The "But" of Faith

            "The king commanded his chief eunuch to bring some of the people of Israel... and teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and the wine that he drank... But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank. " (from Daniel 1)

            It would appear that the king was in total control and that his purpose would stand. Without further information, we might have assumed that everyone would go along with it. "But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself." The word "but" marks a turning point in a line of thought - as if we've been traveling in one direction and, suddenly, we're interrupted - BUT.  It's at this point that we're asked to question our way of thinking and challenge our previous assumptions. Implicit in the word "but" is a contrast of values.  "The Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish."  Peter writes:  "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct." Peter was saying, "The world around you is driven by their passions, blinded by ignorance, and pressed into conformity to the pattern of this world," and he could had concluded, "so you should just give in to the pattern of the world." This isn't what he says though.  Instead, we read, "But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct." That is, "Live contrary to your generation; Go against the flow; Be marked, different, noticeably "other" than your culture!"    Notice though that God doesn't just call us to be "abstainers." The whole point is not simply to resist the ways of the world but to run hard after a holy God. Christians are so often known as prudish, conservative people who aren't supposed to experience any form of pleasure.  In reality though, we should be known as vibrant, extravagant lovers, actively pursuing righteousness and satisfying ourselves with that which is truly life!  Paul warned Timothy to "Flee youthful lust," yes, but he followed it with the exhortation to "Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness" (1 Timothy 6:11 ESV). According to James 4:7, how should we resist the devil?  "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you."  That's the key!  

            You see, Christ is not a conviction we adopt but a Savior who's calls us into a lifelong adventure with himself. Nor is Christianity some dismal destination (as many wrongly assume). No, Christianity is a Divine direction! The question is: Which direction are we going?

Teach us How to Pray

 "Lord, teach us how to pray." We have great need to ask this question in our day, not just to receive a mantra we can mindlessly repeat for the rest of our lives, but for every day, every situation.  God is always at work and if we're not in tune to what he's doing, we won't know how to pray. He may be executing judgment, but if we're oblivious to it, our prayers for blessing may very well fall on deaf ears. For example, God commanded Jeremiah, “Do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you."

Jeremiah had been seeking the welfare of his countrymen - something we all seek - but God had other plans, and Jeremiah came to understand these plans by listening. God continued:  “Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to arouse my anger.”  Notice:  God gave a command and then proceeded to explain it, to reason with Jeremiah, to include him in His plan. Jeremiah had been praying for what he wanted, but as he stopped talking and started listening, he came to understand what God wanted.  Likewise, prayer is the means by which we come to understand God’s perspective and pray for the things He wants.

Jesus told his disciples in John 14, "If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it."  This was not a blank check for the disciples to rush at God with their list of demands.  Nor was Jesus teaching them to name-drop - as if God is a genie in a lamp and Jesus' name has superstitious power to make God act. No, remember the context of this verse.  Just a short while later, in the very same conversation, he reminded his disciples, "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing... If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."  Aha, so what Jesus was teaching is that if we abide in him, we'll hear his voice and understand his heart, and because we know what God wants, we'll begin requesting the very things he already wants to accomplish. No wonder Jesus promised to do whatever his disciples asked!

Jeremiah came to understand God's purposes, but it was only through listening and letting God shape his prayers.  So let us have this very same sensitivity to God. Let us ask anew, "Lord, teach us how to pray."

True Obedience

            "The prophets received numerous visions and prophesies, all calling the people back to God, but the prophets' messages fell on deaf ears."  I read this recently in one of my textbooks and was reminded of how God wrestled constantly with his people in order to get them to obey.  But then I remembered that natural man can't obey God (Rom 8:7-8).  It's impossible.  Our hearts are desperately wicked and any righteousness of our own is like filthy rags in God's sight.  What's more, God has known this about man from the beginning... so why did he wrestle with his people for so long?  Was the whole point of the Old Testament merely to weave a compelling narrative, or were the incessant failures of men intended to set the stage for the Gospel, to pave the way for Christ?  In Genesis 6, God saw that "every intention of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually."  Pretty bleak, huh? God responded by flooding the earth, but after the flood, He promised Noah, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, because the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth."  Notice:  God's reason for flooding the earth became his reason for never again flooding the earth.  It's as if He was saying, "I could flood the earth 1,000 times and it wouldn't remove evil from the hearts of men."  Ezekiel refers to people having "hearts of stone," and Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2 that we were "dead in our sins." Apple trees produce apples and leopards produce spots.  Even so, men produce wickedness, and no amount of cajoling or arm-twisting can ever draw righteousness from evil hearts.  Why then, I ask, did God continually command his people to obey - when he knew they could not? 

            God didn't give the Law in order to inspire obedience but to illuminate disobedience.  He never intended the Law to serve as a means of self-congratulation (as it so often becomes) but as a catalyst for desperation, a teacher to help us realize our sinfulness and force us to cry out for help.  Jesus said, "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." His point was not to make it harder than the Pharisees.  His point was to make it  impossible! He was raising the bar so high that we'd stand there, dumbfounded, and ask, "Who then can please God?!"  That's precisely where the rescuing power of Christ enters the scene, producing in us the very thing we could never produce in ourselves:  Godly obedience.

            Perhaps this is why God wrestled for centuries with his people - to show us that no command, no threat, no promise can ever bring about true obedience.  Only a new heart, a heart filled with Christ and animated by the Spirit of God, can enable men to lead righteous lives.  We need Him!, not just in creed, not just at conversion, but for every day, for every moment, for everything!