Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12.2 NRSV)
Mussa Zoabi of Israel claims to be the oldest person alive. He says he's 160 years old. Unfortunately, Guinness Book of World Records isn't going to print his name simply because his age can't be verified. Mr. Zoabi is older than most records-keeping systems will go. But here's the interesting thing! However old he really is, Mussa Zoabi knows exactly how he managed to live so long. He'll tell the secret to anybody who wants to know. He says: Every day I drink a cup of melted butter or olive oil! Doesn't that sound like a great diet?
Diets are the rage, aren't they?! Everybody's got a special diet. One says his diet can cure cancer. Another promises to reduce your weight, and then to keep those extra pounds off. Already in ancient times there were diets that supposedly turned on the sex hormones, and made a person incredibly irresistible! Now there's a report from Copenhagen, that the Danes have a diet craze on their hands. People are eating horse food! Hey! You don't see many sick horses, do you?! Health Department spokesman Haagen Schmidt, says that "especially young women keep on eating hay and raw oats!" And they do it, he says, in spite of a tremendous surge in digestive problems reported by hospitals all over the country!
Are you on a diet?! Sixty percent of women in North America say they're on a diet! Imagine that! A woman at Weight Watchers once told this story. She said that a new client had begun her diet. Came in to be weighed after the first stressful week. Stepped on the scale. Lost a couple of pounds! But the dieter wasn't too happy. She complained. She said: My friend comes here to Weight Watchers, and she told me she lost ten pounds. She said I'd lose ten pounds in the first week, too! Well, the leader at Weight Watchers was a little disturbed. She knew that you don't lose weight over night. So she asked the dieter, a little indignantly: Who told you that?! Is she a doctor?! The woman shook her head. Is she a nurse?! No, said the woman. Well! Is she a nutritionist, or another Weight Watchers leader?! Negative again! Well who is she?! I think . . . said the newcomer, I think she's a liar!
Nothing worth doing comes easy. It takes hard work. Our spiritual lives take a lot of work too.
Dear God, my spiritual life is important. May I work in it like I would any other important project in my life. In Jesus name, Amen.
Let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2.5 NRSV)
A sixteen-year-old girl got her driver's license. Suddenly she knew how to drive! And that summer her family was going to go on a long trip together. So the day before they were leaving, she asked if she could wash the car. Get it all ready for the travels. It was a nice thought, of course. But all she wanted was a chance to drive the car.
So she opens the garage doors. It was a really small garage. Car barely squeezes in. Mom and Dad had told her so often: Make sure you check behind you when you back up! Be careful for anyone else who might be there!
So she gets in the car. She starts it. She steps on the brake, and slips the gear shift into reverse. She turns around and looks back to make sure there's no one behind. She lets off the brake, and revs the engine. And, as she's looking back, she turns the wheel! SCREECH! She proves the laws of physics! Two bodies of matter cannot occupy the same place at the same time! The left front fender is wrapped around the doorjamb on the garage! And what does she do? She jumps out of the car, crying and shouting: I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I'll stay home! I won't go on the vacation! If you do something wrong, you want to make amends. And part of making amends might have to do with giving up something significant to you.
What sacrifices are you making for God?
God of love, you have given so much to me. May I also give to help your kingdom grow. In Jesus name, Amen.
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, all of you according to your ways, says the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise iniquity will be your ruin. (Ezekiel 18.30 NRSV)
We need repentance in our lives. King Ahab fasts in repentance before God after he and Jezebel steal Naboth's reputation, his life, and his property. The people of Nineveh fast in repentance to God after Jonah shouts his warning through the city streets. And fasting was even built into the regular rhythm of Israel's life as a nation. There was the annual Day of Atonement. The whole nation fasted and prayed that day. There was a sense that we tend to flit through life too carelessly, without taking stock of the grit of sin that sticks to the soles of our feet, as the writer of Hebrews described it, the tether of evil that snags our hearts at inopportune moments.
Remember how Abraham Lincoln put it? The year was 1863. The Civil War ripped the nation's belly. And Lincoln said this can't be! Who are we?! What have we become as a nation?! And so, he called the people of this great nation together on Thursday, April 30, to spend the entire day in fasting and prayer. This is what Lincoln said in his official proclamation. He said: It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow... The awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins... Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity, and too proud to pray to the God that made us. And the people humbled themselves before God in a day of fasting and of prayer.
Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” (Luke 4.8 NRSV)
A young woman asks her father a question about her homework. But he's at the computer, working on a letter. And the television is on, shouting the world news. And two other children are busy with a noisy fight.
Suddenly Dad realizes he can't concentrate! He has to pause. He has to tune out the other messages. And he has to focus his attention on the one who came to him for help. Sound familiar?! And so it is with our lives before God. Are you ready to worship God right now?! Do you have a sense of his presence?! Could you lead another person to Christ?! Can you find him for yourself?!
Loving God, help me to keep my focus on you. In Jesus name, Amen.
Looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12.2 NRSV)
Bill Bright was honored some time ago by CHRISTIANITY TODAY. He is the founder of Campus Crusade. He is best known for his ministry in the former Soviet Union, the showing of the Jesus of Nazareth film. He and his organization have shown the life and ministry of Jesus film to millions. A decision was made recently by the leadership of Russia that could cause his ministry great problems. Now only mainline churches have freedom to teach religion in Russia.
Mr. Bright's best known work is a little tract called, THE FOUR SPIRITUAL LAWS. In this tract he has a drawing of a throne. On the throne is self. He asks us to remove self from the throne and put Christ on the throne. Could it be that the best seat in the house really belongs to Christ? Do I find myself too often trying to sit in God's seat?
Dear God, humble me as I sit in my proper place with you on the throne of my life. In Jesus name, Amen.
Ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. (Romans 12.7-8 NRSV)
A fine Christian man lost a very good leadership position through downsizing in his company. He is such an outstanding leader and worker it is hard to believe that anyone would demote him. But it did happen. Now to make some extra money and to use his time for a good cause he cleans peoples' boats. You would think this man would be depressed. But not so.
He became the adopted parent of four college students from Costa Rica. It gives him great joy to help make their dreams come true. The loss he experienced in that very important company could not keep him out of doing God’s work.
Lord Jesus, help me to never lose sight of doing your work. Amen.
The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master. (Genesis 39.2 NRSV)
Dean Smith, the former head basketball coach of The University of North Carolina wrote a book titled THE BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE. You and I might think Dean Smith meant that the coach's seat was the best seat in the house because it puts him in charge of the game, that it gives him control. Most of us think, "If I could just sit in so and so's seat for one day . . ." But in reality the coach's seat is the best seat in the house for Dean Smith, because it is there that he has the opportunity to make other persons into star players. The better he does his job the more attention is paid to the players he develops. The coach's seat allows him to develop such players as Michael Jordan.
Someone asked a dedicated Christian woman, "What is the secret of your being able to influence so many people?" She responded, "When you have contentment in your life others are attracted to you. The secret of contentment is to put Christ in the center everywhere you go. When you are promoted and when you are demoted, remember Joseph. He was always in the center of God's will, even when he was abused by others. He did not let his position or lack of position in life keep him from being in his proper place. Because he kept God in the center, he always had the best seat in the house."
Dear God, may your love and forgiveness flow through me so that others may come to know you. Amen.
Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”-not knowing what he said. (Luke 9.33 NRSV Bible)
Two Christians were roommates in college. One day they saw their pastor coming up the walk to their apartment. One of them yelled, "The pastor is coming." Seeing that they did not have time to straighten up the place, they fled to the back bedroom. The pastor knocked until they finally came to the door and invited him in. He came in laughing, saying, "The Scripture says that the wicked flee when no one is in chase." Is it true that many of us spend our lives fleeing from the best seat in the house because of some sense of inadequacy or the fear of not being acceptable?
When Jesus took Peter, James and John to a mountaintop, they experienced Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah. Peter was overwhelmed with the excitement. He interrupted the conversation and made a suggestion. He said, "Let's build three tabernacles here, one for each of you." (Luke 9.28-43) Peter wanted to stay there in the best seat in the house. As soon as Peter made the suggestion, a cloud covered them, and they heard a voice, "This is my Son. It is important that you listen to Him." When the cloud disappeared, only Jesus remained with the disciples. Immediately Jesus took them from the mountaintop to serve in the valley.
Dear God, help me to enjoy the best seat in the house which is by you. In Jesus name, Amen.
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving. (1 Timothy 4.4 NRSV)
Sometimes we are like the dog in the children's story who found a bone. He was so proud of it. He picked it up and started home. On his way home he crossed a bridge over a river. As he crossed the bridge he stopped, as usual, to bark at the other dog that he always saw down in the water. This time as he looked down, he not only saw the same dog, but that dog had a bone in his mouth, too. What made him mad was that the dog in the water had a bone that appeared to be bigger than the one he had in his mouth. Therefore, he opened his mouth to bark at the other dog and lost his bone.
It is ok to better ourselves if we are not satisfied with where we are at in life. In fact, we should always be growing in our journey with Christ. But, we shouldn’t be measuring ourselves against others. God made you special and you cannot be compared to anyone else.
God of love, help me to see my special-ness. Amen.
