Jan 29

Ordinarily Extraordinary

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Most people we know desire to be successful and create memorable accomplishments throughout their lives. And truth be told, many of us are not much different. We want to be known too. We want to become someone others consider to be important. Honestly, we want to be someone others consider extraordinary.

Instead of making it our aim to be considered extraordinary by our peers, what if we make it our aim to be servants of God who live extraordinary lives? The truth is most of us will never arrive at the extraordinary level we might desire, but we all can become servants of God who live extraordinary lives.

If we were to take a survey of the most extraordinary individuals in the Bible, only a few people would make such a list. Why? Because the majority of the people we read about in the Bible were not extraordinary. They were simple, ordinary servants of God. Consider the apostles. How many of them would we truly consider to be extraordinary men? Maybe 2 or 3? What about all the rest though? If they were not extraordinary, what were they? In my opinion, they were simply servants of God who lived extraordinary lives.

Take the apostle Andrew as an example. He was a fisherman by trade. In his day and time, a fisherman wasn’t a special profession; it was just a common job. If you stop and think about it, Andrew would not make our top 10 list of extraordinary people from the Bible. He may not even be in our list of the top 20. However, this ordinary servant of God lived a pretty extraordinary life.

Three times in the Gospel of John we see Andrew accomplishing something for God, but it’s probably not what you would think. Andrew is not mentioned for raising the dead or preaching an eloquent sermon. Instead, all three times we see Andrew bringing people to Jesus (Jn. 1:40-42; 6:9; 12:20-22). And one of the people he brought was his brother, Simon Peter.

If we make a list comparing these two brothers, most of us would say Peter was more extraordinary than Andrew. But perhaps we are just looking at the idea of “extraordinary” in the wrong way. Sure, Peter was an extraordinary individual who did much good for the Kingdom of God. And if we turn out like Peter, that’s great! However, if we humbly serve and lead people to Jesus like Andrew, that’s extraordinary too.

Maybe you and I will never achieve extraordinary status. We may never preach a sermon to thousands of people or perform mighty miracles that cause the lame to walk. We may never be considered an extraordinary person like Peter, but we can all live extraordinary lives like Andrew and lead other people to Jesus.

Now that’s Something to Think About!

Dec 20

Herod The “Not So” Great

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Did you have a nickname growing up? Most of us probably had some type of nickname at one time or another. In most cases, nicknames give us insight into a person’s life. Perhaps the name represents something they do or how they look. Other times though, a person’s nickname can lead to more questions than answers.

Take King Herod for example. This Roman-appointed King ruled over the Jewish people for about 33 years.  And although he was quite successful in many areas of his kingship, he is hardly deserving of his nickname: Herod the Great, especially when we consider his behavior concerning the birth of Jesus.

Most of us are familiar with the infamous story of Herod’s attack on infant boys in the little town of Bethlehem (Matt. 2:1-18). After hearing some wise men from the east had come to Jerusalem to worship the new born “King of the Jews,” Herod set out on a mission to rid his life of this potential threat by killing all the innocent males under the age of two. Herod believed there was only room for one “King of the Jews,” and he wasn’t going to give up his beloved title to anyone, including Jesus.

In Herod’s mind, the only way he could continue to remain king was to eliminate any threat he met along the way, including the one and only Son of God. So Herod ordered the death of all the little boys in and around the town of Bethlehem in hopes of eliminating Jesus. What a sad commentary of this so-called “great” king. Herod had so much pride in his heart that he allowed himself to kill innocent little children.

We can learn many lessons from Herod, but perhaps none any bigger than the damaging effects of pride. You see, pride is at the root of many other sins in our lives. When we allow our hearts to be filled with pride, we allow sin to fill our lives. King Herod’s pride caused him to act in “not so” great ways. Let’s  remember the words of the wise man when he said, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace” (Prov. 11:2).

Now that’s Something to Think About!

Jul 16

The Greatest Rescue Story Ever Known

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Perhaps like many of you, I recently was drawn in to the captivating story of the 12 young boys and their soccer coach who were trapped inside the cave in Thailand. For nine days the boys sat in the dark probably wondering if they were ever going to make it out to see the light of day again. After what we can only imagine was nine of the longest days of their lives, the boys and their coach were discovered by rescuers. The last of the boys and their coach emerged from the mouth of the cave nearly three weeks after first becoming trapped. What started as a nightmare ended up being a “feel good” story we won’t soon forget.

 

However, as great as this rescue story was, another rescue story trumps them all and that is the rescue story each one of us is involved in. Friends, the Son of Man came from heaven to earth so He could rescue us (Jn. 1:14; I Cor. 15:3). We learn from Hebrews that it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away our sins (Heb. 10:4). Therefore, Jesus came to offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, rescuing us from the dark pit of hell. Had Jesus not come, you and I would be without hope.

 

This is the greatest rescue story of all time, but sadly it is one that is too often forgotten. Jesus, who was in the form of God (Phil. 2:6; Jn. 1:1-4), left the glory of heaven to come to earth and be treated as anything but God. He was born in a manger (Lk. 2:1-7), despised and rejected by men (Isa. 53:3; Jn. 1:10-11) and sentenced to death in the most inhumane way possible in that time (Matt. 27:24-54). He endured all this just to rescue us.

 

Watching the young boys and their coach being rescued was heartwarming, something I will never forget. However, some 2,000 years ago, Jesus left the wonders of heaven and traveled down to earth to rescue and save us from being eternally lost. His great love for us (Gal. 2:20) is and always will be the greatest rescue story the world will ever know.

 

Now that’s Something to Think About!

 

Apr 23

Laughing At God

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I enjoy laughter. In fact, I find myself spending a great deal of time laughing. I believe laughter is one of God’s great gifts. We all should do a better job of bringing laughter into our lives. However, just as laughter can be a good thing, it also can be a bad thing. For example, have you ever laughed at an inappropriate time?

One of the inappropriate times for us to laugh is in response to God and His promises. Perhaps we have never truly laughed out loud at God, but we have probably laughed to ourselves at the thought of some of the very promises God has made.

This was an area where Abram struggled. God promised Abram he would have a son (Gen. 15:1-6). Unfortunately, he and his wife Sarai apparently got tired of waiting on God and decided to take matters into their own hands. Sarai gave Abram her servant, Hagar, and he slept with her and she conceived and bore him a son (Gen. 16:1-6).

Just when Abraham was probably feeling good about having a son, God tells him Ishmael, the son of Hagar, was not the son of promise. Instead, God was going to bless Abraham and Sarah with their very own son. Here’s the problem: instead of being excited, Abraham fell on his face and laughed at God. He thought he and Sarah were too old to have children (Gen. 17:16-17). Sadly, Sarah responded in the same way (Gen. 18:9-15).

Can you imagine laughing at God? We may not be able to imagine it, but we all have done it. When we read the promises God has made to us in His word, do we have faith that God will bring those promises to pass? If we don’t, then we are laughing at God and His promises. When we fail to believe what God says, we in essence are laughing at what God says.

Abraham and Sarah laughed at God because they doubted. The promise He made seemed illogical. Let’s not make the same mistake as Abraham and Sarah. Friends, always remember, “we walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7).

Now that’s Something to Think About!

Mar 08

STOP AND LISTEN

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No matter what our age may be, most of us probably do not enjoy being corrected. In fact, one of the hardest things to do is to stop and listen when someone is trying to correct us or our behavior. Many of us have seen this played out time and time again while we were correcting or disciplining our children. Children do not like to be corrected, but, honestly, neither do we.

 

However, just because we do not like to be corrected does not mean we do not need to be corrected. We all have moments in our lives where we find ourselves saying or doing things that make us look bad and bring shame and reproach upon the church. When such moments happen, we need someone to reach out to us with a gentle and loving hand of correction, not to be the Christian police, but to help us in our walk with God.

 

The wise man said, “Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid” (Prov. 12:1). Wow, what strong language. Why use such strong language? My guess, because it gets the point across. There are times we need correction in our lives and when those times come, we must stop and listen.

 

The apostle James wrote, “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (Jam. 1:19). Notice he says be “swift to hear” and “slow to speak.” When someone is trying to correct us, our typical response is to start offering excuses. Instead, we need to stop and listen. They just might be saying something we need to hear.

 

Brothers and sisters, we all are going to find ourselves in need of a gentle hand of correction at some point. When that time comes, how will we respond? Will we offer up a variety of excuses, will we accuse the person trying to correct us of being judgmental, or will we stop and listen to what we are being told?  That correction just might change the course of our eternity.

Now that’s Something to Think About!