New Year’s Resolution

1 Corinthians 9:26-27 (ESV)

²⁶ So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.

²⁷ But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

New Year’s resolutions…I make them each year, always with good intentions.  Sometimes I do well and keep some of them, usually by March I am back doing what I resolved not to do in January.

One of my regular resolutions is to do a better job exercising.  I like exercising actually.  The problem is finding the time to do it right.  If I’m just jogging for 20 minutes on the treadmill I don’t feel like I’m doing enough, so I often don’t bother at all.  It doesn’t make much sense, I know.
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Children obey your parents

Ephesians 6:1-3 (ESV)

¹ Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ² “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), ³ “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”

The bible is very clear about admonishing children to obey their parents.  In fact, this precept made God’s top 10 list.  Most people that read this blog may say “Amen” to this commandment, as many of us are parents.  But, why is this precept so important to God?

I can think of a couple of reasons.  One is that a rebellious heart is a sinful heart and rebellion often starts in the home.  While all children of all ages should be obedient to their parents, I think this commandment is especially directed at older children, those that are starting to reach adulthood and starting to think they know more than mom and dad.

God first gave this command to the Israelites.  He knew that the new generations would be tempted by the other peoples in their land.  He had warned their parents to teach their children about Him and how He led them out of Egypt.  However, if the children did not care to listen to their parents, these lessons would be lost.  As you read the book of Judges you see this happening on an ongoing cycle.

What about us older children?  Do we still honor and obey our parents or are we exempt once we get married and have our own children?  I think as mature adults it is easy for us to forget the wisdom of our parents.

The other reason I think this command is so important to God is because if we do not honor our earthly fathers and mothers, we may have a hard time honoring our heavenly Father.  How often do we choose our own way over God’s ways?

A couple of other points about my thoughts on this passage…

Sometimes, parents can be ungodly parents, even evil parents.  It’s a sad and shameful reality of our broken world.  I had loving parents so it is hard for me to imagine the pain of those whose parents really let them down.  I think God would still have us honor our parents regardless of the pain they may have caused.  However, I know that is easy for me to say, not having to experience that kind of pain myself.

The other point I want to make about this passage is the commentary added by Paul.  He says this is the first commandment with a promise.  Just what is this promise?

Some translations like the NIV and even NASB read the promise as, “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”  This makes it sound like a promise for a long life if you are an obedient child that honors your parents.  However, does this mean that children, teenagers, or young adults that die at a young age were disobedient and dishonoring to their parents?

Paul is quoting Exodus 20:12 here, which is actually being given as the sixth of the ten commandments.   The promise is that if the young Israelites obey and honor their parents it will go well for them in the new land.  Even in the NIV and NASB the word used is land rather than earth in Exodus.  I think this makes the ESV version more accurate and we should assume that Paul is quoting the commandment as stated in the Old Testament.

So the promise is not a long life on earth but a long life in the land.  As mentioned above, we find the young Israelites unable to live up to this commandment and all is not well for Israel.

The point is that this is not necessarily a “promise” for every child that obedience and honoring your parents will lead to a long life.  An early death does not mean a young person was a rebellious child.  That said, I do think this is a Christian principle.  A child that obeys and honors his parents will have a life that honors God, regardless of the the number of days on this earth.  A rebellious, disobedient child that dishonors his or her parents is more likely to have a life that can lead to an early destruction, again, regardless of the number of days on this earth.

When wisdom calls

Proverbs 1:26-28 (ESV)
²⁶ I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, ²⁷ when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. ²⁸ Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.

I confess.  I actually searched the scriptures for a passage that I could use with this awesome picture.  Our family was camping this week at Inks Lake near Burnet, TX.  This is a picture I took of my 9-year-old daughter hamming it up as a twister headed our way over the lake.  This funnel cloud fizzled out before it reached us so we were able to avoid taking cover in the public restroom.

We left the lake after our camping trip and we’re back in Hockley Texas, 85 miles from the coast and in the direct cross-hairs of Ike.  Needless to say, I will not have any of my children out posing for pictures in the sustained 80+ mph winds on Saturday.  We’ll be hunkered down with our windows boarded up.

Please pray for those much closer to the coast.  It looks like this is going to be a nasty one.

Back to today’s scripture…

This passage in Proverbs is referring to the call of wisdom and what happens to those that ignore it.  The wisdom is the Gospel.  The message from God to a fallen and sinful people that there is hope, if only you turn from your own selfish, prideful, evil desires and turn to God.  A God that gave his own Son to pay the price for our sins.  A Son that has been raised for our justification and to be our King.

The verses above are for those that refuse this wisdom.  Proverbs 1:22 tells us the ones that refuse this wisdom are the simple, the scoffers and the fools.  However, I don’t think it is for me to assume that anyone is in one of these categories and is refusing the wisdom of God.

This Proverb says that wisdom is crying aloud in the noisy streets and in the market (Proverbs 1:20-21).  The point is that those ignoring God’s wisdom cannot claim they have never heard it.  However, the wisdom of this world is also very loud and often much more appealing to our human nature.  Rather than assuming that those that do not know Jesus as their Lord are simple, scoffers or fools, I should do what I can to help deliver this message of wisdom so that it can be heard.

If I plan on sharing this wisdom through billboards, bumper stickers, or tee-shirts, the message is blurred in with all of the other messages in this world.  If I want to help someone understand the message of wisdom from God, the best place to usually do that is where they can hear me, where God’s words are the only message ringing in their ears.

What’s the best way to deliver this type of message? 

In person, as a friend, as someone that cares.

There are people that will hear the Gospel among the clutter and noise in our world and find God’s truth.  However, there are many that cannot pick out the message over all the other noise around them.  If I have this wisdom, I should look for ways to share it so that others can actually hear it.

Let God decide who is simple, a scoffer and a fool.  I should see everyone who has not yet found the wisdom of the Gospel as a future brother or sister in Christ.  I should see them waiting for someone to love them enough to share God’s wisdom, in person, as a friend, as someone that really cares.

Romans 10:14 (ESV)
¹⁴ But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

Judge me, O Lord

Psalms 7:8-12 (ESV)
⁸ The Lord judges the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. ⁹ Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous— you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God! ¹⁰ My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart. ¹¹ God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. ¹² If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow;

As I read this Psalm, I ask myself, am I bold enough tell God to judge my righteousness and my integrity?  I know for the most part I’m a pretty good guy.  I try to live with integrity.  However, what about the little white lies that come out sometimes without even thinking about it?  How about when I get annoyed or lose my temper, even if I don’t show it?  What about driving 75 when the speed limit is 65?

These may seem like small things.  However, If I pray this Psalm, I’m telling a perfect and holy God to judge me.  It’s not even just my actions that this Psalm is asking God to judge.  It’s the integrity that is in me, it’s a heart issue.

When it comes to salvation of my soul, I know I am saved by faith alone.  My faith in Jesus as Lord means I was justified when He rose from the dead (Romans 4:25).  However, I don’t know that this Psalm is necessarily about my eternal salvation.

David was asking for protection from his enemies.  He was asking God to judge him, and then based on that judgment, save him from his wicked enemies.  We know David was just a man.  While a man after God’s own heart, he was able to fall to some serious sins in his life, like adultery and murder.  So how was he able to be so bold as to ask God to judge him before rescuing him?

I think the key is Psalms 7:12, “If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow;”.  Before I seek God’s protection, I should first seek his forgiveness.

So what is the life application here for me?  At the beginning of this Psalm (Psalms 7:1-2), David is pleading with God to save him from his pursuers that want to tear his soul apart like a lion.  Can I really relate to this plea?  I don’t think I have anyone pursuing me like a lion.  Or do I?

1 Peter 5:8 (ESV)
⁸ Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Maybe I better get down on my knees and repent so that when I ask God to judge me and deliver me, he will find an upright heart.

Rescue Me

Psalms 6:1-10 (ESV)
¹ To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to the Sheminith. A Psalm of David. O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. ² Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. ³ My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord—how long? ⁴ Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. ⁵ For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise? ⁶ I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. ⁷ My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes. ⁸ Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. ⁹ The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer. ¹⁰ All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

It has been a while since my spirit has grieved like David talks about in this Psalm.  However, I have been there.  Maybe not with men wanting to kill me, but certainly with Satan wanting to destroy me and my family.

It’s interesting to note that in many of David’s psalms of distress, he starts with painful and fearful laments, but he ends with confidence and encouragement. He knows God is still listening and God will answer his prayers. I think that’s how God wants us to come to him.

God wants us to lay it all out there, our pain, our sorrow, our fears, and our doubts.  As we pour out our hearts, if we also take the time to pause and just listen, God is faithful to respond.  Your worldly troubles will probably not vanish instantly, although they may, but God’s Spirit will comfort  you, so you too can end your prayer with confidence, encouragement, and praise.

I do wonder, does God respond when we hold back?  If I talk to Him like an acquaintance, that I don’t want to bother with how much I really hurt, will I be able to receive His comforting presence?  Or, will He hold back, until I bring Him everything?

Father, forgive me for my unfaithfulness, and sometimes my pride, that keeps me from pouring out my heart to you.  Thank you for always being faithful, for always hearing my plea, and for accepting my insufficient prayers.

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