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Tag: choices

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Published on 1 Comment on Mark 9:43-48 Choices and Consequences

What kind of personality do you think Jesus had while He was on Earth? It is interesting to see the way that people portray Him in movies and such. Sometimes I think they make Him out to be more one-dimensional than He really was. Yes, He was peaceful and loving. He protected the woman caught in adultery from being stoned. (John 8:3-7) He healed many. He spent time with people that others would have ignored or judged unfairly. But Jesus wasn’t wishy-washy. He overturned the tables of the money changers in the temple. (Matthew 21:12) He called the Pharisees hypocrites. (Matthew 23:13-29) He didn’t back down from a debate. He must have been an excellent public speaker because crowds would follow Him and go without food just to listen to His words. (Matthew 14:13-21) He didn’t always speak in simple declarative sentences either. He spoke in parables and used other literary devices such as hyperbole.

One example of Jesus’ use of hyperbole is found in Mark 9:43-48. He is speaking to the twelve disciples, those who would be charged with the task of spreading the gospel to the rest of the world. Just before this passage, Jesus had rebuked them for arguing about who was the greatest. (Mark 9:33-35) He then went on to explain what was really important. In these verses He tells them that it would be better for them to cut off an arm or a leg, or pluck out an eye, if it caused them to sin. I assure you He didn’t mean that literally. If He had, we would all be hopping around on one foot, balancing with one arm and going in circles because we could only see out of one side of our head. For we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) No, Jesus most certainly believed in the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:13-14, Luke 1:76-77, Matthew 6:14-15) Not long before this, He had also explained that sin comes not from outside a person, (Mark 7:15) but from the heart. (Mark 7:21-23) The answer to changing your heart is to allow Jesus to transform you.

So, why did Jesus suggest cutting off limbs? By this time Jesus was used to boiling things down to the basics for His disciples, but He still wanted to emphasize the seriousness of His point. And His point was that eternal life with Christ was so much more valuable than any temporal pleasure we could be lured into. We have a choice to make between what we see as valuable or enjoyable on this Earth and following Jesus. He wanted His disciples, and us, to know, that whatever suffering we have to endure for His sake now is temporary, and it will be worth it. In Mark 8:35, Jesus told the disciples, along with the crowd, that they must deny themselves in order to follow Him—that if they are willing to forfeit their life for His sake, they would save it. If we are not willing to deny ourselves and our earthly desires for His sake, if we choose the world instead of Him, we will be exchanging those small pleasures for eternal suffering. That’s important news, and it is worth a little hyperbole.

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Published on 2 Comments on Luke 15:11-32, Part 1 of 3 The Prodigal Son—Humility

Most people go through a rebellious stage at some point. For many it is in their teenage years, or when they go away to college. It usually represents their fight for independence, or their search for their own identity. The length of the rebellious period varies according to the person. I once had a grade eight student whose rebellious period lasted two weeks. She had been one of my more mature students, until she decided to experiment with a new personality. She became rude, uncooperative and insulting. I was surprised, saddened and annoyed. Thankfully at the end of those two weeks, she was back to her sweet, good-natured self, and I was glad for her return.

Luke 15:11-32 tells the story of a much more involved rebellion. It is the parable of the prodigal son. Many translations call this the story of the lost son, or the wayward son, which would also be an accurate representation of the person in question, but a more accurate synonym for the word prodigal would be wasteful. Oxford American Dictionaries defines prodigal as “spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant”.

The prodigal son, the younger of two, boldly asks his father for his inheritance, and then goes as far away as he can get from family responsibility and accountability. He wants to make his own decisions and live his life his way, but his short-sighted choices and some unforeseen circumstances produce a desperate situation. He finds himself with nothing left when there is a famine in the land. He stoops about as low as a Jewish boy can go when he starts tending pigs for a foreigner. He realizes that he could have tended flocks and herds for his father and been treated much better. Oh how the perspective of experience can change one’s view of things! The independence he had asked for so that he didn’t have to live under his father’s authority he was now more than willing to give up so that he could live under his father’s blessings. For even if he were only a servant in his father’s household, he would be much better off than facing starvation to the point of wanting the pigs’ food and not even being able to have that. Again he had a choice to make. This time he chose humility, and went back to his father. Thankfully for him, his father was glad of his return and welcomed him back not as a servant, but as a son.

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You will have noticed that this parable starts with Jesus saying that “A man had two sons.” (Luke 15:11) Next week, I will look at the other son, the older brother. The following week, I will examine the father’s reaction to them both.

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Published on 3 Comments on James 4:7-8 The Devil Made Me Do It

When I was very young, there was a comedian by the name of Flip Wilson who had a TV show. I don’t remember the show all that well because, like I said, I was very young. But I do remember that one of his routines made popular the saying, “The Devil made me do it.” It became common to hear people use that phrase to excuse any kind of inappropriate action that they may have committed. Did you eat the last piece of cake? Yes, but the devil made me do it.

Interestingly, people today still use a similar excuse for bad behaviour, though they may not use the same words anymore. Somehow in their minds they believe that Satan has power over them. Nothing makes Satan happier, I’m sure. Yes, Satan will surely put temptations in our way. In the book of Job, we see that Satan spends his time roving around the earth looking for someone to provoke. (Job 1:7, Job 2:2) I Peter 5:8 tells us that we need to be alert and aware because Satan is surely out to devour us. He does this very cunningly, by deception. He doesn’t want us to know that his goal is to devour us; he makes it look much more pleasant than that, (II Corinthians 11:14) but what he really wants is to turn us away from God.

The truth is that if we have God on our side, we are more powerful than Satan. God gives us this promise, with instruction, in James 4:7-8. The instruction is to submit to God and resist the devil, to cleanse our hands and make our hearts pure. We are still responsible for the choices that we make. We need to focus on God and His purposes, instead of our own human desires. (James 1:13-15) We need to think with an eternal perspective. Sometimes we just need to think before we act. Then the promise comes into effect. If we resist the devil, the devil will flee from us. If we draw near to God, God will draw near to us. In both cases we need to take the first step. We are not just puppets in this game. We are responsible for the decisions we make and for the actions we take. But the more we spend time with God, through prayer and Bible study, the more easily we will be able to recognize Satan’s schemes and then make good choices.

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The following video is an example of Flip Wilson's routine:

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I love to listen to people give their testimonies and to hear how their lives have significantly changed because they have given their hearts to Jesus. Some of them recount pretty dramatic transformations—conversion from a life of crime, freedom from drug or alcohol abuse or other harmful ways of living. For some, they found freedom from their old desires the instant they accepted Jesus. Sometimes people have changed their entire focus in life, from being high finance, career-oriented business people to becoming missionaries for the poorest of the poor in Haiti or sub-Saharan Africa.

II Corinthians 5:17 tells us that if we are in Christ, we are a new creation—the old has gone; the new has come. Of course, such remarkable changes as the examples listed above are not always evident in every person who becomes a follower of Christ. For one thing, they may not have found themselves in such a dramatic position to begin with. Some of us work at putting our old habits behind us every single day. And very often we feel like we have failed because we keep fighting the same battle over and over again. Contrary to what some people imagine, life doesn’t become sweet and easy just because you decide to follow Jesus. As a matter of fact, sometimes it gets a lot harder because Satan gets a little upset when we change sides. So we will always have the battles to face. (John 16:33) The good news is that God isn’t surprised at our imperfections. He already knows all about them, and He doesn’t condemn us. (Romans 8:1) Jesus took all the punishment for all of those imperfections when He sacrificed Himself on the cross. Our penalty has been paid, and God loves us like He loves His own Son. There is absolutely nothing that we can do that can separate us from His love, (Romans 8:38-39) even if we make the same mistakes over and over again.

Becoming a new creation does not necessarily mean an instantaneous transformation from our personalities and habits. It means that we see Jesus, ourselves and other people differently, (II Corinthians 5:16), and because of this we strive to be the people that God wants us to be. (Ephesians 5:1) Our choices are based on different priorities, and we keep doing our best to make the right choices even if it is a challenge. It might take a lot of time and a lot of hard work, but there will come a day when the battles are over, and the creation that God envisioned us to be is complete. The effort will be worth it.

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Do you ever take a really close look at yourself, at your character? Can you be honest in your assessment, or does pride get in the way? Are you doing the things that you know are right? One of my husband’s favourite quotations comes from Anatole France: “It is human nature to think wisely and act in an absurd fashion.” You know the right thing to do, the wise thing to do, but you don’t always do it. Maybe you get distracted or redirected, or you do things without thinking at all. Or maybe, for whatever reason, you give in to the temptation of doing what you know is wrong.

The Apostle Paul faced this same struggle. In Romans 7:18-19 he tells us that he wants to do good, but he doesn’t. He does the very thing that he doesn’t want to do. There was a constant battle within him, and there is a constant battle within us, between doing what will please God and doing what will please Satan. Satan is always trying to win our hearts, and is always presenting us with opportunities to mess up. Each time we take him up on it, he wins a small victory. But we can’t blame it all on Satan; we always have a choice. And more importantly, we have the power to overcome the temptation. What is the answer? It is not in the removal of temptations, because they will be with us for all of our lives. The answer is in allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us. This option is only possible because of the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Because He conquered sin, He fulfilled the righteous requirements of God, which allows us to be forgiven for all the bad choices that we make. We make a one-time decision to accept Christ’s gift of salvation, but we need to choose daily, sometimes hourly, to accept, to invite, the power of the Holy Spirit into our lives to fight the temptations that we face and to help us to make the right choices.

This is something that cannot be done without humility. Do you think you have it all together? Are you not willing to admit your weakness against temptation? Is your pride telling you that you don’t have a problem? If you were to be honest with yourself, you would see that we all struggle with this issue. (Genesis 6:5, Romans 3:23) The good news is that God delights in forgiving and healing the hurts of those who will humbly ask for help. (II Chronicles 7:14) Don’t let pride get in your way.

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Published on 1 Comment on I Kings 3:5-13 Choose wisely.

It is a hot, hazy, humid day in Ontario, one that would make you think that it is the middle of July. In fact, it is the last week of summer. I know that summer officially ends on September 23, but we are just beginning the last holiday weekend of the summer before school starts on Tuesday. Some people, both parents and kids, are happy about that and looking forward to getting back into routine or seeing all their friends again. Other people are not so happy; they don’t want summer to end just yet.

Nonetheless, in honour of school starting up again next week, I thought I would devote today’s blog post to learning, understanding and wisdom. Proverbs 16:16 tells us that wisdom is better than gold; understanding is better than silver. In Solomon’s case, by seeking wisdom, he achieved the silver and gold as well. Let’s look at the story in I Kings 3:5-14. God appeared to Solomon in a dream (which was a common way for God to speak to people before we were given the gift of the Holy Spirit through Christ). In that dream, God asked Solomon to ask for whatever he wanted. Solomon recognized the extent of God’s power as he had seen it displayed in his own and in his father’s life. Solomon also recognized that he was in a position--to rule the people of Israel--that he did not feel prepared for. He was young and inexperienced. Israel had a reputation for being stubborn and rebellious. It was customary for the ruler of Israel to also be the judge of disputes. Solomon may have been inexperienced, but he was wise enough to know that he needed wisdom, so that is what he asked for. God was pleased with Solomon’s request, and so He gave him so much more than he asked for. (I Kings 3:10-13) This is a promise that He gives to us as well. If we seek the ways of the Lord first, if that is the most important thing to us, then God will provide everything else that we need. (Matthew 6:33)

It is important to distinguish, however, that being wise and knowing the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, does not mean that we will make the appropriate choice between right and wrong. In I Kings 3:14, God says, “If you follow my instructions by obeying my rules and regulations, just as your father David did, then I will grant you long life.” Solomon made a lot of wise decisions and his wisdom in many subject areas—plants, animals, birds, insects and fish (I Kings 4:33); judicial decisions (I Kings 3:16-28), the writing of proverbs and songs (I Kings 4:32, Proverbs 1:1)—was world renowned, but he also made bad choices which led to idolatry and the eventual division of the kingdom. (I Kings 11:9-13) Solomon had gained wisdom, but he lacked the willingness to be obedient.

If God asked you the question that he asked Solomon, what would your answer be? If He granted your request, what would you do with the gift? What kind of person do you think that you would become?