Dust

As far as I know there is no practical use for dust, unless, for some reason, a person wants to sneeze. We sweep up dust, put it in the garbage and throw it out. Yet God sees value in dust because He chose to make humans from dust. Genesis 2:7 "Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground..." (ESV) How humbling, even humiliating that we should be made of garbage. How astonishing and incredible that we are the only part of God's creation made in His image. ( Genesis 1:26,27) Abraham says that he is dust and ashes. ( Gen. 18:27) Job says the same. ( Jb 30:19) Yet God loves supremely the creatures He has made of dust. Psalm 103:13-14 indicates that He has compassion on us because He knows that we are made of dust. Ecc. 3:20 is one of a number of Scriptural references saying that we are dust and to dust we shall return. But God demonstrates His love for us in the most decisive way possible- by sending Jesus as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ( Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:10) ! Corinthians 15:49 says, "Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven." Does this not express the love of God to us? We who were of no value whatsoever were valued by God with the highest price ever paid for anything- the blood and life of His Son. As I reflect on this i am both humbled and awed, and very, very grateful.

Holy Desperation

As a teenager i read the complete works of Henry David Thoreau. One of his more famous sayings was that men lives lives of quiet desperation. This morning two brothers and i read a passage in Mark 9 about a man whose son was being tormented by a demon. The man had approached the disciples of Jesus while He was on the mount of transfiguration but they could not help the father. After Jesus descended the father approached Him. "If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." (v. 22b. ESV) Jesus replied, "If you can! All things are possible for one who believes." (v.23)The father cried out, "I believe. Help my unbelief!" This man was desperate. He could not alleviate the condition of his boy nor could the disciples. Jesus was his last hope. In times of crisis we will try anything that might possibly help us. Often it is these times of crisis, when God can get our attention, that He can work most powerfully in us. But what about when times are good? If we learn and follow Biblical principles we can avoid many issues and problems in life. We are tempted to say, as King Hezekiah did, "There will be peace and security in my days." ( Isaiah 39:8b ESV) We need a holy desperation to go beyond the comfortable life that many Christians live in North America to cry out to God for deeper, more profound relationship with Him. we cannot be satisfied with the crumbs beneath His table when He has a feast waiting for us. "O taste and see that the Lord is good!" ( Psalm 34:8a)

Another Species of Idolatry

The following post is something that i have contemplated writing for several years. A recent story about a turkey finally sent me over the edge. First, a reflection on idolatry. Ephesians 5:5 reads. "For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater)has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God." (ESV) Colossians 3:5 reads in a similar fashion. Now in the Old Testament idolatry typically meant worshipping some inanimate object. ( e.g. Isaiah 44:9ff)In the New Testament the definition is expanded to include anything that we might covet. Coveting is a heart condition indicating something that we desire more than God. Thus anything or anyone can be an idol. In Genesis 1:26 and again in 1:27 God says that humanity is made in His image. The Bible does not say this about any other part of God's creation. In fact it says, in the same passage, that mankind is to have dominion over the rest of the creation, including the animals. Having read the Bible numerous times I see no place where it indicates that animals have souls or are redeemable in the same way as humans can through the obedience, righteousness, death and resurrection of Christ paying the penalty for our sin and rebellion. Now about the turkey. The other day i read a story, complete with photos, of a full grown turkey traveling with a person on an airplane as an official "comfort animal." Apparently way back in 1986 the US Congress passed a law saying that humans were permitted to bring animals with them in the seating area of planes if some mental health professional certified that this was beneficial to the well being of the individual. Many years ago animals were sedated, put into protective containers and traveled ( I believe) in the baggage area of jetliners. I have seen small dogs travel with passengers more recently. Now we have turkeys. They are given free seats of their own next to their human companion. I suspect that a majority of Americans don't have a problem with us even though animals could bite, urinate or defecate on other passengers, or even pass on illness. This is idolatry. I appreciate that dogs and maybe even cats have some ability to respond to and give affection to humans but they have nowhere the same capacity as other humans. I walk a five and a half mile route most days. Most of the people on my route have at least one dog. I am routinely challenged and sometimes menaced by these beasts every day as i walk peacefully down the street. And yet I am sure that hardly any owner thinks that their dog is a problem. In Matthew 6 Jesus says, "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (V.26 ESV) In Matthew 12:12 Jesus asks, "Of how much more value is a man than a sheep?" (ESV) I suspect most North Americans, including many who identify as Christians, would disagree.

Hunger for the Word of God

In my first twenty years of Christian experience, I did not have a hunger for the Word of God. I went to church and heard sermons regularly and attended weekly Bible studies. I heard what other people had to say about the Scriptures but had little interest in discovering for myself. Some years I would read a chapter of Proverbs a day, but after two decades had not read the entire Bible through even once. Through devastation in my personal life, God changed my heart. ( Proverbs 5:14) He gave me a ravenous hunger for His Word that had not left me almost twenty-five years later. A mentor encouraged me to read the entire Bible over and over. This counsel I have followed in several languages and over several decades. I hope to keep doing this until I pass to the next life. I testify that there is inexhaustible treasure in His Word no matter how often or how long that we have read or studied. Currently I am reading the gospel of John in the New Testament (and 1 Kings in the Old.) Two verses stood out to me. In John 7:7 Jesus is talking with his (half) brothers and says, "The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil." Despite all the times that Jesus fed or healed or delivered people from demons, He was still hated because He did not compromise the truth. He did not "tolerate" evil. This is not Jesus meek and mild. This is the Creator of the universe rebuking His creation. In John 9 Jesus heals a blind man. The man is called to testify before the religious leaders who despise and throw him out. Afterwards Jesus finds the man and asks if he "believes in the Son of Man?" ( v.35) Upon understanding who Jesus truly is the man says, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him." It would be the height of idolatry for a Jew to worship a mere human so this statement shows that the formerly blind man received a true revelation of who Jesus is. His belief immediately produced the response of worship. It is so easy to read over these things. Does our belief in Jesus produce spontaneous worship? This morning studied 1 Peter 4:12-19, a section about the reality and rewards of suffering persecution for the sake of God, with a disciple. Many Christians around the world have experienced genuine persecution and suffering for their faith. How many North American Christians are prepared to do the same?