The Value of Homework

I am about to show, once again, how much of a nerd I really am.  Ready?  Here goes…  I love school!  I really do!  College was one of the greatest times in my life, and it wasn’t all because of the social aspect.  I loved class (well, most of them) as well!  Being able to learn about so many different aspects of life was, and still is, fascinating.  One of the best things about school, in my opinion, is that when you go and actively participate, you know exactly what you are getting.  You are there to be taught.  You are there to learn.  Therefore, you can focus entirely on the subject at hand, and what you put into it, is what you will get out of it.  If you put forth the effort you will reap the benefits of knowledge to be gained. 

I bring this up because here recently I taught a lesson on how we have to learn to live this new life that God has given us.  It isn’t something that automatically happens the moment we are granted salvation.  No one comes up out of the baptismal waters automatically living a Christ-like life.  No, it is something we learn.  And how we learn it is of great importance.  David speaks over and over again in the psalms of how he loves to meditate on the word and law of God.  How the law of God guides him, and gives him joy.  Paul says to his own trainee (Timothy) to “take hold of the Eternal Life to which you were called…”  Take hold of it.  Pursue it.  It’s not just the Eternal Life which we were granted.  No, it’s the Eternal Life to which we were called!  And as with all callings, we have a choice of whether or not to fulfill it.  It takes effort, and work.  We must learn what it is to live this Eternal Life.  We must seek out how God would have us follow Him.  And it’s constant!  There will never be a point where we reach the pinnacle of this knowledge.  In essence, we will never graduate!  But that doesn’t matter, because it’s the learning, and the journey that brings us joy.  It’s in the seeking that we find more than we ever could have dreamed of. 

The question then is this...  Are you learning?  When was the last time you sat down to truly “study” the word?  I know that many of us may do “bible studies” and even have a devotional that we go through.  But when was the last time you truly set aside time to meditate on God’s word?  To dig into His mysteries, seeking to learn more about Him and how you, as his child, can serve Him.  We don’t automatically have that knowledge.  We have to learn it!  And it doesn’t all come from the “classroom”.  Compared to the time I spend in class, there were hours of time doing “homework” that furthered my knowledge of the subject I was studying.  If you’re depending solely on the time you spend in church to further your knowledge of how to live this new life, then you are missing the whole point of having this relationship with God and walking beside Him in this new life.  Church may be the classroom where you go, understanding what you will be focusing on, but if you do not take the personal time to invest and further your own knowledge, then when you get to class, you will sadly be way behind where you could, and should be.

Know Peace

Currently Listening Southern Hospitality By Disciple see related

So, as we all know, hunting season is fast approaching.  Now, don’t worry, I’m not going to talk about how hunting shouldn’t interfere with God, or your devotion to God.  Obviously, that’s the case, but it is also between you and God.  No, I want to tell a story about a hunter and his success, or lack of it.

Our story begins in the early years of this hunter's life.  He has always wanted to be a hunter and so one day, he picks up his gun and sets out to hunt.  He is not a picky hunter, and our hunter is amazingly free from hunting laws that only allow him to hunt certain creatures at certain times of the year.  He can hunt everything year round.  So, the first weekend he sets off, and bags 3 rabbits, 5 squirrels and a raccoon.  The next weekend he goes out and gets 6 more rabbits, 4 squirrels, and a young buck.  The following weekend he has a great time and shoots 7 rabbits, 10 squirrels, a duck, and a hog.

Life goes on in much the same way for our hunter.  Most weekends he is able to hunt plenty of rabbits and squirrels and every now and then he is able to kill another animal.  This goes on for some time and before long the hunter begins to notice a change in the wildlife around him.  He is no longer able to find many rabbits or squirrels.  There is plenty of other wildlife around him, but he still is only able to bring down maybe 1 of them per week.  You see, our hunter has a problem.  He only uses a .22 to hunt (a small rifle for those who don’t know).  He tries really hard, but the fact is that only certain animals are going to be brought down when you use that kind of gun.  Sure, every now and then he’ll get lucky and might land a deer or a hog, but he’ll almost never hit a any kind of bird, and when he does, it will be 1 at a time…  This is an issue.  And it becomes more so when the animals that he can hunt well with a .22 become scarce.  Now what is he going to do? 

The church has a similar problem…  If you look at Baptist churches across our country, you would be hard pressed to find many differences that are not cosmetic.  Sure, different churches have differences in their style of music, order of worship, etc.  But as far as the structure of the church goes, how it functions, there just aren’t many differences to be found.  We evangelize the same way, we disciple (or don’t disciple) the same way, we have the set-up of one guy standing on a stage talking to everyone else seated in pews/chairs.  Here’s the problem.  People who are going to come to Christ in this fashion have become scarce.  Do you realize that as far as new believers go, there is a less than 5% growth in our churches?  Less than 5% per year!  Think about that for a second.  Is that good?  Is it enough?  Are we satisfied with that? 

Our hunter eventually had to make a choice.  He could either learn to use other guns, and then hunt the wildlife that was around him, or he would slowly starve.  We are in the same situation.  Either we learn to reach out in new ways that are relevant to the people around us, or we will see the church slowly starve itself. 

Know Peace

Currently Listening Revelation By Third Day see related

Why wait?

This past Wed. night we were discussing Abraham’s actions when God told him to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.  I mentioned to the teens how my favorite part of that passage is where it says that “Early the next morning” Abraham got up, got ready and took off.  This is the morning after God asked him to kill his son.  We talked about how Abraham didn’t argue with God.  He didn’t make excuses, or delay by claiming he didn’t understand.  He just got up early the next morning and set out to do what God had told him to do.  It was similar earlier in Abraham’s life when God told him to set out for the land that He was going to show to him.  It doesn’t say Abraham took a few years.  It says, “So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him…”  So, he doesn’t wait to make sure everything’s going to work out before he obeys…  He obeys first, and then as he’s going he sees how God’s going to provide. 

This seems very opposite to the way that we seem to live today.  We want to know how God’s going to provide, when He’s going to provide, and how much He’s going to provide before we will set out.  Why?  Why do we wait?  Are we naïve enough to think that we’re where we’re at now because of our own doing?  Do we really think that we are responsible for how we’re being taken care of at this moment? 

Let me put it this way…  God tells me to go somewhere, so I go.  I arrive and I find that He is taking care of all my needs, and blessing what I do.  He had already set everything up before hand.  So, I stay there for a while doing what He has told me to do, and then one day God tells me that it’s time to move again.  Now, this time, I am comfortable, enjoying what I’m doing, and as I mentioned before, I’m being provided for and blessed.  So, I argue with God.  “I don’t understand.  Why would you want me to move when things are going so well here?”, or “Is there going to be more of a blessing there?  Will I be better provided for if I move?”, or “I don’t want to.”  Now, let’s recap…  I am trying to get out of what God’s asking me to do based on things that God has provided for me due to the fact that I followed what He told me to do the first time.  Does that make any sense at all? 

Second thing to remember is that, based on these two very different stories, the same decision needs to be made.  It doesn’t matter what God asks.  Moving, and sacrificing your son are two very different requests.  The answer though, was the same.  Obey first, then see what happens.  Whatever God is calling us to do, or will call us to do, there does not need to be a delay in our response.  It may be a ministry change (where are you ministering and who are you ministering to?).  It may be a job change (are you where God wants you to be?).  It may even be a residential change (is your family where God wants you all to be?).  We don’t have to understand (do you really think Abraham understood God’s request for him to sacrifice his son?).  We don’t have to know the details.  All we have to do is get up early the next morning and do what He asks. 

Know Peace

Currently Listening Brighter Day see related

The Man-eating Disease

So, I’m still reading in Samuel and I get to the part where David comes into the picture.  Now as most of you know, David becomes king of Israel after Saul, but in the beginning he’s merely the lowly youngest son of a normal man from Bethlehem.  Now there are some cool events that take place in this part of David’s life.  First off, he gets anointed by Samuel as the next king of Israel.  If that wasn’t cool enough, the current king of Israel asks him to come and be his shield bearer.  Then, he takes advantage of a huge opportunity and by depending on God he slays Goliath in perhaps one of the most well known stories of all time!  Following that he is paraded back into town being lauded above even king Saul!  He eventually becomes Saul’s son-in-law and everything he does seems to be successful.  What a wonderful story!  Unless, that is, your name is Saul. 

Saul had a problem.  He knew his bloodline was not going to be king.  As much as he wanted it, he knew he had messed up and God had told him, through Samuel, that someone else had been chosen to replace him besides his sons.  Now, here he is witnessing this young boy do some absolutely amazing things.  This boy has the blessing of God written all over him.  When Saul was troubled, this boy would play his harp and it would soothe him.  He could send him on any mission, and it would be met with success.  And the bible tells us that Saul became jealous.  Not just a little envious, but severely jealous of David and all that God was doing through him.  Because of this jealousy, and fear, Saul made David his enemy.  He hated him with a passionate hate that would drive him to the point of murder at various times while David was staying with him, and later it would drive him to chase David all over Israel.  But why?  Why was this jealousy so intense, and what good could come of it? 

The answer to that last question is…  nothing!  Saul ended up dying by his own hand on a mountainside while being chased by his enemies.  His sons all died during the same battle as the way was made for the changing of power.  The question that begs to be asked in this scene is, “could there have been a better way?”  Of course the answer is “Yes.”  However, it would have taken something that we call humility, and that sadly is lacking in our society, not to mention our plain human nature.  When Saul became king he began thinking and realizing things that made him happy.  He was known to be a mighty man of valor in battle.  He was the king, and he enjoyed being king.  He enjoyed the thought that one of his sons would rule after him.  He would have a legacy.  That is, until the day that he went against the God that had placed him in that position.  He became too full of pride and began to think that everything was about him.  And that mistake cost him everything.  Now, that is not to say that there couldn’t have been something salvaged.  But pride has a way of blinding us so many times that we see nothing but ourselves and what has been done to us.  Saul was “robbed” of his lineage.  He had his authority taken from him.  Then when David comes along and defeats Goliath, showing no fear, now David is the mighty man of valor.  And Saul realizes that David is taking the merits that used to be his own.  Instead of repenting and realizing that this was God's will, and that there was nothing he could do about it.  Saul, in his pride, chose to fight on for his own cause.  It was a losing battle, and he knew it, and this is where that jealousy comes in. 

Jealousy is an interesting feeling.  It is created by a combination of pride, covetousness, and guilt all rolled up into one destructive force.  Saul coveted the blessing of God that David had.  His pride allowed him to think that he deserved said blessing more than David did.  And then there was that tinge of guilt, constantly reminding him that he had done wrong, and was still doing wrong, and therefore would never have said blessing.  And every time he saw David these feelings rushed upon him creating such a strong desire never to see him again that it would push him to the point of murderous fury.  Sound familiar?  Let’s put it into our terms.  I covet the lifestyle that someone else has.  I am just as good of a person as they are, if not better, therefore I deserve to live as well as they do, if not better.  Only when I think this I get this dropping in my gut that tells me I’m doing something wrong.  I shouldn’t be thinking like this.  But why not?  I mean, I work hard, and it’s not fair that they have more than I do just because they were in the right place at the right time.  I mean, if I had the chances that they had, who knows where I would be right now.  Etc, etc, etc…  And this type of thinking just does so much good!  It always puts us in a good mood right?  Helps us respond well to our family?  Makes us appreciate what we have been given… 

The truth is that if we let it continue, this type of foolish thinking will eat us alive from the inside out.  And there truly is no telling how far down it could take us.  Better to see it now for what it is and make the changes necessary in our lives to ensure that it doesn’t destroy us.

Know Peace

Currently Listening Revelation By Third Day see related

Immediate Consequences

So I’m reading in I Samuel now and I’m to the point where the children of Israel are demanding a king, so Samuel asks God and God allows it, but tells Samuel to make sure that the children of Israel understand what they’re getting themselves into.  So, Samuel anoints Saul to be king over Israel but he also warns them about the consequences of trading their Theocracy for a Monarchy.  Of course they don’t listen, and we know the rest…  Saul turns out to be a not so great king, so he’s replaced with David, who follows God passionately, albeit misguided at times, so that he turns out to be pretty decent, and then his son starts out good, ends up not so good, and it’s mostly downhill from there… 

But this lesson isn’t about the kings and what they did.  It’s about the children of Israel who were, as usual, not satisfied with the way that God was handling things.  Or at least, with how they assumed that God was handling things.  By now you’ve heard me talk/write about this story many times.  The children of Israel entered the promised land and were supposed to do certain things besides just continue to worship God.  They were supposed to rid the land of these pagan people groups who would eventually lead them astray and coerce them into worshiping idols.  They did not accomplish that task and, go figure, God was right about them being drawn into worshiping the idols and false gods of the land.  Thus, when they forsook God, they left the strength that had enabled them to take the land to begin with, and they were subsequently conquered by various people groups.  They didn’t like this.  It wasn’t their generation that decided not to rid the land of the pagan people.  And now that they had learned to live together, couldn’t God just ease up on His rules a little bit and be more understanding?  You see, they were human beings.  And as human beings they had this trait that I have come to see in most of us from the time we are very little until we are much much older… We prefer immediate consequences. 

When I was a kid I would often get spanked for doing something wrong.  At first I hated it, but then when I got a bit older and began to get grounded, I longed for the days of getting spanked and getting it over with.  You see, to me grounding was extra cruel because it drew out the punishment, and therefore the pain of remembering my wrongdoing for a much longer time.  I would rather just get beat, and get it over with and then move on.  I find that many times in life, we respond to God's rules the same way.  Many of us begin making some mistakes in our teen years and into our early 20’s that have lifetime consequences.  If I make a mistake and sleep with someone before I’m married, then there is a piece of that person with me, and a piece of me with them for the rest of my life.  If I delve into pornography as a teen or young adult, those images stay with me, and the impact on my future real life relationships is something that I will have to deal with for the rest of my life.  If I experiment with alcohol and/or drugs at a young age, should I be surprised to find myself ensnared in a vise that will haunt me, even if I quit, for as long as I live?  If I decide to take my relationships into my own hands and end up marrying someone who turns out not to be the person I thought they were, why should I have to bear the “divorcee” title for the rest of my life? 

Granted, there are many more mistakes that could be mentioned, but these are some of the more popular in today’s world.  Here’s the interesting thing…  So often, I find people who get upset at God for having to deal with the long lasting consequences of what they have done.  When the funny thing is that God had nothing to do with their mistakes.  And that’s the point.  Was it God’s fault that the children of Israel did not banish the other idolatrous cultures from their land?  No.  So why should they be getting upset with God for having to deal with these people?  Is it God’s fault when we sleep with someone before we’re married?  Is it God’s fault when we look at depraved images of false sensation?  Is it God’s fault when we meddle and tinker with substances that are addictive by nature and have daunting effects on our brain functions and rational?  Is it God’s fault when we take Him out of the equation of our lives and make vows that are meant to last a lifetime without seeking His blessing first?  The answer to all of these is obviously, “No”.  God does not tempt you with sin to see if you’ll follow Him, or if you can hold out.  Nor does He ever promise to take away any consequence but one.  The consequence of certain death.  That is the one consequence that He took upon Himself, paying the price for any sin we have committed.  However, He does love us and He does not condemn sin just to see us squirm.  He offers us His strength and shoulders to help us bear our burdens.  Even the ones we’ve placed on ourselves. 

The thing to remember is that there is no sin without consequences.  And there are no loopholes to get around them.  But we have a loving and gracious God who is always willing to help us get past, and through them.  Which, in itself, is more than we deserve.

Know Peace

Currently Listening All the Houses Look the Same By Deas Vail see related