Taking Care of Business

It doesn't take very long watching the morning or evening news to get frustrated with the idiocy of how people think and behave. Both news features and commercials remind us of the depravity of human nature and the desperate need for a Savior. In James 4, the writer tells us that "friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." (vs. 4) So, we are supposed to remove ourselves from interaction with the secular world, have only Christian friends, buy Christian's goods and services, work for Christian employers, etc. right? I am not so sure that is what this verse is instructing.

I began reading the second Chronicle of the history of Israel and Judah this morning. It is a familiar passage to those who have grown up in Sunday School. Solomon is now King and God, in a vision, tells him in chapter 1 to ask whatever he wants. As the story goes, Solomon requests wisdom to govern well, and a pleased God blesses him in every other area in addition to great understanding. Solomon then seeks to complete the task his father David has entrusted to him: to build the temple for worship of the LORD.

Now remember, God is still a Holy God expecting His people to be a holy people. The definition of holiness is being set apart. If this is true, why is it that one of the first decisions that this wise king did was to seek alignment with the King of Tyre a pagan man? Shouldn't he have gone to the people of Israel, the holy people of God to build the holy temple for the Name of the LORD? I believe that Solomon in fact did the wise thing. One, he wanted to honor God with excellence. He wanted the best for God (there is a lesson in there too, but we won't go there today).

He contracts with this pagan King and two good things happens. One, using the best skilled workers in the area, he has built a temple for the Most High that has no parallel in all history. The other, we see in chapter 2. "Then Huram, king of Tyre, answered in a letter sent to Solomon: 'Because the LORD loves His people, He has made you king over them.' Then Huram continued, 'Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has made heaven and earth,'" (vs 11-12). Huram honors the one true God. Now granted, there is no record that Huram then becomes a follower of God, but because of a respectful relationship, Solomon earns the right to be heard.

This is a lesson we would do well to heed. Peter writes of this same lesson in one of his letters. He urges the readers to keep from being influenced by the world, but not to be removed from the world. In Jesus' high priestly prayer in John 17, the Messiah prays that His disciples would be in an amongst the world but protected from its influence. If we are not to be around people that believe just like us, how do we influence them?

We should not rush to get out of the world, but rather, to be Salt and Light as we have been commissioned. How can we do this if we aren't around the world? So, before you quit your secular job, before you stop doing business with those who don't care about the things of the Lord, keep in mind, you may the only godly influence in those people's lives. Perhaps, God will grant you wisdom and people will honor God as a result of your life. Hang in there.

"'You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;'" (Matt. 5:14)

Ouch!

"If our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot because our charitable expenditure excludes them."

-- C. S. Lewis

Hard Lessons Learned

If you have children, you are no stranger to the reality that raising kids can be very difficult. As a parent, I am given the responsibility by God to teach my kids obedience, and in turn teach them about being obedient to God. Sometimes, kids do foolish things out of ignorance, and sometimes they do them defiantly. An effective tool that we use periodically in discipline, we call natural consequences. Simply put, when the child insists on ignoring warnings, sometimes experience is the best teacher. Sometimes, experience teaches regardless of the circumstances, for example, when we learn the reality of death when we lose a loved one. Those are hard lessons in life. When we fall, we learn not to climb where we do not belong.

This morning in my reading in 1 Chronicles, I was reminded of this truth. In a narrative that begins in chapter 13. David, recently made king, begins the process of bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to where it belonged -- with God's people. In it's transport, one of the animals pulling the cart that was carrying it nearly over turned it. One of David's men who was nearby reached out to keep it from falling. He stopped it by putting his hand on it, and the man was immediately struck dead. Wow! The first time I read that, I tho't to myself, "that seems a little extreme! He was trying to keep it from falling." David felt the same and scripture recorded the fact that he was mad at God about it. However, the harsh reality is that God had established His standard for moving the Ark, and David and his men had not followed those instructions.

They pulled back and regrouped and did their homework, and God began to bless them in battles in chapter 14. This was a message repeated all through out the Old Testament, obey God, He would bless them, disobey God and He would curse them. Later, when they finally did move the Ark in chapter 15, this time they followed God's instructions to the letter.

Funny, how we so often get upset when we fail to follow God's standard because we either want to do it our way, or rather we just go about things haphazardly, and things fall apart. we mishandle money, and we go broke. We marry someone who doesn't love the Lord, and surprisingly they get mifted when we want to go worship. But had we consulted the Lord to begin with, we could have saved ourselves much grief. This is a hard lesson that I know I am still learning. It gets easier with maturity, but I cannot say that I have mastered it. The awesome thing is that God is a gracious God and he doesn't destroy us when we mess up. He allows us to get up and try it again.

In Their Wisdom They Became Fools...

Mensa is an organization whose members have an IQ of 140 or higher. A few years ago, there was a Mensa convention in San Francisco, and several members lunched at a local café. While dining, they discovered that their saltshaker contained pepper and their peppershaker was full of salt. How could they swap the contents of the bottles without spilling, and using only the implements at hand? Clearly this was a job for Mensa! The group debated and presented ideas, and finally came up with a brilliant solution involving a napkin, a straw, and an empty saucer. They called the waitress over to dazzle her with their solution.

"Ma'am," they said, "we couldn't help but notice that the peppershaker contains salt and the saltshaker?"

"Oh," the waitress interrupted. "Sorry about that." She unscrewed the caps of both bottles and switched them.

A Heavenly Preview

Jill & I are in the habit of previewing all the movies that our girls watch since there is so much garbage out there that teach a plethora of worldly messages. There is a movie that came out recently on DVD that I have been wondering about, so I rented it and previewed it this weekend. I am not sure of the intention, but not only did I find it to be pretty safe, but even saw some really cool lessons that I could use to teach about Christ.

The movie is Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. At first, I found the main character, Mr. Magorium, a little weird, but as the story unveils, I saw that one of the primary plots was about facing death. Magorium, played by Dustin Hoffman, knows he is about to die, and trying to get Maloney, played by Natalie Portman, prepared to take over the toy store. Maloney is a would-be concert pianist who is stuck writing her first concerto. And although everyone believes in here talent, she can't seem to break through and finish it. I don't want to ruin the story for you, but Maloney learns that she really comes alive once the one she believes in dies and she takes over his work. Not did she believe in herself, but did she believe in this mysterious man who brings toys to life. This immediately reminded me of the verse where Christ is foretelling of His own death and the life that results. "'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.'" John 12:24.

Unless we embrace who we are in Christ, we can never truly come alive to see all that we were created to be and do. If we do, wonderful things can happen! Enjoy the movie. I did.