The Lovable One

What pictures does "lovable" bring to mind?  Personally I think of a cute and fuzzy plush toy, a smiling face with outstretched arms just begging to be held close.  Synonyms for "lovable" include:  endearing, engaging, attractive, adorable, lovely, sweet, cuddly, charming and pleasing.  One thing these synonyms have in common is being lovable is largely based on appearances and subjective personal opinion--not by demonstrated quality of character.  We can put a great deal of emphasis on looking lovely, but that does not mean we are lovable.

I was struck by David's exhortation in Psalm 31:23-24:  "Oh, love the LORD, all you His saints! For the LORD preserves the faithful, and fully repays the proud person. ²⁴ Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the LORD."  Forget the fluffy teddy bear with the embroidered smile:  God is the most lovable being of all!  God is worthy of all love as He is absolutely loving, though He is not in the least bit "cute" or "cuddly."  He has demonstrated His love for us sinners, not with chocolate or fluffy keepsakes, but by dying on the cross for our redemption and salvation.  He preserves the faithful, provides courage, and strengthens our hearts as we hope in Him.

The lovable plush toy or pet that loves attention cannot meet the needs of our souls.  1 John 4:19 says of God, "We love Him because He first loved us."  When a person goes to the pet shop or breeder to purchase a cute, lovable puppy or kitten, that animal was loved and chosen before it could respond to love and attention.  To a domesticated animal the buyer was just one of many people who stopped by and watched it play, but after becoming an owner and caretaker a relationship began.  God has done a similar thing for people, having loved each human being before we were conceived and individually fashioned by Him in the womb of our mothers.  Isn't God lovable for His goodness towards us, to create us by grace and pursue a relationship with us?

Jesus Christ said to His disciples in John 15:12-17:  "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. ¹⁷ These things I command you, that you love one another."  We did not choose God, but He chose us; we love Him because He first loved us.  Because He loves us we ought to love Him and one another, and consequently He makes us more lovable ourselves.

Confessing One to Another (and praying too!)

Today a visit to the bathroom turned out to provide an unexpected object lesson.  We have an intermittent leaky tap in our bathroom which is the ultimate "jiggle the handle" experience.  If you have the technique and strength, it works ok.  But because the maintenance man didn't match the new handles with the old-style brass fitting it has always been difficult to keep from dripping.  So we have developed a workaround:  if the tap drips a cup is placed underneath to catch the water to prevent wasting it.  Then when I come in to wash my hands, I crank that puppy down--much to Laura's dismay.

As I watched the water slowly form under the tap and drip into the cup, I mused how pointless it would be to try to keep the tap from dripping with a finger.  Attempts to keep the water from dripping by hand pressure or placement of a cup underneath does not address the internal problem with the tap.  It needs to be pulled apart and fitted with a new plunger, O-Ring, and grease for smooth function (with compatible knobs of course!).  The dripping really isn't the problem, but is a symptom of a hidden internal problem.  We can be quite similar to the dripping tap because losing our temper, worrying, lying, or cheating are only symptoms of a heart problem which can result from our neglect of confession and repentance.

In Christian circles confession of specific sins to others on a regular basis is a seldom practiced spiritual discipline--at least speaking for myself.  That is set to change for me personally on the basis of what the LORD has been teaching me lately, for who does not sin (1 John 1:10)?  In addition to the biblical directive in James 5:16, I came across something J. Edwin Orr wrote in his book Full Surrender which impacted me:

"It costs nothing for a church member to admit in a prayer meeting, "I am not what I ought to be."  It costs no more to say:  "I ought to be a better Christian."  It costs something to say:  "I have been a trouble-maker in this church."  It costs something to say:  "I have had bitterness of heart towards certain leaders, to whom I shall definitely apologise."  While it is true that human hearts possess attributes towards sin which can be described as general, all acts of sin are particular and should be confessed in a particular way.  A sinner might be overwhelmed by so many specific convictions of sin that he does not know where to begin.  He should begin with his besetting sin, about which he will feel most conviction.  The exhortation to confess our sins is clearly progressive:  "If we keep on confessing our sins." (Orr, J. Edwin. Full Surrender. Marshall, Morgan, & Scott. 1951. pages 28-29.)

Though all sin is against God, we also sin against people.  Since this is the case, when guilt of sin comes to our attention we ought to confess our sin to the one we have wronged as the Prodigal did to his father:  "I have sinned against heaven and against you."  Orr put forth a maxim concerning confession in Full Surrender to let the "circle of the offence committed be the circle of the confession."  The unity and healthy fellowship of Christians can be severely hampered by pride and our (my!) refusal to confess sins to one another as James prescribed coupled with prayer for each other.  Joshua exhorted Achan to publicly confess what impacted the nation; Job prayed for his erring friends and they were healed.  We cannot keep short accounts with God if our ledger is bleeding red with sins against our brothers and sisters and we have neglected our responsibility to confess.  It is good for us to keep from sin, but if our primary motivation to avoid it is the fear of confessing to our brothers our hearts are not right before God.  Praise the LORD He is forgives, cleanses, restores, and even redeems our sin for His ultimately glory and our good.

Belief and Obedience

"And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? ¹⁹ So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief."

Hebrews 3:18-19

God brought the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt by a mighty hand and led them to the threshold of the Promised Land.  Yet upon hearing a bad report by 10 of the 12 spies sent into Canaan, the people were filled with fear and even regretted leaving Egypt!  They believed the reports of huge fortifications and giants in the land instead of looking to the almighty God who had brought them thus far:  the One who led them out would bring them in with victory.  Because they would not enter in God decreed that generation (save the two faithful spies Joshua and Caleb) could not enter the land.  Their unbelief led them to rebel rather than obey.

This is an incredibly relevant and thought-provoking situation to consider personally.  If unbelief prevented God's people from trust and obedience to Him, it is possible for us to hesitate on the threshold of blessings God has already provided for us.  Unbelief should be viewed as one of the greatest tragedies, completely preventable by undeterred faith in God marked by obedience.  I am saddened to think my life could at times be comparable to the Hebrews who witnessed the power of God yet turned their backs on what God had freely given them:  all they had to do was trust and enter in.  They would not do it, so God made it impossible for them to do it.  It seems they did not possess the spiritual insight of the author of Hebrews, for though they admitted they sinned at times unbelief was not something they repented of.

Believing and obeying, however, it not as easy as it may seem because it involves crucifixion:  first of Jesus Christ and then of our flesh so by faith the life of Jesus might live through us.  Unless we are born again we cannot surrender to this work of the Holy Spirit required for us to walk in victory purchased with the blood of Jesus.  The children of Israel had faith to follow Moses out of Egypt, to pass through the Red Sea on dry ground, but their lack of faith in God was exposed when they refused to enter the land of Canaan because of the reports of giants.  Compared to the giants 10 spies viewed themselves as grasshoppers, but the two men who kept their eyes on God and His promises saw them as bread.  Are you hungry to enter into the plans God has for you, to trust Him at any cost?  May the LORD cause us to follow the examples of these men and our Saviour Jesus Christ who were strengthened to obey.

The Pebble and O-Ring Lesson

Recently the jet in the pool has been blowing a lot of bubbles which suggested a leak somewhere in the system.  Today I turned off the pump and removed the clear lens on the secondary filter and discovered a small pebble had been lodged under the O-ring and prevented an airtight seal.  I thought to myself, the fix couldn't be this simple of a fix, right?  After removing the tiny stone I turned on the pump and I was pleased to see the water completely fill the secondary filter with bubble-free operation.

It amazed me a little pebble caused such a major problem which compromised the efficiency of the entire filtration system of the pool.  We've all experienced a pebble in our shoe, a tiny object if laying on the ground under normal circumstances would never grab our interest.  We can try to ignore the discomfort, but ultimately we need to stop what we're doing and remove the pebble which barks at us with each step.  If a little pebble can crack a windscreen at high speeds, alter our gait when dropped into our shoe or disrupt pool filtration, it follows even small things can make a negative impact in our lives.

When foreign objects find their ways into our pool filters, shoes, or eyes, if we desire to return to optimal performance we need to take a closer look.  It is one thing to take stock of the cleanliness of your hands or face, but it is far more important to consider our hearts.  Our hearts and minds can wander and little lies can begin to creep in and erode our faith and resolve.  Solomon wisely exhorted his son in Proverbs 4:20-27:  "My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. ²¹ Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; ²² for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. ²³ Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. ²⁴ Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you. ²⁵ Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. ²⁶ Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. ²⁷ Do not turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil."

Solomon urged his son to take personal inventory of what he looked at, what he thought about, and the words he spoke.  Just like bubbles in the jet revealed something was amiss so gossip, sharpness, and lies say something true about the condition of our hearts:  such deeds ought to be repented of but there is also hidden sin to be confessed and forsaken.  The temptation is to take stock of others, to measure our efforts against theirs.  Solomon said, "Ponder the path of your feet."  We are to walk in the good, old paths of righteousness blazed by Jesus and those who fear Him.  The pebble under the O-ring provided a tangible example of how a little sin trapped in our hearts leads to major problems that affect body and soul.