Being unreasonable - Devotion for 10/31/07

Being Unreasonable – Devotion for 10/31/07

One thing that I hated hearing from my parents when I was growing up was “because I said so.” I swore I would not ever say that to my children, but guess what? I say it all the time when they try to argue with me. “Because I said so” is the near perfect way of saying to your child, “Quit arguing – I’m the parent and I’m right and you’re just going to have to live and trust it!” As a teen, I thought that “because I said so” was completely unreasonable, because that really isn’t much of an excuse why I should do something or why I wasn’t allowed to do something. But it was my parents word that won, so I had to abide by it, whether I believed it to be reasonable or not.

John 9 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. In this familiar passages, Jesus and his disciples happen upon a blind man, and after a brief discussion as to why the man was blind, Jesus ultimately healed him with some mud made from his spit and dirt. Well, the Pharisees get all worked up because Jesus did this on the Sabbath, and they felt that him healing this man on the Sabbath was a sign that he was not from God. The Pharisees interrogate the former blind man and his parents, simply trying to understand what and why this has happened. The Pharisees ask him a leading question: “Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.” (John 9:24) In their words, they want him to give glory to God by proclaiming that God is the one who healed him, and not this “sinner” named Jesus. The formerly sight-impaired replies, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind.” (John 9:25) What I love about his reply is that he didn’t know how it happened exactly. He couldn’t explain the science of his healing, and he didn’t need to. He didn’t even really know who Jesus was, and he certainly didn’t know whether or not Jesus was a sinner, and to him it didn’t matter. What mattered is one moment he was blind – the next moment because of the touch of Jesus he could see, and he was just fine with not knowing the rest of the who, what, why, when, and where. To him, it was kind of like accepting a “because I said so” thing – he didn’t need to know anything more.

Oh that I would live that way sometimes. Sometimes I get so caught up in why something happens, or why I’m supposed to do this or that. I want a reasonable explanation for everything, and I try to rationalize everything. I have a difficult time accepting “coincidences,” and I try to find a reason for those types of things. Sometimes I just need to quit asking why. Sometimes I need to just acknowledge that I don’t have all the answers and I’m not going to figure it all out. I need to accept that God doesn’t need a reason for everything that He does or allows. I think I need to accept that I can be unreasonable.

I.O.U. - Devotion for 10/25/07

Debt is a four-letter word. Usually that title – “four letter word” – is used to categorize certain cuss words such as “%$&*” and “#@?>” (come on, you didn’t think I’d actually include them, did you?), and I believe that debt belongs in such a category. It truly is amazing how quickly and easily debt can spring up on someone. Think about a student that heads off to college (that is financed via college loans). That student arrives on campus and is offered a “free” t-shirt and other assorted goodies just for applying for a new “low-interest” Student Visa card. After growing tired of the campus meal plan, that Visa card provides an attractive option as he or she can go off campus to get some real food. After 4 years (or 7, if you’re an NC State grad – hehehehe) of college, you matriculate with probably at least $33K in college loans and debt accumulated from those late night trips to Taco Bell (open till 3AM!). Finding a new job after college, one has to spruce up the wardrobe and maybe even need a new car, so again more debt is charged and incurred. Love struck, the fellow buys a diamond ring on credit which costs far more than he can actually afford, but he really wants to “prove” his love. Fortunately Mom and Dad are helping with the actual wedding costs, but the happy couple wants a honeymoon that they will remember for the rest of their lives, so they plan an elaborate week-long cruise. When they get home (with plenty of souvenirs for everyone), they settle into their beautiful new home, which is way too big for just the 2 of them, but just right for when they start a family. Kids come along, cars break down, taxes come due . . . get the idea why that word “debt” is such a dirty word?

But debt seems to be a fact of life. My hope is that by the time Jacob and Aaron earn their scholarships to play soccer at Duke, the debt that Jennifer and I incurred through our education will be paid off. I think it is interesting that to have a good credit rating, you actually have to incur some debt. Something seems backwards about that to me. Paul brings up debt in the book of Romans – “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8) Somehow I always get caught up in that “owe nothing.” Why is being in debt to someone such a bad thing? Because it limits what you can do with what you have. Debt is usually a sign of us living beyond what we actually have. It is a promise, “if you give this to me now, I will give you that when I get it.” As faithful Christians, God wants us all to be healthy within our soul, our body, and yes also in our wallet. If you’re in debt like me, don’t become overwhelmed by that huge mountain before you. How do you scale a mountain? One step at a time. Every day work to make the mountain smaller by paying more, and work to not make the mountain bigger, by living as close to within your means as possible. Trust me – I’m not just preaching to the choir on this one.

Put in our place - Devotion for 10/24/07

Put in our place – Devotion for 10/24/07

Last night as I was coaching my sons soccer team at practice, I overheard one particular little boy saying that he was the third best player on the team. I personally despise hearing that kind of talk, because as I have learned so many times that kind of talk takes the emphasis off of the team as a whole and puts the focus on individuals. I told the little group of boys that I didn’t want to hear that kind of talk, but sure enough boys being boys, I heard the one boy continuing on that he was the third best on the team (hey – at least he has something to strive for, I guess). We were doing a particular drill that was a one-on-one drill, and I could see that each time he was up he was aligning himself against another player who wasn’t quite as strong of a player as he was. So his next time up, I called forward one of the better girls on the team and had her go against him. Just like I had wanted, she went out there and just smoked him in the drill. As he came back to the group, I called him to the side and told him that I didn’t want to hear any more talk about who was better because there was always someone better. I almost felt bad about doing it, but I didn’t say it so that others could here, and I knew it was important for him to understand it is not about one person, but the whole group. And, I needed to put him in his place. Well, I guess I didn’t actually put him in his place – the little girl that smoked him did.

Sometimes we all need to be put in our place. It’s called being held accountable. We’ve got to recognize that there are consequences for our actions or inactions, and if there is no one around to put us in our place, then there is no accountability. In 2 Chronicles 7:12-22, God is speaking to Solomon, and He tells Solomon that there is a level of accountability that he and his people will be held to: “humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14) However, if they do not do these things, He is going to put them in their place: “Then I will uproot you from My land which I have given you, and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.” (2 Chronicles 7:20) As Christians, sometimes we tend to begin to think a little too highly of ourselves. We can attempt to be smug about how holy and pious we are, but the fact is we still sin and we still fall short of what we are called to be. Let us not forget that even though we are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, God still has expectations of us. As God told Solomon, let us too keep ourselves humble, pray and seek the face of God, and turn from our wicked ways.

Finishing sentences - Devotion for 10/22/07

Finishing sentences – Devotion for 10/22/07

Many of us have a friend or 2 that knows us so well that they can finish our own sentences and thought before we do. Jay Locklear is one of those friends of mine that can do that to me – Jay seems to know what I’m going to say before I even do. Jay and I have played music together on a variety of occasions over the past few years, and there have been so many times where we have been playing, and we look at each as if to ask, “What do you want to play next?”, and almost instantaneously we start playing exactly the same song. We’ve just played too much music together to not know what the other one is thinking. Same thing with anyone that is close to you that knows what you’re thinking before you even say, or they finish your thought as you are saying it – it is a result of the familiarity that they have with you due to the amount of time they have spent with you.

“O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my though from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all.” (Psalm 139:1-4) God know knows all of your thoughts before you even say them because of how well He knows you. He knows what you’re going to do next, not because He has ordered you to do it, but because He simply knows what you’re going to do in virtually all situations. He is intimately acquainted with all of your ways. He could finish just about any sentence you could begin because He is that good of a friend.

Could we live up to a similar standard with regards to our friendship with God? I’m asking if we spend enough time with God, know Him well enough, that we know His words, His plans, His desires for us? As David went on in Psalm 139:6, “Such knowledge is too wonderful me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.” But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t keep reaching to draw as close to God as He is close to us.

Modern tribulations - Devotion for 10/18/07

Modern tribulations – Devotion for 10/18/07

Recently here in Fayetteville, NC, there has been somewhat of a religious/political flap. A memorandum was sent out to all city and county employees by the city and county attorneys stating that no employee should pray “in the name of Jesus” at any public function or ceremony so as to prevent any potential lawsuits. There have been a few letters to the editor in the paper regarding this “persecution” that Christians are experiencing, and that if we “deny Christ, He will deny us.” In the mindset of persecution, I was drawn this morning to 2 Corinthians 11:24-28 as Paul describes some of his “persecutions”:

Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.”

Sometimes we forget what it really means to be persecuted. Going back to something I said earlier this week, John Wesley always felt that Christian when rightly practiced will always be met with resistance. In that mindset, persecution can be confirmation that you must be doing something right. Being told to not pray at a public government function in the name of Jesus is not persecution, although I would argue that abiding by it is compromise, which is something I can’t say I believe God feels too good about. I take strength in knowing that in the midst of all of Paul’s persecutions, struggles, and tribulations, although his body became weaker his faith seemed to be made stronger. Today, let us lift up in prayer all who today may actually be experiencing real persecution, real suffering, real hardships in the name of the Lord. And if our time ever comes, let us too be willing to face those same persecutions “in the name of Jesus.”

Concealed Faith - Devotion for 10/17/07

Concealed Belief – Devotion for 10/17/07

I remember there was a time that I didn’t want people to know that my dad was a preacher. Once they found out I was a PK (preacher’s kid) they would automatically make one of 2 assumptions: either I was a “goody-goody Holy roller” or I was “Hell on wheels.” It was embarrassing to me either way, because even if I was thought of as “Hell on wheels,” people still assumed that I had the same faith that my dad did, and that was something I didn’t want people to think. I’ve said it before how embarrassed I used to get when our family would be eating at a restaurant and we would say a prayer of blessing over the meal – I felt like everyone in the world was staring! Yes, in this world full of stereotypes, I remember wanting to keep my dad’s vocation and our faith concealed.

As I’ve been reading from Matthew 10 this week, it seems to really be hitting me how much Jesus is pressing on us living a life that reveals our faith. The passage I read today was Matthew 10:24-42, three times Jesus encourages his disciples to not fear what might happen as their faith is revealed through their preaching, teaching, and living. In that same passage, He also offers this: “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33) Let’s live a life that doesn’t deny the presence of Christ in our lives. That doesn’t mean go push your faith down the throat of your co-workers (they wouldn’t appreciate that much, probably). But you can live a life that proclaims the good news of Jesus Christ and models the love that Christ showed you.

Love me, Hate me - Devotion for 10/16/07

Love me, Hate me – Devotion for 10/16/07

Do you have a mortal enemy? I love to watch the re-runs of “Seinfeld,” and I always love it when Newman comes walking into the room, and you have this exchange between the two enemies: “Hello, Jerry.” “Helloooo, NEWMAN!” Even if you’ve never seen the show before, you know what it is like for two people to hate or strongly dislike one another, and it is not a pleasant thing to be around. Most of us want to love and be loved, and like to think that people like us and not hate us. The problem is this: we aren’t supposed to always be liked or loved!

John Wesley felt that Christianity when rightly practiced would always be met with resistance. As Jesus Christ is sending out his disciples in Matthew 10, he warns them, “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.” (Matthew 10:21-22). As I understand it, if we are living in the name of Jesus Christ, whether we know it or not, someone hates us. Conversely, if we aren’t living fully in the name of Jesus Christ, then all people may not like us, but we probably aren’t hated. So to experience true love we must also experience true hate. For someone to hate us, we’ve got to take a stand in the name of Jesus Christ – we’ve got to be identified with Him by more than just our words. Today, are you identified with Christ? Are you ready to be hated? “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.” (Matthew 10:24) If Jesus was hated, we can’t be above being hated as well. Stand up for Christ. Be identified with Him.

Take the test - Devotion for 10/15/07

Take the test – Devotion for 10/15/07

There is a passage in the book of Judges that I think is really cool – Judges 12:1-7. In this passage, one of the judges that God has raised up to deliver Israel is Jephthah the Gileadite, and the people of Ephraim have entered into a dispute with the Gileadites. They got to war against each other, and the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan opposite the Jordan river. When any on would come to the river to cross over, the Gileadites would ask them if they were from Ephraim, and if the people said “no,” then they were given a special test. The Gileadite would say, “Say now, ‘Shibboleth,’” but someone who was truly from Ephraim would instead say “Sibboleth” (without the “h”), because they would not pronounce it correctly. If they failed this quick linguistics test, then the people of Gilead would seize the person and kill them. Judges 12:6 tell us that “thus there fell at that time 42,000 of Ephraim.” Personally, I think I would have tried to learn to say “Shibboleth.” Such a language test was used many years later in the border wars between Scotland and England, and the word “tree” was used to identify who someone really was.

I think that test is really cool – it shows quite simply who you really are. In this day and time, such a thing could be quite useful. Many times people aren’t actually what they seem – we say one thing, yet do another. What kind of test could we take to determine what we really are? In Interior Castle, by St. Teresa of Avila, she has a good idea of what that test might look like. “Fix your eyes on the Crucified and nothing else will be of much importance to you. If his Majesty revealed his love to us by doing and suffering such amazing thing, how can you expect to please him by words alone?” Take the test – are we attempting to please God with only words? Let our lives be a pleasing and acceptable sacrifice to God as we serve him each day in the specific ways God has called each one of us.

Take the test - Devotion for 10/15/07

Take the test – Devotion for 10/15/07

There is a passage in the book of Judges that I think is really cool – Judges 12:1-7. In this passage, one of the judges that God has raised up to deliver Israel is Jephthah the Gileadite, and the people of Ephraim have entered into a dispute with the Gileadites. They got to war against each other, and the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan opposite the Jordan river. When any on would come to the river to cross over, the Gileadites would ask them if they were from Ephraim, and if the people said “no,” then they were given a special test. The Gileadite would say, “Say now, ‘Shibboleth,’” but someone who was truly from Ephraim would instead say “Sibboleth” (without the “h”), because they would not pronounce it correctly. If they failed this quick linguistics test, then the people of Gilead would seize the person and kill them. Judges 12:6 tell us that “thus there fell at that time 42,000 of Ephraim.” Personally, I think I would have tried to learn to say “Shibboleth.” Such a language test was used many years later in the border wars between Scotland and England, and the word “tree” was used to identify who someone really was.

I think that test is really cool – it shows quite simply who you really are. In this day and time, such a thing could be quite useful. Many times people aren’t actually what they seem – we say one thing, yet do another. What kind of test could we take to determine what we really are? In Interior Castle, by St. Teresa of Avila, she has a good idea of what that test might look like. “Fix your eyes on the Crucified and nothing else will be of much importance to you. If his Majesty revealed his love to us by doing and suffering such amazing thing, how can you expect to please him by words alone?” Take the test – are we attempting to please God with only words? Let our lives be a pleasing and acceptable sacrifice to God as we serve him each day in the specific ways God has called each one of us.

Harry Potter & the Mediating Friendships - Devotion for 10/11/07

Harry Potter & the Mediating friendships – Devotion for 10/11/07

In the book (and movie) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, there is a particular moment where Harry and his best friend Ron have had a disagreement and are not talking to each other. Not getting into all the details for all you non-Potter fans, Ron has some information that he needs to pass along to Harry, but because of their dispute, he refuses to tell him himself. So Ron recruits another one of their friends, Hermione, to go and tell Harry what Ron has found out. As Ron and Harry are standing no further than 20 feet apart, Hermione is going back and forth delivering one another’s messages as they both refuse to speak directly to each other. Finally, Hermione is frustrated at the two and tired of delivering one another’s messages and proclaims, “I’m not an owl!” (In the books/movies, owls are used to deliver messages/mail).

Have you ever been caught as the go-between with friends who are in a dispute? There you are, caught right in the middle, almost afraid to say anything that would be understood as you taking a side. Yet, because of the friendship you have with these 2 people, and the friendship that they used to have, you do what you can to mediate between the 2 so that the friendship can be restored. And yes, sometimes we too can get to that point of frustration like Hermione and just want to give up. If you’ve ever experienced what it is like to be in the middle – the go-between – the mediator, then you have at least a slight understanding of what Jesus is doing for us as He sits at the right hand of God.

Hebrews 8 speaks of Jesus as the “high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.” (Hebrews 8:1) The term “priest” literally means one who serves as a mediator between God and man – the go-between, so to speak. Through our sins, we have created a dispute with God, as our actions stand in opposition to Him. As Jesus sits at the right hand of the throne, He is serving as our priest, our mediator, dare I say our attorney representing us before God, working to reconcile each one of us with the Master. With understanding Jesus as our priest, He has offered an acceptable sacrifice to God the Father on our behalf – His own blood. And now, because that sacrifice was accepted by God, the Father is willing to offer a new covenant to all who come to Him via the mediation of Jesus Christ – salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ.

So today, maybe you’ll find yourself in the middle of 2 friends who have a dispute. Put yourself in Jesus’ sandals, and be willing to find a way to mediate that friendship. And when you do, maybe consider how great the friendship of Jesus Christ is, that He would go so far as to lay down His life so that you may be reconciled with God.

Successful friendship - Devotion for 10/10/07

Successful friendship – Devotion for 10/10/07

This morning as I was reading from 1 Samuel 18, I got to thinking about the friendship that David and Jonathan had with one another. Throughout David’s life, we can see how genuine the friendship between David and Jonathan was, no matter what Jonathan’s father Saul did (or attempted) to him. I think that the friendship that they had was a part of the reason David was so successful in almost everything he did. A good friend will encourage and support you to success. A good friend will hold you accountable and point you back in the right direction towards success. I believe that these two had that type of friendship – the type that allows you to talk openly and honestly with one another – the type that allows you to correct one another – the type that allows you to encourage one another.

Do you have that type of friendship with someone? Maybe it is with your spouse – I know that my wife truly serves as that type of friend to me, helping to hold me accountable and correcting me (in a loving way . . . usually) when I need to get back on track. Maybe it is with someone else - I have another friend, Jay, that for years I have been able to call on to talk through difficult things, and also to enjoy the fellowship of simply “clowning” around with one another. Today, give thanks for those friendships that we have that help build us up, encourage us, and make us stronger. I believe that the friendship between Jonathan and David demonstrated to God that David had the capability to care for someone other than himself. Let us look to make one another successful through our friendships as we look beyond just ourselves.

Stick with it - Devotion for 10/7/07

Stick with it – Devotion for 10/9/07

I remember what it was like when I was 15 and learning how to drive a car with a stick shift. At the time we lived in Raleigh, NC, and my car was a 1976 Datsun 280Z (Google it if you don’t know what that is). This awesome little sports car was a fun car, but learning to drive it was another thing. My dad would take me out to rural areas outside of town for me to practice driving, and I had such a difficult thing getting the timing down of when to pop the clutch and when to shift. My dad would have to constantly instruct me when to do what, and I would get so frustrated that I almost just wanted to get rid of the car (notice the use of the word “almost”). I remember dad telling me, “One day you’ll just get it, and you won’t even have to think about what to do and when to shift – you’ll just do it without even thinking about it.” He let me know that it may be struggle until I get to that point, and that I may make a few mistakes, but if I was diligent, I would get there.

I thought about those experiences of learning to drive a stick shift this morning as I read Jeremiah 31:27-34. In this passage God is proclaiming that a new day is coming for Israel and Judah. God has already had to execute judgment upon them, and now God is proclaiming that a new start is coming and a new covenant that will be unlike the old covenant: “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of the, for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33-34) I think that learning to be a faithful follower of Christ is like learning to drive a stick shift. As immature Christians, we get so caught up in trying to do things exactly right, and yet we find ourselves making many mistakes. But the more we press on within the Kingdom of God, the more we know what to do – and we begin to live as if it is written on our hearts, instead of just in our head. Today, let us stick with following Christ, even if it means we make a few mistakes along the way. As my dad told me a little over 20 years ago, “One day you’ll just get it, and you won’t even have to think about what to do and when to shift – you’ll just do it without even thinking about it.”

Devoted Football - Devotion for 10/8/07

Devoted football – Devotion for 10/8/07

My sons are starting to more of an interest in watching and playing football, and I’ve got to admit it is kind of cool to be able to sit and watch a game with them. Earlier this football season, I took the boys to see Duke field a team for a game (that’s about all I’ll say about that), and as soon as we got home they wanted to get out in the yard and play some football. They love to run and throw, and they especially like to tackle. One of the difficult things for them to get is where to run for me to throw them the ball. I’ll say “hike,” and they’ll just stand where they are waiting for me to throw the ball. I’ll instruct them to run down the field and I’ll throw it, so they run down the field a bit and stop – waiting for me to throw the ball. I tell them I am going to throw the ball in front of them, and for them to keep running to where the ball is going, and finally it begins to sink in to them. You see, it’s difficult for them to understand that they are to go certain places on the field when they don’t even have the ball, just so they can get the ball. They seem to be thinking, “Why can’t the ball just come to me where I’m at?”

This morning I got to thinking about Moses, and how Moses really did not want to have to go confront Pharaoh. In Exodus 3-4, Moses is coming up with all kinds of excuses as to why he shouldn’t be the one: “who am I?” (basically, I’m nobody – Ex. 3:11); “what will I say? (Ex. 3:13); “what if they don’t believe me? (Ex. 4:1); “I am slow of speech and slow of tongue (Ex. 4:10). Moses spent all the time arguing with God, kind of like my sons arguing with me to throw the ball at them while they are just standing there. I think God wants us to walk (or run) by faith to where He wants us, and then He’ll throw us the ball. We may feel scared and exposed, and we may come up with all kinds of excuses that keep us from going where God wants us – “I don’t know what I’ll say;” “I’m not that good and telling someone about God;” “Who am I to tell someone about His love?” Sometimes we’ve just got to go and trust that when we get there the “ball” will get there. Don’t sit and wait for God to throw you the ball. Go to where God wants you and then expect the ball.

Distractions - Devotion for 10/4/07

Distractions – Devotion for 10/4/07

Are you easily distracted? When you are in a class or lecture, does the smallest thing take away your attention from what you are supposed to be paying attention to? What about when you go to the store to get just one particular item? I’ve gone to the store before just to get a galloon of milk and I walk out pushing a cart full of cheetos, fritos, and Doritos (what’s up with all the ‘tos?). There are times when we may be doing chores around the house, and right in the middle of dusting the din, someone will get distracted and move on to something else without ever completing the task they were assigned to do. On a spiritual level, how many times do you go to God in prayer, but in the midst of your prayer you begin to think about how you need to go the bank, pick up the dry cleaning, wondering how they put the filling in a Twinkie – “umm, where was I God?”

As a Christian in the midst of the world, there are tons of distractions that do nothing but distract us. While our task may be to edify and glorify God with our lives, there are literally hundreds of thousands of potential distractions that may keep us from our objective. I confess, if the phone rings while I am in the midst of prayer I will quit my prayer to answer the phone! That’s kind of like putting God on hold because I think that whoever is on the other end of the line is more important. Any day that we say that we don’t have time to read at least some of God’s word – any day that we say that we have too much to do to pray – any day that we say that can’t spare a few minutes to simply listen to what God has to say to you that day – those days we are allowing distractions to take the place of God in our lives. When we allow distractions to take the place of God in our lives, we are de facto saying that those things are more important than God. And when we put something in a place of greater importance than God we have entered into idolatry. 2 Timothy 2:3-4 states, “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” In Eugene Peterson’s The Message, he puts it like this: “When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did. A soldier on duty doesn’t get caught up in making deals at the marketplace. He concentrates on carrying out orders.” Today, maintain focus on the mission and the purpose of our creation – to glorify God with our lives. If you’re reading this, you’re already taking a little bit of time to spend with Him – good start! Don’t stop there! Talk to Him, and give Him a chance to respond. Don’t get distracted.

Compromise (a dirty word) - Devotion for 10/3/07

Compromise (a dirty word) – Devotion for 10/3/07

All my life I have been of the understanding that a compromise is a good thing. I remember in our premarital counseling (which was done by my father, by the way) hearing about the need to compromise: “You both will have to make sacrifices in order to bring about a happy marriage.” I was taught about compromise through team sports, recognizing we needed to do what was best for the team and not for individuals. I teach my sons about compromise, finding ways that they can agree on something (actually, I haven’t really figured that one out yet – still working on it). Compromise has always been something that has been encouraged, and in most cases compromising is good. However, there are certain areas of our life that must be “uncompromisable” (yes, spell check is telling me that’s not a word). Time with our friends and family should not be compromised for something else. Putting aside money for the future should not be compromised. Your integrity and honesty must not be compromised. And most importantly, your faith and living out of that faith should never be compromised.

This morning as I was reading Hebrews 11, I was reminded of some of the great heroes of faith. As we are reminded about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and even Rahab, we see how powerful things can happen when we live an uncompromising faith. But as Hebrews 11 goes on, we begin to recognize why some people may be tempted to compromise their faith: “. . . others we tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chain and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword . . .” (Hebrews 11:35-37) They endured these difficulties because they would not compromise their faith. If you read the letters to the 7 churches in Asia contained in Revelation 2-3, one of the recurring themes that they are doing wrong could be spelled out as “compromise” – some are worshipping both God and the emperor so as to avoid persecution. I am reminded of St. Ignatius of Antioch, who was martyred around 98-117 AD. Ignatius refused to worship the emperor, Trajan, and thus was bound and chained and sent to Rome in order to be thrown to the lions in the Roman Coliseum. On the way to Rome Ignatius wrote several letters to churches, and in the letter known as the “Letter to the Romans,” Ignatius wrote, “I implore you: do not be unseasonably kind to me. Let me be food for the wild beasts, through whom I can reach God. I am God's wheat, and I am being ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I might prove to be pure bread."

Do not compromise your faith for anyone or anything. God is a jealous God, and a God deserving of all of our adoration and praise. God deserves our faith in Him. Today, let us be uncompromising when it comes to matters of our faith.