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Nap champion verses decision maker

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“If you love sleep, you will end in poverty. Keep your eyes open, and there will be plenty to eat!” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭20‬:‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Ramble Warning!

I often tell people that I could win a gold medal in napping if it ever became an Olympic Sport. I love sleep, so shouldn’t I be poor? As a teen, my body grew so fast that I had the growing pains of leg cramps often. For a while, my mom thought I only ate and slept. I remember going through junior high and high school constantly feeling tired. Once I hit my college years I was up early, working, going to school, and staying up late with homework and friend conversations. While in college I was a school bus driver at 19 years old! In between my route pickups I learned to take 10 minute naps. Parked by the side of the road, I would sit in the drivers seat, and take a quick nap. I got so good at it that I didn’t need an alarm, I just woke up refreshed and ready to go. They call it a power nap, but I saw it as a super power!

I write all this to say, this is not what this Proverb is talking about. This Proverb is among the collection of wisdom principles that deal with the fate of the sluggard! Isn’t the word “sluggard,” a visibly-visceral word. A very slow, oozing worm. Its cousin is to be slothful. Pour Sloth, they can’t help it. Both are wonderful word pictures of how NOT to do life! To quote Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Life does move fast, but do you know what moves even faster? Opportunity! The point of these Proverbs is to not let a sleepy, slothful, sluggish eye or way of life rob you of the good things God has in store for you. One commentator said it well, “Open your eyes – Be vigilant and active. That is the secret of prosperity.”

Being an enneagram nine, with its shadow sin of SLOTHFULNESS, means that indecision and peace at all cost oftentimes leaves a person like me – STUCK. Frozen! Trapped by indecision. And, more times than I care to admit, a nap seemed the only way to save my sanity. I could not make a decision so I put myself on pause, my own personal time out. And in that beautiful, blissful, insulated world, I was free from the pain of making the wrong decision or a decision that seemed to cause someone pain. To the outside world it would be seen as though I was being a sluggard, a sloth. I was just defending myself from difficult decisions.

I have been on a journey to push against my sins, my fears, my tendencies to avoid or shut down. It’s still very hard. For those of you who have been mislabeled as lazy, slothful or a sluggard, I understand. Be patient with yourself as you grow and learn to lean into those tough indecisive moments. Sure, take a power nap if needed. Then, ask God for wisdom and make the decision. Just keep moving forward!

Prayer

Dad,
It was certainly a shock to discover you made me this way on purpose! I don’t like being overwhelmed with indecision or feeling the deep pain of being misunderstood when a decision must be made. And, I did feel far more at ease with retreating into myself than I did boldly asking for wisdom. It has been difficult to make the hard choices and decisions that come so fast in life. Yet, where I am weak you have promised to be my strength, and in my weakness your power is made perfect.

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Religious brand of yeast.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Later, after they crossed to the other side of the lake, the disciples discovered they had forgotten to bring any bread. “Watch out!” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I am told that yeast has some pretty unique, if not plain freaky properties. IT’S ALIVE! I’m not a baker nor a microbiologist, studying eukaryotes (fungi), so my only experience with “leaven” is eating it in pizza or sourdough bread (yum). When I’m told that it can live forever, if properly fed and tended to, it’s pretty creepy. The fact that yeast has to eat and grows and spreads rapidly gives us the perfect object lesson from the most common household ingredient.

The subject of Biblical leaven is spoken of all through the gospels – zýmē, leaven (yeast); (figuratively) the spreading influence of what is typically concealed (but still very dramatic). Leaven is generally a symbol of the spreading nature of evil. Jesus gave multiple warnings about a particular brand of yeast – the religious brand, known as the Pharisee and Sadducee brand. You could pick it up everywhere that people gathered – water-cooler (city gates), church (temple), and grocery stores (marketplace). By the way, the Jews were only allowed to eat Jewish leavened bread, NOT Gentile’s bread. A simple synopsis, given by a Bible Commentary, highlights the beliefs of these two religious groups: “The doctrines the Pharisees taught were the commandments and inventions of men, the traditions of the elders, and justification by the works of the law: the doctrine of the Sadducees was, that there was no resurrection of the dead, nor angels, nor spirits: now because they sought secretly and artfully to infuse their notions into the minds of men; and which, when imbibed, spread their infection, and made men sour, morose, rigid, and ill natured, and swelled and puffed them up with pride and vanity.”

So there’s the brand of yeast, the mother – the starter! The real beauty of Jesus’ illustrations isn’t just the content of the yeast (the arrogant traditions), it was the insidious spreading of these beliefs that so quickly infected others. Its “mother” is traced back to the garden of eden when the choice was made to believe a lie over the truth. God told the first humans not eat because He himself was to teach them about good and evil. The tree was a shortcut to get the “knowledge” sooner, faster and satisfy their own desires as quickly as possible.

This starter brand of yeast was the choice to sin, and the religious zealots peddled it everywhere they went. The argument about who forgot the bread (while traveling WITH the bread of life) was a sure sign of Pharisee’s and Sadducee’s recipe. Jesus smelled the rising aroma of religious yeast, the division and lack of spiritual awareness, then warned his friends TWICE. Can you smell it?

If we could only smell the difference between the wonderful aroma of unity and spiritual perception rather than the attractive fumes of bitterness, division and solely physical experiences! The rising yeast of one is very different than the other. Jesus’ warning wasn’t that the religious bread stunk and could be identified by a putrid smell. Contrarily, it smelled like human desire, pungent and looking delicious to quickly take it and eat it. BEWARE He said. Maybe a modern axiom would be, “if it smells TOO good to be true.”

Prayer

Dad,
I don’t want to eat or promote the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees! I want to know, carry and share the aroma and bread of life – Your gospel – THE truth. Help us see and smell the difference through our thoughts, attitudes and behaviors. I noticed it showed up in how the disciples reacted to a problem and then turned to blame each other. Is this how it works? Give us wisdom in these last days to love one another and stay clear of sin’s religious yeast.

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Popular worship songs straight outta Psalms

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” Psalms‬ ‭42‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“‘As the Deer” is a praise and worship hymn song by Martin J. Nystrom, a native of Seattle. Written in 1984, this song is based on Psalm 42:1;”As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after Thee; You alone are my heart’s desire, and I long to worship Thee”. This is how it came to be. “In 1984 I was a school teacher in Seattle, and since I had the summer off I decided to go back to Bible College, but only for the summer term. I headed for Dallas, Texas and Christ For the Nations Institute. Little did I know what was about to happen to me, especially with all that I would be exposed to and the worship emphasis of the school. I had a roommate at CFNI who was a very vibrant Christian. He challenged me to go on a fast – a period of time when a person refrains from eating solid food in order to give time to the reading of the Bible and to prayer. I took up the challenge, and on the 19th day of the fast I found myself sitting at a piano trying to write a song. I was simply playing chord progressions when I noticed a Bible on the music stand of the piano. It was open to Psalm 42. My eyes fell on the first verse of that chapter… As the hart (deer) panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. After reading the verse I began to sing its message, right off the page. I wrote the first verse and the chorus of a song, pretty much straight through. The whole of the adventure was completed in a matter of minutes. I then repeated the song I had just written. I wanted to seal it in my mind. I had no intention of showing the song to anyone. It was to be for my own devotional time with the Lord. However, before leaving the school to go back to Seattle, I did share it with one person, Dave Butterbaugh. He introduced it to the students of the school and it became a favorite. Since that introduction of the song, it has been translated into several languages and is often sung in other countries. Orchestras have used it. It has been sung in unusually different styles. Marty continues to write songs and travel extensively, teaching in worship conferences. In Korea in the 1990s, he attended one such conference and as he walked into the stadium 100,000 Koreans were singing “As the Deer.”

This story is from Lindsay Terry’s book, “I Could Sing of Your Love Forever: Stories Behind 100 of the World’s Most Popular Worship Songs.” One of my friends believed the song was so old, he thought it was a hymn. As it turns out, it probably is! An 80’s style hymn that travelled the world. I still remember this song hitting the youth groups back then. It was such a simple song to play on a piano or a guitar. I had just received a gift from Steve and Gaye Vanzant, a used Ovation guitar, and began leading worship for our own youth group at Life Center in Lakewood, California. “As the Deer” had a beautiful progression that I played in the key of D. Open D, or “open D tuning”, is a tuning of the following notes: DADF#AD. Open D tuning gets its name from when you strum all of the open strings, you get the D major chord. This naturally gives the notes played in this tuning a very uplifting, and happy vibe. This song was published by Maranatha Music in 1984 and continued to be popular for many years. It was also my first introduction to leading worship for years and playing many more “open” chords.

Prayer

Dad,
This Psalm, this song, that became so popular, takes me back to simpler days. Days of worship before lots of tech, synths, lights, fog and auto-tuning. Makes me sound old, but not as old as the original written by David who learned to worship while being pursued by a mad king. My mind still searches for that picturesque moment of a deer looking for water and finding it. That captures worship well. My soul longeth after you.

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Pep talks from prison.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

….so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. For I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance. For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬b-‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

God is still working even when it looks absurdly bleak. Paul’s situation is very real and should be seriously depressing. Prison is prison, ancient or modern, it still has to be one of the worst places to find yourself or to find God at work!

The Apostle Paul is the author of 13 epistles. That is almost 50% of the New Testament, and 62% of the letters written to churches. Paul wrote four of those letters from prison or house arrest (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon).

Paul knew he wasn’t free to share Christ in the marketplace as he made and repaired tents in open air malls throughout the city. He was an effective witness to the business community, leading dozens to Jesus (especially women business owners). Some of them had wealth and status in the city. He would disciple them and oftentimes ask them to open their homes to meet for Church. Many of the prominent churches in these cities were held in large homes and the home owners had large networks of friends and colleagues themselves. It was a brilliant plan that God used often. But for a couple of years, Paul found himself in lockdown. And, although he struggled with that for a number of reasons, he still found a purpose in his loss of freedom.

He was not free to work or travel, but he was free to have visitors and write letters. The visitors both carried the news of how the churches were doing, with letters back and forth. Letters were super effective in a lengthy question and answer format of that day. Paul’s teaching from these letters were a powerful example of God’s continued work among the believers and the churches they attended. And, in God’s providence, we are the beneficiaries of the Holy Spirit directed theology and conversations captured thousands of years ago.

Here in the letter to the churches in Philippi, Paul writes his most earnest, humble and beautiful expression of the gospel (Good news) at work even in the worst of times. Paul was simultaneously defending himself as a legitimate Apostle and equally “dividing the Word of truth (apologetics)” while his challengers and fake teachers continued to spread falsities among the churches he started. But even Paul admits, God will be honored and have His way no matter the circumstances we find ourselves in. Paul often wrote about being in states of plenty and going without, full of food and forced fasting, ease and extreme discomfort. The gospel of Jesus, God’s work continues regardless of our situations.

Paul’s famous phrase, “whether I live or die,” sums up much more than his own perceived restraints. Paul wanted his life to honor Christ – and he did just that! Paul’s teaching with phrases like “rejoice in the Lord always,” come from the worst possible circumstances. It should remind me that God is with me even when I am down, sick, or forced to be still. And, if I can get a proper perspective of my own purpose in the Kingdom of God, it should remind me that God still works in me and through me to accomplish His will. I am comforted and challenged by Paul’s pep talks from prison!

Prayer

Dad,

There is no place, no situation that I find myself alone. You are with me! And, there is no circumstance, no matter how disabling or debilitating it may seem, that you are not at work in me and can also be at work through me. Nothing catches you by surprise, Nothing can thwart your plans. Nothing can stop you from accomplishing your will. Help me when I feel the “prison” seasons in my life, to rejoice, to consider it pure joy because you are with me.

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Plan early – plan twice – but stay open.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭19‬:‭21‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Plan early, plan twice is a famous military axiom. Proverbs has its own set of wisdom axioms. Many folks believe that Proverbs is all about promises or guarantees, it’s really about principles. Of course, Godly principles are more than just strong suggestions, they have the personified wisdom of all creation, as seen in Jesus life here on earth. I’d bet my life on these Godly principles!

If you have lived a life a faith for any length of time, you’ll realize the dynamic tension of this Proverb. Other translations capture the nuance of this Proverb a little better than NLT. “Many are the plans in the mind of a man…” says another translation. Humans can and should make LOTS of plans! It is one of the wonders, benefits and beauties of being made in God’s image. Should I even make plans since God’s purpose will override them anyways? That’s not really how it works even if it feels like a deterministic exercise. Why should I make plans if God just has His way regardless? See how negative and self-defeating that sounds? God wants us to not only make plans and live a full and wonderful life here on this planet and in this slice of time. He wants us to thrive and do so with gusto and abundance. This isn’t some kind of name & claim it theology, this is how God designed life to be for us from the very beginning. Yeah, there is a requirement in this anticipated life of joy. It’s expected that one is pursuing a godly life, one filled with goodness, rightness, and His truth of justice.

The big mistake is thinking that God is the crusher of dreams and the smiter of all that’s fun. That’s a lie. Pursuing God means pursing good verses chasing after selfish, evil desires. You are aware that there is evil bouncing around in our hearts, right? Quit blaming God for trying to stop us from doing evil!

We will be pleasantly surprised to find out that when we make plans for godly pursuits and good aspirations, that God is right there cheering us on – the breath of God putting wind in our sails. When we are led by the Spirit of God I am 100% positive that those plans are godly and completely within the plans of God himself! And, I am equally confident that when I make plans that are NOT going to turn out well for me and others, that God’s purpose does prevail to turn those plans into something good.

We have been warned that our heart, when it is not committed to God is “deceitful and desperately wicked, who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9 tells us. Personally, I have embraced the whole idea of making tons of plans and dreaming big, godly dreams. All of which I have submitted to God with the phrase Jesus spoke in the garden of Gethsemane – “Your will, not mine be done.” Sure, there have been some ragged right turns, some topsy-turvy turnabouts and lots of puzzled prayers. Overall, I saw God’s hand in it all. I saw His plans prevailing even when I could not figure out (while going through dark times) what He was up to. Looking back, it more than makes sense and that presently helps me when my faith waivers looking forward.

Prayer

Dad,
I remember someone telling me from an old quote, “Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light.” That has given me hope and confidence in your ways, your plans, and your will above my own! My trust is solid in you. I have made and followed through with plans that needed to be altered by you, and I am eternally grateful you intervened.

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Scraps for the scrappy

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Gentile woman who lived there came to him, pleading, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is possessed by a demon that torments her severely.” But Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word. Then his disciples urged him to send her away. “Tell her to go away,” they said. “She is bothering us with all her begging.”” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭15‬:‭21‬-‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Matthew sets us up with a rare treat when Jesus travels to these two Gentile areas. I say rare, because Jesus almost exclusively stayed within Jewish territories. Here, while escaping the constant harassment of the Pharisees, Jesus and his friends escape to some of the most beautiful rural scenery. It’s there that a Syro-Phoenician woman, a Canaanite, approaches Jesus.

Matthew helps us compare this woman’s “story of the one,” with the verses that follow in vs. 29-31. The seemingly forced conversation over one little Canaanite girl being healed and the multitude of healings of the Jewish people in vs. 31 – “A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all.”

The shocker, after the mother begged Jesus for mercy, Jesus was SILENT. One commentator wrote, “Christ silent to a sufferer’s cry is a paradox which contradicts the whole gospel story.” and, he’s right. It feels unsettling. There were protocols and mission, purpose and intention behind every action that Jesus took! Here, we get a glimpse of God’s singularity to hold true to a promise made to the people of Israel. His favored people had priority of timing and revelation of what God was doing in these few years compared to centuries of preparation. Jesus’ silence was painful for all present.

The disciples, both showing some disdain for the woman and a sense of protectiveness over Jesus, blurted out – breaking the awkwardness of the moment. Dismiss her! (a word specifically used of divorcing a marital partner) She is croaking or shrieking too loudly. Jesus finally speaks and says, “I was (apostelló) sent on a defined mission by God the Father and it is to the people of Israel.” Jesus was always ON MISSION.

The dilemma was clear. Does Jesus veer off course for one cursed and suffering mother and child? Would Jesus then have to follow her into her neighborhood, exorcise a demon and deal with all the others suffering nearby? Would there be another healing mob, all of which would be Gentiles? It wasn’t meant to be cruel, it was to express the seriousness of Jesus’ own purpose and obedience to that calling. It would seem odd to us, but Jesus, having the wisdom and urgency of God’s will over his own, knew that even one misstep could have unintended consequences.

But then the woman threw herself at his feet, worshipping and pleading saying, come, rescue me! This moved Jesus to NOT send her away just yet, but instead gave her a reason for his hesitation to get involved. He gives her an illustration of how difficult it would be to fulfill her request. Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.” Even though it sounds like Jesus is calling her and her kind, dogs compared to Jewish children. It wasn’t like that at all. Jesus was comparing to the different loves in a family household: the beloved children and the beloved family pet. Both are loved! Certainly, if a choice had to be made of which one lives and which one dies of starvation, the child would take priority. The thought of a parent taking food out of the starving mouth of their child and then turn, and throw it down to the family pet would be considered a horrible act of abuse. Jesus really did a good job framing the true struggle behind his decision. First he had her pleading for mercy. Then she recognizes who he is by calling out his God-given lineage, connected to Israel’s greatest king. Then she falls at his feet worshipping him! Come on… this is very intense and real.

Ah, but then the woman says something that goes above and beyond the average person begging God for help. She basically says, “Oh, I would never be so bold to think I am worthy of taking the bread from a child’s mouth, but I don’t need the whole bread. I only need the crumbs that may fall as the bread is eaten! I’m not greedy and I know my place, my station in life. I’m just asking for the bits of crumbs that may fall.”

Jesus was obviously impressed with this woman’s faith. Jesus told her that her faith was great and her daughter was healed. God loves it when we cry out to Him. He loves it when we worship and humble ourselves before Him. But, boy oh boy, God really loves our FAITH. And that faith moves the heart of God.

Prayer

Dad,
Wow, I’d really love to have the kind of faith that this woman had! And, I believe that a mother’s prayer, a mom’s request, has got to be the most powerful kind of prayers! Thank you God for momma’s and their faith.

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Everything you ever wanted

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord? Who can ever praise him enough?”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭106‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

David sets the tone and attitude of this Psalm right way. He asks two amazing questions. Who can list? And, who can praise him enough? Bravo 👏🏼 👏🏼👏🏼 and keep it coming. Abundant gratitude for who God is and what He has provided!

However, just a few verses later, David does a history review of his own people and their attitudes while wandering the desert, free from tyranny and slavery. Before, giving a synopsis of their plight, David confesses, “Like our ancestors, we have sinned. We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly!” (vs 6.) Thank you David. Thank you for reminding me that, I too, am a sinner.

He continues by commentating on how some of the Israelites got so off track, “Our ancestors in Egypt were not impressed by the Lord’s miraculous deeds. They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them. Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea.” Wait, does he mean that their soured, embittered, mindset started BEFORE they even crossed? Whoa. That was the beginning?

David builds the case that the people just continued to escalate their griefs and grievances until God ended up giving them everything they wanted and even more than they could handle. God gave them an over-abundance of meat! So much of it, that God said they would gag on it – “You will eat it for a whole month until you gag and are sick of it. For you have rejected the Lord, who is here among you, and you have whined to him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” (Numbers‬ ‭11‬:‭20‬).

David gives us an amazing template and reason to be grateful for everything God has given, but he also warns us that God will only put up with our whining and complaining for so long. Then, God seems to not just give us what we want, but lets us have it all. This Psalm captures the results of getting everything we want, “In the wilderness their desires ran wild, testing God’s patience in that dry wasteland. So he gave them what they asked for, but he sent a plague along with it.” (Vs.14‬-‭15‬). The Apostle Paul echos similar in Romans 1:28, “God gave them over to a depraved mind.”

It becomes a challenge to choose either gratefulness or get pulled into the vortex of gluttony. One leaves us asking “who can praise him enough?,” the other “why can’t I have more?”

Prayer

Dad,
More. Just the idea of having or needing it, seems innocent enough. Especially when I compare to others! They have, why can’t I have? Whether it’s money, stature, standing or just stuff, it seems I have a bigger appetite for more rather than a desire to be grateful for what I have. I am humbled by Your Word. I want to be in the mindset of asking myself, how could I ever praise you enough? Thank you for everything you have done for me and given to me. You are enough!

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Contrarian Hunters

Reading Time: 2 minutes

“And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭16‬:‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Watch out,” Paul says, for people who cause division! Well Paul, that’s been happening for a very long time. Division in the Body of Christ is the quickest, and most effective way to nullify our testimony of the gospel’s work in our lives.

Similar to using the phrase, “keep your eye out for…” Paul uses the root word, skopos: a watchman, a mark (on which to fix the eye), like a hunter intensely focusing on a target. It would seem that Paul understood, and that we should also understand, there were and are teachings contrary to what Jesus taught. Folks have always determined to cause “dichostasia,” (standing apart, dissension) divisions which wrongly separate people into pointless (groundless) factions. And, these dissensions create these “skandalon” (sticks for bait of a trap or a snare). C.A. Chase writes, “Scandal is worse-as it involves seducing another to blaspheme, in order that another might willingly choose a negative option with eschatological consequence.” These divisions and baited-trap scandals, cause others to be deceived.

The tricks are as old as Satan’s lies. The kerfuffle is as damaging as the lie itself! It is interesting that Paul advises us to mark (skopos) but not to go in for the kill. Enlisting the community of faith to rally with pitchforks and torches just gives the scandalous teachings more attention and inevitability causes the division that plays right into the enemy’s plan! Paul’s, Holy Spirit inspired advice, is just to “ekklínō” – AVOID, bow out, deliberately walk away from it. Isn’t division worse than false doctrine? Let God handle the weeds sown among the wheat! We’ve got to warn our truth-lusting brethren who hunt down heresy, don’t make the issue bigger by highlighting the scandal. Mark it, watch it and then walk away.

Prayer

Dad,
You know that I know, there is a lot of trashy theology out there. You know there is damnable doctrines, sown and seeded by Satan himself! Yet, even as we are tempted and believe the lies, grabbing and eating the fruit of shortcuts and what seems to be appealing and appetizing to our souls, you are greater than our sin. You are greater than the lies, divisions and scandals. Your grace and mercy is powerfully effective in reaching our human hearts and frailties. Help us keep our eyes fixed on you!

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Hardheaded Humans we be

Reading Time: 3 minutes

“Some of the people went out anyway on the seventh day, but they found no food. The Lord asked Moses, “How long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions? They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you. That is why he gives you a two-day supply on the sixth day, so there will be enough for two days. On the Sabbath day you must each stay in your place. Do not go out to pick up food on the seventh day.” So the people did not gather any food on the seventh day.” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭16‬:‭27‬-‭30‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Even when God speaks and God provides hard, physical evidence of His existence and care, we still tend to “walk out on the 7th day looking for food.” Oh they heard what Moses had said. But “some” just had to see for themselves. Faith becomes really hard for some of us!

I see a sad story, a dark comedy in what God asked Moses, “How long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions? They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you. That is why he gives you a two-day supply on the sixth day, so there will be enough for two days. On the Sabbath day you must each stay in your place. Do not go out to pick up food on the seventh day.” So the people did not gather any food on the seventh day.”

“How long?,” God asks. Answer: A very long time. In fact, we discover, we will refuse to obey for the entirety of our human story. It has completely flipped in modern days, for “some” will obey, but now, the majority will still theoretically go out looking for food on the seventh day.

Folks swear that signs and the absolute surety of evidence will convince the most determined atheist of the reality of God – they will not. Dig up Noah’s ark, find the elusive Ark of the Covenant, open the mysterious box with God’s finger written covenant on stone and the two quarts of manna still fresh as the day it fell! Find and test the possible burial shroud of the living Christ. Don’t we get it? This is not how most come to faith! Some say it was all about the evidence, and how it was undeniable. Good for them. But I believe because God made Himself real to me with a simple proposition, “give me your life,” He said. God made a promise to be the Dad I never had! God promised to more than just BE life FOR me, He wanted to DO life WITH me. The physical reminders and object lessons of His reality are certainly cool, but I did not come to faith because of a newly discovered jar of manna hidden within the Ark of the Covenant! God didn’t tell Moses to put some manna in a jar to prove His existence to future doubters. “Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: Fill a two-quart container with manna to preserve it for your descendants. Then later generations will be able to see the food I gave you in the wilderness when I set you free from Egypt.”” God wanted later generations to remember His provision and care in the middle of a gigantic desert experience in their own lives.

I just want to live a life that hears God’s voice and obeys what He says. I don’t want to be that guy that walks out on day 7 looking for food and then blames God for being a liar. Nah, instead, I’ll just trust and obey.

Prayer

Dad,
Oh, I can clearly see myself in these ancient stories, where I read and chuckle to myself about the stubbornness of people back then. Ah, but when I search my own heart I quickly see the duplicity of my thoughts. I often understand what you command, I just have this compulsion to either test it or try to find some other way to accomplish my own will rather than yours. Thank you for your patience and lonnnnnng suffering towards me, and for all of us.

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Cancelling God.

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“Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him, “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭15‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Calling a spade a spade or the pot calling the kettle metal! Jesus calls out the misplaced attention to traditional detail, while the more weighty moral issues are dismissed as unnecessary.

First of all, EWE! Were the disciples not washing their hands before meals? 😂😂😂. No, that’s not what the religious leaders were calling out.

The disciples were not going through the rigorous rituals of purification that were mostly performative, instead of a duty to simple cleanliness. Jesus, using one of his own parable illustrations, doesn’t focus on the splinter in the disciple’s eyes, he wants to point out the log in the Pharisee’s eyes. It’s not the first time that religion is criticized for being overly critical of nonessential behaviors!

Jesus does not waste one second on answering the question. Jesus cross examines one of the most egregious offenses to the law itself. Number five on the big ten list, and the first in priority of our horizontal relationships. The religious ask about clean hands, Jesus asks about unclean hearts. Jesus quickly describes the Pharisees workaround to “legally” avoid honoring their own fathers and mothers. It was such a common, but nasty practice that no one would dare talk about it out in the open, especially in some public conversation. I’ll bet the teachers of the law wished they had never ask Jesus about hand washing.

Their sidestepping of God’s law, intent on honoring their parents, was super complicated but effective. As parents age, their ability to continue to work for money becomes increasingly more difficult. This is still true today. As such, the parents become more dependent on their children to care for them as they enter this elderly stage of their life. Sometimes, things did not go well for them in their senior years and they would become destitute and possibly lose their home and even their means to eat. The part of “honoring” parents meant that the children would step up and make sure their own parents wouldn’t be thrown out on the streets, begging for food and money.

Leave it the religious lawyers to scheme their way out of that responsibility. The Pharisees had it all worked out to skirt this God-honoring system. Just before their parents would become destitute, they would make a formal vow to donate much of their excess money to the temple. That vow was legally binding, but the money was placed in a discretionary fund that was only accessible to those working in the temple system. It was similar to using a “tax-sheltered” method to avoid giving it to the IRS. Except, in this case, they were avoiding the financial care of their own parents! The money was technically “unavailable,” so they could claim deep apologies to their parents for the lack of support. Pretty evil, right?

It was Jesus words in addressing this “attention to wrong priorities” that gets me. Jesus said, “In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition” (vs. 6). Religion and religious practices can often get so entangled in the wrong priorities and give attention to the wrong details that we lose perspective! And when that happens, we are all in danger of nullifying or CANCELLING God!

And in my selfish ignorance, I may choose to judge someone else’s petty sin in complete ignorance of my own major sin. I would end up cancelling God AND judging others in the process! This is another reason it is dangerous to step into the arena of judging others, we lose perspective on our own wrongdoing.

Prayer

Dad,
The nerve of religiosity attempting to cancel you! It’s clearly our own whacky desires that would lead us to not just prefer our own agendas and priorities, but then to formalize them into rules that we would hold over others and judge them as well. Who in the world do we think we are…God ourselves? Oh, that’s the real point, isn’t it? We want to BE our own gods, behaving in some skewed image of ourselves rather than reflecting who you are. We were created in YOUR image, not the other way around. Help us, forgive us Oh Lord.