The Better Offer

There is an intriguing passage in Judges 17-18 which speaks of Micah, his idols, and priest.  One of the best and useful sermons I have ever heard was drawn out of this passage by Paris Reidhead titled, "10 Shekels and a Shirt."  Micah hired a Levite to become the priest over his household.  The Levite was pleased with the terms offered him and agreed to serve Micah - that is, until he received a better offer!  When men from the tribe of Dan came with a hidden purpose to steal Micah's ephod and idols, the Levite who posed as a priest confronted them.  They said, "Why don't you come with us?  At the moment you are only priest over a household:  wouldn't it be better for you to be priest over an entire tribe?"  Judges 18:20 reveals his response:  "So the priest's heart was glad; and he took the ephod, the household idols, and the carved image, and took his place among the people."  Like many people, the Levite was only loyal until a better offer came along.

I wonder how many people decide to serve Christ because they see Him as a better offer than what the world initially provided.  The trouble is, the devil is like the Godfather who knows how to make offers men can't refuse.  Everyone who makes a deal with him ends up dying in the end!  Loyal Christians remain faithful to Christ not because He has given them a "better offer," but because only in Him is found forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life.  Jesus told a parable in Matthew 20 which set forth a scenario involving a vineyard owner seeking labourers.  He promised to give the willing workers "what was right," fair wages for a day's work.  At the end of the day, all the workers lined up who had been hired to receive their wages.  We are like the workers the vineyard owner has recruited to serve in His vineyard for wages.  Jesus says if we will believe in Him we will receive eternal life.  Those who worked through the whole day received exactly what the master had promised.

Now imagine you are one of those workers in the vineyard.  Just after lunch as you are toiling away, a well-dressed man in a suit walks up to you.  "Working hard, I see?" he says with a wry smile.  "You're working your hands to the bone for what, a denarius?  I think you're worth a bit more than that."  The work is hard and tiring, so he has your attention.  He continues:  "Tell you what:  you come over and work for me, and I'll put you in charge as a foreman and triple your wage."  As you think it over, something doesn't seem right.  The backstory is you have never in your life made a denarius a day.  In fact, you've never had a paying job!  In addition, the master of the vineyard actually paid the fee to free you from life imprisonment for grave crimes.  He invited you to work for him, and you were grateful for the opportunity.  As you stand up, stretch your back, and wipe the sweat from your brow, you see the man nod and smile.  "So?  What will it be?  What's your decision?"  Now what do you do?

If you made the choice to leave the vineyard and follow the well-dressed man, it would be the most regrettable decision of your life.  It's true he paid well - for a while - but in the end you ended up being in greater debt than when you began.  You found yourself back on death row before long, alone and full of regret:  why did you walk away from the vineyard that day?  No offer this world can offer us is better than what God offers.  He gives us what is right by His grace.  What does it profit to gain the whole world and lose your own soul?  Only Christ has the words of life, for He is the Way, Truth, and Life.  The devil's offers may seem good initially, but his forked tongue only speaks lies.  Too many people have laid down their souls as collateral to pursue their desires, and it is a decision they will regret for eternity.

Following and serving Christ is not the easy way, but it is the best way.  It is a good way.  Psalm 16:11  says of our God:  "You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."  Money cannot provide life, fullness of joy, or lasting sweetness.  Jesus freely offers all these things if we will repent and trust in Him.  Let us choose this day whom we will serve.  The scriptures teach us following God is the wise choice.  Choose to stay faithful to our God, no matter what other offers may come along.

He Holds the Reins

Some people have the impression that the Christian life is one of restrictive rules.  In fact, quite the opposite is true:  in Christ we have freedoms never before possible, either apart from God or under the Old Covenant of the Law of Moses.  The Bible tells us all people are born sinners, spiritually blinded by darkness, chained and imprisoned awaiting everlasting judgment.  Jesus came to open the eyes of the blind, make the lame to walk, cleanse the lepers, release people from their chains, and raise the dead.  He is the Light of the World that has shined in the darkness, and only He has the words of life.

God does not bring us out of our bondage to Satan, sin, and death, and herd Christians into kennels.  We are no longer shackled in a prison, but are set free.  We have absolute freedom in Christ without fences, walls, chains, a life without guards in turrets armed with high-powered rifles who wait for any excuse to shoot.  God governs us in a completely different way than some might think.  The Holy Spirit leads us from within.  The way the Holy Spirit leads us could be compared to an expert rider holding the reins on a horse.  He does not hem us in with the bars and gates of a corral, but moves us with a gentle tap of the heel, a quiet command understood by our opened ears, and directs us through a tug on the reins.  It is for us to decide if we will heed His guidance or go our own way.  The world sees Christianity as a cramped corral, but in actuality it is a wide-open meadow with plenty of grazing and clean drinking water.  In the presence of our Owner we remain under His protection and care.  He feeds and waters us, scrubs us clean, and tends to our wounds.  We are ever safe with Him, and He has the best plan for our future.

Unless you have experienced a life with God by His grace, this loving relationship cannot be understood or appreciated.  Even those who are born again cannot express fully the thankfulness we have for the God who rescued us in our distress and saved us.  Horses and people are alike in that before we can be useful we must be broken.  God employs many means to break a man, but all healing is found through Jesus Christ our Redeemer.  Once we learn to submit to His control, we are led out of the paddock and a whole new world opens to us.  As our relationship grows with God so does our trust, and only God knows where He will lead you!  Praise God for His love and gracious governance!

The Poison of Prosperity

It is a great irony that some parents who grew up with virtually nothing want their kids to have everything.  Yet this fervent sacrifice to provide all their children desire creates in them a lack of appreciation for anything!  I was raised by parents who loved me and my siblings and provided for our needs.  Not only were we fed and provided with clothes and shelter, we received gifts for our birthdays.  On very rare occasions we even took family trips to Disneyland.  But we were not given whatever we wanted.  Therefore it didn't take too much for us to greatly appreciate "treats" like eating out at McDonald's or receiving a gift of beef jerky.  We never expected or felt entitled to have a Big Gulp at 7-11 or an ice cream when the truck came by.  My parents showed their love first through being present with us, supported each of their children to meet our individual needs, established clear boundaries through consistent, rigid discipline, and most of all through their faith in God.  The rod played a role in our raising, but it was outdone by kisses, hugs, and laughs.

Every good parent wants to see the needs of their children met.  More than food, water, clothing, housing or gifts, the greatest need of a child is of a spiritual nature.  My parents instilled in me the knowledge through scripture that I was a sinner in need of a Saviour.  I came to understand that the God who created me desired to be my heavenly Father, and that I would be His child.  One of the books of the Bible I loved to read from an early age was the book of Proverbs.  The wise and the foolish are often contrasted.  Proverbs 1:7 says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction."  The biblical definition of a fool is one who denies the existence of God, or lives as if God does not exist (Ps. 14:1).  Unless children are instructed concerning their deep spiritual need, the success of their studies and career may more of a curse than a blessing.  Interestingly enough, the one thing that is almost an eternal death sentence for a human being is security and prosperity.  For what does the scripture say?  Proverbs 1:32 reads, "For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them." The Hebrew word translated "complacency" in the NKJV is also translated at different times as "prosperity, peaceably, quietness, abundance."  The Strong's Concordance conveys the meaning as a genuine or false security.  If we find our temporal security in relationships, money, insurance, or anything other than God, we remain blind to our need for Him.

When a man or child without the fear of God has an abundance of goods, when they are prosperous and without threats, it works for their destruction.  Jesus said is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a sewing needle than for a rich man to enter heaven.  Yet in Christ there is hope for all.  With men, it would be impossible:  with God, all things are possible (Mark 10:27)!  Satan seeks to destroy men, and one way he does it is through prosperity.  It is good to give good gifts to our children, but may we not neglect their deepest need to fear God.  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and He will supply all our needs.

Christ is Without Controversy

"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory."

1 Timothy 3:16

The world is full of controversy, but these basic tenets of godliness are not numbered among them.  Paul plainly says the mystery of godliness - something once hidden that has now been revealed - is without any controversy, beyond any doubt or factually-founded opposition:  God has been manifested through the person of Jesus Christ, justified in the Holy Spirit through His bodily resurrection, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up in glory.  Paul speaks of these as ironclad facts.

Most of the attacks of scripture or Christianity do not come against these aspects, nor could they.  It is easier to point out the flaws or hypocrisy of His followers than to lay such claims against Christ.  Should someone try to debunk Christ's existence, His claims, deeds, resurrection, or ascension from even a secular historical basis, it is a futile exercise.  Ask Josh McDowell about that approach!  It is easier to try to create controversy through "oppositions of science falsely so called" (1 Timothy 6:20) than to refute the authenticity of Christ's words and deeds.  These truths are made plain and evident through scripture for those who have eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand what the Spirit is saying.  But the reality is, many people have strong reasons not to believe.  When the "reasons" not to believe are stripped bare, the aforementioned proofs are not the issue.  As much as we humans love to tout our logical approach and emotional detachment in making decisions, and our ability to make an objective choice based solely on the facts, we have an inner bias favouring ourselves we cannot shake.  Nearly every single thing we have learned through our senses, and our senses or ill-informed sources have failed us more than we know.

If we want to understand truth from God, we must be born again.  We need the Holy Spirit to make new our minds, hearts, and will.  We must lay down our prejudices and biases, and choose to bring God's Word to bear upon the parts of our lives that naturally oppose His rule.  God became a man to relate to us, personally enduring rejection, physical pain, and hatred.  He did not come to visit for the experience alone, however, because He came with the express purpose to seek and save the lost.  He came to sacrifice Himself for man's redemption.  Jesus came with great wisdom and the words of life, but people sought to trip Him up or trap Him with His own words.  They questioned Christ and disputed with Him, and ultimately Jesus was accused and killed.  But without controversy is the fact the Messiah Jesus Christ has come in fulfillment of scripture.  Jesus rose from the dead, and it has been documented the great pains the Romans and Jewish leaders went through to make sure He was dead, buried, sealed in a tomb, and guarded.  In doing so, they only furthered proved the validity of Christ's resurrection, and His ascension was viewed by eye-witnesses who went to their deaths professing the truth of it all.  The man who wrote this passage inspired by the Holy Spirit, the apostle Paul, was one of them.

This is the beauty of Christ and His Word.  The world may ridicule and scorn; we will face unfounded personal attacks on our character; but regardless of whatever state we find ourselves or wherever we may be, we can be assured of these truths upon which our lives are founded.  Our bodies will grow old and fail, yet our inner man is renewed day by day.  The world can dissolve, but our faith will wax stronger through the Spirit's revelation.  We know and are assured that our souls have been purchased with the precious blood of Christ, and He has reconciled us to God.  The words of Jude 1:24-25 are our daily benediction and praise:  "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, ²⁵ to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen."  Let us hold the high ground, looking to and rejoicing in our Saviour and Messiah Jesus Christ!