The Skill of Rumination

As I grow older it is strange to think how much technology has changed the way people live in the western world.  For all of our advancements in science, medicine and education, however, there is one thing that has remained the same:  people.  The Bible is so relatable because it nails the essence of the human heart perfectly and resonates with our conscience.  It is ironic the many digital devices which allow us to work from home and technology which enable us to do more at once seem to drain our time and can make life more difficult and complex.  I am not interested in throwing away modern technological conveniences which are not sinful in themselves because they are not the problem.  We are the sinners.

Though the word of God remains the same, advances in technology and transportation have drastically changed the way Christian and church ministry is done.  We have gone from having one church in a large parish with one preacher to a global deluge of sermons and services we can tap into without leaving our bedroom.  When I was a kid at our church we had a "tape lending library" where the Sunday sermon was quickly recorded on cassette tapes to buy, borrow or share with others.  Because Christian radio programming was rare in our area, people would listen to the same cassette throughout the week and bring it back to church on Sunday where it was erased and updated with the most recent offering.

It used to be a family would have to go to a church building to hear a sermon, and during the week as they farmed or conducted business their minds would think back upon what they had heard.  I believe we are in an age when we must again refine the simple art of rumination.  Think of a cow in a paddock, chewing the cud with contentment.  Over and over the ox munches the same bite of grass, regurgitating and chewing again and again until most of the nutrients are absorbed.  We live in a day of binge-watching a whole season of shows over a weekend and look forward impatiently until the next installment.  For many, gone are the days of listening to the same sermon over and over, reading the same chapter or verse of the Bible again and again.  And some Christians have never known a day other than ours, a day of click-bait titles and an insatiable thirst to hear something new.  Some have never read through the entire Bible while others speed through several times a year.

So we move on from a sermon and on from a passage of scripture, seeking a new revelation from God when there is priceless wisdom from God we have glossed over in our haste.  Like a person orders from a menu at a restaurant, we can scroll through messages to a popular sermon by title.  Within minutes we can choose to close the message and look for something of interest.  For all our hearing there can be little growing, and our stunted growth causes us to doubt the usefulness and practicality of--imagine it--even a message from God because of the messenger or style of delivery.  Familiarity with a passage dupes us into thinking we know it already when the reality is a foreign concept to our lives.  Knowing and doing are two different things as the story of the wise and foolish builders Jesus told reveals.

David wrote of the blessed benefits of careful and patient consideration of God's law in Psalm 1:1-3:  "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; ² but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. ³ He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper."  See the blessing of meditation on God's word?  God told Joshua in Joshua 1:8, "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."  God commanded Joshua to speak God's word, meditate on it day and night, and do what it said.  If Joshua met God's conditions, his way would be prosperous and could be successful in all endeavors God called him to do.

Let us develop our skill of ruminating on a passage of God's word so our understanding and lives will be fruitful.  Read the scriptures again and again:  observing what the text says, interpreting scripture with scripture and putting God's divine wisdom into practice personally.  And it must be personal; it will require patience and perseverance, but no one can argue with the results because what God promised He will perform.  A cow ruminates because God created it to do so, and we have a choice what we will ruminate or meditate upon.  Humans have always had a terrible propensity to ruminate on what worries and troubles us rather than on God and the good word spoken to us.  As a farmer cleans the rust from the blades of the plough by directing it through hard earth, let us develop our skill of rumination by putting it into practice in heeding God's word as we break up the fallow ground of our hearts.

The Unclaimed Blessing

Christians desire blessing from God like people go crazy over free stuff.  Drawings and giveaways keep our attention at the possibility of winning a valuable prize.  I wonder if believers can be like people who hang around an event for the chance of receiving something good from God when He has already blessed us with His presence, grace and love.  The reality is we are more blessed than we realise and comprehend.

What does God's "blessing" or "blessings" we ask for look like?  A lot of times our translation can be a bit selfish:  make life easy, remove difficulties, help me or give me what I want.  Last night I read about a blessing God has provided for us we do not always appreciate.  In sharing the Gospel with curious Jews who gathered in Jerusalem, Peter said in Acts 3:25-26:  "You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' ²⁶ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities."  God coming to earth is a great blessing, and He was sent to bless people in turning everyone from their sins.

We love to have options and alternatives.  Mankind was under bondage to sin, death and fear, and Jesus came to turn us from sin.  He is infinitely more than a different option like a switch to another channel on television:  it is now like we can turn off the religious television programming altogether and have a personal relationship with God through faith.  Jesus came to save us from our sin, to turn us from wickedness and to Him.  The Law could only condemn sinners and Jesus bore the sins of the world on Calvary out of love for us in obedience to the Father.  Christians often rejoice to be free of the penalty of sin (which is death) and even the power of sin:  God has blessed us to turn us away from sin so we can look to Him in faith.  Sometimes our past iniquity and present temptation to sin has more of our attention than Christ who has turned us from it.

Though Jesus has blessed us by turning from sin, the reality is we can turn back to it.  Because sinful desire forms within us, it can seem no matter where we turn we cannot escape from the whispers to indulge in what allures our flesh.  We do well to remember this reason Jesus came to earth at all:  to turn us away from our iniquities, to deliver us from the power of the devil and sin.  The shame and guilt associated with sin has been washed away by the blood of Jesus, and this is a blessing we must receive by faith in Him.  To a believer sin God has turned us from ought to be seen as most sinful, not a "bad habit" or "moment of weakness" we can justify.  In all our temptation God makes with them the way of escape who is Christ, and He enables us to steadfastly endure and do righteously.

It would be a great shame to have your name chosen for a free new car or house and you were unable to claim for yourself because you decided to leave 5 minutes before the drawing took place out of boredom.  How many believers pray for blessing who do not realise the blessing Jesus has already provided by His coming to earth to turn away every one of us from our iniquities!  The chains that bound us to what brings a curse, sorrow and death have been broken by Jesus Christ who came to set captives free.  Will we as believers lay those shackles of sin upon our hands and feet, lamenting our hopeless state in unbelief, while the lock is shattered to bits?  Because Jesus has come, paid the price from our sin and is risen, let us in faith rise with Him who has blessed us.  If we will not receive the blessing of turning away from our iniquities, why should we beg for another?

When the purposes for Jesus Christ's coming to us are fulfilled, we are empowered to live fulfilling lives.

Jesus Suffered For Us

In preparing for Sunday's message at Calvary Chapel Sydney, I was struck how consistently I try to avoid suffering if I can.  If I am experiencing pain or discomfort in my body I do what I can to find relief.  Suffering can seem like an unnecessary part of life as we seek happiness and comfort wherever we can.  We are pleased to avoid suffering, but unbelievably God chose to suffer and die so we could be free of suffering forever.

I remember an occasion when I was verbally blasted by an irate parent at a soccer game as the assistant coach.  As his volume grew to a crescendo and the profanity flowed, the parents around me slowly moved away.  I found myself standing face to face with a man who literally trembled with rage.  After the final insult was flung and his sons gathered, he left the soccer field.  Fellow parents slowly meandered back to the sideline.  One man put his hand on my shoulder and said with a smile, "Better you than me!"  After what had just occurred, I didn't know what to say except a sheepish "Thanks."

The scene is instructive, as the troubles man faces in hell for eternity for his sin is infinitely worse than being shouted at.  No one wanted to be the target of an angry verbal tirade, and certainly no one is pleased to suffer death and darkness in agony forever.  God looked upon man's sorry state on earth reigned by sin and said in contrast, "Better Me for you!"  God could not suffer as an immortal Spirit, so He cloaked Himself in human flesh and came to earth in the person of Jesus to suffer death and conquer it and Satan who wielded it for us.  It was man whom God gave dominion over the earth, and thus it was fitting for God to become flesh so He could deliver us from the power of death.

Hebrews 2:16-18 says, "For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. ¹⁷ Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.¹⁸ For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted."  Because Jesus became a man He suffered in our place and we can become children of God.  Another incredible result of God's incarnation was He is also able to help us overcome temptation.  Jesus was "in all ways tempted" and remained sinless (Hebrews 4:15).  We who entrust our eternal souls to Jesus Christ for salvation can have all confidence in His deliverance from temptation even in the midst of suffering.

Suffering was made to serve God's good purposes, and this is one redemptive aspect of the Christian walk.  Jesus knows what it is like to suffer and even suffer what we have not:  physical death!  Three days later He rose from the dead in glory, and the power that raised Him is the power which resides in us through the Holy Spirit when we are born again.  Through faith in Christ we have comfort in our suffering, even as a person awaiting surgery takes confidence in the words of another who experienced the same procedure successfully.  Our hope is not in the opinions of men but in the person of Jesus Christ who suffered for us and has overcome all.

God's Not Finished

Discovering a sense of purpose is encouraging for the despondent soul.  Knowing God has a purpose in the trials and difficulties He allows strengthens us to persevere.  I read a message from a pastor recently that suggested if you are on this planet, it means God is not finished with you yet.  I have heard this phrase many times, and for the first time I realised it was only partly true.

The implication of the statement "God is not finished with you yet!" is that at some point God will be finished with you.  It implies after God is finished with you, or the job is complete He assigned to you to do, He will bring you home to heaven like a race-horse is turned out to pasture after the racing days are over.  God will never be "finished" with His beloved children He has redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus!  The reality is life on earth is preparation for greater usefulness and service in the kingdom of heaven where we will do His perfect will free from the weakness of our human flesh.  Heaven is not retirement in solitude but a place of abundant life free from all sorrow, suffering, pain and tears among our great God and all who love Him.

For those who feel they do not have an important or fulfilling role in life, knowing God still desires to use us today can be encouraging.  At the same time, better to find encouragement today in looking to the LORD in faith, rejoicing in His gracious love and all He has done and promised rather than what I can do, for without Him I can do nothing.  God has created people to work and find satisfaction in a job well done, and thus it is a blessing God uses us for His glory.  God's faithfulness to us is amazing as He sanctifies us despite our failings and rejoices to draw near to us as His own.  We are happy to be rid of a wrecked car that is written off, yet God delights to restore our souls, renew our minds and redeem our lives for His glory.

Believer, God will never be finished with you because He loves and has chosen you.  Jesus Christ is the Head of the body the Church, and you have a privileged place in Him no angel can possess.  We are blessed to serve God today and worship Him forever, for He is gracious and good.  The work God has begun in us He is faithful to complete, and after we have completed our days on earth we have eternity to look forward to by His side.  How fulfilling, satisfying and comforting it is to know God works with us today and will never will be finished with us.