On our way to celebrate Memorial Day with some friends, my daughter and I found our usual route blocked by a parade. I backed up and took an alternate route, to which my daughter responded, “Daddy, this is not the way!” I told her she needed to trust that we would get there, even though she didn’t know where we were at the time. As soon as we had circumvented the parade and returned to our regular route, she delightedly proclaimed, “You were right, this is the way.”
I was reminded of riding in the car with my dad when I was a boy. It was a little scary to me to look out the car windows and realize that I did not know where we were. But I trusted that my dad knew where he was going and I was always relieved and delighted when I finally recognized our surroundings.
Jesus instructs us to have childlike faith and I think I was blessed to have been spoken to by the Holy Spirit that day in the car with my daughter. God has many purposes for us and we don’t always know where He is leading us or what those purposes are, but we are assured that His purposes are good. Even when the route is strange, we can trust that He has a good destination in mind for us. Great is our delight when we finally reach that destination and great is the glory God receives for leading us there.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
A Summer Free of Fleas
Last summer, at the townhouse I rent, I pet-sat for a lively little dog named Spencer. I wasn’t sure I should agree to pet-sit, since my rental agreement specifies that I am to have no pets. But I thought that pet-sitting for Spencer for an hour or two would do no harm.
Spencer behaved himself well and immediately after he left, I was off on vacation. When I returned home from vacation about a week later, I discovered that my living room carpet was full of fleas. All I wanted to do was relax after the flight home, but I had to give those plans up in order to begin the fight against these tiny invaders.
Anyone who has experienced an infestation of fleas knows what a fight it is to get rid of them. There is not one single treatment that guarantees to eliminate all the little pests; rather there is a series of things that must be done with great care. One must first try to kill as many of the adult fleas as possible with insecticide powder or fogger. Then the area must be vacuumed to get the remaining adults. It is necessary to use a chemical called a growth inhibitor to kill the larvae, which are not affected by the insecticide and which generally can’t be vacuumed up because they cling to the fibers of the carpet. After using the growth inhibitor, one must vacuum again. By this time, any eggs, which are not affected by either the insecticide or growth inhibitor, probably will have hatched, so there will be additional adult fleas to eliminate. So the process repeats until the battle is won.
As another summer approaches, I thought about the one past and prayed I wouldn’t have to deal with fleas again this year. God helped me to realize that in order to avoid a repeat of last year’s infestation, I should stick to my rental agreement and not have any pets in the house, even ones I’m pet-sitting for even the briefest period of time.
But God also helped me to realize how my experience battling fleas is so much like our life as Christians, battling against sin. It is a never-ending struggle. After our sin is brought to light by the grace of God, we must confess it with repentant hearts. However, even then we must be aware of sin creeping back into our lives, sometimes from new and unexpected directions. As long as we have flesh, we will be vulnerable to sin that quietly waits for us to let our guard down. Of course, by honoring our Father and His commandments, we can avoid having to fight some of the toughest battles.
As Christians, we have all the right “tools” to help us in our battle. The Bible and knowledge of God’s Law are invaluable in exposing our sin, just as research exposed the weaknesses of fleas and was invaluable in defeating them. Constant, earnest prayer keeps us focused on God’s will for us, just as one must stay focused on the details regarding the life-cycles of fleas. And, most thankfully, Jesus Christ is like our insecticide, growth inhibitor and vacuum all in one, killing existing sin, keeping future sin from growing to fruition and disposing of it forever through His all-sufficient sacrifice on our behalf.
Spencer behaved himself well and immediately after he left, I was off on vacation. When I returned home from vacation about a week later, I discovered that my living room carpet was full of fleas. All I wanted to do was relax after the flight home, but I had to give those plans up in order to begin the fight against these tiny invaders.
Anyone who has experienced an infestation of fleas knows what a fight it is to get rid of them. There is not one single treatment that guarantees to eliminate all the little pests; rather there is a series of things that must be done with great care. One must first try to kill as many of the adult fleas as possible with insecticide powder or fogger. Then the area must be vacuumed to get the remaining adults. It is necessary to use a chemical called a growth inhibitor to kill the larvae, which are not affected by the insecticide and which generally can’t be vacuumed up because they cling to the fibers of the carpet. After using the growth inhibitor, one must vacuum again. By this time, any eggs, which are not affected by either the insecticide or growth inhibitor, probably will have hatched, so there will be additional adult fleas to eliminate. So the process repeats until the battle is won.
As another summer approaches, I thought about the one past and prayed I wouldn’t have to deal with fleas again this year. God helped me to realize that in order to avoid a repeat of last year’s infestation, I should stick to my rental agreement and not have any pets in the house, even ones I’m pet-sitting for even the briefest period of time.
But God also helped me to realize how my experience battling fleas is so much like our life as Christians, battling against sin. It is a never-ending struggle. After our sin is brought to light by the grace of God, we must confess it with repentant hearts. However, even then we must be aware of sin creeping back into our lives, sometimes from new and unexpected directions. As long as we have flesh, we will be vulnerable to sin that quietly waits for us to let our guard down. Of course, by honoring our Father and His commandments, we can avoid having to fight some of the toughest battles.
As Christians, we have all the right “tools” to help us in our battle. The Bible and knowledge of God’s Law are invaluable in exposing our sin, just as research exposed the weaknesses of fleas and was invaluable in defeating them. Constant, earnest prayer keeps us focused on God’s will for us, just as one must stay focused on the details regarding the life-cycles of fleas. And, most thankfully, Jesus Christ is like our insecticide, growth inhibitor and vacuum all in one, killing existing sin, keeping future sin from growing to fruition and disposing of it forever through His all-sufficient sacrifice on our behalf.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The Dawning of God's Grace
Josiah was eight years old when he began his reign as king of Israel. According to 2 Chronicles 34 Josiah “did right in the sight of the LORD.” During his reign, he sought religious reform and “walked in the ways of his father David and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.”
But Josiah didn’t have a record of God’s Law until he was 26. When he at last heard the Law of God read to him by the scribe Shaphan after it had been discovered by the high priest Hilkiah, king Josiah “tore his clothes.” He was deeply sorrowful for the ways in which Israel had strayed from God’s Law.
Like Josiah’s kingdom before the finding of the book of the Law, I think it’s possible to desire the things of the Lord- peace, justice, love sacrifice, humbleness, etc.- before we have Christ in our lives, but without Christ, the truth of those things is hidden from us. Our sinful hearts have no resistance to a world that tells us that we should be more concerned with ourselves and we seek those things only because of that self-concern. I think it’s possible to desire to be free of our sins before we have Christ in our lives, but without Christ, we do not know that sin is that which we desire to be free of.
If there is desire in us to do right before we have Christ, it is God working in us, building the foundation of Christ so that when He comes to us and we receive Him, it is all the more glorious. It is so that the freedom from enslavement to sin is all the more sweet. It is God’s way of setting us apart so that when Christ comes to us, the treasure we receive is that much more satisfying because it affirms that which God has been putting in our hearts- that which the world has been trying to convince us to deny. It is His blessing of allowing us to see that He’s been with us for a long time. We should “tear our clothes” when we realize how we’ve been ignoring Him and all the ways in which we’ve strayed. But we should also be overjoyed to see His grace come upon us like the dawn. In that joy, we should then let that light show fully for all to see.
But Josiah didn’t have a record of God’s Law until he was 26. When he at last heard the Law of God read to him by the scribe Shaphan after it had been discovered by the high priest Hilkiah, king Josiah “tore his clothes.” He was deeply sorrowful for the ways in which Israel had strayed from God’s Law.
Like Josiah’s kingdom before the finding of the book of the Law, I think it’s possible to desire the things of the Lord- peace, justice, love sacrifice, humbleness, etc.- before we have Christ in our lives, but without Christ, the truth of those things is hidden from us. Our sinful hearts have no resistance to a world that tells us that we should be more concerned with ourselves and we seek those things only because of that self-concern. I think it’s possible to desire to be free of our sins before we have Christ in our lives, but without Christ, we do not know that sin is that which we desire to be free of.
If there is desire in us to do right before we have Christ, it is God working in us, building the foundation of Christ so that when He comes to us and we receive Him, it is all the more glorious. It is so that the freedom from enslavement to sin is all the more sweet. It is God’s way of setting us apart so that when Christ comes to us, the treasure we receive is that much more satisfying because it affirms that which God has been putting in our hearts- that which the world has been trying to convince us to deny. It is His blessing of allowing us to see that He’s been with us for a long time. We should “tear our clothes” when we realize how we’ve been ignoring Him and all the ways in which we’ve strayed. But we should also be overjoyed to see His grace come upon us like the dawn. In that joy, we should then let that light show fully for all to see.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
No Hiding From Judgment
Ahab, king of Israel, was killed in battle by an arrow that found its way between the sections of his armor. This was, of course, in the days when great leaders led their troops into battle and fought bravely alongside them. But Ahab did not die leading his troops into battle or fighting bravely.
Ahab went into battle against the nation of Syria alongside his ally, Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. Witnesses to the battle, however, would have reported to have seen only Ahab fighting alongside his warriors. It was not that Jehoshaphat was cowardly and had ducked out of the battle or that he was weak and had been killed early on. In fact, when Ahab first asked Jehoshaphat to go with him into battle, Jehoshaphat answered, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” In other words, he was more than ready to aid the king of Israel in this venture.
One would have witnessed only Ahab’s presence and not Jehoshaphat’s on the battlefield because the king of Israel had persuaded Jehoshaphat to impersonate him. Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, had his sights set on Ahab and Ahab knew it, so he asked Jehoshaphat to disguise himself to draw off the enemy attackers. Meanwhile, Ahab had disguised himself as a common warrior.
But God also had His sights set on Ahab. Ahab was an evil king: Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. (1 Kings 16:30). And even though Ben-Hadad was fooled by Ahab’s disguise, God wasn’t. That arrow that killed him was not the arrow of a hero of the Syrian forces who took aim at his nation’s greatest enemy and slew him. It was the arrow of an unnamed Syrian archer shot at who he probably thought was just another enemy soldier, if he was even thinking of who his target was at all.
Covering our sin, disguising it the way Ahab disguised himself, trying to avoid God’s judgment the way Ahab tried to avoid it, is futile. Maybe Ahab was completely unaware that his judgment would come regardless of how hard he tried to escape it. But we know better. We know that through Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven. But we must confess our sins with hearts that are truly repentant. We cannot be cleansed of sin we disguise or cling to. There is no hiding from judgment for our sins. In Christ, thankfully, we do not need to hide from it.
Ahab went into battle against the nation of Syria alongside his ally, Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. Witnesses to the battle, however, would have reported to have seen only Ahab fighting alongside his warriors. It was not that Jehoshaphat was cowardly and had ducked out of the battle or that he was weak and had been killed early on. In fact, when Ahab first asked Jehoshaphat to go with him into battle, Jehoshaphat answered, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” In other words, he was more than ready to aid the king of Israel in this venture.
One would have witnessed only Ahab’s presence and not Jehoshaphat’s on the battlefield because the king of Israel had persuaded Jehoshaphat to impersonate him. Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, had his sights set on Ahab and Ahab knew it, so he asked Jehoshaphat to disguise himself to draw off the enemy attackers. Meanwhile, Ahab had disguised himself as a common warrior.
But God also had His sights set on Ahab. Ahab was an evil king: Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. (1 Kings 16:30). And even though Ben-Hadad was fooled by Ahab’s disguise, God wasn’t. That arrow that killed him was not the arrow of a hero of the Syrian forces who took aim at his nation’s greatest enemy and slew him. It was the arrow of an unnamed Syrian archer shot at who he probably thought was just another enemy soldier, if he was even thinking of who his target was at all.
Covering our sin, disguising it the way Ahab disguised himself, trying to avoid God’s judgment the way Ahab tried to avoid it, is futile. Maybe Ahab was completely unaware that his judgment would come regardless of how hard he tried to escape it. But we know better. We know that through Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven. But we must confess our sins with hearts that are truly repentant. We cannot be cleansed of sin we disguise or cling to. There is no hiding from judgment for our sins. In Christ, thankfully, we do not need to hide from it.
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