God and Priorities

It is important for believers to establish and maintain godly priorities through every season of life.  Whether it is the weekday, the weekend or we are on holiday, God always ought to have first priority in our lives.  This does not mean, however, that our actions must be reserved for only spiritual disciplines.  Doing our regular chores, work and even recreation can be undertaken in thanksgiving to God and having attitudes that please Him.  In fulfilling our roles in a family, society and at work, we can do all things as unto the LORD who sanctifies us with joy and thanksgiving.

It is encouraging to know that while God does not need us, He chooses to call us and use us as His servants as spouses, parents, neighbours and friends.  The calling to be God's ministers in our own families ought not to neglected because we are a minister of a church.  I like what Sanders wrote in his book Spiritual Leadership:  "If a man has not succeeded in exercising a benevolent and happy discipline in his own family, is there reason to expect that he will do better with the family of God?...The clear implication is that, while caring for the interests of the church or other spiritual activity, the leader will not neglect the economy of God, the discharge of one God-given duty or responsibility will never involve the neglect of another.  There is time for the full discharge of every legitimate duty." (Sanders, J. Oswald. Spiritual Leadership. Marshall Pickering, 1986. page 35)

Two observations I make from the quote of Sanders is the joyful manner in the discharge of familial duty, one where benevolence and happiness adorns our lives rather than fear or harshness.  Strict discipline does not rule out a fun and happy household when God's love is present.  There is a time for severity and gravity, but it ought to be the exception rather than the rule.  The second point is, God has given everyone time for the "full discharge of every legitimate duty."  If we find ourselves without time to do what must be done, then it suggests not everything that fills our time is legitimately from God.  We can be quite skilled at loading ourselves with duties and tasks based on the expectations or demands of others--or our own ambitious pursuits and desires--and begin to neglect what is most important.  Work or ministry demands can begin to encroach dangerously upon our calling as a spouse or parent, and by God's wisdom we can learn how to navigate this in a godly and healthy manner.

Often failure must be experienced before we learn to succeed.  The one who find success easily does not learn what the one who struggles and persists can.  The economy of God is wonderful because He can use years of experience leading sheep in a wilderness to leading a nation.  Jesus chose men disciplined by manual labour and business to be part of church leadership.  Jesus touched and healed people who suffered illnesses, conditions and demon possession for years, and the vivid change Jesus brought to their lives was not only observed by others but felt by each individual.  God has given us all a unique personality and perspective, and He helps us learn how to prioritise our lives to acknowledge His rule, to seek Him, and to walk in His truth day by day.  When loving God and others becomes our priority, our lives are brought into a healthy balance.  Our duty never need crowd out the fun and joy it is to know God and to be known by Him.

Free Indeed!

"Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. ³² And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

John 8:31-32

By faith in Jesus Christ, people are born again and freed from sin and death.  Unlike what some imagine, following Jesus does not fetter us with restrictions or prohibitions, for we are set free to love God and love others with the divine empowerment of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus said His true disciples would abide in His word, receiving and heeding it.  In knowing Jesus we know the truth, and Jesus sets us free from sin, the flesh, legalism and traditions of men.  Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for worshipping God in vain by teaching traditions of men as commands of God (Matt. 15:9), and they also rejected the commands of God to keep their traditions (Mark 7:9).

It is important to understand traditions are not a bad thing in themselves; traditions are not sin.  Traditions can be good because they are being followed for a sound biblical reason.  They can also become a snare when they are placed on the level of God's word, or we judge others for having a particular tradition or not observing what we see as proper and useful.  It is likely we religiously keep many traditions we have not recognised as such, and over time we adopt a view of them being the right way.  The most untraditional church by their regular practices begin to establish traditions of how things are commonly done, and it is important we continue to make God's word the standard by which we live.

The way we receive communion, how we conduct a baptism, and the format of our worship or teaching are patterns that form traditions we become accustomed to.  It is good when we restrain ourselves from negative judgments of others who are different in their service times, methods or style of conducting gatherings.  It is also good when we can differentiate between what are key, foundational doctrines and not allow our own traditions or preferences to be cobbled together with them.  Having believed Jesus, we are to heed His word, walk in freedom from sin ourselves, and extend grace to others to walk in the freedom as they are led by the Holy Spirit.  We are all in need of continual refinement, and praise the LORD He is patient with us as we learn to do the will of God consistently.

God frees us from bondage to sin, and Jesus frees us to make obedience to Him and being led by the Holy Spirit our traditional way of life.

No Longer Slaves of Sin

At a family gathering as a kid, I witnessed an interaction between one of my uncles and his grandson.  When my uncle noticed the boy playing with his pack of cigarettes, it prompted a fairly harsh response that left the little one scurrying away crying.  I was surprised by my uncle's violent outburst, and he justified it without apology as being for the best, as the incident would serve to deter the little boy from smoking in the future.  I was not convinced his assessment was accurate even at the time, and upon reflection I am certain it was untrue.  The boy was interested and drawn to the colourful packet and lighter his grandpa always had at his side, and when his uncle sparked up another cigarette it rekindled the curiosity of the lad.

My uncle's thinly veiled hypocrisy was clear to me, that he was adamant smoking was bad for his grandson when he continued to smoke himself.  I assume his motive to protect his grandson from the fangs of addiction was genuine, but at the same time he resigned himself to a slavish relationship with smoking.  Perhaps he had tried in vain to quit smoking.  I don't know.  What I do know from observing my uncle and his grandson is there can be things people see as bad for others which they continue to do themselves.  Based on my uncle's statement, his outburst was not because the boy was not of legal smoking age, but because he thought it was a bad habit his grandson would do well to avoid altogether.

My point in sharing this story is not to decry the evils of addiction or smoking, but it is to sound the alarm over hypocrisy that can be coddled in the hearts of every one of God's people.  Having been born again by faith in Jesus, we have passed from death to life.  Paul wrote in Romans 6:1-4, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? ² Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? ³ Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴ Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."  Our lives should be a testimony of new life through Jesus by freedom from sin.  As God reveals our addictions to sinful ways of thinking, talking and doing, we are to repent and put on the LORD Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh.

It is tragic when Christians have been so mentally and physically beaten by a sin they are like my uncle, resigned to addiction as if there was no point trying to quit.  This is where the problem often lies:  we have failed to walk in the victory granted by Jesus because we have tried in strength of our flesh to overcome what Jesus already has.  Content with salvation, people can give up the fight against besetting sins because God will forgive them anyway.  Conviction over their behaviour as sin has been muted because it has been justified so long.  They can see their sin as being bad for others, yet they accept the sin as a regular part of life and have settled for trying to make peace with it by indulging it.  Brothers and sisters, this ought not to be.  We are not to allow sin to rule in our bodies any longer, for we have been made alive to God.  Paul said in Romans 6:18-19:  "And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. ¹⁹ I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness."  This is a choice we can make by God's grace.

It can be easier to recognise sin in others we remain blind to in ourselves.  My uncle's irritation in seeing his grandson play with his cigarettes could have been an impetus to examining his own conduct and the example he set for the boy every time he lit a cigarette.  The same reasons he did not want his grandson to start smoking in the future were solid reasons for him to quit right then.  There are aids that exist to help people break the habit of smoking, and there are steps believers can take to avoid sinning and doing what is right instead.  When it comes to sin our aim ought to be to quit "cold turkey" because we are dead to it and it is not our master any more.  We are called to present ourselves as slaves of righteousness and living sacrifices to Jesus, and how blessed we are the Holy Spirit and our fellow Christians help us on our journey of sanctification.

Settling Short of Abundant Life

During the 40 years of being led through the wilderness, the tribes of Ruben and Gad approached Moses with a request.  They had large herds of cattle, and they saw the land on the east side of the Jordan (Jazer and Gilead) was prime land for cattle.  So they asked Moses if they could have permission to settle on the east side of the Jordan as their inheritance--even though God promised to give them land on the west side with everyone else.

Moses was disturbed by their request, as it seemed they were following in their father's footsteps of rebellion against the LORD!  They assured Moses this was not the case, for they would gladly take up arms when the time came and fight with their brethren so they too could receive their promised inheritance of land in Canaan.  Once the people of Ruben and Gad pledged to help everyone else, their request to settle on the east side of the Jordan as their inheritance was granted.  In this allowance I see the grace of God, for He is willing to be entreated by His subjects and heeds the requests of His people.

Since all the Scriptures have been provided for our learning, the decision of the tribes of Ruben and Gad to settle on the east side of the Jordan is relevant to our lives as Christians.  Canaan is not a type of heaven or symbolic of eternal life, for Canaan was full of enemies, conflicts and troubles.  Like the children of Israel, when God brings us out from slavery and saves us by His grace, He has an inheritance presently for every one of us to enter into by His grace.  By faith in Jesus we are born again, are filled with the Holy Spirit, and given spiritual gifts and fruitfulness.  As Canaan was a "land flowing with milk and honey," Christ gives us an inheritance of abundant life as part of the church, members of His body.  There was much land to be possessed by the children of Israel bit by bit, and as we continue living on earth we learn to submit more of our lives to Jesus.

This passage teaches us God will permit His own people to settle outside of His will for them.  He had plans for the nation of Israel to all settle together on the west side of the Jordan, yet the children of Ruben and Gad did not believe they could find better land for cattle than what they saw in Jazer and Gilead.  They took stock of their herds and their careers as herdsmen, and thus preferred to choose their own inheritance they felt suited them best.  These were not unbelievers or apostates; they were saved from the iron furnace of Egypt like everyone else.  At the same time they made up their minds where their future was brightest, and they believed it was on the east side of the Jordan.  Whilst God gave them permission to settle short of Canaan, it would have been best to enter in by faith in God who had provided and would continue to provide for all their needs.

In applying this to our lives, it is helpful to see our lives as a composite of all the tribes.  Because you have received or operate in a spiritual gift does not mean there is not an area of your life where you may be content to settle outside of God's will and plans.  We can take stock of our lives in regards to a career or ministry and settle where it seems an ideal location, but it may not take into account God's designs for our future.  Jesus chose fishermen, a chief tax collector and zealot to be among His disciples!  In following God by faith, He may lead us in a totally unexpected direction like Amos in Amos 7:14-15:  "Then Amos answered, and said to Amaziah: "I was no prophet, nor was I a son of a prophet, but I was a sheepbreeder and a tender of sycamore fruit. ¹⁵ Then the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said to me, 'Go, prophesy to My people Israel.'"

God can call a sheepbreeder to be a prophet, and He called Saul of Tarsus to be an apostle to the Gentiles.  He took David from the sheepfold and made him king over the nation of Israel, and who but God knows the inheritance and calling He has for the remainder of your life on earth!  The question remains:  will you settle for what looks good to you now or will you follow God's leading into what is unknown and unfamiliar?  Will you submit and continue to submit to the LORD--not just for a season to help other people enter their inheritance--but to keep climbing mountains like Caleb late in life, who believed God's promises, slew giants, destroyed strongholds, and generously gave to his children of what God had given him?  The life you choose for yourself cannot be as wonderful as the abundant life God has in store for you.