This morning I’m in Tennessee. Manchester, Tennessee, to be exact. I’m having complimentary breakfast at a motel. There are 532 people in town this morning for “Warrior Dash.” Here in the dining room, the run/obstacle course is the common topic of most that are sitting at the tables. The conversations extend between tables, between people who don’t know one another. They are all here for one thing: to challenge themselves in the ultimate marathon.
One man, sitting near me, says he ran the course in Georgia last winter. He said it nearly killed him. He’s a runner, but he didn’t train for fifteen foot walls, pools of deep, ice-cold water, and mud holes that had to be negotiated to complete the run. He said he’d get cold, then run and get warm, only to dive in icy water or crawl through cold mud under wire. It takes a warrior to complete this run. One thing stands out to me in hearing the conversations. Old, young, they all seem to be comrades in a common goal. Yes, there are “winners.” Yet they talk of how they work together to just complete the course. They talk as if they will all be winners just to complete the run. Wow!
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
1Corinthians 9:24-27
No, I’m not making the run this year. Perhaps, Lord willing, my knees will one day be in shape enough to try one. It’s my son, and a friend, who will run this event today. They are on the wrestling team in their high school. Their coaches inspired them to try this out. They looked at videos of past events and thought it would be “fun.” That’s what my son said after crashing his tricycle when he was three years ole. I didn’t remind him that through his tears, he’d said, “I thought it was going to be fun!”
Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .
English: HOLLISTER, Calif. (Oct. 28, 2011) Petty Officer 1st Class Darryl Hill crawls through the mud pit, the final obstacle at the Warrior Dash in Hollister, Calif. (U.S. Navy photo/Released) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Tired I am. It’s been a long couple weeks. After beginning a remodel job, things got hectic.
It’s slower this week, though. In my head I had somethings to say about America’s Labor Day, which was last Monday. I didn’t take the time to sit down and put it onto this electronic paper. So, Labor Day is over and done with and I’ve missed an opportunity to make some timely comments.
Oh, well. , ,
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
Psalm 46:10
Even during these hectic times, it is nice to sit for some moments, being very still. It’s not Eastern meditation. It’s not yoga or any mystical exercise. It’s simply being still. Prayer. Sure, thats good and often either proceeds or follow moments of stillness. It’s letting go of every thing and really knowing that the Lord IS G-d.
Sculpture “Jonas in de Walvis” (Jonah in the whale) made by Paul Kingma. Placed at a school at the Ridderlaan in Utrecht in 1968. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If you grew up going to church, most likely you had some children’s classes. You probably heard about Moses parting the Red Sea, Daniel in the Lion’s Den, Samson and Delilah, and Jonah and the Whale. There are probably different versions of the children’s stories, but I tend to think mostly we all got something pretty similar. When it came to Jonah, it probably included something like this: “So instead of listening to God, Jonah thought he would run away from Nineveh and not do what God asked him. He ran to the sea where he found a ship that was going to another city. He paid the captain, went in the lower part of the boat and went to sleep.” Directly from scripture (Jonah 1:3) we see:
But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
Run Away Jonah. We learned about Jonah running away. We grew up, and we still think of Jonah as someone who ran away. It’s not a good label to put on a person, either. Perhaps better than Judas, but not by much. On his blog “Messy Grace,” Steve Austin, on Tuesday, asked for comments to help him teach a youth group on Wednesday that “Labels Lie.” While I missed the opportunity to comment, it really fits into the Bible book I’ve been reading lately—Jonah—and how I was once called a Jonah by a friend.
My friend decided I was running from my engagement to a mutual friend. He said the marriage was G-d’s will, and I was running away from it. He didn’t accuse me of fearing commitment, which he certainly would have been correct about. And, yes, I ran away from the marriage. Not just from cowardice in the face of commitment, either.
The thing is I really loved the woman. She is an incredible Christian, servant, woman. I’ve followed some of her life since seeing her the last time many years ago: She married a man she served with in WYAM, and later served with him; Along with her husband made mission and medical mission trips overseas; And more trips with her husband and their two boys as they raised them. I’ve prayed for her and her family, too. Occasionally I’ve felt such an incredible burden to pray that it made me hurt for her, and I never learned why. And it doesn’t matter.
Being told I was running from G-d’s will hurt. I couldn’t marry the woman. And I didn’t even know why, at the time. Maybe fear of commitment. Maybe a lot to do with fearing being trapped. Same thing I suppose. But I couldn’t say that to her, or to our friends, for some reason. So I broke up and ran away. And I felt guilty for years. And I’ve played the mind games of “What if. . .” too.
Anyway, is the book of Jonah solely about a man who runs away? Is that the main principle to be learned and taught from the story. Sure Jonah fled to the sea. And, yes, when the storm hit, and the Captain woke him to join the crew in praying, he admitted that the problem might be all his fault, and explained why. (Jonah 1:9,10)
And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.
Aboard a Ship with Jonah. There’s another connotation for the label “Jonah.” It has to do with bringing bad “luck” to those around him. I don’t recall the preacher or the sermon/talk, but I do remember the over-used slogan hammering away at the audience. “Don’t get on a ship with a Jonah.” Bad things happen around people labeled a Jonah. No, sorry to disappoint, but there’s no story about me being considered bad “luck”; I’ve got Midas touch, as one person put it once. In reality, I’ve got G-d’s touch upon me. So do you, if you’ve been redeemed, having turned from sin to the newness of Life, know Y’shuaJesus as Lord, Savior, Son of G-d. Anyway, I don’t really thing that the book of Jonah is really about bad things happening to people around a man who flees from G-d.
Jonah the bad man. There’s a more recent addition to the story of Jonah and the Whale. At least I don’t recall this sort of thing: “The only problem was that Jonah didn’t want to help the people there. He knew they were bad and he wanted them to be punished for their mistakes.” Okay, so it’s true, Jonah, like all Israel, was very familiar with the evil that was the people of Nineveh. And, hey, sure, Jonah knew all to well the threat those heathen Gentile posed to Israel. So Jonah and all of Israel would have been just fine to let Nineveh go up in smoke like Sodom. Did Jonah not want to help the people of Nineveh? No, I’m sure Jonah wasn’t too interested in taking a message to Nineveh that, if acted upon, would ensure G-d’s forgiveness of some bad dudes. But is it fair to characterize Jonah as a person who didn’t care about people. I know, that isn’t what the quote from the child’s story says. But I think, since it appears up in the front of the story, that is what is conveyed to kids, if this story is used.
The Real Point of Jonah. It bothers me that G-d’s spokesperson is characterized as one who doesn’t care about people, runs away from responsibility, and is bad to be around. Here’s my take on Jonah. He cared about his people enough to disobey G-d. That caring drove him to leave, to sail away. And here’s the really cool thing: the people on the boat didn’t worship the G-d of Israel, but that all changed. They met Jonah, and they responded to G-d. (Jonah 1:14-16)
Wherefore they cried unto the LORD, and said, We beseech thee, O LORD, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O LORD, hast done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows.
G-d knew Jonah. G-d would have predicted Jonah’s moves. And I’m sure G-d had a plan. Jonah needed some time to come to terms with some key issues. Jonah needed come to an understanding of what he’d done in disobeying G-d, that he’d put his people and the fear of what his people would think before serving G-d’s needs. Jonah also needed to let go of his way of viewing Gentiles as some how outside the mercy of G-d, and to see the way G-d sees all His people—even those who are not the Chosen. Jonah needed a little of what my son calls “swag.” He got that in his breathtaking ride beneath the waves, when he got spewed out onto the beach.
Think about it. Out of a small, despised, people, comes an unheard of man with a message to a powerful, albeit evil, nation, “Repent or Die.” Right. Yawn. But even today, CNN would be right there on the beach when it’s reported that a man is stuck in the mouth of a great fish. Then the camera’s are rolling and Jonah pops out. What an entrance. Now people will listen. Jonah got his fifteen minutes of fame.
Okay. The big message of the book of Jonah is that G-d calls, man rejects, learns from G-d that rejection isn’t an option, and comes out smelling like dead fish and seaweed—er, I mean roses. It’s also about G-d’s concern for Gentiles, to whom He extends mercy. And it’s also about G-d having the right to decide that evil, done even by a people that doesn’t acknowledge Him, needs to be quenched, purged.
And me, what about my accusation of being a Jonah? It seems to me we were not meant to be married. I wasn’t in finished enough shape to be with someone so fantastic. She’d served the Lord for many years. I’d run from Him for as many. She had a calling upon her life, from the age of five, that she’d willingly accepted. I didn’t deserve to have a wife such as she. I needed time in the belly of hell before I could be ready for someone like her. I needed to let her go. That knowledge drove me away. I didn’t run away, but ran toward. Toward the belly of a whale.
All I need is to get some Jonah swag! For that, I’m waiting.
O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.
Let’s back up a bit. It’s only been recently that I began to read the Bible in the “Authorized Version.” You know, the King James Version. I’ve used several versions, including Holman, NIV, NASB, and English Standard Version. When I looked at the introduction of Psalm 7 the word “Shiggaion” that is used in the “Authorized Version” is translated from the Hebrew word sheminith, as meditation in the New King James Version. Without getting into the merits or lack of merit for any particular version, I want to say something about the word meditation.
First of all, there are several things that David was not doing. First, he was not repeating endlessly a single word or sound. Second, David wasn’t repeating a phrase or series of words, over and over and over. Third, he was absolutely not clearing his mind in order to get in touch with the greater mind of the universe. David didn’t open his mind, clearing it of all thought, so that he could get in touch with some sort of spirit guide (read “demon”). David wasn’t practicing Eastern or New Age mysticism. What he was doing is fighting a spiritual and physical battle; he was waging war by thinking through all that had occurred to him as he spoke to G-d. He was talking things over with G-d.
Another point here. David’s first cry is O L-RD, my G-d. We see this word as L-RD in all capital letters. We occasionally see it written as Yahweh, or Jehovah. I care not for either of those latter two. It is the name G-d spoke to Moshe, Moses, during his commission. Another way to represent the name of G-d is The Name, or H’Shem in Hebrew. My point here is that David spoke in a personal relationship with his Lord. It could be said that David spoke to Y’shuaJesus. The L-RD is G-d, The L-RD is One. One G-d, three persons. H’Shem. Our Creator. Our Lord. Our Savior. David cries out “O L-RD, my G-d, in You do I take refuge.” Also, let me say at this point that a more literal translation of “my G-d,” as David cried out, would be “G-d to me.” Semantics? Perhaps. But I think there is a little difference. David, as in the Hebrew grammatical structure, isn’t saying he possesses G-d. He reaches out to a G-d that he knows, who is a G-d to him. Okay, maybe it’s only semantics, but I find it a way to think about my own relationship with Y’shua. His banner over me. His way in my life. I am his. His way is mine.
Thank You, Lord Y’shuaJesus. You make me whole. I rejoice in You. Amen.
Exodus 1:8-20
Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour. And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive? And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
What we saw, I believe, with Mordecai was a passive disobedience: Mordecai didn’t reverence Haman as required. Remember Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who protested the school policy for all students to study Islam? Prior to any disobedience, he protested to the school. His protest was based upon current Iranian law that permits choice in religious practice. He hadn’t been given a chance to disobey, but was arrested and eventually sentenced to death. Pastor Youcef was given the chance to recant, however, which would mean denying our Lord and Messiah Y’shuaJesus. He choose not to do so.
Now in Exodus we see the midwives serving the Jewish people. The Pharaoh’s command to the midwives was to kill all male newborns, which they did not do. The midwives went a step further from passive inaction, and lied to the Pharaoh.
In each of these cases, Mordecai, Pastor Youcef, and the midwives, we see that they did not connive with those who know not our G-d. They bravely made choices. They decided not to go along with the worldly program guided by “dark” spiritual powers, and principalities, that are against our G-d. I don’t know whether or not there were those who counseled them to not take the action, but it remains that action, even if passive, was taken. But had there been un-G-dly counsel, it was ignored. Had there been counselors that weren’t listened to, they’d have had cause to say, “I told you so!” when trouble came.
Now, take a look at that cadet. He listened to a counselor, and went along with the “worship” of a homecoming football. That was a first step to walking in the way of the sinners, as the psalmist cautioned about. But who of us has not at some time or other went along with something we didn’t fully support? I’ve heard it said that it is better to not “buck the system.” It takes strength to walk in righteousness. It takes a well-maintained relationship with Y’shuaJesus. How many times, how many hours, did Y’shua go off into the night to pray to our Father in Heaven? Countless times, I’m sure. In the Garden of Gethsemane, we see a glimpse of the prayer to which Lord Y’shua was accustom. Agonizing prayer. Tearful prayer. Intense prayer.
May we experience such incredible times in prayer ourselves. It’s good practice, in good times, preparing for times that are not so good.
Psalm 26
A Psalm of David. Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide. Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth. I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked. I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD: That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth. Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men: In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes. But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me. My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the LORD.
C.S. Lewis, in his “Reflections on the Psalms,” writes of connivance pointing to Psalm 26:4 , “the good man is not only free from ‘vanity’ (falsehood) but has not even ‘dwelled with,’ been on intimate terms with, those who are ‘vain.’ ”
One of the things I enjoy about Mr. Lewis’s writings on connivance is that he often states, “. . .I do not know the answer.” He explores the life we are to live based upon the the Word of G-d through the Bible. In one place he writes, “How ought we to behave in the presence of very bad people?” Mr. Lewis then writes about how “Christ [spoke] to the Samaritan woman at the well, [how] Christ [dealt] with the woman taken in adultery, [how] Christ dined with publicans, [this] is our example.” Yet Mr. Lewis also writes, “But I am inclined to think a Christian would be wise to avoid, where he decently can, any meeting with people who are bullies, lascivious, cruel, dishonest, spiteful and so forth. Not because we are ‘too good’ for them. In a sense because we are not good enough. We are not good enough to cope with all the temptations, nor clever enough to cope with all the problems, which an evening spent in such society produces. The temptation is to condone, to connive at: by our words, looks and laughter, to ‘consent.’ ”
When we are around those who do not conduct their lives in accordance with Biblical principles, do not look to the Lord our G-d as their Lord, their Savior, we may inadvertently condone their practices. Thus, as Mr. Lewis states, “By implication we are denying our Master; behaving as if we ‘no not the Man.’ ”
We cannot avoid all contact with non-believers, though. But we don’t need to join in, giving the appearance of approval. Neither, as Mr. Lewis points out, do we continually need to be contentious and interrupt with ‘I don’t agree.’ Silence is our refuge, Mr. Lewis states. But at some point, as I’ve mentioned in a previous post, there is a time to disagree, to point out the truth. Mr. Lewis puts it this way: “There comes of course a degree of evil against which a protest will have to be made, however little chance it has of success. There are cheery agreements in cynicism or brutality which one must contract out of unambiguously. If it can’t be done without seeming priggish, then priggish we must seem.”
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
The military academy cadet. His counselor told him it was only a game, he could bow to the homecoming football, it was okay. He dried his tears and the next time the ball, carried on a silk pillow, came down the hallway, he joined the other freshmen and bowed low. Trivial example as it is, and with no real intent to actually worship the football, I suppose it didn’t hurt to go along. Or was there? What’s the difference between bowing to the homecoming football and kissing a rabbit’s foot for good luck? And what of the counselor that spoke to the cadet? Was he a wise counselor? What if a counselor had spoken to Mordecai in the same manner? Is paying homage to the king’s representative, Haman in the Book of Esther, just a game and not serious worship?
What about “Sieg Heil,” the German salute during the Nazi years prior to, and during, WWII? Read what Wikipedea says about this salute:
“Sieg Heil was a ritualistic chant used at mass rallies, where enthusiastic crowds answered Heil to the call of Sieg (“victory”). For example, at the 1934 Nuremberg Rally, Rudolf Hess ends his climactic speech with, “The Party is Hitler. But Hitler is Germany, just as Germany is Hitler. Hitler! Sieg Heil!” At his total war speech delivered in 1943, audiences shouted Sieg Heil as Joseph Goebbels solicited from them “a kind of plebiscitary ‘Ja’ to self destruction in a war which Germany could by now neither win nor end through negotiated peace”. In correspondence with high-ranking nazi officials, letters were usually signed with “Heil Hitler”.
“On 11 March 1945, less than two months before the capitulation of Nazi Germany, a memorial for the dead of the war was held in Marktschellenberg, a small town near Hitler’s Berghof residence. The historian Ian Kershaw reports, “When the leader of the Wehrmacht unit at the end of his speech called for a Sieg Heil for the Führer, it was returned neither by the Wehrmacht present, nor by the Volkssturm, nor by the spectators of the civilian population who had turned up. This silence of the masses… probably reflects better than anything else, the attitudes of the population.” ”
Perhaps it is harmless to bow to a silly game football, but if we take seriously Psalm One, then by going along on this instance leads down another path, a path that does not lead to the Victory of Y’shuaJesus. Going along with wrongdoing is connivance. Walking with sinners. Sinners. We are now judging people, saying they are sinners? Yes. And no. Yes, we are judging them as sinners if they walk not according to the Word of G-d. No, we are not the judges, but the Word of G-d judges and we are in accord and obedience to the Word of G-d. In fact, Apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said All Are Sinners. All Fall Short of the Glory of G-d.
Covered in the Blood. Isn’t that an expression once used in Baptist churches across America? We are covered in the blood of Y’shuaJesus, our sins atoned by His death on the Cross. We are sinners saved by grace. But not all are saved. All are offered redemption, but not all accept it.
C.S. Lewis has some things to say about connivance, too. Let’s take a look on Wednesday.
Until then, Lord Bless, Keep, Shine upon you and through you to this hurting, challenging world in which we reside as visitors, strangers. . .
“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18
The Cross. A powerful symbol. And in recent years the Cross has become quite controversial. I’ve lamented in the past at the growing number of churches that do not display a cross on their buildings. I’ve also shared my growing excitement at the number of large crosses placed near highways. Even as the church seems to be growing colder and colder, there are still numbers of people committed to the Cross as an expression of their faith. It reminds me of Elijah telling G-d, “Hey, I’m that last of the good guys here, and they want to kill me!” Pardon my paraphrasing. How did G-d reply? Yup. Elijah isn’t alone, there are true-born followers of G-d, hidden, cared for. . .
But in all this, do you ever wonder why we seem to be the losers here? When Paul tells of his successes he always says he was persecuted, beaten, rejected. And all for he cause of preaching the cross. In order to move on, to live in this world, there is a constant battle engaging the human senses. There are distractions. We seem to get beat down and begin to lose our hope. And often it comes in the form of an offer for help.
The other day a man took his son to the doctor. The boy complained of an ear ache, which the doctor said was only congestion. What the doctor did then was to tell the father and son all about a particular series of shots that will prevent a sexually transmitted disease. Among the various statistics that the doctor cited was one that said without the shots there was a 70% chance of contracting cancer or other nasty diseases related this human papillomavirus (HPV). The doctor said that even if the boy were to actually find a virgin to marry, the chance the girl was free of HPV was very slim. No hope in this world. No hope for a virus-free girl. No hope.
Our hope is in the Lord Y’shuaJesus. We are the losers of this world. We don’t go along with the world. We really don’t fit in it. The world doesn’t like that, either. The world doesn’t like the Cross, for it is a powerful symbol of resurrection from the dead, of life after death to G-d’s people, to G-d’s chosen ones. Paul says the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. They are dying. The will stay eternally out of the presence of G-d the Father, Y’shuaJesus, Holy Spirit. To us, the true-born believers, the saved, the Cross is the power of G-d to redeem our lives, to give us crowns of His Joy and His Peace. And this happens in His time.
Does that mean there is no hope during our lives on Earth? I think with our hope in our Lord, with our relationship with Him, we have struggles and temptations and trouble, yes, but we certainly also have blessings from Him. We are to seek first the Kingdom of G-d. Then let G-d’s Kingdom bless us.
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 8:19-21)
Toward the end of Paul’s final letter, his second letter to Timothy, he spoke of knowing his end was near, and that he’d fought a good fight. Just a bit later in the letter, he says those in ministry with him are all gone, and he asks Timothy to come to him. I wondered if he were lonely, and needed companionship as he faced his final days on Earth. Yet he says to bring along Mark, as both Timothy and Mark would be useful to his ministry. Finally he gives greeting from others of the believers in Rome. He wasn’t lonely; he wanted to continue the work he’d been involved in, and only they could assist, as he was in prison. Paul wasn’t settling in on his past accomplishments, his crowns earned; Paul needed to continue the good fight to the very end.
Paul was storing up treasures in Heaven. He was also leaving something behind. Here’s the lyrics to a country song, Three Wooden Crosses, by Randy Travis, in which he sings, “it’s not what you take. . .It’s what you leave behind.”
A farmer and a teacher, a hooker and a preacher,
Ridin’ on a midnight bus bound for Mexico.
One’s headed for vacation, one for higher education,
An’ two of them were searchin’ for lost souls.
That driver never ever saw the stop sign.
An’ eighteen wheelers can’t stop on a dime.
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway,
Why there’s not four of them, Heaven only knows.
I guess it’s not what you take when you leave this world behind you,
It’s what you leave behind you when you go.
That farmer left a harvest, a home and eighty acres,
The faith an’ love for growin’ things in his young son’s heart.
An’ that teacher left her wisdom in the minds of lots of children:
Did her best to give ’em all a better start.
An’ that preacher whispered: “Can’t you see the Promised Land?”
As he laid his blood-stained bible in that hooker’s hand.
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway,
Why there’s not four of them, Heaven only knows.
I guess it’s not what you take when you leave this world behind you,
It’s what you leave behind you when you go.
That’s the story that our preacher told last Sunday.
As he held that blood-stained bible up,
For all of us to see.
He said: “Bless the farmer, and the teacher, an’ the preacher”
“Who gave this Bible to my mamma,
“Who read it to me.”
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway,
Why there’s not four of them, now I guess we know.
It’s not what you take when you leave this world behind you,
It’s what you leave behind you when you go.
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway.
“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” 2 Timothy 3:5
In the previous chapter, Paul wrote (3:13,14,15) “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
Point One. Continue in what we have learned. Paul has made the point that we will suffer, will be persecuted. He is now encouraging us to stop thinking about new doctrines and interpretations of the Gospel. He is saying to us, like he’s said before, “fight the good fight!” We are to continue in the good that we have been, and have been doing.
Point Two. Remember from whom we learned. “Hey, you’ve learned it and known it . We won’t become deceived if we remember who we trusted when first we believed. We learned the scriptures and a way of life from someone, whether when as a child with our parents or as an adult from another to whom we found life. We knew it, so continue in it. We were assured of it once before, be assured of it now. We must not question ourselves and become lost.
Point Three. Remember that we’ve known the Word of G-d, which is able to make us wise. The Word of G-d is becoming alive within us, continue to allow Him to grow in us and make us wise in Him. We learned from the Scriptures that we are granted salvation by Y’shuaJesus’s death and resurrection, and we follow in faith. We shall not turn from that belief; we shall not turn from the truth of the Gospel.
Point Four. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” v.16. All Scripture. Not a small piece of it taken out of context. All Scripture. It is useable, profitable to us, for ministering within and without the church, to the saved and the unsaved. We are commanded to wash the feet of those with whom we share the communion of the Lord. This is washing of the dirt that comes from walking this imperfect world. We are not their saviour, but their helper in walking in the way of the cross. We also offer instruction to the unsave on righteousness. They may do occasional good things, but they lack true righteousness—they don’t know the Lord as their personal Saviour. We may offer instruction in righteousness that they might see themselves as lacking and turn to the Lord. We must always remember that one day All will kneel before the Lord and understand, and say, that Y’shuaJesus is Lord.
Point Five. “That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” v.17. As we continue in the way’s we’ve learned, walking with the Lord, we are being perfected. This perfection enables us to do more good works, to become more like Y’shuaJesus.
In view of all of these points, Paul now compels Timothy, and us—charges us—to Preach, Teach, Rebuke, Exhort. And we are to do it when we know we are “on duty” and when we think we are on holiday. The men and women of G-d are never truly on holiday; we are always on duty. We gaze longingly toward the skies watching and waiting for the Lord to return, all the while we are working.
Lord grant us the strength to fight the good fight, always knowing that one day we will feast with our Lord Y’shuaJesus.
Jonah’s Song 