Liars, and Murderers, and Family Fracturers, Oh My!

Posted on August 2, 2023 by Pete

I think I’ve said it before here, but I’ll say it again: life’s circumstance has a way of creating a filter for processing the word of God. You can read the same passage year after year and never have it hit you between the eyes. But then, one year, with different things going on, something you’ve skimmed over in the past with little thought suddenly jumps off the page and demands some meditation and thought. Such is the case with a familiar reading this morning in Proverbs 6.

The LORD hates six things;
in fact, seven are detestable to Him:
arrogant eyes, a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that plots wicked schemes,
feet eager to run to evil,
a lying witness who gives false testimony,
and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.

(Proverbs 6:16-19 CSB)

Six . . . no, seven things the LORD hates. Six . . . no, seven things the LORD is inclined to set Himself in opposition to. Six . . . no, seven things. And I take it that the seventh thing is a thing to be particularly noted.

So, what are these six . . . no, seven things? Pride and lying and murder. No surprise there. Hearts that plot evil, feet that run toward evil, and those who would perjure themselves to perpetuate evil. Yup. Get it. Check, check, and check. One who stirs up trouble among brothers. Huh?

Someone who sows discord among brothers (ESV)? That’s the seventh thing? That’s the emphasized thing? That’s the thing above the other things? The thing it looks like we are supposed to not miss. The LORD hates “a troublemaker in the family” (MSG)? Apparently.

Liars and murderers and perjurers, oh my! Now that has a logical ring to it. But liars and murderers and family fracturers, oh my? Honestly, it hits me as somewhat shocking. Like one-of-these-things-is-not-like-the-other shocking.

I know from Psalm 133 that, from the perspective of the Divine, it is “good and pleasant when brothers live together in harmony.” So good, in fact, that “there the LORD has appointed the blessing.” But that it would be odious to the LORD of heaven — just as pride, lying, murder, and perjury are repulsive — that someone would work to fracture that harmony within a family takes a bit of noodling to really grasp.

Something which seems to be too common within the family of God on earth is something so abhorrent before the eyes of the King of heaven. How we need to recognize and deal with our troublemaking within the family. It’s not just one of the six things God hates, it’s the seventh!

So whaddya’ supposed to do when you do something that the LORD hates?

We confess. We repent. And He forgives.

For, the debt of sin owed for the six things — no, the seven things the LORD hates — has been paid in full at the cross of Calvary. Our seventh thing can be the same thing that captures our hearts afresh with the great thing of God’s abounding grace. Recognizing the seventh thing becomes the latest thing that allows us to experience the faithful thing of the Savior’s love.

. . . and the grace of our Lord overflowed, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” ​— ​and I am the worst of them.

(1Timothy 1:14-15 CSB)

Christ Jesus saves and continues to save sinners. Even liars and murderers and family fracturers. Oh my!

By His infinite grace. For His eternal glory.

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A Limited Time Offer

Posted on August 1, 2023 by Pete

Back at my desk after 10 days with the WHOLE family — first time we’ve all been together since February 2020. Fourteen of us then, seventeen of us now. I’m burnt, I’m water-logged, and my cup is full. Don’t know the last time I slept so well for so long for so many nights in a row. Grandkids all day long have a way of doing that to ya’. Enjoyed the adult time too. Eventually won a game of backgammon. And I was tutored in AI by one of my sons-in-law — I just might have to engage in that world. But while I managed to keep doing my morning readings (at night) throughout the week, a lot more difficult to find the time and energy to write. Did I mention I’m glad to be back at my desk?

This morning, I’m hovering over a story Jesus tells in Luke 14. Another of those stories Jesus tells while sitting around a table eating with a group of people. One of those people apparently looks at the feast before them, and the Teacher with them, and says, in effect, “Won’t it be great to do this one day in the kingdom of God?” Cue the story . . .

Then [Jesus] told him, “A man was giving a large banquet and invited many. At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, because everything is now ready.'”

“But without exception they all began to make excuses.”

(Luke 14:16-18a CSB)

A large banquet. Huge in scale. Plentiful in provision. A party to dwarf all other parties. A massive supper. A marvelous time. A momentous occasion. And many are invited. How’s that for a summary of the grace offered through the gospel?

But get this, without exception they all began to make excuses. One tapped out because of his pursuit of possessions, he had just bought a field and had to go and see it. (Wouldn’t he have done that before he bought it?) Another passed on the offer because of work, he had fields to plow, seed to sow, crops to harvest. And yet another decides that family is more important, so he too says no to the invitation.

And here’s the chilling part for me, these aren’t just rain checks. This isn’t a call to pass on an invitation now only to take advantage of it at some later, more convenient time. Each excuse turns out to be the refusal of a limited time offer.

“For I tell you, not one of those people who were invited will enjoy my banquet.”

(Luke 14:24 CSB)

I get e-mails regularly and frequently from a company offering “a limited time offer.” And after every “last chance, offer ends tomorrow” e-mail, it’s invariably soon followed with the next “limited time offer” which looks remarkably like the last “limited time offer.” But such is not the case with this large banquet offer.

Sure, this is an invitation to all. And it’s a free offer, everything’s been provided. Those who have been invited needed only to come. But each had an excuse. Each refused. Each had something more important to do, something more cherished to invest their time in. And eventually, the limited time offer expired. Not one of those people who were invited will enjoy my banquet.

Time ran out. Perhaps the time to respond ran out because a supple heart became a hardened heart. Perhaps the time to accept expired because a beating heart suddenly, unexpectedly stopped beating. Perhaps the time to enter the banqueting hall ran out because the Host from heaven returned and closed the doors so that those who had RSVP’d could finally sit at the table and enjoy the feast.

It’s a limited time offer. Don’t know how much time. But “Behold,” says the Scriptures, “now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2Cor. 6:2b). The day to be saved. The day to engage in being saved. And we’re all invited to do so. Today!

Today if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts.

(Hebrews 4:7b CSB)

An invitation to each of us. Not just to accept the offer but to actively pursue the offer. Not to wait for the kingdom someday but to live out the kingdom today. So, let’s pull up a chair and participate. Having entered through the doors opened to all by the finished work of the cross, let’s engage in the table already set before us. Let’s stop with the excuses. Let’s stop refusing the invitation.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Reform Is Not Necessarily Revival

Posted on July 24, 2023 by Pete

Thirty-one years. Not enough time.

Over three decades of legislated obedience and holiness. And, except for one king and perhaps a small remnant, it didn’t really make much of a difference. While there was over a quarter of a century of reform in Israel, there was really very little revival.

You see, morality is sourced in the heart, not fostered by religious ritual and rites. Holiness is the fruit of the Spirit, not the output of lawmakers. Godliness is a matter of faith, not a matter of following the rules — even when those rules come from the the LORD Himself.

My proof text? 2Chronicles 34 and 35.

Josiah was a kid king. He was eight years old when he became king and reigned for just over three decades (2Ch. 34:1). When he was sixteen years old he “began to seek the God of his ancestor David” (34:3). And it wasn’t long after that, that he began cleaning house. Literally! He began cleaning up the house of the LORD, getting rid of the idols that had been set up within the temple walls. After cleaning came repairing. And in the course of repairing and de-cluttering, a copy of “the law of the LORD written by the hand of Moses” was found. And read. And received. And then reform really kicked into high gear.

Reading the word led to prayer. Prayer led to confession. Confession to repentance. And the king whose heart was already set in the right direction sought to wrestle a 180 degree turn out of the rest of Judah. The word was read to the people and then the people’s response was mandated.

Then the king stood at his post and made a covenant in the LORD’s presence to follow the LORD and to keep His commands, His decrees, and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul in order to carry out the words of the covenant written in this book.

He had all those present in Jerusalem and Benjamin agree to it. So all the inhabitants of Jerusalem carried out the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.

(2Chronicles 34:31-32 CSB)

And carry out the covenant the inhabitants of Jerusalem did. Slicing and dicing and sacrificing became a daily activity so that the blood of atonement flowed plentifully. And that led to remembering their deliverance from bondage in a manner which had not been done for hundreds of years. In fact, “no Passover had been observed like it in Israel since the days of the prophet Samuel” (35:18).

This was now an obedient people. This was a people who had removed the idols and followed the letter of the law to the t. But this was also a people whose hearts were as dead in sin as when Josiah’s rule began. For after Josiah, they returned to their wicked ways.

Righteousness can’t be legislated. Holiness can’t be imposed. Going through the actions does nothing for heart change. Reform doesn’t equal revival. Who’s on the throne, or in the White House, or in Parliament, doesn’t make a bit of difference without hearts ready for revival.

“Because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I myself have heard” ​— ​this is the LORD’s declaration.

(2Chronicles 34:27 CSB)

Josiah HEARD the word of God with a tender HEART and HUMBLED himself. This it seems to me, at least in part, is the secret sauce of revival. Renewal can be legislated. Revival however is an act of God through the word of God within a heart prepared by God to humble itself before God.

O’ God. Make our hearts tender and open to Your word. Let us hear Your word. And let us humble ourselves according to Your word.

That there might be reform. That there might be revival.

For our good and for the good of the land.

By your grace. For Your glory.

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Blessed are the Awake (2018 Rerun)

Posted on July 20, 2023 by Pete

Another of my daughters and her kids arrived this week as we get ready for all the family to be together for the next 10 days back in B.C. First time we’ve all been together since before COVID! Looking forward to it. However, there is a direct correlation between number of grandkids present and amount of morning time available. I’ll be happy if I can get my reading plan done in the mornings for the next week and a half — getting in computer time as well will be a bonus. So, this morning I just flipped back 5 years and had a look at some thoughts from this day’s reading plan then. Be awake! Hmm. Needful 5 years ago. How much more today? A lot, I’m thinking . . .

Anticipation. The act of anticipating. Of regarding something as possible and taking action to be prepared. Of looking forward to something in the future with a present readiness.

The opposite of anticipation? Being unaware. Unengaged. Not ready. Asleep at the wheel.

Thinking about being ready this morning as I read in Luke’s gospel .

“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. . . . You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” ~ Jesus

(Luke 12:35-36, 40 ESV)

Jesus to His disciples: “You also must be ready.” The Master is coming back. The Bridegroom will soon call for His bride. The King is not long in claiming His kingdom. And ours, as His servants, His bride, and His people, is to live in anticipation of His return. To live in expectation. To be ready.

What’s more, says Jesus three times in this passage, “Blessed are the awake!”

“Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! . . . Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.” ~ Jesus again

(Luke 12:37-38, 43 ESV)

Repetition is exclamation in my books. A raising of the voice. Multiple flashing signs saying, “Don’t miss this!” And in this case, all fingers are pointing to a blessing.

Blessed are those dressed for action. Blessed are those who keep their lamps burning. Blessed are those who are doing what the Master has asked them to do.

Blessed are those living in anticipation. Blessed are those occupied, with whatever they do, in expectation that the Son of Man could come at any moment. Blessed are those ready for His return.

Blessed are the awake!

The awake are those who do whatever they do as for the Lord. Knowing that, when He comes, they will receive His inheritance as their reward (Col. 3:23-24). The awake are those who recognize they are stewards of the abilities and talents they’ve been graced with by the Master of the house and deploy them in service to His kingdom (Matt. 25:14-30). The awake are those focused not only on investing in their retirement plans but are also intentionally laying up treasure in heaven (Matt. 6:20, 1Tim. 6:18-19).

And the awake are those who are blessed.

Oh, to be found faithful. To be doing what I do with an eye towards pleasing my Master. To be mindful of the stewardship He’s given me. To be somewhat aware of the part He’s asked me to be in the Body. To intentionally use what I think are the gifts He’s graced me with in the area of service He’s called me to. All because I awake every morning–not that I do, but that I should–with the thought, “Perhaps today!”

Should the day come before the grave comes, might I be found in anticipation of His return. Might I be found awake. Then blessed will be this servant.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Write It Off

Posted on July 18, 2023 by Pete

Brief thought this morning on something I read in 2Chronicles 25.

Who about? Amaziah, king of Judah.

What about? Military ambition. Amaziah’s got an itch to stir things up with the nations around Judah. So, he counts his soldiers. Three hundred thousand “fit young men who could serve in the army, bearing spear and shield.” Good! But, what’s better is four hundred thousand! So, “for 7,500 pounds of silver he hired one hundred thousand valiant warriors from Israel” (25:5-6).

Wait a minute. From who? Israel? Once God-fearing now God-flaunting Israel? Israel who made golden calves to worship instead of the God of their deliverance? Israel who, since splitting from Judah, had never had a king who “did what was right in the sight of the Lord” but persisted “doing what was evil” as they prostituted themselves with not only the graven images of their own making but also with the gods of the nations? Yeah, that Israel. Hmmm . . .

That’s what God says too.

However, a man of God came to [Amaziah] and said, “King, do not let Israel’s army go with you, for the LORD is not with Israel ​— ​all the Ephraimites. But if you go with them, do it! Be strong for battle! But God will make you stumble before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to make one stumble.”

Then Amaziah said to the man of God, “What should I do about the 7,500 pounds of silver I gave to Israel’s division?”

The man of God replied, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.“

So Amaziah released the division that came to Him from Ephraim to go home.

(2Chronicles 25:7-10a CSB)

Two truths about God catch my attention.

First, God can lead us in triumph when we depend on Him, and God can trip us up when we don’t. We can lean on our own power, whether it’s relying on what we have or what we can buy from an unbelieving world, but our plans and self-made provisions are ultimately subject to God’s purposes and His prevailing power. For God has the power to help or to make one stumble.

But it’s the second observation that’s got me thinking this morning. Sometimes, when you’ve headed down a path of your own making; when you’ve invested in a way that seems prudent according to your own thinking; when that happens and God, in His kindness, says, “Uh, uh”; then, you need to be prepared to write it off.

How often do we try to salvage something of our less-than-wise decisions? How prone are we to try and recoup something from bad investments we’ve made with our treasure, or our time, or our talents? Instead, we need to let it go. See it as a sunk cost. In repenting of our wayward ways, sometimes we’ll just need to write it off. And that, as an act of faith. Counting all things that we might have once held dear, and invested much in, as loss because we believe that the LORD is able to give you much more than this. (Paul knew what it was to write it off. Check out Philippians 3:7-8.)

Something I read in Psalm 147 kind of punctuates this lesson to be learned.

He is not impressed by the strength of a horse;
He does not value the power of a warrior.
The Lord values those who fear Him,
those who put their hope in His faithful love.

(Psalms 147:10-11 CSB)

Yeah, our mistakes may cost us. But He is able to give us much more than we lose. For our God has purposed to invest in those who fear Him, in those who put their trust in His faithful love. So, write it off!

By His grace. For His glory.

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Good News! Good Timing?

Posted on July 14, 2023 by Pete

They were born again amid persecution, and they lived amid persecution. They received, by faith, the good news from men who were constantly harassed and afflicted, and they followed Jesus, by faith, being harassed and afflicted themselves. Being saved, for these Thessalonian believers, was to suffer.

So, when Paul writes to them and tells them that God’s righteous judgment would repay their oppressors and provide relief from their suffering, that had to be good news. Right? But it’s the timing of God’s justice that I’m chewing on this morning.

It is clear evidence of God’s righteous judgment that you will be counted worthy of God’s kingdom, for which you also are suffering, since it is just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you and to give relief to you who are afflicted, along with us.

(2Thessalonians 1:5-7a CSB)

You will be counted worthy. Vindication. Check! It is just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you. Compensation. Check. Relief to you. Alleviation. Check. All good news. So, when?

This will take place at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His powerful angels.

(2Thessalonians 1:7b CSB)

When? At the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven!

Really? If we’re honest, aren’t we wanting something a bit sooner?

While some who suffer for the kingdom might see justice in their lifetime, seems to me that Paul’s saying we shouldn’t expect it. It’s gonna get better, says Paul, for sure! But that guarantee will only be certainly and fully known when Jesus comes again — “on that day when He comes to be glorified by His saints and to be marveled at by all those who have believed” (2Thess. 1:10). That’s the timing.

Good timing? It’s gotta be, it’s the timing of a good God. At just the right time, justice will prevail, wrongs will be set right, and suffering will cease. All when Jesus returns.

But what about until then?

In the meantime, sanctification occurs. The nature of Christ formed in us as we bear the cross of Christ. The people of God purified in the crucible. The bride made beautiful amidst the injustice of wrongs declared to be right and suffering which seems to simmer season after season. Faith flourishing in the church as together the church endures affliction (1Thess. 1:3-4).

The revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven. That’s the timing for an upside-down world to be set right-side-up.

Until then, His grace is sufficient. His presence is made known through His Spirit. His power is made manifest through our weakness.

Good news!

His perfect timing!

By His grace, for His glory.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

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Bad Eyes

Posted on July 13, 2023 by Pete

They wanted a sign. Jesus said to them “I’m it!” (Lk. 11:29-32)

The queen of the south had Solomon. The men of Nineveh had Jonah. And the generation of Jesus? Well, they had Him, the Light of the world (Jn. 8:12). But they missed it. They missed Him. No light, just darkness. How come? Bad eyes.

“Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is also full of light. But when it is bad, your body is also full of darkness. Take care, then, that the light in you is not darkness.”

(Luke 11:34-35 CSB)

Take care, then, that the light in you is not darkness. Hmm . . . sounds like a command to obey to me. But is it for me? I’m thinkin’ . . .

They looked at Jesus, but they didn’t see Jesus. Jesus diagnoses the problem; your eye is bad. Blind eyes can look directly into the light and all they pickup is darkness. And, when all you see is darkness, then you’re gonna think that darkness must be what light looks like. Bad eyes beget bad discernment. And ours is an age of bad eyes.

So, to be sure, this is a warning and a command for “an evil generation” (11:29). But what about those who are righteous in Jesus, who seek to be holy through Jesus, and who want to do good for Jesus? Do we need to take care too? Can eyes which once saw the Light with 20/20 Spirit-illuminated vision become clouded, dim, even “bad”? Maybe.

Though we have been rescued and “transferred” into the kingdom of the Son, we still live in the midst of the “domain of darkness” (Col. 1:13). Darkness is all about us. Some of it clearly dark, some of it masquerading as an “angel of light” (2Cor. 11:14). Some of it obviously evil, some of it insidiously and subtly presenting as good but rotten in its core. The ways of darkness all around us beckoning us to play by its rules, and to measure success with its scorecard. A culture with bad eyes wanting to show us the way. So, says Jesus, “Take care, then, that the light in you is not darkness.”

How we need to protect our eyes, for they will deceive us if they are damaged by the ways of the world. Convincing us too, that darkness is in fact light.

So, how do we take care?

I know no better way than to stare into the light. The light of His word. Illuminated by the Spirit. Reminding us of the darkness. Presenting afresh “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2Cor. 4:4). Shining forth anew the “the radiance of God’s glory” through the One who Himself made “purification for sins” (Heb. 1:3).

The remedy which prevents bad eyes? (Cue Sunday School answer 101). Jesus! We would see Jesus!

When you see Jesus, your eye is healthy. When your eye is healthy, then you will see Jesus. And light will dispel the darkness. And the light will be light indeed.

Amen?

By His grace. For His glory.

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Dependent

Posted on July 12, 2023 by Pete

It’s not an English word you’ll find in the ESV Old Testament. But here it is repeatedly in the CSB as I read 2 Chronicles 13-16. And it stands out. Because it sounds unfamiliar to this longtime ESV reader? Perhaps. Or, maybe because the Spirit determines to massage it into the heart of this newly CSB reader? More likely, I’m thinking.

If there’s anything I think I’m to take away from the stories of these two kings of Judah, Abijah and Asa, it’s that God wants His people to be dependent.

Chapter 13, King Jeroboam of Israel comes against King Abijah of Judah who, in terms of military might, out numbers him 2 to 1 — 800,000 “fit young men” against 400,000 “fit young men.” But this king who had broken from the ways of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David, worshipping gods of his own making, didn’t factor in that on the other side of the battlefield was a king who rested on the promises made to David and believed in the power of the God he had faithfully determined to worship. So even when Jeroboam surrounded Abijah with his army, Abijah’s prayer prevailed and “God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah . . . God handed them over to them.”

Judah’s secret weapon? Their super power? They were dependent.

The Israelites were subdued at that time. The Judahites succeeded because they depended on the LORD, the God of their ancestors.

(2Chronicles 13:18 CSB)

Chapter 14, King Asa of Judah and his 580,000 men from Judah and Benjamin are challenged by Zerah the Cushite and his “army of one million men and three hundred chariots.” But Asa, who was also outnumbered almost 2:1, marches out against the Cushites and lines up in battle formation. First strategic move? Pray!

Then Asa cried out to the LORD his God, “LORD, there is no one besides You to help the mighty and those without strength. Help us, LORD our God, for we depend on You, and in Your name we have come against this large army. LORD, You are our God. Do not let a mere mortal hinder You.”

(2Chronicles 14:11 CSB)

The outcome? “So the LORD routed the Cushites before Asa and before Judah” (14:12).

But, after a reign under which he led a revival in the things of God in the land and the land had known peace for an extended period of time, Asa doesn’t finish as well as he started. After 20 yeas of no war in Judah, King Basha of Israel decides to take a run at King Asa. And this time, instead of depending on God and praying, Asa ends up depending on himself and paying — paying a neighboring king to attack Basha and deflect him from laying siege to Judah. Mission accomplished, but Asa is rebuked.

At that time, the seer Hanani came to King Asa of Judah and said to him, “Because you depended on the king of Aram and have not depended on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from you. Were not the Cushites and Libyans a vast army with many chariots and horsemen? When you depended on the LORD, He handed them over to you. For the eyes of the LORD roam throughout the earth to show Himself strong for those who are wholeheartedly devoted to Him. You have been foolish in this matter.”

(2Chronicles 16:7-9a CSB)

Bottom line? God is looking to show Himself strong on behalf of those who are dependent. Those who are wholeheartedly devoted to Him.

He wants His people to lean on Him. He wants those with burdens beyond their bearing to rely on Him, to literally rest against Him as their support.

Oh, how counter-cultural is dependence in our hyper-individualized age? Even as we seek to walk in wholehearted obedience to our God, how quick we are to look to our own resources rather submit ourselves to Him with wholehearted dependence? How I need to be less self-reliant and more mindful that my Father wants to hear me pray, “I depend on You!”

Dependent.

Only by His grace. Always for His glory.

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Children of the Day . . . Still (A Double Rerun)

Posted on July 11, 2023 by Pete

Hovering over 1Thessalonians 5, this morning. Looked back five years ago, only to find that not only was I chewing on it then, but had been five years before that, in 2013, as well. Ten years later, and our pervasive cultural darkness is darker than ever. The night more black than ever. But ten years later we’re still children of the day. Thought it was worth reading again, and thinking about again. Thought I’d update the ESV quotes with the CSB and post it again.

2018 Preamble

We belong to the day. That’s who we are. Reminded of that as I read the first part of 1Thessalonians 5 this morning. So much confusion around identity these days, around what defines us and gives us meaning. And confusion as to who we are, leads to confusion as to how we should live. But that shouldn’t be the case for the Christian.

Our identity is in Christ. We are the people of God. Rescued from the domain of darkness, we have been brought into the kingdom of His Son, the kingdom of light. As Paul reminds me this morning, we belong to the day.

We are of the light. That’s who we are. That’s how we should live. Here’s how I thought about it 5 years ago . . .

The specific subject is the second coming of Christ, a day that “will come like a thief in the night.” Paul says that it will come when most people are least expecting it. They’ll be saying, “There is peace and security” and then sudden destruction will come upon them. Jesus said that it will be like the days of Noah, when people were just doing life up until the flood hit (Matt. 24:38-39). He said it would be just as it was in the days of Lot, when people went about “eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building” until the day that “fire and sulfur rained down” (Luke 17:28-30).

But, says Paul, though the day will come as a thief in the night it should not surprise the believer like a thief . . . it shouldn’t overtake us . . . it shouldn’t catch us off guard. How come? Because, the apostle reminds us, we are children of the day.

About the times and the seasons: Brothers and sisters, you do not need anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, for this day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness.

(1Thessalonians 5:1-5 CSB)

And I’m thinking of the implications of belonging to the day (5:8) . . . of having been brought out of darkness into marvelous light (1Peter 2:9) . . . of having once been blind but now I see . . . of being children of the day.

By God’s grace and the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the believer is able to see things they could never have otherwise seen . . . to know deep things that can never be known by natural man . . . to have a perspective on life which is simply hidden to those who are dead in trespasses and sin. At that moment, when, by faith, I acknowledged the need for a Savior . . . when, through no merit of my own, my sins were forgiven . . . when, due to no effort I could put forth, I was redeemed by the precious blood of Christ . . . at that moment, I was forgiven . . . I was cleansed . . . I was sealed . . . I was adopted . . . and, praise God, I was made a child of the day.

And, says Paul, it should make a difference.

So then, let us not sleep, like the rest, but let us stay awake and be self-controlled. . . . since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled . . .

(1Thessalonians 5:6-8 CSB)

Stay awake and be self-controlled. Keep awake and be sober (ESV). Be alert and self-controlled (NIV). Stay alert and clear-headed (NLT). No snoozin’ at the wheel (PJC).

What a waste to be children of the day and walk around like people of darkness. How short we fall of our potential in Christ when we take our cues from the world. How under-utilized is the mind of Christ we possess, the ability through the Spirit to know the deep things of God (1Cor. 2:14-16), when we, instead, live after the wisdom of men.

Oh, to live as children of the day. Awake to the realities of the kingdom of heaven about us . . . doing life with an engaged radar discerning the “truths” fed us by a world cloaked in darkness . . . pursuing that which is of God, letting pass that which is not.

Can’t do it on my own. But children of the day don’t have to. The God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone His light in our hearts, “giving us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” . . . so that “we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2Cor. 4:6-7). His light . . . his power . . . my holy determination to be awake and clear-headed.

Oh that, as His people, we would continue to seek to live as children of the day in a world which is shrouded in the darkness of night.

To do so by His all sufficient and enabling grace. To do so for His eternal and praiseworthy glory.

Amen?

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Questions of the Distracted

Posted on July 10, 2023 by Pete

“Lord, don’t You care?”

What kind of question is that? Give your head a shake! Who’s gonna ask such a question of the God who has declared that His glory is seen as we know that He is in essence and being “a compassionate and gracious God . . . abounding in faithful love and truth” (Ex. 34:6)? Who’s gonna ask that kind of question? Evidently, someone distracted by their many tasks.

[Jesus] entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.”

(Luke 10:38-40 CSB)

Distracted by her many tasks, Martha came up and asked, “Lord don’t You care?”

Woe is me. I’ve opened my home to Him. I’m putting out my best for Him. But I could sure use a little help. A little help would be appreciated. Doesn’t He notice that, while I’m busy serving, my sister’s intent on being still? That while I’m putting out, she’s just taking in? That while I could sure use a helping hand, she’s content to be sitting on her’s? Lord, don’t You care?

Love Martha. I probably would say more Martha’s are needed in this consumer-oriented, spectator-catering age. But the danger of being a Martha, apparently, is that you can busy yourself to the point of asking some pretty dumb questions, if you’d but pause long enough to think about it.

Seems to me Marthas can be their best when they take their cue from the Marys. When they take the time and seize the opportunities to just sit at the Lord’s feet and listen. When busyness intentionally makes space to “Be still” (Ps. 46:10). When manic execution factors in time for quiet meditation. When “to do” lists are submitted to “to be” priorities — as in, to be in the presence of Jesus. When all that we have to worry about is subjected to the one thing that is necessary — sitting at the Savior’s feet.

The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”

(Luke 10:41-42 CSB)

Martha wasn’t doing the wrong stuff. But Mary made the right choice. Martha was doing what needed to be done. But Mary recognized that one thing is necessary. And it would not be taken away from her.

Distracted by many tasks? Oh, to beware!

For yes, He cares!

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

(Matthew 11:28 CSB)

By His grace. For His glory.

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