It’s the little things…

Psalm 127

¹ Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.

² In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves.

³ Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.

⁴ Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one’s youth.

⁵ Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

So technically my birthday is tomorrow, but my wife and kids wanted me to get the most out of my present, so they sprung it on me this morning!  I opened the bag my oldest son gave me and found a picture of him in a frame he made.  This has become a bit of a tradition with my kids, but this one was different.  The frame (made of fun foam) was decorated with goombas, koopa troopers, and of course the Mario Brothers.  It gets better.

My wife had devised Mario and Luigi costumes for my boys.  I was laughing so hard and enjoying the creativity that I never saw it coming.  I opened the bag from my wife, and there was Super Mario Bros. Wii!  We’d been talking about getting this game for months.  I’m thrilled to get the game, but even more thrilled/impressed with my wife’s incredible creativity.  Long after I’ve beaten the game, I will still have these pictures to make me smile and laugh, and hope that not too much of my geek gene was passed onto the boys.

My kids truly are a blessing from the Lord.  I never knew how much a kid could impact a grown man until these two came along.  I am incredibly thankful for my wife, Keelie, and my little monkey and big ox, AKA Luigi and Mario.  My prayer is that I will live up to the ideal of Psalm 71, and faithfully declare God’s love to the next generation, starting with my own children, teaching them that God loves them even more than I do.  God help me reach this goal!

Psalm 71

¹⁵ My mouth will tell of your righteousness,
of your salvation all day long,
though I know not its measure.

¹⁶ I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD;
I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.

¹⁷ Since my youth, O God, you have taught me,
and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.

¹⁸ Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your might to all who are to come.

Bible in 90, Day 09: Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

Leviticus 15-26

It’s interesting how throughout Leviticus 19, God repeats the phrase “I am the LORD.”  (Recall from a few days ago that this is the all-caps LORD, therefore, God’s personal name – Yahweh.)  He is reminding us time and time again that laws He is laying out find their root in His character and holiness.  It should come as no shock then that the second greatest commandment (see Matthew 22:36-40) is rooted in this same character of God.

When God tells the people of Israel to love their neighbors as themselves, He follows it with the reminder, “I am Yahweh.”  You could almost say that the second greatest commandment is rooted in the first.  We are to love our neighbors as ourselves, for Yahweh is God and we worship Him.

God roots the second command in the truth of who He is, which should point us toward a couple of things.  First, our neighbor (which Jesus identifies as simply any human being that God brings across our path, see Luke 10:25-37) was created by God and therefore deserves our respect and dignity as God’s handiwork.  Second, God loves our neighbor, and we are to be like God, so we should love him too.

Let’s see others as God sees them.  Let’s remember to love our neighbors, for Yahweh is God.

Originally at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Day 03: Jacob’s Devotion

Genesis 29-40

*image courtesy of haloocyn at stock.xchng

There’s one of those sentences in today’s reading that you read, pass over, and don’t think much about it unless you stop to do so.  It’s in Genesis 29:20, and it says, “So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.”

Now, my wife and I met when we were young.  I was 16, she was 15.  We were dating within about six months, and didn’t marry until we were 22 and 21 years old.  I used to think that six years was a long time to have waited for my wife.  Of course, back then, I wasn’t waiting for my wife.  I was just dating my girlfriend.  (If you ask Keelie, it may have been different for her!)  Now that we’ve been married 6½ years, it doesn’t seem quite so long.

Jacob, on the other hand, knew that Rachel was the girl for him.  He saw her, and knew right away he wanted to marry her.  When he began his seven years of service to earn the right to marry her, he was waiting for his wife!  But notice what it says – “and they seemed to him but a few days.”  Indeed, even the passage itself makes it seem this way.  We have 19 verses that cover at most a few days, and then seven years pass in one verse!

Jacob had a genuine love for Rachel, one that was shown through his dedicated service to her father.  He could have backed out at anytime, deciding to go find a wife that wouldn’t require so much effort to marry!  Instead, he showed his devotion to her by sticking it out for seven years.

As we saw, he ended up getting tricked by his father-in-law, and had to serve another seven years to get Rachel.  So, in actuality, he spent fourteen years of his life working for another man just for the privilege calling Rachel his wife!

That’s devotion!

I hope and pray that I show that kind of devotion to my wife.  I know I didn’t during our dating years as an ignorant teenage guy.  My hope is that every Christian man would show that kind of devotion to his wife, and that every Christian woman would expect that kind of devotion before marrying a man.

Let’s show our love through our actions.  Whether it’s our family, our friends, our brothers and sisters in Christ, or our loved ones; let’s give them our devotion.  God showed His love to us by sending us His Son, and we ought to love each other in the same manner: with our actions (1 John 4).

Originally at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Day 64: Did she ever say, “Shazam!”?

Daniel 9-Hosea 14

image courtesy of xymonau at stock.xchng

I married the most amazing woman I’ve ever known on June 7, 2003.  Since that time, we have prayed that God would glorify Himself through our marriage and through our family.  We want to have a home that displays God’s glory.  Keelie and I want our marriage to accurately reflect the relationship to Christ and the church as much as is possible within our limitations as fallen people.  In this way, we hope that our marriage and family are a picture of the gospel to everyone we meet.

God had a different plan for Hosea’s family.  He commanded Hosea to take an adulterous woman, Gomer, as his wife.  He then had him give his three children names that reflected the coming judgment of God.  When Gomer chased after other men, God had Hosea go and redeem her and bring her back into his home.  Hosea continued to show love to a woman who blatantly abused his love.

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

Much like Ezekiel, God used Hosea’s life and actions to paint a vivid picture for Israel.  Hosea’s marriage to Gomer represented God’s relationship to Israel.  Just as Gomer chased after other men and committed adultery with them, so Israel had chased after other gods to commit spiritual adultery with them.  Just as Hosea remained faithful to Gomer and even wooed her back, so God continued to love Israel, calling her back to repentance.

God’s love for His people is greater than we can imagine.  Many of us would not fault Hosea if he had forsaken his adulterous wife and started over again with a woman who really loved him.  But God deliberately put Hosea into this position to demonstrate the depths of His love and the lengths to which He will go to bring a wayward sinner back into His love.  I believe that marriages can be saved more often than we give them a chance to be saved, but God’s love is greater than even the love of a man and wife.  His love is faithful and endures forever (1 Chronicles 16:34, etc.).

Let’s never forget the depths of God’s love.  Let’s remember that no matter how unfaithful we’ve been, if we turn back to Him, He will show His love and forgiveness for us again.  Let’s also remember that God expects us to show that same love to others.  If we’ve experienced the grace and forgiveness of God for all of our sin, how can we withhold forgiveness from someone who has wronged us (Matthew 18:21-35)?

couldn’t resist the Gomer Pyle references! 😉

originally at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Day 46: Who can find?

Proverbs 20-Ecclesiastes 2

*image courtesy of bjearwicke at stock.xchng

About 13 years ago, I met the woman of my dreams… only I didn’t know it!  I was 16 years old, and when I first saw her I assumed she was about 25.  Beyond being older than me, she was way out of my league.  She was beautiful, smart, funny, nice, well-dressed.

Yeah, she’d never bother with me!

Well, about 6½ years later, we got married.  That was a little over 6 years ago now, and I love her more than ever.  She is the woman I always wanted, before I even knew what I wanted.  She has given me two wonderful boys, she has encouraged me through a college degree and seminary, she has nurtured my talents (even talents I didn’t know I had!), she has forgiven me, she has maintained a wonderful home, and she is largely responsible for the man I am today.

Back when we were dating, she sat down with me at a park and read Proverbs 31 to me.  I had never read Proverbs 31, and at the time it made little sense to me.  She told me that this was the kind of woman she wanted to be.  Again, I was clueless, but looking back now I see where she made a deliberate decision at that time in her life, and took the steps needed to make it happen.  She has truly become the Proverbs 31 woman.

Proverbs 31:10-31 is another acrostic.  Each line begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet, giving us the ideal woman from A-Z.  So what is this woman like?  She loves her husband.  She serves him (not as a slave, but in love), and does good to him.  She always has his best interest in mind.It’s interesting to note that while discussing this ideal woman, it is mentioned that her husband is an official in the town (v. 23).  Behind every good man is a good woman!

She is a hard worker.  She is industrious.  She knows how to make things, and where to get her supplies.  She takes care of her family.  She is prepared for tough times.  She is strong.  She is wise.  She is praised by her family.  And most importantly, she fears the Lord.

The obvious application here is to young women.  For you, aspire to be like this woman.  Ruth serves as an example of this kind of ideal woman, and in the Hebrew Bible, the book of Ruth follows right after Proverbs.  For the rest of us, let’s praise the noble women in our lives.  If you are married to one (like me), then be sure to praise her as she deserves.  Make sure she knows she is loved.  Rise up and bless her!  If you are living with a noble mom, you also be sure to praise her.  Don’t wait for Mother’s Day!  Honor her each day, especially in the small things like obedience and respect.  But don’t forget to voice your love and praise as well.

*originally at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Day 9: Yeah, he’s gonna talk about it

Leviticus 14-26

*image courtesy of personalfx at www.sxc.hu

Another interesting read today!  There are several topics that were hit on, and lots I could write about, but I’m gonna cover the controversial one:

God’s standards for sex

There are some who would say that whatever happens behind closed doors between consenting adults is perfectly acceptable.  The Bible paints a different picture.  Leviticus 18 gives some pretty clear-cut guidelines for sex in the community of believers.  They fall into several categories that we will discuss in a moment, but I want us to think about the fact that God cares about what we do with our bodies.  In our reading today, we also see some regulations about how the body is to be treated in light of various pagan practices.  Not the least of these concerns is sex.  So, let’s take a look at these categories.

True Love Doesn’t Wait

Did I really say that?

I’m going through some random books until I kick off the Bible in 90 Days Challenge on Sunday.  I don’t want to get out of my habit, so I’m upping my listening time for the next few days and going through some shorter epistles and minor prophets.  Today was 1-2 Peter, Jude, and Haggai.  Try those in one shot sometime!

God grabbed me right away this morning in 1 Peter 1:22-25.  I’m reading The Peace Making Pastor by Alfred Poirier, and in chapter 1 he makes a great connection between truth and love.  He says on p. 22 “First, the Christian faith unites truth and love.  Second, it is love of the truth that supports true love.”

Dizzy yet?

He goes on to say of 2 John, on p. 23 “The apostle roots the call to love like Christ (peacemaking) in the truth about the person of Jesus Christ (Christology).”  So, with all this swirling in my head, I hear the apostle Peter say, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart”

Again, truth and love are interconnected!

In Greek, this passage’s syntax is somewhat ambiguous.  The phrases are all over the place, so if you survey the different translations, you’ll find several ways to translate it.  I think the NIV is headed in the right direction when it says “obeying the truth so that you have sincere love…” because the Greek preposition eis is used.  Roughly, this is “obeying the truth unto/towards an unhypocritical love.”  It is because of our understanding of the truth that we have this sincere (unhypocritical) love towards our brothers and sisters.  Beyond this, it is because we have applied (obeyed) the truth.  So how do I justify a statement like “true love doesn’t wait”?

Love is a verb.

Love is what we do, not just how we feel.  Here, Peter tells us that sometimes love begins in our understanding (“the truth”), is strengthened by our actions (“obeying”), and then moves to our emotions (“love one another deeply, from the heart”).

So true love doesn’t wait.

True love doesn’t wait until it feels like loving someone.  True love is rooted in the truth of Christ’s love, and acts in response to that love. “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” (1 John 3:16.)

True love doesn’t wait until someone is lovable.  True love sees the beloved as Christ sees them and loves like Christ loves.  “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

When true love has the opportunity to show itself, true love doesn’t wait.  Are you a true lover?  Am I?  Today, I will not wait.  I will show love where I see the opportunity to do so.  I will not wait until I feel like.  I will love.  “God is love” and so I must be love.  If I am not a true lover, I do not truly know God (1 John 4).