Work Smarter

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"Unless the Eternal builds the house, those who labor to raise it will have worked for nothing. Unless the Eternal stands watch over the city, those who guard it have wasted their time. God provides for His own. It is pointless to get up early, work hard, and go to bed late Anxiously laboring for food to eat; for God provides for those He loves, even while they are sleeping." (Psalm 127:1-2, The Voice)

Many of us who have a long history of Christian life and church participation have heard a clear call to work as hard as we can for as long as we can to do as much as we can for Jesus. After all, He loved us and gave His all for us. How could we give Him any less?

Can I let you in on a secret? That message is more "Church-ian" than Christian. There is a message that I have heard, more often outside of a Christian context, that I think may be more consistent with the message of the Gospel: "Work smarter, not harder."

God doesn't give extra credit for fatigue. His desire is that we would listen to Him and allow Him to do what He wants to do in and through us.

Listen to the words of the apostle Paul: "Now I have found the freedom to truly live for God. I have been crucified with the Anointed One—I am no longer alive—but the Anointed is living in me; and whatever life I have left in this failing body I live by the faithfulness of God’s Son, the One who loves me and gave His body on the cross for me. I can’t dismiss God’s grace, and I won’t. If being right with God depends on how we measure up to the law, then the Anointed’s sacrifice on the cross was the most tragic waste in all of history!" (Galatians 2:19-20, The Voice)

God is not terribly interested in what we do for Him or how hard we work. He is abundantly interested in our complete surrender to His purpose of living out His glory through us. If we are willing to go, to do, and to say what He says, He will do the heavy lifting.

Seems pretty smart to me.

Question: How can you work smarter today?

Leave a comment below.  I'd love to hear your perspective.

Lessons from UnPleasantville

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"Yes, this anguish was good for me, for you have rescued me from death and forgiven all my sins." (Isaiah 38:17, New Living Translation)

Wait ... What? This anguish was good for me?

"It's good for you," is the phrase parents once used to get their kids to eat their vegetables, to do unpleasant chores, or to take disgusting tasting medicine.

I'm not sure it gets used as much anymore; we seem to have a goal of ensuring that life is as free of unpleasantness as possible. We make medicine taste like candy, hide vegetables under a layer of cheese, and hire someone to do the chores.

Please don't see those statements as criticism. I do not intend them to be. I'm simply making an observation that we don't often think of unpleasantness, difficulty, or "anguish" as being good for us to go through.

But how much do we really learn in the middle of pleasure (except how much we like it)? How much time do we spend looking to God when things are going smoothly? How often do we say, "God is good," or, "It was a God-thing," when we are in those times of trial?

My brother-in-law used to be a ski instructor. He told people, "If you're not falling, you're not learning." I think that's true in life. The greatest learning comes in times of challenge. When we can say to God, "Thank you. It was good for me to go through this. I have learned more about trusting you," we may really be growing.

Question: What have you learned in times of unpleasantness?

Leave a comment below.  I'd love to hear your story.

Live Like You Were Dyin'

Glad to be back with you after a week of vacation.

"About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the king this message: This is what the Lord says: 'Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness. ’” (Isaiah 38:1, New Living Translation)

Most of us would not like to get a message like that. Hezekiah received his message from a prophet of God. In our day, the message most often comes from a medical professional. That message could come to any of us. So how do we live in light of that?

Tim McGraw sang a few years back, "Live Like You Were Dyin'." The idea is to make sure you do the things on your bucket list, because you never know when that message might come, or if death will come without warning.

There is an ancient Christian practice called "Memento mori." The idea is that we should remember that we will die and that we should, therefore, live well here and now.

Maybe that's what the 17th century English hymn-writer, Isaac Watts had in mind when he wrote:

"Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove,

With all Thy quickening powers;

Kindle a flame of sacred love

In these cold hearts of ours

Look, how we grovel here below,

Fond of these earthly toys;

Our souls, how heavily they go,

To reach eternal joys"

A dear friend of ours entered eternity this morning. When Mrs Sweetie and I visited him just over a week ago, he said, "I have no regrets. I've had a good life. I'm ready to go to heaven. I don't know how anyone makes it through life without The Lord." He is now in the presence of the One he loved in this life.

Question: How can the concept of "memento mori" shape your life today?

Leave a comment below.  I'd love to hear your perspective.

Time off to unplug and recharge

Friends, I am going to take the next week off to unplug, recharge, and spend some focused time with Mrs Sweetie. I'll be back with you on Monday, May 26. 

Truth Is.

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Your words all add up to the sum total: Truth. Your righteous decisions are eternal." (Psalm 119:160, The Message)

Maybe you don't believe that. That's ok. It's not my job to tell you what you should believe.

Maybe you can believe SOME of what the Bible says, but other parts ... Not so much. You get to do that.

Here's the problem: How do you know which parts to believe? If it's not all true, how do you know any of it is true?

Truth is not determined by what we believe. Truth is not in the eye of the beholder. Truth is not changed by public opinion.

Truth is.

When Jesus said, "I am the way, and the TRUTH [emphasis mine], and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me, " (John 14:6) He was stating an objective reality, not a matter of preference.

Question: How will you respond to the truth today?

Leave a comment below.  I'd love to hear your perspective.

It's not that complicated.

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"The teaching of your word gives light, so even the simple can understand." (Psalm 119:130, NLT)

It's just too complicated!

Isn't that the way some people feel about the Bible? Isn't that the way some people feel about the church? Too many rules. Too little grace.

Then there are others that feel that there is too little depth, too little activism, too little teaching, too little holiness.

It would be untrue for me to say that everything in the Bible (or in church) is easy to understand. It would be just as untrue to make the leap in logic to say that, since there are parts of the Bible that are difficult to understand, therefore the Bible is too complicated to understand for regular people.

There is a famous quote attributed to Mark Twain: "It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand."

Maybe that's the problem. According to this verse, the Bible gives "light" (revealed truth) even to the simple (the uneducated or uninformed). So, we don't get a pass on the simple truths because some of them are harder. The truth of the matter is that we sometimes are resistant to simple truth, not because we do not understand it, but because we do not like it.

Question: How might our lives be different if we started simply focusing on obeying God and following Jesus in the simple truths of the Bible?

Leave a comment below.  I'd love to hear your perspective.

Looking out for Number One

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"Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet- talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand." (Philippians 2:3-4, The Message)

"Look out for Number One," is the consistent message of our culture. What does that look like? I'm glad you asked!

"I have to do what is best for me and my family," says the athlete turning down one multi-million dollar contract in favor of another one.

Leaders take a promotion based on the results of something that was the work of a whole team?

It is easier to write a check to our favorite charity than to invest the time necessary to engage with those in need.

We choose a church home based on the programs they have to offer that will benefit our lives.

I want to make a statement that seems crazy, but it is absolutely true: There is nothing wrong with looking out for Number One! In fact, I think the Bible teaches that we should.

Here's the twist: our problem is not LOOKING OUT FOR Number One; it is IDENTIFYING Number One.

According to this passage from Philippians, sometimes Number One is the person who is most in need at the time. Sometimes Number One is the person who needs a hand up (not a handout). Sometimes God wants to use us to give another Number One an opportunity to be empowered and equipped.

But in a larger sense, the Number One we should always be looking out for is the Number One of the universe. By "looking out" I mean, watching and paying attention to see where He is at work and what opportunities He will bring us to join Him in that work.

Question: What Number One are you looking out for today?