Scripture: Psalm 34:15-22 How many of us have scars? I have a few. The great thing about scars are the stories that are attached to them. These are stories of triumph, bravery, humor, and stupidity but I love to hear the stories about the scars. I do not have any triumphant scars but I have a few that would be attached to the stupidity or humor realm. I have one large scar on my fore head that came from a fall. The fall happened because as a child I observed my dog eating rocks so I thought I needed to too. Of course rocks are no good to eat and in the process of getting sick I tripped and knocked my head against a foot scrapper on our porch. Blood was everywhere and I thought I was going to die, of course I a bit dramatic. These scars tell a story about our lives. Sometimes they bring us pride while sometimes the tales are attached to painful memories. God know the stories of your scars. The psalmist says that God hears the cries of the rightious and his face is aganst the evil doers. This means that God is there which us as we gain the scars that tell the story of our lives. I know that many of these scars are very painful, some of the unseen scars are deep and still hurt years after they were first gained. To say that God was with us when we got the scars does not give us much comfort. In fact it can cause us to look to God as a participant of the evil. But that is not the case. God allows us to live freely, He does not often put Himself in the way of human choices. He allows millions of people to choose to smoke even though the are causing their death. He allows an abuser to abuse even though the pain inflicted on another is great. He allowed millions of people to die in horrific ways through out history. Why? I sit and wonder. I say it would be better if God would save us from all trouble. But then what would we be without our scars. The scar of the cancer survivor gives hope to the person that just received a diagnosis. The scar of the soldier gives pride to the nations. The scar of the child allows us to laugh with them as we remember the first bike ride. The pain often times give us strength. The scars often give greater hope. Yet God remembers. I love the tv show Bones. I love it because it shows that even when all else is gone and the only thing that remains is the foundation of our base structure, they can still find the truth. The bones still tell the story that our scars left behind. God keeps our bone He protects our inner most being. He will not allow us to be totally boken. He knows our story deeply because He is with us all the time. I do not know if that gives anyone comfort but it does me. He knows the pressure my job is causing my body and how that affects my spine, feet, and legs. He knows because He walks with me, and He is trying to lead me in a way that will bring hope to others that have burdens on their shoulders. Cry out to God, seek Him in the times of trouble. It is like putting on the armor of God. When we seek Him we receive the strength to endure. It may not take us out of the situation, but we can have the hope that He will keep the evil doers from breaking our bones. Because the bones remain, our story remains, our place in history and how we live remains and can give hope to others even centuries beyond our lifespan. I want my bones to tell the story of love and grace!
Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20 If you want something in life to obtain it you actually have to do something. If you want to be a medical doctor you go to the university studying premed, then you apply to various medical schools. After that you spend several years training and gaining knowledge in the field of medicine. You saturate your life in medicine; eating, drinking, and living a life where you are surounded by the medical disipline. Medicine is not the only career that you do this with. How many of us take our cars to a mechanic that spends no time with cars? Or how many of us hope for protection from police officers that have given little time to learn the skill of law enforcement? Do we hire IT specialists that spend all their time in at the printing press? Our lives and our careers are dictated by what we invest our time and energy into. We invest our energy into the areas we are passionate about, we saturate our lives in these areas, and if we are wise our careers are in these areas. We d not assume that our future in a career will magically bestow itself upon us without any personal investment. What about our spiritual lives? How many of us assume that we will get close to God by spending one hour each week worshiping on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday? And to top it off spending that hour just sitting in a chair or pew while others perform in front of you? Do we really expect that this will foster growth spiritually and/or protect us from evil influences? Throughout my life I have read these verses as just putting on protective gear, but today I realize that the heart of it is the “putting on” part. Our spiritual lives are to be active, we must put and participate in our spiritual growth. Just as a doctor must participate in the growth of medical knowledge. There are different aspects of spiritual disipline that affect different aspects of our spiritual life. Shoe, breastplates, halmets, and belts all have different purposes. It is like physical fitness, we do pushups to strengthen certain muscles, sit ups for other muscles. No one would honestly expect sit ups to stregthen their legs, but their abs. (I speak of this as if I know anything of personal training while I contemplate eating at McDonalds before or after watching a movie.) But the point is that to physically stregthen the body we must actively engage our bodies, training each muscle group in their own way to get the desired results. How well do we do engaging rightousness, truth, salvation, peace, and the Word? Do we put them on actively or expect them to magically appear? How do we actively participate in our spiritual growth while still engaging in the passions of our careers? It is possible. Just today I watched a program exploring the human genome and the ability of the human body to ward off HIV. It was facinating and as I engaged my mind in scientific exploration I also praised God in the quest of truth. Put on the armor, clothe yourself in the spiritual. Actively participate in you journey to and with God, and enjoy the results.
Scripture: Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18
I have seen this passage or portions of this passage in many homes that I have visited. Many of the people that have this posted over their families truely do all they can to follow what the passage speaks, while other I wonder…
But who am I to judge I do not have this hanging anywherein my house, but that really is not saying a whole lot since from my experience as soon as I start hanging things we end up moving shortly after. But I do not own a picture saying this, to even consider hanging. It is not that I do not believe it or anything I just cannot choose which of the countless options I like best.
Today I really thought about what the context of this passage was saying. Joshua gathered all the elders and gave them a history lesson basically. Then he says I’m not going to live like those people that lead before, the ones that over the course of time lead us to where we are, but I’m going to live devoted to God. (That’s what I see anyway in my personal paraphrase). He is telling them I am going to do something different. I am going to live my life, and I am going to treat others according to my beliefs in God.
Do we really live like this, whe we put that picture quoting this passage over our doorways? Do we really live fully devoted to God in our words and actions? Do we treat our family, government, neighbors, and community like we would I God werestanding right next to us? Do we use the resources He has allowed us to use for God honoring endeavors or are we using them for the cults of wealth and greed? These are tough questions that I had to ask myself as I prayed with this passage today. To take it even further, since I am a pastor or someone who is looked to to be a spiritual guide among a community am I leading in a way that reflects the heart of this passage? Am I allowing my personal politics, dreams, goals crowd out or hinder others who are trying to live this life?
We each have to live life, how will we do it? Will we live following the courses others put us in or will we embrace something different? I encourage everyone to really look at your lives who are you following and what drives your decisions? Where is God in that and Who is that god? After you answer this question I encurage you to live all out in your expression of faith and devotion.