Dec 04

God Owes Me, Right?

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You Owe Me

Have you ever felt like you were owed something? Maybe you held the door open for someone, but they hardly noticed. Deep down you thought to yourself, “How ungrateful can a person be? They could have at least said thank you.” Or maybe you stop in the middle of traffic to allow a car to pull out of the spot they had been stuck in for several minutes, only to have them pull out without a wave or smile as if you didn’t do anything to help them. You probably thought to yourself, “They could have at least waved.”

Welcome to the wonderful world of pride. It’s a world many of us have traveled through. Any time we do something for someone else, we sort of expect them to do something in return, don’t we? If I hold the door open for you, you say thank you. If I let you pull out in front of me while traffic is busy, you give a friendly wave. If I let you cut me in line at Chic-fil-A, you tell me what a good American I am. We think we are owed something in return for our service.

What about with God though? I highly doubt any of us would ever admit to thinking God owes us, but most likely we do. Think about it like this. Let’s say you live a Christian life to the highest standard. When people look at you they know you are a person of God; it’s written all over you by the things you say and do. You never miss an opportunity to worship and praise God. About the worst thing you ever did was talk back to your momma and you only did that once because you received the worst spanking of your life after you did. You are about as good of a Christian as there has ever been. Your life is good and you are tremendously blessed by God.

Then one day everything changes. One day you lose your job. One day your marriage falls apart. One day you find out someone less qualified got the job you really wanted. One day the only child you have is taken from you. One day a parent or spouse leaves you. One day you are diagnosed with a terrible illness. One day something happens to you that completely turns your world upside down. How do you respond?

Chances are you respond the same way a lot of us might respond; you want to know why God allowed this to happen to you. How could He let this happen after all the years of service you have given Him? You have done a lot of good in His name. You have dedicated your life to Him. What is He doing up there? He’s certainly not taking care of you. He owes you, right?

Jesus, when talking to His disciples about service, said, “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’” (Luke 17:10). Jesus taught His disciples that obeying what they had been taught and being faithful in service, didn’t entitle them to anything.

When we don’t like what happens in our lives, let’s not be so quick to get angry with God, no matter how faithful we have been. Remember, our faithfulness was our duty. We are servants. We are here to serve Him. God doesn’t owe us anything for our service to Him. He’s already paid for our service by the sacrificial gift of His Son on the cross. Jesus hung where we should have hung (Rom. 5:8) and even that was something we were never owed.

God doesn’t owe us anything but we owe Him everything!

Now that’s Something to Think About!

Nov 18

What Will You Give Me?

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Photo Credit: Victor1558 via cc

I once asked one of the little kids at church to do me a favor. I just needed her to walk across the auditorium and tell someone not to leave before I had the chance to talk with him. I was tied up talking to someone else at the moment, but I really needed to talk to this other person as well. What happened next caught me off guard. She looked at me and asked, “What will you give me?” This little girl was willing to do whatever I asked as long as she got something in return.

Before Judas ever betrayed Jesus, he went to the chief priests and asked them, “What will you give me if I deliver him (Jesus) over to you?” (Matt. 26:15). Judas did not betray Jesus for no reason at all. He betrayed Jesus to get something in return.

It is easy for us to look at Judas and think, “What was he thinking? How could he betray his friend and Lord?” We are even so bold to think we would never do what Judas did; we would never betray Jesus for something like silver. However, I’m afraid we have more in common with Judas than we realize. While we might not betray Jesus for a certain sum of money, we betray Him in other ways.

Every day we wake up Satan comes after us with some type of sweet looking deal. He promises to give us happiness, fame, pleasure, riches, popularity or acceptance if we will just betray Jesus and bow down to the devil and his ways. Sadly, many of us do this without even realizing what we are doing. We give up a faithful and obedient relationship with Jesus just so we can enjoy whatever Satan and the world are offering us at that moment.

Friends, as we go throughout our daily lives, be careful about betraying Jesus for the mortal things around us. Let’s not stop and ask, “What will you give me?” because things of the world are never truly worth it in the end…just ask Judas.

Now that’s Something to Think About!

 

 

 

 

Oct 31

Is Your Christianity A Costume?

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Kids' Halloween Costumes 2013

Photo Credit: Clintus McGintus via cc

Tonight, if they haven’t already, many children will go out and trick or treat around their neighborhoods. Most all those who do this will dress up in a costume or put on a mask and pretend to be something they are not. Some of the costumes will be cute, some will be funny, some will be scary, while others will be flat out hideous. Yet, it does not matter how different each costume may appear, they all have one thing in common: they are used so people can pretend to be someone they are not.

Many times I’m afraid people do the same thing with their Christianity. They dress up in a costume and pretend to be something they are not. Each Sunday they put on their best clothes, grab their Bibles (if they can remember them), put a smile on their faces and attend worship service. They try to trick people into believing they are devoted followers of Christ although the kind of life they live during the week is anything but one devoted to following Christ. They say things they shouldn’t say, do things they shouldn’t do and neglect things they should be doing.Then they come to church on Sunday and pretend to be someone different than they really are the rest of the week, someone who is holy, hoping no one will notice that their Christianity is nothing more than a costume they put on that morning.

When God sent Samuel to Bethlehem to the house of Jesse to anoint one of his sons as king, Samuel was sure God was going to anoint Eliab as king. However, God told Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (I Sam. 16:7).

God passed on Eliab and chose David, the youngest son of Jesse, to be the next king because God saw in David what Samuel could not see: his heart. When gathering with the church on Sunday, remember that while we may be able to trick most people, we can never trick or fool God, for He does not see as man sees. God can see our hearts!

Friends, God knows whether our Christianity is genuine or simply a costume. Let’s make sure the kind of lives we are living during the week match the kind of lives we live on Sundays.

Now that’s Something to Think About!
Oct 14

Faith, Football and our Eternal Purpose

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Back Camera

Like many of you, I am an avid sports fan. I played multiple sports growing up and now that I’m too old to play, I watch sports and cheer on my favorite teams even when there is not much to cheer about. As a devoted sports fan, I thought I had seen everything. However, yesterday something happened that I have never seen before and hope I never see again.

The Houston Texans were a popular pick to be a Super Bowl contender this season. Unfortunately, the season has not started according to plan. The Houston Texans entered yesterday’s game having lost three of their last four games and yesterday’s outcome was no different. The Texans suffered a crushing loss to the St. Louis Rams by a score of 38-13.

The loss is not what people are talking about this morning though. Instead, people around the country are talking about what the Texans fans did after their embattled quarterback Matt Schaub went down late in the third quarter with an apparent ankle injury. As he was leaving the game due to his injury, some fans began to cheer, but not for the right reasons. The fans were cheering because they were happy their quarterback was injured. Yes, you heard that correct. The fans were cheering because a player was injured and knocked out of the game.

Now, I will admit, there have been plenty of times I have been disappointed in the way my favorite teams have played (after all…I’m a Tennessee Vols, Atlanta Braves and Tennessee Titans fan). If you are a fan of any of these teams, you can relate to the recent years of disappointment. However, their play (or lack of play) on the field doesn’t give me or any other fan the right to cheer when someone gets hurt, no matter how bad they have been playing. The fact that the Texans fans cheered because a player was injured is sickening and a disgrace to fans everywhere. Really, have we gotten to the point in America were sports and winning is more important than a person’s physical health?

Sadly, I am afraid the answer to that question is a resounding yes! Sports and winning have become more important that just about everything else in life. We have made American sports a god in our society and in our own lives.  We have gotten to the point where our priorities are completely out of order. We have gotten to the point where something as pointless as sports (and I love sports) has become more important to us than the keeping of God’s will for our lives.

Consider just two things mentioned as being a part of God’s will for our lives.

  1. Jesus said we are to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6:33). Sadly, the game of football has become the top priority in the lives of some individuals. It was God who said we are to have no other gods before Him (Exo. 20:2-5). For those of you who are not football fans, you can replace the word football with whatever unimportant thing you have allowed to be a top priority in your own life.
  2.  We are commanded to treat others the way we want to be treated (Matt. 7:12). What if instead of Matt Schaub being the one who was injured, it was your child or parent lying on the turf in obvious pain? Would you want fans to be cheering because they had gotten hurt? Certainly not. In fact, we would be outraged if that were someone we loved rolling on the ground in pain as fans cheered for joy.

What I’m trying to say is maybe it is time for us to hit pause for just a moment and reexamine our lives to see if we are caught up in something that serves no eternal value in the end. If football or anything else for that matter is so important we would neglect keeping God’s standards and commands, our lives and priorities are completely out of place.

Seeing what took place in Houston yesterday breaks my heart because it suggests to me we have a long ways to go in reestablishing God as the heart and center of our great country. May God help us to refocus our lives on our eternal purposes and not on the temporal!

Now that’s Something to Think About!

 

 

 

 

Oct 03

Fixing Broken Relationships

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Little Kids Talking
Photo Credit: Max Mayorov via Compfight cc

Relationships have lost their permanence. It does not matter whether its marriages, friendships or careers, relationships just don’t last like they once did. Perhaps part of the reason for this is because people today do not know how to handle relationships that are fractured or broken. When bad things happen between us and others, we just walk away instead of trying to fix the problem.

The Bible places a great deal of importance on peace and reconciliation. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matt. 5:9). God wants His children to be people of peace. Honestly though, this is not always very easy. In fact, it’s quite hard, even sacrificial to an extent.

Of all the people we read about in the Bible, Joseph may have understood this better than anyone; after all, he was sold by his brothers into slavery. Notice how Joseph handled the broken relationship with his brothers.

  1. Joseph handled the relationship privately (Gen. 45:1). He could have made a big spectacle in front of all his friends and servants, but he didn’t. He knew that would only make things worse. As Christians, we are to look out for the interest of others (Phil. 2:3-4). I highly doubt us making something about our relationships with others public, as looking out for their best interest.
  2. Joseph handled the relationship uniquely (Gen. 45:2-4). It would have been easy for Joseph to ignore his brothers and let them think he was still a slave or worse, dead. However, that’s not what Joseph did. He approached his brothers and reminded them of the relationship they once shared (“I am your brother, Joseph”). How many of us are willing to approach the people who have wronged us?
  3. Joseph handled the relationship maturely (Gen. 45:5-11). When Joseph stood face to face with his brothers, he did not attack them for what they had done to him. In fact, he does not even blame them. Instead, Joseph proves his maturity and trust in God by forgiving his brothers. He even invited them to come live near him so he could provide for them and their children.
  4. Joseph handled the relationship lovely (Gen. 45:14-15). When all was said and done, Joseph kissed and wept over all his brothers. He didn’t shake their hands or pretend like he didn’t care. He hugged and kissed each one of them. By doing this Joseph proved his love and forgiveness to his brothers.

For the first time in about 20 years, Joseph and his brothers were able to talk and enjoy being in one another’s presence all because of the way Joseph handled their broken relationship.

Friends, if you have a relationship that is broken and needs to be fixed, take time today to seek peace and mend the relationship. By taking such action others will know we are disciples of Jesus (Jn. 13:35).

Now that’s Something to Think About!