many definitions of “frustration”, but the best one I have ever heard is: Frustration is the gap between expectation and reality. You get frustrated when you expect a raise and don’t get one. You get frustrated when you expect your spouse to meet a need in your life and they fall short. You get frustrated when you expect your favorite top ranked team to win and they lose to a team that had no real business even being in the game.
God has promised his believers an abundant life, a home in heaven, and rewards for service to his cause. But many of us as Christians have some unrealistic expectations as to what our creature comforts and tangible “blessings” should be in this life. God takes care of his children, and most of us have everything we truly need in this life, especially here in the U.S. Yet we ignore the verse above and instead of trusting God’s promises, we envy sinners all the day long. We expect to live the good life, and when reality bites us firmly on the backside, frustration sets in. It is part of life and understandable to a point, but as believers, we must re-orient our thinking. We can get frustrated at life, but we can never get frustrated at the giver of life.
The musician Asaph struggled with this issue, and Psalm 73 was penned from his frustration. It is one of the most powerful of all the Psalms for its raw emotion. In verse 3 he admits that he was envious of those who had the “goodies” of this world. Through the next several verses, he continues his rant of utter frustration against the unfairness of life. But then he comes to his senses and declares, “When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.” (Psalm 73:16-17) His frustration was tempered by a proper perspective of a relationship with God. When we consider the “end” of those without Christ, it should move us to compassion for their souls. Though they might “have it all”, without him they have nothing. While they expect heaven because of their riches or goodness, the reality of an eternity of frustration awaits those who have not trusted the Son of God as their Saviour.
As Jayhawk fans, we cry, “Wait till next year!” Missouri fans cry the same thing, but at least we have a chance. But as a believer in Christ, we have a true reality of an expectation of glory in the Son of God. Ephesians 3:20 says that God is, “…able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think…” There will be no frustration when the reality of heaven is seen. Our expectation will not be cut off. Secure your heart in his truth and find others who need it. Someday your expectation will be exceedingly abundantly met beyond your wildest dreams.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Friends
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” (John 15:13-14)
This past weekend our youth held a mid-year “reunion” for our youth camp kids from Crest Bible Church and the other churches that attend our camp. We hold a camp every year in August with several other small churches in the area to provide a week of intensive fun, games, and of course, Bible instruction. We have been doing this for 12 years now, and have seen quite a number of young people come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. Camp is an awesome time to do such a thing because the kids are away from the everyday hustle and bustle and can devote their attention to the things of God without distraction. The other great benefit of doing these things is the bonds that are created between people who share common experiences. Many of these kids have developed friendships that will last far beyond just a week at camp. During this time (High School), we often build relationships that span many years and remain throughout our lives. The next 10 years after High School sees kids make many changes. Many of them move away from the city they grew up in, and they will begin their own families and launch careers they may not even knew existed in the days of their youth. Yet friendships remain strong, especially those which are built on the timeless truths of the word of God.
Jesus gave his disciples a great charge on the night commonly known as the “Last Supper”. He told them about his coming sacrifice on the cross, and laid out the greatest love ever found in the Universe. He gave his life for those who did not deserve it, when he did not have to do it, when he could have gotten out of it, expecting nothing in return. That sacrifice ensured the salvation of multitudes who by faith would trust his death, burial and resurrection as their “ticket” to heaven. We do not earn our way into the family of God by our good works, but by his love and sacrifice.
But the next verse addresses those who have applied that sacrifice to themselves to become a Christian. Jesus gave himself willingly with no strings attached to buy us back from sin and redeem us as his friends. Once we make that decision to trust him, he does expect a level of obedience and commitment in return as his true friends. He said we are his friends if we keep his word. The continuing bond of relationship is built on our obedience to the word of God. If you had a “friend” who constantly did things to hurt you, you would question whether the friendship should continue. God is always faithful, and he will never remove your salvation or deny your place in the family of God if you are saved. But daily fellowship is broken when we deliberately violate the clear commandments of the word of God on a consistent basis. God is always our friend, but it makes it tough when we don’t return the friendship.
James 2:23 says that Abraham was called the “Friend of God”. Wouldn’t that be a great epitaph on your tombstone? The context of the passage deals with his obedience to God’s command to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. We look at that as a rather strange command, and rightfully so. It was a one time command to Abraham alone, never repeated again to anyone in the Bible or in history. The reason it was never repeated is because it is one of the clearest pictures in the Bible of the sacrifice of God’s only begotten Son, and his offering was “once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). God had no intention of seeing Abraham kill his son. He stopped him at the last minute and had him offer a ram in his place. But Abraham became the “Friend of God” because of his obedience to his word. True friends in this world are awesome. Sometimes they are hard to come by because of various circumstances, most notably because we are all human. But, “there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). His name is Jesus. He will always be your friend because he is always faithful. If you want the friendship to grow and be the best it can be, open his word, take it to heart, and obey its precepts.
This past weekend our youth held a mid-year “reunion” for our youth camp kids from Crest Bible Church and the other churches that attend our camp. We hold a camp every year in August with several other small churches in the area to provide a week of intensive fun, games, and of course, Bible instruction. We have been doing this for 12 years now, and have seen quite a number of young people come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. Camp is an awesome time to do such a thing because the kids are away from the everyday hustle and bustle and can devote their attention to the things of God without distraction. The other great benefit of doing these things is the bonds that are created between people who share common experiences. Many of these kids have developed friendships that will last far beyond just a week at camp. During this time (High School), we often build relationships that span many years and remain throughout our lives. The next 10 years after High School sees kids make many changes. Many of them move away from the city they grew up in, and they will begin their own families and launch careers they may not even knew existed in the days of their youth. Yet friendships remain strong, especially those which are built on the timeless truths of the word of God.
Jesus gave his disciples a great charge on the night commonly known as the “Last Supper”. He told them about his coming sacrifice on the cross, and laid out the greatest love ever found in the Universe. He gave his life for those who did not deserve it, when he did not have to do it, when he could have gotten out of it, expecting nothing in return. That sacrifice ensured the salvation of multitudes who by faith would trust his death, burial and resurrection as their “ticket” to heaven. We do not earn our way into the family of God by our good works, but by his love and sacrifice.
But the next verse addresses those who have applied that sacrifice to themselves to become a Christian. Jesus gave himself willingly with no strings attached to buy us back from sin and redeem us as his friends. Once we make that decision to trust him, he does expect a level of obedience and commitment in return as his true friends. He said we are his friends if we keep his word. The continuing bond of relationship is built on our obedience to the word of God. If you had a “friend” who constantly did things to hurt you, you would question whether the friendship should continue. God is always faithful, and he will never remove your salvation or deny your place in the family of God if you are saved. But daily fellowship is broken when we deliberately violate the clear commandments of the word of God on a consistent basis. God is always our friend, but it makes it tough when we don’t return the friendship.
James 2:23 says that Abraham was called the “Friend of God”. Wouldn’t that be a great epitaph on your tombstone? The context of the passage deals with his obedience to God’s command to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. We look at that as a rather strange command, and rightfully so. It was a one time command to Abraham alone, never repeated again to anyone in the Bible or in history. The reason it was never repeated is because it is one of the clearest pictures in the Bible of the sacrifice of God’s only begotten Son, and his offering was “once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). God had no intention of seeing Abraham kill his son. He stopped him at the last minute and had him offer a ram in his place. But Abraham became the “Friend of God” because of his obedience to his word. True friends in this world are awesome. Sometimes they are hard to come by because of various circumstances, most notably because we are all human. But, “there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). His name is Jesus. He will always be your friend because he is always faithful. If you want the friendship to grow and be the best it can be, open his word, take it to heart, and obey its precepts.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Bracketology
“…the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63)
It’s that magical time of the year when we get to witness the greatest sporting spectacle in the world: the NCAA College basketball tournament. I love all kinds of sports, but this tournament tops them all. The Super Bowl is probably the best individual sporting event, but that is only one game. The World Series is awesome, but it is only two teams. I love the Masters, but it is only 4 days. The Olympics only happens every 4 years, and half the events are about as interesting as an enema (like “synchronized swimming”). The world cup is obviously the largest sporting event in the world, but soccer is dull. I mean, what’s the point of running up and down a field for 90 minutes and going home with the score 0-0? Isn’t that where you started? The greatest sporting event of the year is the NCAA tournament. Three weeks, 68 teams, 67 games, upsets, nail-biters, surprising runs, buzzer-beating shots, lots of scoring in an exciting fast-paced sport, and an eventual champion crowned. Every game matters because it is “one and done”. A team can lose three games in the World Series and still win it all. Lose in the NCAA tournament and you go home. It matters not how highly you are ranked. There is nothing like it in all of sports.
Everyone fills out their “bracket” trying to guess the winners of each game. You might just do it for fun, or maybe you enter an office pool for a chance at a little money. We always do one at home, and Vicki picks teams based on how cool the name of the University sounds. Xavier is one of her “darlings”. She knows less about basketball than a one year old in Zimbabwe does. She is not even sure the ball is round. Most years, she is ahead of me in points until the Final Four, when I can squeak by her because I happened to pick teams that at least have a fighting chance to win it all. This year the President picked Kansas to beat Ohio State in the final. It makes me want to rethink my bracket, because I picked the same final outcome. I always pick my beloved Jayhawks to win, but I need to adjust the rest of the field because I would not ever want to be in agreement with him.
Bracket pools and contests abound, yet in all the history of the tournament, there has never been a documented case of anyone getting every game right. Someone calculated the odds of this at a staggering 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 1. If every single person on earth filled out a different bracket once every minute, it would take over 2,500 years to get that many of them. Yet we still fill out the brackets every year hoping to hit it exactly right.
I have a book that has never missed one in nearly 4,000 years. God told the Israelites that he would send them a Prophet (Jesus Christ their Messiah) who would give them his words and that they should listen to what he said. They asked, “Well, how do we know who to believe?” That is the same question asked today by billions. How do we know what is right and wrong? God’s answer was, “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” (Deuteronomy 18:22) The test of prophecy and truth is 100% accuracy. If Jesus filled out a bracket, he would hit all 67 games AND be able to tell you the score of each one – something no one on earth has ever been able to do. He died for our sins and rose from the dead – again, something no one in history ever accomplished. He left us his word and promised he would return. Yet the world places more faith in the tabloids than in the Bible. Doesn’t that seem strange? Yet skeptics still outnumber believers by a wide margin.
That very same Messiah and Prophet said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) My bracket picks Jesus. His blood paid for my sins, his resurrection guarantees my redemption, and his return is certain. Trust him today.
It’s that magical time of the year when we get to witness the greatest sporting spectacle in the world: the NCAA College basketball tournament. I love all kinds of sports, but this tournament tops them all. The Super Bowl is probably the best individual sporting event, but that is only one game. The World Series is awesome, but it is only two teams. I love the Masters, but it is only 4 days. The Olympics only happens every 4 years, and half the events are about as interesting as an enema (like “synchronized swimming”). The world cup is obviously the largest sporting event in the world, but soccer is dull. I mean, what’s the point of running up and down a field for 90 minutes and going home with the score 0-0? Isn’t that where you started? The greatest sporting event of the year is the NCAA tournament. Three weeks, 68 teams, 67 games, upsets, nail-biters, surprising runs, buzzer-beating shots, lots of scoring in an exciting fast-paced sport, and an eventual champion crowned. Every game matters because it is “one and done”. A team can lose three games in the World Series and still win it all. Lose in the NCAA tournament and you go home. It matters not how highly you are ranked. There is nothing like it in all of sports.
Everyone fills out their “bracket” trying to guess the winners of each game. You might just do it for fun, or maybe you enter an office pool for a chance at a little money. We always do one at home, and Vicki picks teams based on how cool the name of the University sounds. Xavier is one of her “darlings”. She knows less about basketball than a one year old in Zimbabwe does. She is not even sure the ball is round. Most years, she is ahead of me in points until the Final Four, when I can squeak by her because I happened to pick teams that at least have a fighting chance to win it all. This year the President picked Kansas to beat Ohio State in the final. It makes me want to rethink my bracket, because I picked the same final outcome. I always pick my beloved Jayhawks to win, but I need to adjust the rest of the field because I would not ever want to be in agreement with him.
Bracket pools and contests abound, yet in all the history of the tournament, there has never been a documented case of anyone getting every game right. Someone calculated the odds of this at a staggering 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 1. If every single person on earth filled out a different bracket once every minute, it would take over 2,500 years to get that many of them. Yet we still fill out the brackets every year hoping to hit it exactly right.
I have a book that has never missed one in nearly 4,000 years. God told the Israelites that he would send them a Prophet (Jesus Christ their Messiah) who would give them his words and that they should listen to what he said. They asked, “Well, how do we know who to believe?” That is the same question asked today by billions. How do we know what is right and wrong? God’s answer was, “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” (Deuteronomy 18:22) The test of prophecy and truth is 100% accuracy. If Jesus filled out a bracket, he would hit all 67 games AND be able to tell you the score of each one – something no one on earth has ever been able to do. He died for our sins and rose from the dead – again, something no one in history ever accomplished. He left us his word and promised he would return. Yet the world places more faith in the tabloids than in the Bible. Doesn’t that seem strange? Yet skeptics still outnumber believers by a wide margin.
That very same Messiah and Prophet said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) My bracket picks Jesus. His blood paid for my sins, his resurrection guarantees my redemption, and his return is certain. Trust him today.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Self Defense
“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)
Tonight we had a visit from my good friend Gary Haskell (not Eddie’s brother), a pastor from upstate rural Pennsylvania that I have known for almost 20 years. He is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and put on a clinic for us on basic principles and techniques of self defense. Some of his teaching was on methods of defending yourself in the case of attack, focusing specifically on things we can do to get the hands of a bad guy off of us so we can run away. Other principles were based on preventative maintenance; things we can do to not get in bad situations to begin with. Unfortunately, we hear too often about victims of crime who made themselves an easier target simply by not being aware of their surroundings and doing innocent things that placed them in harm’s way. A little common sense goes a long way in these cases.
There are a lot of “bad guys” out there. We cannot live our lives in abject fear, because when we do, the enemy wins without firing a shot. We have to go out into the “big bad ugly world” daily; not paranoid, but prepared to defend ourselves against potential attack. Gary gave us a good line to remember: “The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.” In other words, the more prepared we are, the less likely we are to be a tragic news story or statistic. When we hear of a young lady abducted and abused by some filthy disgusting piece of human debris, we grieve over the tragedy and wonder what could have been done to prevent such a horrible thing. But what we see in the natural world always has a spiritual application to our lives in Jesus Christ.
We face an enemy who is relentless and wants to do anything he can to destroy our lives. He is the “roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” in I Peter 5:8. If you have ever watched the Animal Planet shows, you have seen them in action. They stalk their prey looking for the one who gets separated from the herd or shows signs of weakness. Criminals often do the same. They see someone who is unguarded in their behavior, alone in the parking lot, and not alert to potential danger. The Bible says that we are to “walk circumspectly” in Ephesians 5:15. That is a big fancy word, but easy to understand when you break it down. “Circum…” means to walk around danger, and “…spectly” means with your “spectacles” (eyes) open. Too many Christians just mosey through their spiritual lives with no regard for the wiles of the enemy. They are easy prey because they are separated from the pack – not plugged in and involved in their local church. They are targets of the roaring lion because they are weak – not built up in the word of God by daily exercise in its pages. They may be “manly men” who can weld bridges with one hand while holding them up with the other one, but one hundredth of an ounce of paper is too heavy to lift.
The story is told of a remote tribe with a “rite of passage” for their young men to pass them into manhood. They are sent out into a dangerous area where lions are known to hunt with nothing but a spear, and they have to come back with a dead lion. The young man waits until one is stalking him, then has to kill it before it kills him. He might run a little or do something to make the lion think he is prey, then at the last minute, he turns back and faces the lion, standing firm and tall, and roars back at it. The lion is confused by this action and for just a moment, stops in its tracks. It is at that precise instant when the spear does its work, and the lion is bagged.
Paul said, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:13) We have to learn to defend ourselves by standing. There is no need to attack the enemy; in fact, you are a fool to try. Just unsheathe your sword, turn and face him, and roar in his face in the power of the “Lion King”. That would be the Lion of the tribe of Judah, our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Tonight we had a visit from my good friend Gary Haskell (not Eddie’s brother), a pastor from upstate rural Pennsylvania that I have known for almost 20 years. He is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and put on a clinic for us on basic principles and techniques of self defense. Some of his teaching was on methods of defending yourself in the case of attack, focusing specifically on things we can do to get the hands of a bad guy off of us so we can run away. Other principles were based on preventative maintenance; things we can do to not get in bad situations to begin with. Unfortunately, we hear too often about victims of crime who made themselves an easier target simply by not being aware of their surroundings and doing innocent things that placed them in harm’s way. A little common sense goes a long way in these cases.
There are a lot of “bad guys” out there. We cannot live our lives in abject fear, because when we do, the enemy wins without firing a shot. We have to go out into the “big bad ugly world” daily; not paranoid, but prepared to defend ourselves against potential attack. Gary gave us a good line to remember: “The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.” In other words, the more prepared we are, the less likely we are to be a tragic news story or statistic. When we hear of a young lady abducted and abused by some filthy disgusting piece of human debris, we grieve over the tragedy and wonder what could have been done to prevent such a horrible thing. But what we see in the natural world always has a spiritual application to our lives in Jesus Christ.
We face an enemy who is relentless and wants to do anything he can to destroy our lives. He is the “roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” in I Peter 5:8. If you have ever watched the Animal Planet shows, you have seen them in action. They stalk their prey looking for the one who gets separated from the herd or shows signs of weakness. Criminals often do the same. They see someone who is unguarded in their behavior, alone in the parking lot, and not alert to potential danger. The Bible says that we are to “walk circumspectly” in Ephesians 5:15. That is a big fancy word, but easy to understand when you break it down. “Circum…” means to walk around danger, and “…spectly” means with your “spectacles” (eyes) open. Too many Christians just mosey through their spiritual lives with no regard for the wiles of the enemy. They are easy prey because they are separated from the pack – not plugged in and involved in their local church. They are targets of the roaring lion because they are weak – not built up in the word of God by daily exercise in its pages. They may be “manly men” who can weld bridges with one hand while holding them up with the other one, but one hundredth of an ounce of paper is too heavy to lift.
The story is told of a remote tribe with a “rite of passage” for their young men to pass them into manhood. They are sent out into a dangerous area where lions are known to hunt with nothing but a spear, and they have to come back with a dead lion. The young man waits until one is stalking him, then has to kill it before it kills him. He might run a little or do something to make the lion think he is prey, then at the last minute, he turns back and faces the lion, standing firm and tall, and roars back at it. The lion is confused by this action and for just a moment, stops in its tracks. It is at that precise instant when the spear does its work, and the lion is bagged.
Paul said, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:13) We have to learn to defend ourselves by standing. There is no need to attack the enemy; in fact, you are a fool to try. Just unsheathe your sword, turn and face him, and roar in his face in the power of the “Lion King”. That would be the Lion of the tribe of Judah, our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Driving In A Fog
“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (II Corinthians 4:3-4)
This past Sunday, it was foggy outside most all of the day; not just a little fog, but thick like pea soup fog. Warm temperatures combined with lots of snow on the ground made for one of those surreal days when you can’t see much in front of you as you drive down the road. It is not the worst fog I have ever seen. I was in Los Angeles once when the fog was so thick you could barely see the end of the hood of the car. I am not exaggerating. I was on one of their famous freeways when we entered one of those nightmare patches of fog that brought traffic to a standstill. They have stuff like that every once in a while in LA. When you couple the fact that you can’t see another car with the complete morons who ignore that on a freeway, it makes for a rather interesting afternoon. 100 car pile-ups are not uncommon. Between that and the fog, you can literally sit on a freeway for hours with your very life hanging in the balance.
This world we live in is in a fog much thicker than anything you could ever find in LA. The “god of this world” (Satan) has pulled the covers over the eyes of the lost so that they cannot see the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a spiritual darkness over this world thick enough to cut with a knife. If you cannot see that, try watching the news for about 30 seconds, or better yet, try talking to someone about faith in the risen Saviour. You will see a glazed over look so strong it will make you wonder if the person you are talking to even speaks your language. Jesus talked about these people in Matthew chapter 13 when he said they, “seeing see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.” Sound waves reach their eardrums. They acknowledge that the words you spoke were English. But it might as well have been Mandarin Chinese for the response you get. The fog of our enemy has created a spiritual shroud that keeps the truth of the word of God from penetrating the heart for a conversion. What is worse, just like the idiots on the freeways of Los Angeles, they barrel headlong into disaster, oblivious to the dangers of an eternal hell, taking hundreds of others with them in their carnage and ignorance.
So how do we handle such a problem? When you are driving in a fog, the number one safety tip is to turn on your lights. The reason for this is so that the oncoming traffic can see you easier. The lights are not for your benefit. They do not help you see any better, but they are a beacon to others as they head down the road. Some people make the mistake of turning on their “brights” in fog. That usually makes things worse. The fog just bounces the light back in your eyes and makes it harder for you to see. Some Christians think it is their God-ordained role to irritate as many people as they possibly can in the name of Jesus. They scream at the lost and wonder why they can’t see the truth. Our light needs to shine in wisdom. The lost world is moving in the opposite direction from the truth. With Jesus as your Saviour, you are moving toward a home in heaven, and you have the “light of the world” in your life. Others need to see it.
Paul said, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.” (Philippians 2:14-16) As we sing in our Sunday School classes, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine…” The lost world is plunging head first into an eternal nightmare and abyss called hell. Our light needs to warn them of the danger and make it easy for them to see those who are heading in the opposite direction. That light is not you and your “goodness”. You only shine when you let the true light of the Lord Jesus Christ shine through you.
This past Sunday, it was foggy outside most all of the day; not just a little fog, but thick like pea soup fog. Warm temperatures combined with lots of snow on the ground made for one of those surreal days when you can’t see much in front of you as you drive down the road. It is not the worst fog I have ever seen. I was in Los Angeles once when the fog was so thick you could barely see the end of the hood of the car. I am not exaggerating. I was on one of their famous freeways when we entered one of those nightmare patches of fog that brought traffic to a standstill. They have stuff like that every once in a while in LA. When you couple the fact that you can’t see another car with the complete morons who ignore that on a freeway, it makes for a rather interesting afternoon. 100 car pile-ups are not uncommon. Between that and the fog, you can literally sit on a freeway for hours with your very life hanging in the balance.
This world we live in is in a fog much thicker than anything you could ever find in LA. The “god of this world” (Satan) has pulled the covers over the eyes of the lost so that they cannot see the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a spiritual darkness over this world thick enough to cut with a knife. If you cannot see that, try watching the news for about 30 seconds, or better yet, try talking to someone about faith in the risen Saviour. You will see a glazed over look so strong it will make you wonder if the person you are talking to even speaks your language. Jesus talked about these people in Matthew chapter 13 when he said they, “seeing see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.” Sound waves reach their eardrums. They acknowledge that the words you spoke were English. But it might as well have been Mandarin Chinese for the response you get. The fog of our enemy has created a spiritual shroud that keeps the truth of the word of God from penetrating the heart for a conversion. What is worse, just like the idiots on the freeways of Los Angeles, they barrel headlong into disaster, oblivious to the dangers of an eternal hell, taking hundreds of others with them in their carnage and ignorance.
So how do we handle such a problem? When you are driving in a fog, the number one safety tip is to turn on your lights. The reason for this is so that the oncoming traffic can see you easier. The lights are not for your benefit. They do not help you see any better, but they are a beacon to others as they head down the road. Some people make the mistake of turning on their “brights” in fog. That usually makes things worse. The fog just bounces the light back in your eyes and makes it harder for you to see. Some Christians think it is their God-ordained role to irritate as many people as they possibly can in the name of Jesus. They scream at the lost and wonder why they can’t see the truth. Our light needs to shine in wisdom. The lost world is moving in the opposite direction from the truth. With Jesus as your Saviour, you are moving toward a home in heaven, and you have the “light of the world” in your life. Others need to see it.
Paul said, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.” (Philippians 2:14-16) As we sing in our Sunday School classes, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine…” The lost world is plunging head first into an eternal nightmare and abyss called hell. Our light needs to warn them of the danger and make it easy for them to see those who are heading in the opposite direction. That light is not you and your “goodness”. You only shine when you let the true light of the Lord Jesus Christ shine through you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)