10/08/2007
Thorns of Good Endeavors
Responsibility is a part of life. It cannot be escaped. Starting from our first assigned chores and homework, through managing a career, family, and a household, responsibilities drive our schedules. Many of the tasks we undertake are in faithful stewardship of God's blessings in our lives, but many others are wasteful distractions from the most important and urgent duties we have everyday.
We can be made aware of the fruitless activities and time in our lives, but all too often, we are not aware of the overwhelming and devestating effect that our good endeavors have in our walks, attentions of heart, and ultimately our reception of Christ in our lives in a daily fashion.
No parable, I feel, more comprehensively addresses and covers this spiritual battle than that of the sower. In Matthew 13, Jesus tells a parable of a man throwing seed on different types of soil.
And he told them many things in parables, saying: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear."
Matthew 13:3-9
To anybody who is willing to listen to God's voice, Jesus says to hear what He's saying. Jesus is, in effect, talking about the condition of our hearts. He proposes four conditions (the path, rocky ground, thorns, and fertile soil) and four consequences of receiving God's word (the seed) in those conditions (birds devouring, ephemeral existence, oppression/neutralization, and fruitful production). To prevent us from manipulating God's word in our own misinterpretations, Jesus Himself explains the relevance of this most important parable to those who will hear.
"Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."
Matthew 13:18-23
From the outset, Jesus makes it clear that the locations described are indicative of the conditions of our heart. Notice how He describes the first situation, that is the seed spread on the path as the word sown in a man's heart. So and so forth, the Lord shows us that the condition of our hearts will determine how we receive the seed of His word and the fruitfulness thereafter. You see, the seed thrown on the path was no different than the seed thrown on the fertile soil, it was only the condition of heart that determined the reception of the seed and the consequent fruitfulness.
What does all this have to do with responsiblities in life? Let's examine the conditions again. The first two heart conditions are both non-receptive, that is the condition of the soil itself prevented the growth to maturity and fruitfulness. The latter two conditions depict receptive heart conditions! It was an external condition and attention given to specific attributes of the world around the soil that prevented maturity and fruit!
Jesus cannot make it anymore clearer for us. He says, "the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful." We can strive and endeavor for good things like providing our family with food, education, a quality of living standard. We can attain means to that end in transportation, a career or wealth accumulation. But when all is said and done, these are all cares of this world that will cease to matter upon our death, our children's death, their children's death, and on and on for as long as humanity exists. They are of no eternal consequence and provide no eternal benefit - yet they can have an enormous impact on our eternal perspective by causing us to set our minds on this world rather than His word. This is no small matter.
Jesus explains that it's not a simple matter of salvation. It's not simply a parable of unbelievers hearing the word of the Gospel, but it's for believers as we continue to get to know and understand our God in spending time in His word (for as much as it is feasible for a finite creature to understand an infinite God with the help of the Holy Spirit). We either come to our devotions (or rather come to Him) as a path, with no care at all being ruled by the call of disobedience, as rocky ground, being excited with what He shows us but not living it out because it's too "hard," as receptive soil, with schedules packed to the brim with urgent and important items that we highly value to the point that they are driving our attentions and minds, or as fertile soil, surrendered to the word of the Lord, minds kept on things above, ready to do His will thus glorifying His name in bearing fruit for the Kingdom.
We cannot change our hearts - but He can. The Lord is gracious and desires to pour out His grace in our lives, to give us abundant life with hearts richly blessed with fruit. He is longing to have a place in your heart, to dwell within us! Jesus speaks.
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me."
Revelation 3:20
Let us listen today and open the door of our hearts to Him and His transforming power. Let us be receptive soil, with our attentions drawn and fixed on the author and perfector of our faith - Jesus Christ. He will bear fruit, let us ask Him to till our hearts and our minds for His glory. With urgency, let us serve Him and not the cares of this world. This is not a call to forego our responsibilities, but discern what the Lord has called us to do in faithfulness, not in busy-ness. To honor Him in faithful stewardship as a secondary issue to the condition of our hearts before Him.
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Matthew 6:19-24
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
Colossians 3:2
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05/25/2007
Commitment v. Involvement
What's the difference between commitment and involvement?
Ham and eggs... the chicken was involved - the pig was committed!
06:00 Posted in 6.) Jokes and Funnies | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
05/24/2007
Curse of the Law
We've all been asked, and have even asked others, why they think they will go to heaven. The prevailing answer to the question of entry is being good enough.
"I haven't murdered anybody... y'know like I'm not Hitler."
"I've never tried to hurt anybody, or I don't try to lie and steal and stuff."
"I try to be nice... I think if you do what's right, God will like that."
These are all answers I've heard, and remakrs that at one point emanated from my own mouth, from within my heart. I thought that if I could be good enough perhaps God would look at the good and ignore the bad. I didn't have to be perfect because after all - that's impossible!! So the best anybody can ever do is their best, even though it's not all the time, right?
It makes "logical" sense. If nobody is able to score a 100% on God's Ten Commandments, then He has to be like your local University professor and grade on a curve... But here's what happens, the more we try to live right (according to His rules), the more we find we can't keep them so we change the rules or just pick a few rules of our own we can follow (read the bible, go to church, pray with big words, no drinking, no smoking, no sex before marriage, no curse words, no movies rated higher than PG...) and become prideful. We think we're doing well because we aren't doing "wrong" things but the whole time we have no concern for and continue to break God's Laws (1.) Not letting Him rule our lives [with whatever He decides good and bad] 2.) Having other gods and making idols [out of hobbies, people, or things] 3.) Using God's name wrongfully 4.) Not keeping the Sabbath holy 5.) Honoring your mother/father 6.) Not murdering [equal to calling somebody a fool/jerk/idiot/moron] 7.) Committing adultery [equal to undressing somebody with your eyes or checking somebody out] 8.) Stealing [regardles of value or hurt caused] 9.) Lying [regardless if it's a white lie, bad lie, or hurtful lie, or even a joke!] 10.) Not wanting what somebody else has [including a car, a house, a spouse, a job, or even a pen or a paperclip!])
Truth of the matter is, we can be doing all the "right" things on our list of do's/don'ts and still never once do one thing on God's list of COMMANDMENTS!! When we're asked why we would go to heaven, however, we still come back to His list and pick the ones that we might have a slim chance of managing to possibly have upheld such as murder, or lying and stealing to some degree. We justify our obedience by a disclaimer of "too much"; I don't lie or cheat "too much" in relation to this guy over here...
Here is where we find ourselves in trouble. God is not comparing us to each other, He's assessing us according to His perfection by His law. Can you measure up? I know I can't. This is what Jesus said for the qualifications for entrance into heaven,
"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Matthew 5:48
This is something most poeple don't realize. They agree that to get into heaven, one should abide by His law. What they fail to realize, however, is that by agreeing that obeying His law means going to heaven, you are by default agreeing that not obeying His law will earn you hell! God cannot ignore the bad because if you agree that good gets you to heaven, you agree with God that the bad will keep you out! Not only that, by saying you accept the law as your standard you are holding yourself accountable to the punishment of failing to uphold the law - which is eternal damnation.
Please pay careful attention now - this is the CURSE OF THE LAW. Remember what we said earlier, it's impossible for anybody to be perfect and ever follow His law. So if you decide to live in obedience of the law as your measure of successful entry to heaven you are putting yourself under its curse as it will condemn you. Anybody who agrees to the obedeince of the law is agreeing to condemnation in hell because that is what the law will do to imperfect sinners! It is its curse! This is not my opinion, mind you, but a clear proclamation in the Bible!
For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book fo the Law, and do them." Now it is evident no one is justified before God by the law
Galatians 3:10-11
Friends, if your holiness, your righteousness, your Christian life, is marked as a success by your actions in relation to others, your disengagement from things others partake in, or your abstinence from unholy activities, you are living under the curse of the law because you are trusting in what you have done rather than what the Savior has done for you.
Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith." But the law is not of faith, rather "The one who does them shall live by them." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us
Galatians 3:11-13
If you claim to be a Christian, know that you were once under the curse of the law. You were striving to be a better person, good enough to maybe eek out a slim chance of making it into heaven. But God loved you so much, knowing that you could never do it, He sent His only Son to take your punishment for all the sin you ever committed and will ever commit, so that by trusting in and being sactified by His sacrifice and blood, you could live with Him through His resurrection.
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience -- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ -- by grace you have been saved -- and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:1-10
If you are not Christian, then don't wait, the Savior has His arms open to you right now. He loves you very much and wants you to be with Him for eternity - so much in fact that He died for you so you would never have to see death. He does not want you to be cursed but redeemed! Run to Him now, pray and ask Him to give you His grace and forgiveness. Tell Him now that you are willing to make Him the Lord of your life and want to turn away from the death of sin in your life. He is here right now for you to hold you and take you with Him to heaven.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever blieveth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
John 3:16
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