I can’t do this but I will say YES …

But he (Jesus) said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’ ” (Luke 14:16–24)

My dad gave a title to those who made excuses for not doing much. He called them “Can’t men” as he urged us to not be like that. If asked to do a new thing, or a chore that we didn’t like, we were told to give it our best effort without making excuses.

Jesus did the same with this illustration of what some will do when invited by the Holy Spirit to feast with Jesus in the kingdom of God. This is the same invitation as being invited to trust Him for eternal life, the same invitation to trust Him to forgive their sin and make them His own. They didn’t want to do it and all their excuses were related to running their own lives. As the OT says, this is His definition of sin:

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

The first part is like Sinatra’s song: “I will do it my way.” The second part gives the cure for sin; God put all of it on Jesus and He got what our sin deserves — death. This is why Jesus can make this startling statement: 

So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:33)

Becoming a Christian is entrance into living another way, feasting on what God provides rather than relying on our own desires, wants, or even our abilities. This transformation is both instant and a process. We are made into a child of God and adopted into His family, but it takes time to learn how to live like what we already are.

It is something like being drafted into the army; instantly a soldier, but boot camp and the front lines bring out the skills and teach us how to rely on the Lord instead of trying to do it my way. This involves falling in the mud and picking myself up — over and over again. It also works backwards. Instead of getting easier, the training never lets up and in some ways gets more difficult.

Someone once gave the excuse that he “could become a Christian any time I want” but I told him the more he said NO the less he would be invited. He was one of those “Can’t Man” types that made excuses to have his own way the rest of his life.

Jesus, all of this humbles me. Salvation is an amazing miracle of grace, an invitation to join You in an eternal family and an eternal feast. You worked in me such a hunger that when the invite came, saying YES seemed like the only decision. Amen.

The principle of discipline

I am a quilt maker. Most of them are art quilts rather than bed quilts, a freedom of expression but like any art, it is not without rules. For instance, they cannot be called quilts unless they are made of layers stitched or tied together. Like any piece of art, these quilts also must follow fundamental rules of design.

When I make a piece that turns out badly, the rules of designing and sewing a quilt are helpful in either fixing it or starting over with a new one. This principle is the same with baking cakes, decorating a room, building a bird house, or holding down a job.

The ‘laws’ of design and of life are to guide us, not make us give up, or moan about unfairness. Without them, we would have no idea about cause and effect, truth and consequences, or why one thing works and another action results in failure.

Principles are real and helpful in living for Jesus Christ. God’s Word is filled with spiritual principles. If I go against them, my spirituality begins to stink rather than reflect the goodness of God. Not only that, the more I go against God’s guidance, the less I think about what He says and how He wants me to live. Because He is my Savior, when (not if) that happens, He steps in and corrects me . . .

“And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.’ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.” (Hebrews 12:5–8)

Yesterday’s devotions alerted me to how easily I can quench the Spirit. Today, the Lord adds to the list one more way: I do it by despising the chastening of the Lord and giving up when He rebukes me.

That is, when God shows me error in my walk with Him, sometimes I wonder what took Him so long. I feel ashamed that I’d been guilty of that particular thing and never realized it, or if I did realize it, my understanding was too vague — or whatever excuse I came up with. But as Chambers says, if God is revealing something, no matter how long it took, I’m to yield, to let Him have His way. The goal is being in right relationship to God, not sending me into a sulk, or making me give up. If I did that in other areas of life, I’d soon stop making quilts, baking cakes, and doing anything else.

Chambers also points out that “sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me; sanctification is God’s idea of what He wants to do for me.” Because that is true, His rebuke, correction, and discipline are to put me in the mindset where I am willing, no matter the cost, to let Him have His way in my life. This is why the writer of Hebrews says I’m not to regard His discipline lightly — it is evidence that I am His child and that He loves me!

Rituals or Redemption . . .

The religious people of Jesus’ day had rituals that they assumed would please God. One of them was a ceremonial hand washing that they thought represented their innocence and purity. When Jesus’ disciples ate without performing this ritual, these Pharisees and scribes were not pleased. However, Jesus said to them . . .

“But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” (Matthew 15:18–20)

As Chambers says, most people will deny feeling these awful things in their hearts. They claim ignorance and innocence, yet actually they simply do not believe what Jesus says. He adds, “either Jesus Christ is the supreme Authority on the human heart, or He is not worth paying any attention to.”

Obviously, Jesus cannot be telling the truth if He is lying. The Bible cannot be true if words like this are not true . . . 

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10–18)

I can read this and believe it is true about others, like the people who go into a mall and shoot children, or the people who make their living selling heroin, or the people who beat their wives — but what about me?

In trying to find out something about the ritual of hand washing, I happened on a book whose author said we are not sinners because of what we do because of our circumstances, or past mistreatments; we are sinners because of what we are: selfish, prideful, and only interested in having what we want when we want it.

It is easy to blame all sorts of things for having evil thoughts, but I realize that such things cannot be eradicated by rituals, by saying verses to counter them, by doing all the right things as if not following through on those thoughts gives me the right to declare my innocence. As Chambers says, it is a fool’s paradise to think that such ‘innocence’ is a safe refuge.

I’ve made excuses for sinful thinking. Chambers goes farther; he names the motives for those excuses and says anyone who does not carry out their evil thoughts is more likely a coward. We live in a civilized world and are afraid of what people will think. Any abstinence is more about loss in stature rather than obedience to God.

Chambers says, and I agree, that “When I am undressed before God, I find that Jesus Christ is right in His diagnosis.” He is also right in saying that the only safeguard is the Redemption of Jesus Christ. By giving myself to Him, “I need never experience the terrible possibilities that are in my heart.”

Of course godliness and purity is too deep down for me to get to naturally or by any of my own strategies. I need the Holy Spirit. He brings into the center of my life the very life of Jesus Christ. As 1 Corinthians 1:30 says, He becomes to me “wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”

He can do that only because He died to take my sin and lives to replace it with Himself.

Hard hearts

Exodus 5-11

In ancient times if a nation was successful and powerful, its gods were given credit. The many gods of Egypt were supposedly behind the success of that nation, but in Exodus 5-11, those Egyptian gods were soundly defeated by the God of a group of oppressed Israelite slaves.

In chapter 5, God instructed Moses to ask Pharaoh for permission to take those slaves out of the land so they could worship. It is no surprise that Pharaoh rejected this request and countered by increasing the work required of his slaves. This had an unexpected effect; it made the Egyptian leader more determined and the slaves became angry at Moses for this increased hardship.

However, God promised to redeem His people. He unleashed His power in a series of nine miracles which struck Egypt, devastating that land and defeating their so-called gods. The final and decisive plague took the life of every firstborn male in Egypt.

These plagues went beyond natural disasters. They were intense, came and left at Moses’ command, and some occurred only in Egyptian districts, leaving areas occupied by the Israelites untouched. However, Pharaoh wasn’t looking for natural causes. He was more concerned with comfort and control. Each plague produced increasing excuses for not obeying God, and in his mind, more reasons to harden his heart.

Since a short written devotional cannot unpack the full meaning of these chapters, my jump to application doesn’t mean the steps of interpretation should be skipped. Yet after reading these passages, I can see how the attitude of Pharaoh is not a singular experience. I’ve had those attitudes too.

At the first request of Moses, this Egyptian leader replied, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” (5:2) Not knowing God might explain disobedience, but Pharaoh uses it as an excuse.

Then he said, “Let a heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.” (5:9) This is another way to get around doing what God asks; work hard, keep busy, involve others. Who has time for God if their daily to-do list is 27 hours long?

Moses performed a miracle with snakes, then “Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.” (7:11-12) One of Pharaoh’s evasive actions was to imitate the wonders of God using deception. This implies that God is not needed for anything, a clever ploy, but no one can outsmart God.

As the disasters increased, Pharaoh appeared to yield to God and begged for relief, but as soon as things slacked off, he hardened his heart and would not listen, just as the LORD said would happen. (8:15) This pattern continued for five of the plagues but then came a drastic change in why Pharaoh would not listen: “But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them . . . .” (9:12)

Pharaoh typifies many who refuse God. They may claim to agree with what He wants during the tough times when their house is full of frogs, or gnats, or darkness, but as soon as the particular trouble is fixed, their hearts harden and God is pushed away. This is called temporary faith. It is insufficient evidence of eternal life. The danger is obvious; do it often enough and risk not being able to stop.

Pharaoh’s words were cheap, but words of repentance and faith without a change in life are as empty as Pharaoh’s promises.

Some connections are more subtle than others . . .

Joshua 19:10–20:9, 2 Corinthians 12:11–21, Psalm 57:1–58:11

When I selected “Connect the Testaments” as a devotional guide for the year, I didn’t know I’d be taking a class that requires a thorough exegesis of Old Testament texts to discover what it meant to the original hearers, then show how it points ahead to Jesus Christ and the New Testament.

While this devotional book has prepped me for class assignments, there are some days that “Connect the Testaments” does not seem to connect. This is one of those days, at least it started out that way.

The OT reading for the past few days is about the allotment of land after the children of God entered the Promised Land. Today it finished those descriptions then goes into God’s provision for manslaughter. Instead of throwing that person in a prison, God provides a different and unusual arrangement.

Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place, and he shall remain with them. And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unknowingly, and did not hate him in the past. And he shall remain in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time. Then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.’” (Joshua 20:1–6)

While leaving home and family to live in another city could be considered a sort of ‘imprisonment,’ this is far better than having someone do the ‘eye for an eye’ thing and wind up dead because of an accidental death of a relative or friend. With this arrangement, a trial still happens, but more to establish innocence for the person who fled those who sought revenge.

Children and the occasional adult says, “But I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.” I’ve never liked that excuse. To me, whoever says it is at least guilty of thoughtlessness. However, reading God’s view of accidents has me rethinking my opinion. I should be more merciful.

The NT reading has nothing to do with accidents and escaping retaliation, but it does cause more rethinking, this time about actions that go against the will of God. Paul had been to Corinth and wrote letters rebuking the sins he found in the lives of God’s people in that city. He notes that this congregation is slow with repentance. He says, “For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.” (2 Corinthians 12:20–21)

These Christians didn’t easily change their ways. They didn’t like being corrected either and had to be rebuked for having too high a view of themselves. I can relate to those problems. I am proud, don’t like being corrected, and am often slow to repent. When in those states, I’m feisty, quarrelsome, and easily become angry.

But I can also relate to Paul. Even though I sin too, I want every sin, even the thought of sin, out of my life, even out of the lives of all Christians. God’s goal is that we are changed people, becoming more and more like Jesus Christ each day. However, I cannot make that happen. If I could, Jesus would not have had to come and die for me.

It is at this point where I can see a connection between these reading from both Testaments. I cannot change others. I cannot even change myself, but when we who are the people of God step into eternity, we will be like Jesus. He can make those changes happen. In fact, He began that work the moment that we put our faith in Him.

But in the meantime, and here is the connection, my daily prayer is like David’s prayer from Psalm 57:2: “I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me” and not only for me, but for all of His children.