The Courageous Way

I enjoyed hearing a speech delivered by Justice Clarence Thomas of the United States Supreme Court at a University of Texas at Austin event.  During his decades on the bench. Justice Thomas has been known as a man of few words during oral arguments, yet when he speaks I have found he has many good things to say as a God-fearing man and American.  His quality of character, faithfulness in labour and devotion to God make him a man I deeply respect and admire.  Those who speak disparaging of him may do so because he is principled and godly like Daniel of old who would not be swayed by commands of a king, the fickle favour of princes or criticism from holding fast to those self-evident truths, that men have been created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.

In his speech, Justice Thomas urged regular people of the United States to be courageous to uphold the Constitution as the 56 signers, who with "firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence" mutually pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes and sacred honour.  While he spoke of being courageous in standing up for the principles founding founders held dear, I find the following quote a fitting exhortation applied to Christians to be courageous by faith in our Saviour Jesus to daily walk in love, the light of the Gospel and the truth of the Bible during our pilgrimage to glory:

"Each of you will have opportunities to be courageous every day.  Whether your calling in life is as a day labourer, a stay-at-home mom, a small business owner, an educator, an office worker, a judge, or some other endeavour.  It may mean speaking up in class tomorrow when someone around you expects you to live by lies.  It may mean confronting today's fashionable bigotries such as antisemitism.  It may mean standing up for your religion when it is mocked by a professor.  It may mean not budging on your principles when it will entail losing friends or being ostracised.  It may mean running for your school board when you see that they are teaching your children to hate your values in our country.  It may mean turning down a job offer that requires you to make moral or ethical compromises.  One thing I do know to be true, it will mean waking up every day with the resolve to withstand unfair criticism and attacks.  These are choices that we will confront that will confront you and you must decide whether to respond with timidity or with courage as the signers of the Declaration did.  It will of course not be easy.  Never is.  But if like me, you need a greater source of strength than yourselves, you will need to rely on your faith to guide and to sustain you through it all.  You will disappoint people you thought were friends and enduring personal attacks--as well as attacks on those you care about.  But if you stand, you will find that courage, like cowardice, can be habit forming and it will become a part of your life and a part of who you are.  And I may dare say it is liberating.  You will also be a living example for others to emulate."

God exhorted Joshua many times to be courageous in obedience because God had commanded him and would be with him, and we too can be courageous through Christ.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if courage was our habitual way of life rather than only in exceptional or extraordinary instances?  Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses who trusted in God spoken of in Hebrews 11, by God's grace Christians can be courageous to lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and run with endurance the race set before us.  Our courage does not spring from being exceptional people, but because we trust and obey our awesome God.  This is true freedom!

Affliction is Good?

"It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes."

Psalm 119:71

I don't think anyone sees affliction as intrinsically good, yet the psalmist affirmed through experience that God was able to use affliction for his good.  If a tree could speak, it might cry out in pain to have branches cut and trimmed by a skilled arborist, but as a result of pruning the tree will be healthier and produce more fruit.  Years ago our family had a lemon tree in the back yard with one large but light lemon on it--and it hung there for months.  I didn't want to trim the neglected tree for the sake of the "fruit" that never seemed to ripen, and when I finally harvested it was dry, woody and inedible.  I trimmed the tree following an online tutorial, and the tree for one year did not produce a single lemon.  The next year, however, we harvested over 80 juicy lemons!

When the lemon tree was neglected and left alone, it grew many leaves and branches.  One might imagine cutting off branches would reduce the fruitfulness of the barren tree but it increased exponentially.  This illustrates well the fruitfulness of affliction in a Christian's life, for God uses it to teach us of Himself, guide us to seek Him in times of trouble, and cause our lives to produce holiness.  This morning I read a passage in Hosea where God said He was like a moth unto His people.  Moths are harmless to humans but can be destructive pests because they eat natural fibres people use to make clothes and blankets.  It would have been very disappointing to pull out clothing to wear and find it eaten away and rotted with holes from moths, and this was a picture of the condition of Israel when they rejected God and ceased walking in His ways.  Their society and family fell into decay, and the damage done by sin was obvious and could not be hidden.

Hosea 5:13-15 reads, "When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb; yet he cannot cure you, nor heal you of your wound. ¹⁴ For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue. ¹⁵ I will return again to My place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me."  When Ephraim became sick and helpless due to idolatry, God's people sought aid from the Assyrians who could not heal them.  So what did God do?  He brought more severe judgment upon His people, for He became as a young lion to them.  The tearing of a lion is far more deadly than the damage done by moths.  God retreated like a lion to its den until His people were willing to acknowledge their sin and seek His face.  God's affliction of His people was actually a mercy, for in their affliction they would earnestly seek Him--the God who loved them, would rescue and heal them.

Hosea 6:1-2 shows affliction from God led them to unite and return to the LORD:  "Come, and let us return to the LORD; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. ² After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight."  The living God who tore them desired to heal them and inclined to bind their wounds.  He would revive them and raise them up so they might live forever in His presence.  This rising the third day alludes to what God would accomplish by the death and resurrection of Jesus, for the Saviour who laid down His life and was able to take it up again would rise from the dead on the third day glorified.  So Jesus is faithful to do for all who receive Him by faith according to the Gospel.  All who have been redeemed and revived by God can see Him at work in our troubles and say with the psalmist, "It is good I have been afflicted!" because through them God teaches us and makes us more spiritually fruitful.

Being Left Alone

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught His disciples not to give what was holy to the dogs or cast their pearls before swine.  It would be abominable to offer food God provided to sustain the priests and Levites to scavenging dogs, and it makes no sense to toss valuable pearls at animals that will disregard them and trample them underfoot.  God has given us great wisdom in His word that is food for our souls we ought to treasure, and when people refuse to regard God or hear His word there is little point to continue speaking to them on the subject.  They will try to bite the hand that tries to feed them.

Since Jesus told His disciples not to give what is holy to the dogs, we can know He walks in His own wisdom.  We can see this illustrated in the life of king Saul who disregarded God's word and disobeyed the word of the LORD spoke through Samuel, and when given opportunity to repent and humble himself Saul refused to do so.  He cared only for his own honour before the people.  The Spirit of God left him and an evil spirit sent by God troubled him, yet he still did not repent.  A time came when Saul was afraid of the Philistine army and cried out to God, yet God did not answer him.  Why?  He had refused to listen to or obey God, so why should God say anything?  Saul's response of seeking the aid of a medium tells us God was perfectly justified to remain silent, for he was unwilling to wait on God and submit to his word.

One scripture that is often repeated without context is found in Hosea 4:6 when God said, "My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge...".  The knowledge God spoke of is found in Hosea 4:1 when God lamented there was "...no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land."  This lack of knowledge of God led to ignorance of His law and disobedience as we see in Hosea 4:2 & 6.  A consequence of God's people rejecting and forgetting His law was He would forget their children.  Knowing God disciplines those He loves like a father chastens his son in whom he delights, I shuddered at the implications when I read Hosea 4:17:  "Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone."  When people are sinning, they do not like to have their sin pointed out.  We prefer to be left alone and do our own thing, yet because God loves us He will convict of sin, righteousness and judgment.  He will pursue us and continue to speak to us so we might forsake our sin and return to Him.  In Ephraim's case, a point had been reached when God said to leave them alone.  His words would fall on wilfully deaf ears and proud hearts, so He had nothing to say to them.

I am reminded of a similar statement Jesus made when speaking of Jewish religious rulers.  The Pharisees were offended when Jesus said they worshipped God in vain due to their hypocrisy.  The disciples of Jesus weren't sure He knew they were offended by His words and asked Him.  Matthew 15:13-14 reads, "But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. ¹⁴ Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch."  Jesus did not give the Pharisees the "silent" treatment, for He spoke God's wisdom plainly and personally to them.  But when they refused to receive His correction and were offended, Jesus told His disciples, "Let them alone."  Being blind leaders who would not submit to Jesus opening their eyes, they would end up falling in a ditch.  It might be spiritually falling into a ditch and not being able to climb out that would prompt them to humble themselves, cry out to Jesus the Good Shepherd and be saved.

God chastens His children out of love, and He also is moved by love to let alone the proud, stubborn soul determined to go his own way to ruin.  If Ephraim would not listen to God, learn of Him and walk in His ways, shame from their idolatry could lead the northern kingdom to repentance and restoration.  Consider the meekness of God's wisdom that is pure, peaceable, and willing to yield--so even sinners who were left alone could be redeemed and reconciled to Himself!  It was when he was left alone with the pigs the prodigal in the parable came to his senses and returned to his father who waited for him with open arms.  We know God is always inclined to save, for Jesus commands His disciples to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, do good to those who hate us, and pray for those who spitefully use and persecute us.  Our enemies may not listen to God, but He will hear our prayers offered for their sakes.

Peaceable Fruit of Righteousness

"Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. ¹² Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, ¹³ and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed."

Hebrews 12:11-13

The writer of Hebrews exhorted Christians not to be faint or become weary of God's chastening for sin, for it was not a rejection of them but their wickedness.  His divine correction affirmed they were God's beloved children, and this ought to be a cause us to rejoice greatly.  Jesus endured great hostility from sinners against Himself, and with Christ in us Christians can endure hostility from sinners as well as God's chastening by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Being chastened and disciplined is painful, yet by faith in God it will work to yield pleasant fruit in our lives:  the peaceable fruit of righteousness.  Being chastened and corrected for sin trains God's people to learn to lay aside every weight and the sin that easily ensnares us, and God is faithful to help us run the race He has set before us with endurance as we look to Jesus.  Training to learn a new skill, to improve in a sport or the mastery of an instrument requires practice and repetition.  It is easy to develop bad habits, thus frequent correction is required for us to learn the fundamentals.  As we learn to surrender our lives to Jesus in obedience to His instruction, God will cause our lives to yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness and holiness.

The writer of Hebrews says in light of this, we ought to strengthen hands which hang down and the feeble knees.  Training can be exhausting, and repeated failures can be demoralising.  We can feel down and overwhelmed by the extent of our sinfulness and chastening from God even though it is for our good.  We can focus on how sinful we are when our eyes ought to be fixed on the sinless Saviour.  The hanging hands and feeble knees can be descriptive of individuals as well as a body of believers, for we are members of one another.  Everyone is at a different stage in their spiritual growth, and in our growing seasons we can help bear the burdens of the weak, encourage and edify them with godly living.  Verse 13 says Christians ought to make straight paths for our feet so what is lame may be healed rather than being dislocated.

A dislocated foot renders a person unable to stand or walk at all due to debilitating pain.  The first part of James 3:2 reminds us, "We all stumble in many things."  It is easy to stumble when we did not notice a kerb or we failed to lift our feet high enough over uneven ground.  These sort of things happen at times to everyone who walks--and is spiritually true concerning our walk of faith.  Choosing to follow Jesus and walking in His steps according to guidance of Scripture and the Holy Spirit promotes healing of lame ankles.  In a spiritual sense we are all lame, and by the miraculous power of Jesus and the Gospel we are empowered to live God's way that works to restore our health and strength.  Rather than despising God's chastening, we ought to submit to Him so our lives will produce the peaceable fruit of righteousness.