Rights and Authority

Long before I arrived on this planet and to this day people hold their "rights" dear.  Most people want to have a high degree of autonomy over their lives and the freedom to exercise their right of choice in all areas of life.  What is intriguing about the concept of having rights is there must be governance at some level to authorise and uphold them.  A child has the right to stay up late to watch a movie because permission is granted by mum and dad; an employee has the right for compensation for injury because the government has provided it.  Governments have the right of rule because there is a God who has ordained them to do so, and before Him all men will give an account of the exercise of their rights because He is Creator and supreme.  Without the existence of God who created the universe which remains under His authority, the concept of having "rights" is foreign.

There is a right given by God that is greater than the freedom of speech, to assemble or to bear arms:  we are given the right to become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.  John 1:11-14 says, "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:¹³ who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."  There have been times in history when rights have been voluntarily relinquished or forcefully removed, yet this right God gives is available to all regardless of regime.  A government may forbid a person to mention the name of Jesus Christ, but no one can stop a person from being born again as a child of God.  Our God-given right to know and trust God has not been rescinded, nor will ever be for those who hope in Him.

It was not long ago a dual citizen of Australia had his Australian citizen revoked because of terrorist offences and was sent back to his nation of origin.  As a dual citizen myself it gave me pause to consider that my citizenship in Australia is permanent but not forever.  Australia can welcome me as a citizen who by choice makes an pledge of loyalty to Australia and its people under God, and also can someday revoke it without my permission.  For those who are born again children of God our citizenship in heaven will never be revoked.  There is no sin too great to be accepted by the Father because the justice of God has been satisfied by the atoning work of Jesus Christ on Calvary.  All our sins have been washed away and the righteousness of God imputed to us by grace through faith.  Isn't this wonderful news?  Isn't it great to know God has given us the right to become His children, and He will not rescind this right for all eternity?  We have on good authority our eternal security and acceptance as one of God's own.  Bless the LORD!

Be In Rest

One little word can make a big difference.  I love when I am reading the Bible and I find an unexpected word that makes me consider the implications of it.  A new twist of an old truth can be most invigorating to sedentary faith and provokes us to self examination.

I have been reading through the book of Ruth this week and it is a powerful and moving message of devotion, action and faith.  A foreign widow from Moab went to Bethlehem with her bereaved mother-in-law Naomi who was embittered due to personal loss and grief.  She returned from Moab feeling empty when she had a loyal daughter-in-law Ruth who was a hard worker and caring provider.  Ruth "happened" to glean in a field belonging to Boaz who was a near relative.  Over the course of the harvest Naomi directed Ruth to approach Boaz with the request for him to fulfill the duty of a kinsman redeemer, to take her as wife to raise up seed for the dead.

After Ruth communicated her desire in a lawful, honourable way, Boaz stated his clear intent and desire to take her as wife because she was a virtuous woman.  Having explored the matter himself Boaz told Ruth there was a kinsman who was nearer to them who had the right of redemption.  He assured Ruth he would handle the matter and she reported the happy news to Naomi.  Ruth 3:18 reveals the response of Namoi:  "Then she said, "Sit still, my daughter, until you know how the matter will turn out; for the man will not rest until he has concluded the matter this day."  Ruth had done what was required on her part to set the process in motion, and there was nothing for her to do but wait and see how everything worked out.  Her faith was to remain in God and without care and worry could sit still knowing Boaz would not rest until the job was done.

This verse is rendered in the KJV a little differently:  Ruth 3:18:  "Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be in rest, until he have finished the thing this day." (bold emphasis mine)  Naomi assured Ruth Boaz would not rest or "be in rest" until he had concluded the matter.  True to her prediction, Boaz busied himself to assemble 10 men at the gate to legally conduct the business of redeeming the property of Elimelech and Ruth as his wife.  The only way he would enter into rest was to have the job satisfactorily completed.  This is the rest available to Christians to enter into by the work Jesus Christ did on Calvary in demonstrating His love for us.  Life is full of labour, yet there is rest for us today through Christ's finished work.  He has entered into rest and ascended to heaven, and we ought not to fall short of the rest found in Him.

When Naomi's words are rendered "the man will not rest" it focuses on the action he will take; her statement rendered as "the man will not be in rest" speaks of an inner condition, a state of rest in mind and soul.  This is the rest God has for us as we labour to do the work He has called us to do.  No longer is our labour to try to earn favour or blessing from God because He has already accepted us by grace through faith.  Having received the fulness of God we are thus empowered to labour with our hands what is good as we do our part, and take time to sit still and know He is God and has all things in hand.  Let us be those who are in rest because of faith in our glorious Saviour who delights to love us.

The Dead End of Oversimplification

During an English class in high school, "KISS" was a principle regularly emphasised:  "Keep It Simple, Stupid!"  It was a funny reminder of our purpose in writing, to clearly and concisely communicate imagery and ideas to a reader.  We were taught to "keep the main thing the main thing" without seeing writing as an opportunity to show how intelligent or clever we were.  For all the great benefits of simplicity, however, we must be aware of the risk of oversimplification.  Stripping away the paint from a framed canvas does not leave a viewer with the impression the painter intended.  Oversimplification can lead to improper emphasis, misunderstandings and even worse--a smug contentment of knowledge founded upon ignorance.  In biblical and spiritual matters the dangers of oversimplification are very real.

I have heard it said there are always "two sides to a story" but the truth reaches beyond this assertion:  there is his story, her story, what I think after hearing the stories, and the reality only God knows.  Man has been designed by God with limits of understanding, memory and powers of observation.  We must be aware of our filters, bias and opinions which colour our interpretations of what we hear and see.  Perhaps due to our limitations, we regularly embrace an "either or" mentality, to stuff entire people into boxes where they are labelled generally under one banner:  Boomer, Millennial, feminist, vegan, Christian, gay, hipster, social-justice warrior, etc.  The reality is when we actually take the time to know, understand and walk in love towards each other the boundaries we erect to contain a person to our surprise are knocked down.

This is also true concerning the Bible and our understanding of it.  A great disservice is done to new believers to oversimplify terms in an attempt to be relevant or to show how simple things are.  Nothing about life is simple.  Take any hobby you have embraced and it will not take long before the depth to where it leads becomes overwhelming.  I used to enjoy 10-pin bowling for fun, and after I took it as a university course my eyes were opened to a whole new world of systems, equipment, oil patterns and ball-drilling placements I never imagined.  I grew to realise what passed as a winning score with friends at a birthday party was an embarrassment as a league average.  The concept of knocking over 10 pins grouped together by rolling a ball is very simple, but being able to do it over and over consistently with changing conditions over two lanes under pressure is not easy at all.

The Gospel is simple enough for a child to understand and receive it joyfully, but it is complex and challenging to walk in the light of it every day.  Christians are called to embrace theology, the study of the nature of God and doctrinal beliefs from scripture.  Oversimplifying words like "justification" or "sanctification" can strip them of meaning and significance to those who would greatly benefit from learning those definitions.  Careful observation of the Bible will provoke all kinds of questions which, if answered from the scripture, will be most fruitful to cause believers to grow to maturity.  Even for questions we can answer it is good to remember there remains more to explain and understand than what we currently know.  In our answering questions and considering the explanations of others we must remain vigilant to avoid the pitfall of oversimplification, to content ourselves with a sliver of truth and tout it as most important when there is more to know, believe and walk in.

A humble perspective and a teachable heart is vital to our spiritual growth and maturity.  Oversimplification of a text and interpretation is a dead end which leads to us cutting ourselves off from new avenues and applications to God's truth.  Limiting the meaning of a passage to only what we currently understand can strangle the life out of it.  The truth God reveals in His word does not shift and change, but our ability to recognise and connect it to our own lives and situations ought to expand.  Thus as we grow in wisdom and understanding instead of being proud of how much we know we will be humbled by how much we have yet to learn.

The Insight of Personal Application

During a conversation yesterday I received a good reminder I needed.  We need reminders because no matter how well we know something or are familiar with it, it can slip our mind--like the pin number to use a credit card.  When the contactless payment was permitted to reduce people touching the keypad, for months I did not have to enter my pin.  After this season finished, however, I entered a pin incorrectly because I had forgotten the correct order of the numbers.  I was able to use the card in the end but it caused a delay for myself, the cashier, and other customers to have to input the code again.  The implications of forgetting spiritual truth is far more costly than an extra 30 seconds to enter a code because the consequences can be far reaching, even for all eternity.

I was reminded of the importance to apply the things we read in the Bible (especially passages some call "stories") personally to our own lives.  We can be so caught up in the practical aspects of the historical events we can miss the spiritual and personal application.  Even simple, seemingly insignificant actions and statements can be most insightful.  Today I had such a moment after I finished washing my car.  For whatever reason, after I parked the car and went to close the garage door, I took a quick look back upon the now clean car.  I was reminded of Lot's wife who looked back to Sodom.  Whilst I know God commanded Lot and his family to leave Sodom and not look back, she did so and became a pillar of salt.

I asked myself:  why did I just look back?  I did not have a ready answer and needed to think it over.  I looked back because I like seeing a job done and there was satisfaction in seeing a dirty, dusty car become clean and shiny.  Lot's wife disobeyed God when she looked back on Sodom, and we are not expressly told from scripture why she did so.  The reality was she was looking back upon her city which was under God's judgment, and she was swiftly judged as well.  Lot's wife was never provided the opportunity to examine her heart and repent of sin, but praise the LORD we are.  There is nothing inherently sinful in looking back, but we should take the opportunity to examine our motives for looking back.  Was it pride in a job well done?  Was it a feeling of accomplishment, of superiority over others?  Was the sinful motivation to disobey God found in me in that fleeting look?

Moving beyond looking back to a city or a car, what about looking back to our past?  It is obvious there are aspects of our past which longing to return to or taking pride in would be sinful.  We have all looked back to past experiences in our lives for good or ill, and God has been gracious not to strike us down until now.  But it doesn't mean we should mistake His patient, gracious and longsuffering nature and assume looking back for us does not lead us to sin.  When we turn our eyes to Jesus, following Him in faith, we have a future which is far more glorious than the memories which fade.  To remember Lot's wife is to take heed of our own hearts, lest we disobey God by looking to the wrong things.  I do not know the heart of Lot's wife, but through personal application of scripture God provides insight and action for me to take today.