To look at me now, you would probably never guess that there was a time in my personal history when I was steadfastly opposed to consuming most types of food, especially vegetables that were good for me. Alas, I have now arrived at a season of life where I am a friend to almost every type of edible thing, although they are not so friendly to me! This includes gaining an affinity to brussel sprouts, broccoli, and turnips. I have not always liked turnips. As a young boy I was encouraged (that's code word for commanded) to eat them. I could endure the green leafy part but the turnip roots were another thing entirely. Although I was informed about their high vitamin content I was not enthused about them at all. They tasted very bitter to me. I did not believe that I needed to have turnip roots in my diet and the quality of my growth would not suffer if I separated myself from them. Turnips were a bitter root experience for me. It wouldn't be the last time I would find that a bitter root was something I would strive to avoid.
Unwanted plants can spring up in a cultivated garden and often the only way to keep them from overwhelming and crowding out the good things are to pull them up by the roots. But something called Roundup works pretty as well. It's the brand name of a herbicide that is pretty effective. Spray it on weeds and for a couple of days afterward, you may think it has had no effect. But suddenly, the plant will begin to wilt and become discolored as it dies. It won't matter what you feed the plant after an application of roundup. It will not be revived. Death has gone all the way down to the root.
Spiritually speaking, the writer of the Book of Hebrews had some wise counsel about bitter roots. I believe the advice was given to religious people and is relevant for us in our day as well. Early Christians were advised that they were to be on guard for a certain kind of growth in their midst would only yield big trouble. A growing root of bitterness would spoil the growth of many.
Have you ever been blessed by God in the things that you do? There is nothing quite like it. In those times it seems that everywhere you look spiritual fruit seems to be growing. Then suddenly, much like the dramatic death of weeds after a shot of roundup, the fruit begins to wither in your life. In times like these, you begin to wonder what's wrong. You begin to review your relationships and your life before God to discover that somewhere along the way, you have begun to harbor feelings of unforgiveness in your heart. The unforgiveness begins to feed a root of bitterness. Things begin to wither and die. Ever been through that kind of trial? Ever wonder where the fruit has gone?
A clear understanding of the grace of God does not provide environments for bitterness to grow. Once we know that grace is not earned, we understand that we are not entitled to it either. When we are more aware of God's grace in our life, we are more willing to extend that to others. Applications of grace retards the growth of bitterness. Keeping grace growing helps to crowd out roots of bitterness. Bitterness needs room in the heart to grow. It flourishes in graceless hearts. Bitterness will spring up when envy, jealousy, and resentment exist. Roots of bitterness grow in graceless gardens. A life lived apart from the grace of God will yield bitterness. Bitter lives beget bitter lives. Bitter roots grow bitter fruit.
Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; (Hebrews 12:14-15)
We must actively see to it that bitter roots are spotted and removed. A shot of spiritual roundup can go to the root. A generous and repetitive application of forgiveness and grace is a death sentence to bitter roots and bitter fruit. Interesting that the glory of God was once seen in a fruitful garden and the desire to want something more than He had provided resulted in this broken and bitter world. But God is intent on restoration. God is glorified when we forgive those who have wounded us. God is glorified when bitterness is identified and we agree with Him that this attitude dishonors Him. God is glorified when we ask forgiveness for being resentful, angry, and envious and allow the Spirit of God to have His way in renewing our lives.
Always monitor your spiritual garden for the bitter root. There is no substitute for pulling the weed up. Roundup is good, but sometimes we need to get our hands around the weed of bitterness. Pull it up. Bring it to God. Ask His forgiveness of the unforgiving attitude.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
The Birds and The Bees
I've watched an ongoing conflict take place lately around the hummingbird feeder. The lament in the past few months about the absence of an abundance of honey bees in various parts of the world has a new meaning for me. I think I've found what the world's looking for. These missing bees are congregating around the hummingbird feeder. At least a large number of them. And it's driving the hummingbirds crazy. For a couple of years now, the population of hummingbirds in my back yard seems to have flourished. But this year there has been more bees than birds. I don't know how to get rid of them. The honey bees have responded to the colored sweetened water like it was the nectar that they so desperately love. And they usually cover the openings to such an extent that the hummingbirds have no place to feed. But there has also been another phenomenon to observe. Sometimes it only takes one bee around the feeder to disrupt the hummingbird's plan. The hummingbird seems to be ill at ease while the bee is close by. The bee's mere presence is often enough to make the hummingbird leave empty and disappointed.
When I was young, it was a popular thing to tell children about "the birds and the bees". The information that was communicated had nothing to do with feathered friends or buzzing bees but was indeed about nature. It was about the nature of human sexuality. Often when the session was completed, the children left with more unanswered questions and the adults left with a sense of incomplete and frustrated instruction. We never seemed to do an adequate job of sex education. The homes began to hush about it. And the church began to push the mute button. It was something we just didn't talk about until it was too late. So we left it to the cultural institutions. The schools began to teach it. And the streets began to instruct us. I wish I could turn back the clock a generation or two just to get this insight out for all to see. So here's my latest leftover thought:
The hummingbirds and the bees are attracted to the colored sugar water which appears to be nectar. Nectar is something good for both of them and was created naturally for the good of the rest of creation. So the birds and the bees are in conflict over something that is not what it seems. They would be better off searching for the real thing around real flowers but the feeder makes it too easy for them and it is so alluring. It seems we humans have intervened once more with our own design and haven't thought it through so well. So it is with society's teaching about sexual things. The media, our prominent cultural institution, does a pretty good job of promoting that which is not the real thing when it comes to the allure and accessibility and satisfaction of our sexual desires. In contrast, the Creator God has designed in His mind and written in His plan the good and right way to enjoy a sexual relationship between two human beings. The boundaries of marriage between a man and a woman is His naturally designed place to partake of this God-given pleasure. When our society turns from a trustworthy plan and design in favor of something that looks good and seems right to the mind of man, there is emptiness, disappointment, and death at the end of this direction. We have made our own design the way we think things ought to be. And we suffer as a people because of it. I think I understand the anxiety of the hummingbird as he shares the space at the feeder with the lone honey bee. Even though the tiny hummingbird dwarfs the bee, the bird knows that the bee has a stinger. That stinger could be death to him. Our so-called freedom to experience and experiment with sexual relationships comes with a price we are not prepared to pay. Our sexual freedom, the prize of my generation's sexual revolution, has deceived us. It is not what it seemed. It is no prize at all. It's a penalty and the price for our ignorance and rebellion. We are only as free as God makes us. Free love is when God sets us free to love His way.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
When I was young, it was a popular thing to tell children about "the birds and the bees". The information that was communicated had nothing to do with feathered friends or buzzing bees but was indeed about nature. It was about the nature of human sexuality. Often when the session was completed, the children left with more unanswered questions and the adults left with a sense of incomplete and frustrated instruction. We never seemed to do an adequate job of sex education. The homes began to hush about it. And the church began to push the mute button. It was something we just didn't talk about until it was too late. So we left it to the cultural institutions. The schools began to teach it. And the streets began to instruct us. I wish I could turn back the clock a generation or two just to get this insight out for all to see. So here's my latest leftover thought:
The hummingbirds and the bees are attracted to the colored sugar water which appears to be nectar. Nectar is something good for both of them and was created naturally for the good of the rest of creation. So the birds and the bees are in conflict over something that is not what it seems. They would be better off searching for the real thing around real flowers but the feeder makes it too easy for them and it is so alluring. It seems we humans have intervened once more with our own design and haven't thought it through so well. So it is with society's teaching about sexual things. The media, our prominent cultural institution, does a pretty good job of promoting that which is not the real thing when it comes to the allure and accessibility and satisfaction of our sexual desires. In contrast, the Creator God has designed in His mind and written in His plan the good and right way to enjoy a sexual relationship between two human beings. The boundaries of marriage between a man and a woman is His naturally designed place to partake of this God-given pleasure. When our society turns from a trustworthy plan and design in favor of something that looks good and seems right to the mind of man, there is emptiness, disappointment, and death at the end of this direction. We have made our own design the way we think things ought to be. And we suffer as a people because of it. I think I understand the anxiety of the hummingbird as he shares the space at the feeder with the lone honey bee. Even though the tiny hummingbird dwarfs the bee, the bird knows that the bee has a stinger. That stinger could be death to him. Our so-called freedom to experience and experiment with sexual relationships comes with a price we are not prepared to pay. Our sexual freedom, the prize of my generation's sexual revolution, has deceived us. It is not what it seemed. It is no prize at all. It's a penalty and the price for our ignorance and rebellion. We are only as free as God makes us. Free love is when God sets us free to love His way.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Extra, Extra, Read All About It
Back in the day, (in my day,..you know, the age of antiquity), young newspaper boys in the big cities would yell out the message, "Extra, extra, read all about it!" and hold up the newspaper so people could see the headlines in large print. Their announcement was designed to draw attention to the news of the day and to create in the hearers a desire to read more of the news. Not much different today is how we hear small sound bites of news on the TV designed to grab our attention. Usually in the middle of commercial breaks we hear these spoken headlines that end with the promise of More at 11! Yesterday's newspapers would print an additional copy of the daily news so a late-breaking story could get more attention. Thus the name extra, or additional copy. Lately I have been pondering the meaning of these two words. I have begun to think about them at fast food drive-thrus. Let's explore this leftover thought today. I have to get this one out of my head.
At one of my favorite places to eat, I can ask for an additional honey mustard sauce to be added to my order. This particular chain has several restaurants in my area. They have their own brand of dipping sauce and without fail, at every one of these locations, they offer to replace their sauce with the honey mustard. I know they are only trying to save me money. You have to pay 25 cents for each additional sauce. But it seems like they never hear the word additional or heed its meaning. I usually have to explain that I want both, their own special sauce and the honey mustard. But lately, I think I've gotten a breakthrough. Instead of saying the word additional at the drive thru speaker, I have begun to use the word extra. I've tried it at two different locations. So far, we have communicated exceptionally well. They add the honey mustard, I pay 'em the quarter and it is almost like heaven...almost...but not quite. Sorry...that experience is not even close to heaven.
If you ask someone if they would like to go to heaven, most people will say yes. That is, if they believe there's a heaven. And even if some don't, some will hedge their bets and opt for heaven just in case it might be a reality. Now if heaven is real, there may be an alternative location some folks would reason. And here's where I really want to go with today's leftover thought. Most people want to go to heaven. It gets interesting when they tell you why. Some will say that they would rather go to heaven than hell. I can see the wisdom in that. Then there are those that say they want to go to heaven to see their loved ones. Now they have to make assumptions that the loved ones will be there when they get there...which is another assumption altogether! Some want to go where there is no pain and suffering. Who wouldn't want that? Some are waiting to occupy a mansion that they say will be given title to. Some want to claim their rewards for the good lives they have lived while on earth. Then there are those who think their pets who died will be there. All these things make good theological discussions. But occasionally you will hear someone say they want to go to heaven to be with their God. I think these are folks who have had a significant breakthrough in their understanding of life and death and life after death. They want to be with their God, the One who has been with them. You see, folks may not always understand things that are additional. Additional things are things that are added. But extra is extra! We understand extra. Extra says that I am receiving more than I thought I would. More than I earned. More than I expected. The extra is what God has done to get me to heaven. It is not what I have done. Extra is when God grants more to us when we deserve less. Extra is what grace is all about. Extra is heaven when hell is deserved. Being in Heaven with God is extra enough. But when other things are added in, it is more than extra. God has made a way for me to spend eternity with Him. He has done through Jesus what we cannot do for ourselves. That is EXTRA, EXTRA good news!!!
Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. (Eph 3:20-21)
Extra, Extra, Read All About It. Take the time, some extra time today to read in the Bible about what God has done and what God is doing and what God will do. Heaven is all about marvelling at the awesome work of an awesome God forever and ever. Heaven is more about a Person than a place. And anything else that heaven may be is over-the-top and out-of-this world extra.
At one of my favorite places to eat, I can ask for an additional honey mustard sauce to be added to my order. This particular chain has several restaurants in my area. They have their own brand of dipping sauce and without fail, at every one of these locations, they offer to replace their sauce with the honey mustard. I know they are only trying to save me money. You have to pay 25 cents for each additional sauce. But it seems like they never hear the word additional or heed its meaning. I usually have to explain that I want both, their own special sauce and the honey mustard. But lately, I think I've gotten a breakthrough. Instead of saying the word additional at the drive thru speaker, I have begun to use the word extra. I've tried it at two different locations. So far, we have communicated exceptionally well. They add the honey mustard, I pay 'em the quarter and it is almost like heaven...almost...but not quite. Sorry...that experience is not even close to heaven.
If you ask someone if they would like to go to heaven, most people will say yes. That is, if they believe there's a heaven. And even if some don't, some will hedge their bets and opt for heaven just in case it might be a reality. Now if heaven is real, there may be an alternative location some folks would reason. And here's where I really want to go with today's leftover thought. Most people want to go to heaven. It gets interesting when they tell you why. Some will say that they would rather go to heaven than hell. I can see the wisdom in that. Then there are those that say they want to go to heaven to see their loved ones. Now they have to make assumptions that the loved ones will be there when they get there...which is another assumption altogether! Some want to go where there is no pain and suffering. Who wouldn't want that? Some are waiting to occupy a mansion that they say will be given title to. Some want to claim their rewards for the good lives they have lived while on earth. Then there are those who think their pets who died will be there. All these things make good theological discussions. But occasionally you will hear someone say they want to go to heaven to be with their God. I think these are folks who have had a significant breakthrough in their understanding of life and death and life after death. They want to be with their God, the One who has been with them. You see, folks may not always understand things that are additional. Additional things are things that are added. But extra is extra! We understand extra. Extra says that I am receiving more than I thought I would. More than I earned. More than I expected. The extra is what God has done to get me to heaven. It is not what I have done. Extra is when God grants more to us when we deserve less. Extra is what grace is all about. Extra is heaven when hell is deserved. Being in Heaven with God is extra enough. But when other things are added in, it is more than extra. God has made a way for me to spend eternity with Him. He has done through Jesus what we cannot do for ourselves. That is EXTRA, EXTRA good news!!!
Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. (Eph 3:20-21)
Extra, Extra, Read All About It. Take the time, some extra time today to read in the Bible about what God has done and what God is doing and what God will do. Heaven is all about marvelling at the awesome work of an awesome God forever and ever. Heaven is more about a Person than a place. And anything else that heaven may be is over-the-top and out-of-this world extra.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Life's Puzzle
Lately I've found a great mental diversion in putting together on-line jigsaw puzzles. I was never one that spent a lot of time putting together one of those 500 or 1,000 piece puzzles. You need a lot of patience to master a puzzle. It was too frustrating for me because I always seemed to misplace a piece or two that was critical at the end stages. Just as I could see the picture finally come together, sometimes the missing pieces became the focus of the search and changed the purpose. No longer was the goal to finish the picture. Being unable to find the pieces changed it all.
My grandchildren help me with this new endeavor. On the computer, we don't have to keep up with the pieces. We drag them around with the mouse on the laptop and assemble the straight-edged pieces to frame up the picture that the puzzle will reveal. This is the easy part. Then we labor over the rest. The children (OK, and me included) often take a piece that we want to put into the puzzle but it just doesn't fit. Around and around we go inside the framed puzzle until I finally say, "I guess the puzzle's not quite ready for this piece." So we work as we wait until more of the puzzle comes together. And then we see it. We see the place for the piece. Everything fits. It all comes together.
Life is so much like a jigsaw puzzle. We work at getting our life framed up, considering our choices and selecting our options. We identify our borders, sometimes by trial and error, and we live out our existence within the boundaries. Some of life makes a lot of sense as the puzzle fits together very nicely. Then some things happen that do not fit within our frame. Our lives can be impacted with such grievous losses or we can be wounded so wickedly that the focus changes to the piece that doesn't fit the puzzle. It is time-consuming and even paralyzing. Whether it is disease or death or divorce or any of many life-altering tragedies, as we move through the sorrow of it all, we wonder what we will do with this piece that has our attention. The puzzle does not seem ready for the piece. Life does not seem ready for the loss. This painful piece does not fit.
In my younger days, I knew someone who was proficient at putting puzzles together and had this uncanny ability to "see" the places where the pieces fit before the rest of us could. We often called this person "Puzzle Master". Puzzles did not seem so challenging to the Puzzle Master.
When we don't understand the timing of events in our life and are bewildered at how it's all going to come together, we can take great comfort that we have Someone who knows what the completed picture will look like.
He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.
(Ecclesiastes 3:11)
God is an excellent Puzzle Master. Surrender that piece that doesn't fit or ask Him to help you find pieces that are missing. Trust me, the Lord can be trusted with the picture. He designed it. And it will come together in time.
My grandchildren help me with this new endeavor. On the computer, we don't have to keep up with the pieces. We drag them around with the mouse on the laptop and assemble the straight-edged pieces to frame up the picture that the puzzle will reveal. This is the easy part. Then we labor over the rest. The children (OK, and me included) often take a piece that we want to put into the puzzle but it just doesn't fit. Around and around we go inside the framed puzzle until I finally say, "I guess the puzzle's not quite ready for this piece." So we work as we wait until more of the puzzle comes together. And then we see it. We see the place for the piece. Everything fits. It all comes together.
Life is so much like a jigsaw puzzle. We work at getting our life framed up, considering our choices and selecting our options. We identify our borders, sometimes by trial and error, and we live out our existence within the boundaries. Some of life makes a lot of sense as the puzzle fits together very nicely. Then some things happen that do not fit within our frame. Our lives can be impacted with such grievous losses or we can be wounded so wickedly that the focus changes to the piece that doesn't fit the puzzle. It is time-consuming and even paralyzing. Whether it is disease or death or divorce or any of many life-altering tragedies, as we move through the sorrow of it all, we wonder what we will do with this piece that has our attention. The puzzle does not seem ready for the piece. Life does not seem ready for the loss. This painful piece does not fit.
In my younger days, I knew someone who was proficient at putting puzzles together and had this uncanny ability to "see" the places where the pieces fit before the rest of us could. We often called this person "Puzzle Master". Puzzles did not seem so challenging to the Puzzle Master.
When we don't understand the timing of events in our life and are bewildered at how it's all going to come together, we can take great comfort that we have Someone who knows what the completed picture will look like.
He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.
(Ecclesiastes 3:11)
God is an excellent Puzzle Master. Surrender that piece that doesn't fit or ask Him to help you find pieces that are missing. Trust me, the Lord can be trusted with the picture. He designed it. And it will come together in time.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
My Best Effort?
My family recently undertook a project to tie-dye some T-shirts. With the material and the shirts there was a video to show us how to design them. I was a passive participant in all of this. I watched the video. But I didn't choose one of these unique designs. The video also encouraged someone to use their creative imagination. But to have a bulls eye, or a spiral, or a pleated design, it seemed like it would take a lot of work. More than I wanted to invest. And if you know me well, you would agree that I am less than creative in my imagination. There were shirts to pre-soak in some solution... and rubber bands to tie at strategic points... and colors to mix... and shirts to soak overnight... and washing and drying them the next day...Whew!! It was enough to wear me down!! So I took the easy way out. I used the excuse that colors didn't matter much to a color blind man and tied four knots in the shirt itself and told my granddaughters to decorate the shirts any way they liked. I promised that it would be the most attractive. The next day, the shirts of the rest of the family looked good enough to wear in public. But mine was only suitable for pajama wear!! I tried to justify the lackluster appearance to my oldest granddaughter. I told her that I did the best I could. This nine year old responded with some timeless wisdom. "Sometimes, people say they do the best they can when they really do the best they want to do," she said. Ouch!! I find it discomforting to have someone preach to the preacher. It reminds me that striving for excellence is something that pleases God.
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. (Colossians 3:17)
Now does this mean that God frowns upon my sorry excuse for a tie-dyed T-shirt? I don't think He worries about that too much. But I do think that God is concerned when I say I do my best and it is evident that I didn't give it my best effort. Someone is always watching. It is not the best example that I set for my granddaughters. They need to see a man that strives for excellence because He has a God with an excellent name. Someone is also watching when other people never see us. Our lives are lived before the all-seeing eye of a most excellent God. It's amazing that a person can learn in nine years what it takes another one over fifty years to forget. Some times we only do what we really want to do. I'm glad God didn't stop halfway to the cross.
Blessings to you,
Sam
Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. (Colossians 3:17)
Now does this mean that God frowns upon my sorry excuse for a tie-dyed T-shirt? I don't think He worries about that too much. But I do think that God is concerned when I say I do my best and it is evident that I didn't give it my best effort. Someone is always watching. It is not the best example that I set for my granddaughters. They need to see a man that strives for excellence because He has a God with an excellent name. Someone is also watching when other people never see us. Our lives are lived before the all-seeing eye of a most excellent God. It's amazing that a person can learn in nine years what it takes another one over fifty years to forget. Some times we only do what we really want to do. I'm glad God didn't stop halfway to the cross.
Blessings to you,
Sam
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Looking Good, Seeing Clearly
I was reminded lately of an experience in an optical shop a few years ago. After an eye examination, I took the lens prescription to a local business that specialized in offering a large variety of eyeglass styles and boasted of custom fitting each customer. They took a lot of time measuring the distances between my different facial features, and promised to offer me the perfect fit of the frames that I had chosen for the lenses. When I returned to pick them up after a few days, I sat in a chair while the technician observed how the glasses fit my face.
"How do they feel?" the young man asked.
"They feel fine," I said, "But I can't see through them."
"Great!" he exclaimed. "And they look so good on you!"
"But I can't see through them," I responded.
"But they look good," he maintained.
"But I can't see," I repeated. It's like he can't hear me, I thought. Maybe he's a deaf man in an optical shop. I wondered if hearing and seeing are connected. Finally, I began to break through to this guy. Evidently, someone had misread the lens prescription. He seemed heartbroken as he sighed and told me that they would have to send them back. "And they really looked good on you," was the last thing I heard him say.
The memory of this experience was triggered after my recent eye surgery. A lens implant from a cataract surgery ten years ago had slipped out of place, causing me to see double images in one eye. I am so glad that the surgeon wasn't like the optical shop technician. They seemed to have radically different understandings of the ultimate purpose of their service. The technician focused on how my eyeglasses "looked" and not how well I saw. The surgeon wanted to correct my vision. I have learned that it's far more important to see clearly than to look good. God wants me to see clearly so that He looks good. Jesus had something similar to say to His disciples. He told them stories that helped people gain a greater understanding of God and His purposes. Some of the people didn't get it. They were more concerned with looking good than with seeing clearly. But for the ones who heard the word of God...their vision was corrected.
"But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it." (Matthew 13:16-17)
Hearing and seeing are connected. Ponder awhile on this leftover thought: Instead of asking myself, How do I look?, focus on the question, What do I see? The world looks radically different through the lens of God's word. If anyone has ears to hear...
Blessings to you,
Sam
"How do they feel?" the young man asked.
"They feel fine," I said, "But I can't see through them."
"Great!" he exclaimed. "And they look so good on you!"
"But I can't see through them," I responded.
"But they look good," he maintained.
"But I can't see," I repeated. It's like he can't hear me, I thought. Maybe he's a deaf man in an optical shop. I wondered if hearing and seeing are connected. Finally, I began to break through to this guy. Evidently, someone had misread the lens prescription. He seemed heartbroken as he sighed and told me that they would have to send them back. "And they really looked good on you," was the last thing I heard him say.
The memory of this experience was triggered after my recent eye surgery. A lens implant from a cataract surgery ten years ago had slipped out of place, causing me to see double images in one eye. I am so glad that the surgeon wasn't like the optical shop technician. They seemed to have radically different understandings of the ultimate purpose of their service. The technician focused on how my eyeglasses "looked" and not how well I saw. The surgeon wanted to correct my vision. I have learned that it's far more important to see clearly than to look good. God wants me to see clearly so that He looks good. Jesus had something similar to say to His disciples. He told them stories that helped people gain a greater understanding of God and His purposes. Some of the people didn't get it. They were more concerned with looking good than with seeing clearly. But for the ones who heard the word of God...their vision was corrected.
"But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it." (Matthew 13:16-17)
Hearing and seeing are connected. Ponder awhile on this leftover thought: Instead of asking myself, How do I look?, focus on the question, What do I see? The world looks radically different through the lens of God's word. If anyone has ears to hear...
Blessings to you,
Sam
Saturday, June 7, 2008
What's He Looking For?
One morning this week I had an opportunity to share spiritual truth with my granddaughters. While we were all sitting together in the living room, I was explaining that God was pleased when He found a broken and contrite heart within us. This led into the discussion about the meaning of the word contrite. I explained that it means crushed...more than just broken...broken beyond brokenness. In the middle of our informal lesson, helping them think through the concept of a broken and contrite heart as opposed to an arrogant and proud one, my daughter began to examine the hair and scalp of her daughters' heads. "Let me look at your head," she said to each one. They sat very still for this process, as their mother parted the hairs on their heads and looked closely at the scalp. "What are you looking for?" said one of the children. "This is the season for ticks and I'm looking to see if any of them have gotten into your hair," her mother said. All this went on while our spiritual discussion continued. I told them how sometimes the troubling experiences of life's circumstances could break our hearts. And in this time of brokenness, God is looking for contrite hearts. He is looking for those whose hearts are broken beyond brokenness. He is looking to help those who cannot find anyone else to help. It is in these times that God cares for us in ways that only He can. I thought the informal session went well. Some of God's greatest truths are learned in this way. So, a few minutes later, I decided to review. "OK, girls, tell me," I said. "What is it that God is looking for?" "TICKS!" said the youngest. Well, so much for the spiritual lesson, I thought. Until God began to teach me. A tick, you see, is a parasite. Left unnoticed and unchecked, a tick can do much damage. It can suck the lifeblood and vitality from us and leave us more broken than broke. So God is looking for much more than the broken and contrite heart. He not only comes to us in our brokenness, He comes looking for the source of the pain. He comes to destroy the parasitic infection within us, enabling us to overcome the affliction of sin's destruction. He comes to help us in areas that no one else can. Here's the leftover thought for today: The devil is like a tick. God is looking into our lives, parting the numbered hairs on our head, so to speak, looking for evidence of sin's attachment and the unauthorized parasitic usurping of a life that belongs to Him. The devil is a thief, who comes like a tick, stealing life from God's people. Jesus said, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10) And furthermore, The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8) So what is God looking for? Jesus comes to the heart that is broker than broke, bringing life that is larger than life. He is a spiritual tick's worst nightmare. And He's my Savior.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)