Day 097: Purpose

When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken by the wind?  But what did you go out to see?  A man clothed in soft garments?  Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings' courts.  But what did you go out to see?  A prophet?  Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet."  Luke 7:24-26

What do you go into a church for?  To see lots of paintings?  There are plenty of paintings, and probably even better ones at art galleries.  What do you go for?  To see fancy clothes and hats?  Why not go to a history museum, or an opera?  They have many costumes and fancy props, probably far better than those in a church.  What did you go for?  For a speech?  There are plenty more on YouTube or many other outlets on the internet, radio, and TV.

Jesus challenges us with these questions every day, and they aren't meant to deter us, but to strengthen us.  I enjoy talking to clergy because they are very direct about these questions, especially when they are about going into different ministries or trying to figure out a new direction for life.  Jesus challenges us to look within our souls to find what we need.  He also confronts us with these questions because he wants us to be sure that we are ready to follow him.

There will be lots of troubles along the way, and the road will be very bumpy.  The soles of your shoes will wear down to nothing, and there will be moments where you won't be able to rest for a while.  But the goal is worth it.  We are heading towards redemption, towards eternal life.  We are headed for a life full of glory - a life that is filled with so much glory that there will be no need for the sun or any other bright star.

We have to be sure that we are understanding what we are getting ourselves into.  We are going into renewal so that we will be perfect for God.  This will require us to leave behind many things.  It will also involve us allowing for Jesus to be our guide rather than ourselves.  We can only direct our lives for so long, but that will only lead us away from God.  There are many things that will attract us to stray from the way.  Only with the guidance of Jesus will we be able to follow.

So, what did you go into a church for?  To follow Jesus?  Let's make that be our one and only answer. 

Day 096: Work

"Where there are no oxen, the stalls are clean, but where there are abundant crops, the strength of an ox is evident."  Proverbs 14:4

This proverb gives us an insight into life.

Something that I'm sure many people envy is having time to relax.  Sometimes we see our friends who do nothing but relax.  They have the time to sleep long hours, and then they get to have more time to do whatever they want.  On the other hand, our lives are ones that are filled with many stresses, such as working long hours and facing criticism after criticism.

But the proverb is quite sly when it expresses the truth.  The clean stalls, the lives that are just of relaxation, are a revelation of a life without any work at all.  These lives are ones that are fruitless.  They are ones where they are mere shells of what's supposed to be happening.  Just walk into a stable, ranch, zoo, or wherever animals are kept, and you can smell and see how hard it is to have a clean stall in the first place.  Clean stalls are either new or ones that aren't being used.

On the contrary, lives that produce lots of fruits, lives where many things are happening, are ones where we can see that there is effort.  There is work in the midst of all the troubles.

This proverb explains that living a good life will require lots of work.  There will be piles of papers on your desk.  There will be files unsorted all over your computer desktop.  There will be sinks full of dirty dishes.  There will be misplaced items.  There will be an unmade bed.  But there will be results.  Our journey with Christ will require us to leave many things behind, but we will reach the goal, where life will be just an abundance of fruits that will sustain us to eternal life. 

Day 095: Measures

"Judge not, and you shall not be judged.  Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.  For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."  Luke 6:37-38

Jesus gives us commands that are very direct and simple, yet we seem to forget them.

In a long sermon, Jesus tells us that we are going to face the results of all the things that we do in our lives.  In fact, the way that Jesus commands these things is similar to how God commanded them in the Old Testament - that all the commandments are there so that things would go well in the lives of those who obeyed.  When Jesus makes these commands, though, he explains them very simply.

Many times, we live our lives as if we were still children.  We don't think about how the things we do will affect all of those around us.  Now, many of us will say that we already take many factors into consideration, but when we reevaluate things, we might find many more factors that we could be affecting.  Maybe there is that one person we take for granted: we can trample all over her/him, but we forget that our actions will come right back to us.  That's where the above commandments come into play.

It's impossible for us to take every single person that we will ever encounter into account.  I just learned that the human brain can only maintain around 150 relations with other humans on average.  So what's the solution?  Just think about how you want things to come back to you.  Take all of your criticisms that you would make towards others and apply them to yourself.  Do you hate reading typos in articles?  Then start thinking about what care you should take in your own work.  Do people annoy you for not arriving on time?  Then make sure that you will never have any issues with timing and scheduling. 

One more verse I want to consider today is this: "A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher."  (Luke 6:40)  A word that seems fleeting is "perfectly".  We think that just by listening to sermons at church or reading the bible will save us.  Jesus is training us.  Jesus is teaching us.  However, his teachings all involve an important point: you have to do them.  The above commandments are all commands.  They involve the second person - the you.  Therefore, let's all remember that Jesus calls us into action.  Jesus is calling us all to put all of his teachings into practice.  We can only train ourselves perfectly if we practice perfectly.  It will be difficult, but when we take the time to evaluate how we do everything with respect to our own lives, we will be able to get closer to being just like Jesus, our teacher.

Day 094: Lord of the New

So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him.  But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, "Arise and stand here."  And he arose and stood.  Then Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?"  Luke 6:7-9

Jesus came into the world to change things, and the way he did that was very direct.

One of the things that probably separates so many of us from one another is language.  Language is something that humans use to communicate with one another, but when two people don't speak the same language, there is a stark disconnect between the groups of people.  I know that in my own family, we will switch back and forth between Spanish and English in order for others not to understand what we are talking about (at times).

We speakers of English, though, might forget that there are so many people around the globe that don't understand English.  We like to think that English is the only way to speak to one another, and if somebody can't speak English, then that person is deficient.  Historically, many cultures looked down upon the others that didn't speak the same language as they did (ever hear of the word barbarian?), but that still goes on to this day.  And, it's not only English speakers who have that prejudice.

In the same way, the Pharisees looked at Jesus.  He was doing many new things, and they were amazing, revealing the unconditional love of God for all of God's people, but the Pharisees rejected those things because they were different.  Rather than accept a new Gospel, they wanted to stick with the things as they were, even if that was actually hurting them.

Jesus challenges us every day to accept the new and the good.  The good might look very strange to us at the first glance, but if we live as the disciples did, attempting to understand every word and teaching that Jesus did, and not as the Pharisees, finding all things new to be bad, we will enjoy blessing after blessing.

Day 093: Taking the Initiative

"And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.'"  Luke 5:39

Change is tough.  A phrase that comes to mind is, "Humans are creatures of habit."

However, that's what Jesus came into the world to do: change.  He came to change the way things worked.  He came to change the world.  He came to change each and every one of us.  Just as in the beginning of his ministry, his change is still not being well received.  For many of us, church can be something that we just do out of habit.  We need something to do on boring Sunday mornings, so why not go to church?  Make sure to sit in the back so that nobody will notice whether you're paying attention or not.  Stare down at your phone while the music is going.  Sleep through the sermon.  Cross your arms during the offering and communion.  It's easy to repeat the same prayers over and over again to the point where they have no meaning.  Do we really want God to provide us with our daily bread?  Do we really not want to be led into temptation?  Do we really believe in the one church?

Jesus came into the world to ask us these questions.  We might have trouble with our faith, but the neat thing is that we can actually take our first steps to changing our lives with Jesus' guidance.  Sure, it may seem that things are fine just the way they are, but sometimes you might feel that there's something missing.  Perhaps it's time to open up the doors of the church to new people.  Perhaps it's time to donate time and treasure to charity.  Perhaps it's time to become active in church.  No matter what it is, Jesus is there to help us.

The Holy Spirit will always be nagging at us to make our lives better.  We just need to take the courage to accept the new as good and not just as something scary.  It will definitely take an effort, but we will be able to accomplish it all with God's help.

Day 092: Encouragement

Then Moses called Joshua and said to him before all Israel, "Be valiant and strong, for you must go before this people to the land the Lord swore to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it.  But the Lord, He is the One who goes before you.  He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not be afraid, nor be terrified."  Deuteronomy 31:7-8

How would Joshua have felt hearing this?  Of course, for a while before this point he had been appointed to lead, but now it was getting serious - it was time for him to take the reins.

Joshua was there in Israel, witnessing all the issues.  He saw the people turn away from God so many times, but he continued to follow God.  He also saw what struggles Moses had in order to lead Israel forward.  He even saw the punishment that Moses received for doubting God.  Now he was supposed to take up this glamorous position.  I, for one, would be utterly terrified by such a job.  I'd run away as far as I could from the position.

We don't like for things to be difficult in our life.  We want things to go the way we plan them to, and we want everybody around us to understand us and follow our lead, whatever that might be.  However, God has very important plans for each and every one of us.  God appointed us before we were born, and as we grow, we learn more and more about where we are supposed to be going.  But that's where things get difficult.  Rather than follow things as they are written in our own minds and books, we are called to allow for God to lead us the way we need to be led.  We need to allow God to guide us to the Promised Land.

If it seems impossible, just take a moment to read about what Joshua did.  He ended up leading Israel to many different victories during battles so that they could control more land.  That all happened because he was faithful to God.  When we are faithful to God, we will find so many things falling into place.  God blesses us with this same benediction.  God does not want to scare us.  In fact, God is always calling our name, before all the peoples, commanding us to be strong as we will lead our way into the Promised Land. 

Day 091: Overcoming Obstacles

"So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff.  Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way."  Luke 4:28-30

Imagine how frightening it would be to be led along a cliff by an angry mob dead set on throwing you off.  Imagine what a relief you would feel if you saw a way to walk through the crowd, like nothing, and go on your way.

Those are the things I think about when I read this passage.  It shows a stark contrast between the irrational, angry mob and the calm Jesus.  It also shows two important messages.  The first message is: watch whom you're following.  I would dare to say that many of the people who were in the mob were just people following their "leaders" in the synagogues.  These leaders were ones who preached against the light and against love.  Instead, they promoted hate, and they championed persecution as the only solution to any problem.  But the people who followed didn't seem to know what they were doing.  They must have been yelling and chanting whatever their leaders were shouting.  They obviously didn't do a great job with their gathering, for they missed Jesus entirely as he passed through them.  Sometimes, the people whom we follow are leading us straight up the cliff in such a convincing manner that we miss our savior, our salvation.

The second message is: there is always a way out of a troublesome situation.  When things get very tough, God has a way to make it through.  Jesus just did what he needed to do: he passed through the crowd.  They didn't notice him at all as he made his way through.  God is always making sure that we have a path to follow towards the light.  Jesus is moving through the many crowds of challenges that might be chasing us so that we can follow him to a better life.

We need to make sure that we are always following Jesus along his way, for his way is the way of love, of compassion, of mercy, of forgiveness.  His way is the right way.