Happy Are Those with Wise Leaders

“Woe to you, O land, when your kind is a child,and your princes feast in the morning! Happy are you, O land, when your kind is the son of the nobility, And your princes feast at the proper time, for strength, and not for drunkenness.” Ecclesiastes 10:16-17

Here we find three important qualities of good leaders:

1.     Experience – It is better to have leaders who are not young and inexperienced (“a child”) but who have the proper background for their responsibilities (“nobility”).

2.     Wisdom in timing – Timing is critical in effective leadership. There is a “proper time” to do things.

3.     Right motivation and purpose – A leader’s reason and purpose for doing what he does is important, even if a particular action is right. It is possible to do the right thing for the wrong reason (“for strength and not for drunkenness”).

Resolve to Follow Jesus

"If anyone would come after me . . ." (Mark 8:34)

The word translated "would" in the ESV is thelo, which could mean to desire or to purpose. This second meaining could be defined like this: “to have something in mind for oneself, of purpose, resolve, will, wish, want, be ready" (BDAG, 448).  Based on the context and commitment of the call, "purpose" would certainly be appropriate, if not the necessary meaning. Thus, “if anyone purposes or resolves to follow after me . . .”

Jesus is establishing that following him is a pretty serious endeavor. The first condition is that one desires and purposes to follow him. We all struggle with conflicting desires and we must decide what we want the most. We can be a friend of the world or a friend of God, not both. We can love and serve God or we can love and serve ourselves, not both. We have to make a choice. We can resolve to follow Jesus.

I pray for a great passion to follow Christ. A great fire in my heart that is greater than my desires for fleshly satisfaction. I renew my commitment today to follow Jesus. I purpose again today, with even greater understanding than when I first decided to give him my life, to follow him to the end, no matter what the cost.

Getting Set Free From Myself

“The wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. For there is a time and a way for everything, although man’s trouble lies heavy on him” (Eccl. 8:5-6).

Right now, my trouble lies heavy on me. And in the midst of my trouble, I pray for a wise heart. I want to know the proper time and the just way in this. I have despaired at times. But I have been comforted by remembering that God knows what is happening, he has allowed what is happening, and he can enable me to serve and please him in the midst of it. And, although I have missed this point up till now, he has allowed this trouble to lie heavy on me for my sake, so that he can take me deeper, draw me closer, make me stronger, open my eyes wider. How can I doubt his gentle, faithful care for me? And so I want to allow this trial to drive me to him, to lean more heavily on him, to learn to let him live in and through me.

And that is when I realize how much of my life is lived in my own thinking and power. I get along pretty well without him. But pretty well (according to my own or the worlds evaluation) falls far, far below God’s mighty power and eternally outpouring of joy and fullness.

“Thank you, Lord. Yes, I thank you, Lord, for this trial. Thank you for freeing me from myself and my small thinking and my mediocre living. Thank you for pushing out of my limited self by giving me more than I can handle. What a freedom!”

Difficult is Not Miserable

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matt 7:13-14).

I am amazed at how our American Christian culture attempts to follow Christ and enjoy the wide, easy way at the same time. I am amazed at how I attempt to do this. It is important to understand, though, that by narrow and wide we don’t mean miserable and wonderful, respectively. Difficult does not always mean miserable and broad does not always mean wonderful. We can escape this illusion by knowing that inward joy and fullness of purpose is greater than whatever may be difficult or easy for our bodies and circumstances.

Following Christ in this world means carefully choosing to what is holy and right before the Lord. It means saying no to many, many, many things the world offers and puts before us. And in these choices we find security and peace and love. I am still making entirely too many soft choices, instead of choosing the very best for me and my family before God.

Working By God's Grace

“I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.” 1 Cor 15:10

I want to work hard and get lots done. I want to be productive for the kingdom of God. But I know what it is like to do that is my own strength and be limited to my own abilities. I have the grace of God with me. Grace = what God gives me. And not just all that he has already given me, even the strength and abilities to which I could limit myself. His grace is daily, moment by moment. I want to consciously draw from his grace in me by faith for each task.

The Wandering of the Appetite

“All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. . . . Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after the wind.”Eccl 6:7, 9

There has to be something more to life than working to have food so that one can satisfy his hunger. He will be hungry again and must work all the time to eat. The wandering of the appetite is vanity. Chasing after our whimsical desires is like chasing the wind. Our appetites are never satisfied. What a shallow, unthinking, meaningless existence. And, sadly, how common!

Better is the sight of the eyes, the conscious, careful awareness that allows one to make decisions based on more than his appetites. I don’t have to chase my appetites. I am not an animal. I can deliberately choose to do something that I do not want to do. I am able to deny myself for a greater cause. I am able to see past the meaningless, unending, empty, and impossible aim of pleasing myself in the way the world does.

It is not God’s purpose for us to be miserable. And we certainly should enjoy eating, drinking, and working, for this is our lot (Eccl 5:18). It is the temporal vanity of finding our full meaning in enjoying this life that we must escape. There is something greater.

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11

What is this path of life? What frees us from this world and enslavement to our appetites? Faith in the atoning death and resurrection of Christ, which breaks the penalty and power of sin and reconcile me to God, who is life himself. “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6).

St. Matthew?!

I recently read again about "saints" in the Bible. What does it mean to be a saint? First, we move past the Roman Catholic understanding of a saint as an especially holy and officially recognized believer in the church. The Bible refers to all believers as saints. Paul wrote "to all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints" (Rom 1:7). But what does saint mean? The word saint comes from a Latin word that refers to something sacred. It is used to translate the Greek words oi agioi, which is literally translated "the holy ones." To be holy, according to this Greek word, mean "dedicated to God, holy, sacred, i.e. reserved for God and God’s service" or "pure, perfect, worthy of God" (BDAG, 10-11).

So, what does it mean to be St. Matthew (not that I want anyone to call me that!)? It means that I am a holy one. It means I am set apart as one who is in a special relationship with God. I am one of "God's people." It also means that I am set apart for the purpose of serving him. This is who I am and this is my purpose. It strikes me now how weak and slavish that would sound to people who don't know him. But just remember, HE IS LIFE and HE IS LOVE. If that is what I am going to be forever bound to, then hook me up!

Since God is holy, in the pure and perfect sense, the purity of those who relate to and serve him is essential. Positionally, God has provided for my purity through the atoning death and resurrection of Christ. By faith and his grace, I am pure before him; I am cleansed and forgiven. That does not mean I live a pure life, but it means that I CAN. And if I do live a pure life then I am able to be more and more intimate with him and more and more useful to him (2 Tim 2:19-22).

Sometimes we don't live like we belong to God. We live like we belong to ourselves and are very happy to have God on our side. Sometimes we don't live like our all consuming purpose is to serve him. We are glad to have someone who will provide good advice and help as we go our own way. Living as his for him is a very different way of living. And that is what it means to be saints, holy ones, God's people.