Why Not Today?

I've been on hiatus from regularly playing golf this year, and a couple weeks ago I began getting "back in the swing."  It's always a bit of a slog to work through the lack of rhythm, physical fatigue, and bad habits which accompany a extended layoff.  I started golfing in my youth because it was fun, and I have reached an age where it is also an effective exercise.  Walking the course is a great way to stay active and challenge yourself at the same time - which is even more challenging when constantly duffing, hooking, and slicing everywhere!

Just recently I was talking to friends about how Gammy (my Grandma - but don't ever call her that!) over the age of 65 had a hole-in-one.  Over the years I have had a couple of pitches roll in and a few approaches bounce off the stick, but I never really came close to an ace.  Someone in the conversation added how a woman had three holes-in-one in a single round!  When standing in the tee box addressing the ball I started thinking, "Why not today?  Sure, I've never had a hole-in-one, but why not today?"  And then I promptly shanked a tee-shot to the left or sent an approach shot over the green.

Well, today turned out to be the day.  All those awful shots were quickly forgotten on the 17th hole at the Windsor Country golf club (120 yard par 3) as I watched my ball sail high off my Vokey wedge, drop with a smack on the green, and disappear into the cup.  It's something I always knew was theoretically possible but I never imagined what it would be like to happen.  My exuberant shouts attracted a pair about to tee off on the 12th hole, and I still had my hands raised over my head as it was confirmed the ball had gone in.  I shouted, "I guess there's a first time for everything!" and then began the satisfying walk to retrieve the ball.

As I walked toward the green with a ridiculous grin I couldn't seem to shake off, my thoughts went to what I was telling myself before I made the shot:  why not today?  It occurred to me there are all sorts of accomplishments we have never experienced in the past but by God's grace could experience today.  Making a hole-in-one was exciting, but what if today is the day when you share the Gospel and as a result a person is born again?  Now that would be really exciting!  How many things God has planned for us that we are completely unaware of, circumstances and opportunities which can forever change our perspective.  Asking "Why not today?" is irrelevant in relation to a golf hole-in-one if I do not play golf, and I cannot expect people to respond to the Gospel (from me) unless I make a practice of declaring and living in light of it.

Take heart friends:  there were many shots I executed poorly in today's round of golf, but I wasn't without hope because I kept on.  I've seen videos of people mid-round throwing their gear in the lake because they were so over it.  As long as we keep following Jesus there is always unfailing hope for us, because our hope is in Him.  Let's keep sharing the Good News.  Let's keep taking our best shot in obeying Him.  Sometimes we will miss the mark.  We will falter and fail at times along the way, but Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Don't be discouraged or give up because times are difficult:  keep on going, keep on trusting, keep on obeying our LORD and Saviour Jesus.  It is He who will help us accomplish things we never dared to imagine was possible.

Clean Inside and Out

Growing up it was common for us to do chores on a Saturday.  In addition to household duties like laundry, washing up after dinner, sweeping the floor, mowing the lawn, vacuuming carpet, or cleaning bathrooms, sometimes we would have different tasks like washing the cars, trimming ivy off the fence, or removing fly screens from the windows, scrubbing, and spraying them down.  I was always impressed by my mum's ability to clean a window.  I would use the same Windex, paper towels, and press until it squeaked like she did, but it seemed I had to do it over and over until it looked half as good as her first go.

As the sun streamed through the sliding glass doors into the dining room yesterday, it was obvious the glass needed a good clean.  I pulled out the trusty Windex and proceeded to clean each door two times each side - because I knew full well that even with rotating the towel I couldn't remove the dust and film with a single pass.  After wiping the windows thoroughly, I was left scratching my head how a concentrated beam of sunlight showed small swirls and dust on the glass.  I cleaned one side and then the opposite side appeared streaked.  I walked outside again to clean the other side, and the side I just cleaned would be revealed as smudged too!  Though not perfect, in the end I finally called it good enough and walked away.  The doors look way better than they used to.

This window cleaning experience started me thinking about a particular glass surface which is my least favourite to clean:  the inside of a car windscreen (windshield, for my American readers if you hadn't guessed).  The outside of the windscreen is easy to clean because it is fully exposed and has a gentle slope.  Once the windscreen wiper blades are raised it is no problem to access the whole surface.  But the inside is a completely different story.  Bird droppings and dust is no problem compared to the greasy film which quickly smears the inside of the glass.  The glass angles away from the seat, the rear-view mirror is easily knocked, and over spray drifts onto the dash.  Many times I figured I had done a thorough job, only to discover through the light of the sun the film remained!  No matter how good your cleaning products, the amount of effort spent, or the time invested in cleaning windows, they will soon be dirty again.  I still remember what my mum would be quick to say after a job was done, "See how good that looks?  Doesn't it feel great to look through a clean window?"  Yeah, yeah, I would say to myself.  But she was right.

The LORD provided me a good lesson through my cleaning experience yesterday:  the light of God's word easily exposes the sin in our hearts.  Looking at the windscreen as my life, I can say it is easier in many cases to clean up outer appearances rather than deal with the wickedness inside my heart.  The inside is a lot harder to clean than the outside, but both need careful consideration and attention.  A primary difference between windscreens and hearts is when it comes to hearts the outer is often an indication of the inner, even as our words express thoughts hidden to everyone else but God.  Another huge difference is we are not able by our efforts alone to wash our minds, bodies, or hearts clean from sin.  The only way we can be washed is through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, for His blood cleanses us from all sin and imputes to us His righteousness.  Having been born again we are to embrace our own personal sanctification and we do this by examining our hearts, words, and actions in the light of God's Word.  When there are the equivalent of bird droppings on the outside or a greasy film within, God provides the cleansing when we confess our sins and we are to walk in light of it.

How important it is for us to walk in the light as He is in the light!  Jesus is the Light of the World, and He has a unique skill at revealing the faults no one else is privy to.  Like the Law of Moses beams of sunlight have no ability to cleanse us, but Jesus is able to forgive sins.  1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  How good it is to be clean, to be free from the curse of sin!  Praise the LORD He has washed us and how His Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.  In light of our holy God and having eyes to see, we are to be clean inside and out for His glory.  Then His light will shine from us with glory undimmed, vessels of honour in whom He delights.

Knowing and Wanting God

It is remarkable how quickly knowledge of God can evaporate over a generation.  For instance,  during the days of Joshua the children of Israel served the LORD.  Judges 2:10 explains the general condition of the people despite what great things God had done after the death of Joshua and that generation:  "When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel. "  Stones of remembrance had been set up, the Law had been recorded and passed down, sacrifices offered, feasts kept, and tithes and offerings brought to the tabernacle, yet the new generation did not know the LORD.  This shows knowing about God is not the same as knowing Him.

Obedience to God because of love and appreciation of Him can quickly degenerate to empty tradition.  In Australia we are seeing a great rise in people who, instead of identifying as Christian, claim they have "no religion."  These days I often heard media classifying generations according to titles like "Baby Boomers," "Generation X or Y" and most recently "Millennials."  To me these generalisations are akin to racial profiling, but there are some measurable trends which demographers use to make observations and draw conclusions.  It could be said there was a clear generational gap in Israel between those who knew the LORD and were eye-witnesses of His presence and power, and for some reason this knowledge of God did not pass to those who followed.  This is always a potential reality because faith in God, experiences, and desire to seek after God are intensely personal.  God can be known personally and intimately, and every individual has a role in cultivating this knowledge and experience.

I have seen a change in the church during the decades I have followed Jesus.  My parents and a lot of people I knew in the 80's came to Jesus out of a legalistic generation, one that frowned upon long hair, smoking cigarettes, drinking, dancing alcohol, and cards.  Going to church meant wearing your best clothes, going to confession, and embracing traditions just because.  People who desired to know God laboured under a heavy load of guilt.  When these people came to Jesus Christ through the Gospel of grace, how they rejoiced!  They had been previously caught in a cycle of dead works and labour of the flesh to try to appease and please God as best they could, trying to earn favour, blessings, salvation, and forgiveness.  With this new found freedom empowered by the Holy Spirit, these people largely loved to gather to worship, serve others, study the Bible, and spread the Good News.

Fast forward to the next generation, to the children raised in Christian homes were there was an understanding of God's love and grace.  Those who are familiar with the Gospel from their youth and the love of Jesus for them do not seem as acutely aware of their sins and faults before a holy God.  Service becomes the end rather than obedience to the God they know and love.  Since they know their sins are forgiven there is little thought of their need to pursue holiness and their own sanctification.  Because there is small emphasis on the Law of God and His righteous requirements guilt and brokenness for sin does not lead to greater appreciation of God's grace.  It is said Millennials have "entitlement" issues, and Christians who have primarily been fed a spiritual diet of grace and love (which appeals to self) expect God to forgive them.  God's grace is taken for granted and so people fall short of it without repentance.  It is one thing for people outside the church to be willfully ignorant of God, but there are many in the church who are like the second generation of Israelites in Canaan who did not know God.

I am merely generalising here, but hopefully the point is communicated that we need the whole counsel of the Word of God!  Our own background and personality will colour the way we approach God, and without the ministry of the Word our view will be skewed.  I am grateful for God's faithfulness to us, how He reveals Himself to us regardless of our generation, ethnicity, or age.  Without His aid we would be hopeless blind and lost, entrenched in empty traditions of men and measuring the health of our spiritual lives by other lost men.  This is the condition of many today, and of some even attend church regularly.  Praise the LORD for the fellowship of the saints and how we can exhort each other to good works today, for night is coming when we can no longer work.  May we be able to say of our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ:  "I saw Him and I sought Him, I had Him and I wanted Him." (Taylor, Howard. Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret. Moody Press, 1993. page 21)  How excellent is the knowledge of our God, and let us make Him known!

The Pursuit of Peace and Holiness

"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord..."

Hebrews 12:14

I have been meditating on this verse lately, and the wisdom and simplicity of it is marvellous.  The writer of Hebrews exhorts the pursuit of peace with all people, yet never at the expense of holiness.  There is a peace the world holds as an ideal not hardly realised, a coexistence which requires accommodation and compromise.  Genuine peace can never be obtained without resolved conflict, but the world's way of peace is to avoid conflict at all costs.  This pseudo-peace is far removed from the peace Jesus Christ offers those who trust in Him.  Jesus said in John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  The peace Jesus gives is not contingent on external circumstances but is secured in the hearts of all who look to Jesus Christ as LORD and Saviour.

The temptation for Christians in our pursuit of peace is to compromise in God's righteous standard of holiness, to find middle ground where there can be none.  Jesus spoke to His disciples in Luke 16:13:  "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."  I believe Jesus said these words to His disciples because there is a tendency in all people towards divided loyalty.  We imagine as servants of all we can effectively serve two masters, but this cannot be.  There is no peace within us when we are caught between two opinions, not convinced in our minds about what is right.  This current age of subjectivity, political correctness, and sensitivity exacerbates this because it is seen as wrong to offend - even if for good reason.

We are commanded to pursue peace with all and holiness because without it no one will see the LORD.  God is holy, and nothing that is sinful or defiles can enter into His presence.  By the grace of God we can be deemed holy through the Gospel when we repent and trust in Jesus.  Our sins are atoned for by the precious shed blood of Jesus on Calvary, we are washed clean and forgiven, and the righteousness of Jesus is imputed to us by grace through faith.  Born-again Christians are thus made holy.  At the same time, however, we must take to heart passages like 1 Peter 1:13-16:  "Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ¹⁴ as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; ¹⁵ but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶ because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."  God has declared us holy, but we are also told to be holy - to live in agreement with God's holiness.  We are called to obedience to God and not to be conformed or shaped by this sin-steeped world.

We were once cut off from God due to our sinful rebellion, but by God's grace we can raise cleansed, holy hands to our Saviour in praise.  The Bible Knowledge Commentary made an interesting observation concerning the Hebrews passage:  "Since no sin can stand in God's presence, Christians must—and will be—sinless when they see the Lord (cf. 1 John 3:2). That realisation offers motivation for pursuing holiness here and now. But the author may also have had in mind the thought that one's perception of God even now is conditioned by his real measure of holiness (cf. Matt. 5:8)."  Many have, in their personal pursuit of holiness, arrogantly and without compassion disposed of relationships with others.  They have seen the pursuit of peace - with even brothers and sisters in Christ - as an unnecessary effort to stand up for self or teach other people a lesson.  If behaving in an unloving manner is the lesson, it is a lesson what not to do.  The log in our own eye has a way of blinding us from our own pride (Matt. 7:1-5).  How important is it for us to maintain a godly balance in our pursuit of peace and holiness:  there is no holiness without peace with God, and their is no peace with others when we deviate from God's holiness.