Are you good?

“with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord;”
-Proverbs 6:14

I think most people I meet could make a good case that they are good people. They will talk to me about how they obey the law, give to charity, love their families, etc. By the world’s standards, they are good.

That doesn’t really understanding the real meaning of “good,” but we can go with it for a while. You pay your taxes, work hard at your job, and don’t cheat on your wife, so you’re actually doing better than a large portion of society at least!

But even under that standard, if you are honest, you will not pass this test – what is in your heart? The Bible tells us something very interesting, that morality is not confined to what you do. It’s also about what you say and what you think.

So Solomon’s description of the wicked man here points us back to the source of the problem – the man’s heart is devising evil.

We can understand that, can’t we? My actions may be okay, but that’s only because I DON’T act upon every impulse. My thoughts are always a lot worse than my actions. It’s usually self interest that keeps me from telling people off, beating people up, and generally being a raging terror over the earth. I don’t want to lose my job, or my family, or my freedom, so I keep them inside.

But they are there, and God sees your thoughts.

That is why Jesus tells us that even looking at someone in lust is like committing adultery. Even hating someone is like committing murder. These things are true because they are true in our hearts, and God sees that.

In fact, we’re not good people by action either, but that’s another topic for another time. For now, we must realize that our hearts are filled with lust, anger, pride, ambition, and greed. We’re not good people.

And that is exactly why we need a Savior. See, if God knows my thoughts, then there is no way He’s going to find me blameless on the Day of Judgment. I’m going to be found guilty and sent to Hell as my rightful punishment. God is just, and He’s not just going to let sin go unpunished.

But God is also loving, and He sent His Son to die in our place, so that justice may be satisfied. Jesus, who was without sin, died in our place. He took on the punishment that I had earned. So now, with justice satisfied, I can be accepted into eternal life, even though I had not earned it. In repentance and faith, I have been saved by His actions, not my own.

And it is not something we can earn. It is a gift, given when the Spirit convicts us of our sin and turns us, broken, to the Cross. When we look upon Jesus and believe that He can save us by His Blood, then we are saved.

This is the glorious news of the Gospel – not that we are good people, but that we are forgiven people.

Podcast: An Introduction to Christocentrism

This is a transcript of one of our recent podcasts. To subscribe to the podcast using iTunes, please click here. To listen to the podcast without iTunes, please follow this link.

I’m going to borrow an analogy from Chris Rosebrough over at Pirate Christian Radio. I hate to do that, but I can’t think of a better one, so here we go. Have you seen the movie The Sixth Sense? If you haven’t I’m about to ruin the ending for you, but you’ve had years to see it by now, so it’s your own fault. In the movie, Bruce Willis plays this child psychologist who is trying to help out a boy who can see ghosts. So we follow Willis around as he tries to live his normal life, tries to save his failing marriage, all while also trying to help this boy who has this weird supernatural ability. Only at the end of the movie, it is revealed that Bruce Willis has been dead the whole time. He is one of the ghosts that the boy is seeing. The reason his wife wouldn’t talk with him is because she didn’t know he was there.

When you watch the movie a second time, the entire story has a different feel. You watched it the first time, and it was a really good movie, but you had no idea what was really going on. The second time, though, you are seeing the real story.

The Bible is like that. We read the stories and the commandments and the genealogies, and we’re understanding the text in a certain way. But at the end, we may catch on to something profound – we didn’t understand completely what the Book was about at all.

So what is it about? In short, it is about Jesus. He tells us quite directly this it is about Him in two places. First, on the road to Emmaus, after Jesus has risen from the dead, He meets up with a couple of the disciples on the road and walks with them. He makes it so they don’t recognize Him at first, but talks with them about Himself and hears them doubt His resurrection.

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
-Luke 24:25-27

Did you catch that? He takes them through the Old Testament and explains where and how it is talking about Him.

The other passage is more clear still. He is speaking to some Jews who are criticizing Him for healing on the Sabbath. In the middle of His lecture, He says, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40).

It is for this reason that Paul says to the church in Corinth, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

Christocentrism is just a fancy word that means that we believe that the Bible is about Jesus. Every part of the Bible, in context, speaks to Him.

Now, this doesn’t mean that you can take a verse out of context and apply it to Him directly. It doesn’t mean that the clear, primary meaning of the verse about Him directly, but every passage points to Him. So we won’t, for example, say that Jesus was guilty of trying to build a tower to heaven with the people at Babel. But we would learn from that event that no man can reach heaven on his own, but Jesus will become our bridge to get there.

There are a few places where the New Testament writers apply this doctrine, and we’ll look at a couple of examples. When Adam sinned, he brought a curse down upon the whole of the human race, and none of us even have the opportunity to live without sin as he could have done. But how does that point us to Jesus? Well, Paul explains, “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22). That story is about Jesus too, for Jesus came to undo the problems that began with Adam.

In Genesis, Abraham meets up with this strange fellow named Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God. He doesn’t appear very long, but comes in, and Abraham gives this guy a tenth of the stuff he plundered in a battle.

This would be a rather forgettable episode except that David prophesies about the Messiah, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” This goes unexplained until the author of Hebrews picks up on this and goes into great detail about how Melchizedek points the way to Christ.

You see? You think you are reading about some random priest nearby, but in truth we are reading something that points to Jesus.

Let’s run through the Book of Genesis briefly and give some examples. This is not exhaustive, but just a few examples. We spoke of Adam, the tower of Babel, and Melchizedek already, so we won’t look at those again. But we don’t get very far in Genesis before we meet Cain and Abel. Like Abel, Jesus is killed because of his righteousness. Like those in Noah’s ark, those in Jesus will be saved from the judgment of the earth. What about Abraham? Well, like Abraham, God’s people are born through Jesus. Like Isaac, Jesus is led to be a sacrifice by His Father. Like Jacob, Jesus will stoop to become a servant to earn His bride, which is the Church. Like Joseph, Jesus will endure terrible things so that people can be saved.

Those are quick examples, but they illustrate the point. There is wonderful depth in the Scriptures when you learn what they are really about. When we read them with the understanding that it all points to our Lord and Savior, it is like watching The Sixth Sense for the second time – this time, you’ll understand it on a deeper level.

A quick word of warning – let’s not take this to an extreme by making every passage into an allegory or ignoring the plain text. We don’t forget the primary focus of the passage. But we do come to it with an understanding that it will point to Jesus in a meaningful way. So we shouldn’t forget that the Flood really did happen, and that people were punished for their sin, and that God really did show mercy to Noah and his family. It’s not an allegory – it happened. And we also shouldn’t forget that this generation will also be punished for their sins, but that Jesus will have mercy on those who believe on Him.

Most importantly, Christocentrism keeps our focus where it should be, assuming we are applying it properly. So many sermons today speak of the Scriptures as a guidebook for life. They preach about what you need to do, and how to fix this in your life, and how God wants you to have money and power, and how you can rebuke all the bad stuff in your life. Christocentrism tells us to turn back to the Cross, turn back to Jesus. It’s about Him. It’s not about us. It’s for His Glory, for His name. And it is about not what we do, but what He has already done.

We can lose that focus so quickly, but when we lose it, we have lost the point of the Scriptures. It is all about Him. When we learn about the Bible, but do not recognize that focus in the Word, then we haven’t really understood it fully.

It takes some time to begin seeing Scripture in this way. That’s okay. Begin by praying that God will guide your understanding. Read and listen to Christ-focused teachers rather than the man-focused ones. And above all, have faith in Him and not in yourself.

The evil next door

[A wicked man] “winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger,”
-Proverbs 6:13

Our world is so filled with evil. We see it every day on television and in the newspapers. All over the world is there murder and war and horrible atrocities. And there really doesn’t seem like there’s anything we can do about it. I mean, there are tyrants ruling countries right now, and we know that they are evil, and our solution so often is “sanctions.” The U.N. gets together and declares “sanctions,” and this resolution is ignored by half the countries, because they can make money dealing with the tyrant, and the tyrant isn’t hurting them, so why not?

We sometimes forget that the world was trying to make peace with Hitler for YEARS before everyone finally decided to make war with him. England was trying to make deals with him that he could keep the land he already took by force as long as he doesn’t take more. America just washed their hands of the whole mess until Japan bombed an American target. Everyone was much more interested in starting out of the way than confronting evil.

It seems like everyone is talking about a solution of one kind or another. Conversations are popping up everyone on how to deal with evil in the world, whether it be domestic (crime) or foreign.

What I find very interesting is what the Bible says about it. In the Bible, evil is not that thing that is out there – the tyrant or the murderer, or the warmonger. Evil is always something much closer to home.

Solomon is describing this wicked man in a way that I did not expect. I expected him to be a violent man, who was filled with vile hatred for everyone. Not so. This is a man who is subtly trying to get his way.

He is keeping his actions hidden. We can see it in this passage very clearly. He’s not even speaking those things that are wrong. He’s only motioning them. A little wink, a gesture: that’s all.

This is the sort of evil that is a bit closer to home. This is the sort of evil that is in your office, at the gym, at school, and at the store. It’s the sort of plotting that puts a person’s own desires and greed above everything else.

It’s us. It’s you, and it’s me. Solomon is telling us something here that we don’t want to admit – evil is not only that thing across the ocean that’s hurting people. Evil is also you in that business deal, or cheating on our taxes, or speaking ill about others.

This is a call to be honest and upfront with our dealings, but it is also a pointer to the one man who did not fail in this area, and that is Jesus. He alone was honest at all times. He alone did not try to sneakily manipulate things to get His way. He alone did not sin.

We may have failed to live up to His standard, but there is forgiveness for those who confess their sins and trust in Him for their salvation.

Quit winking so much. Be truthful in your dealings. But don’t be confused about this part of it – it is by Him alone that we can be saved, for He alone was without sin. And it is by His strength that you will be guided in righteousness once you are forgiven.

Podcast: 1 John: Preaching to the Choir

This is a transcript of one of our recent podcasts. To subscribe to the podcast using iTunes, please click here. To listen to the podcast without iTunes, please follow this link.

But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. . . . No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us – eternal life. I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie – just as it has taught you, abide in him.
-1 John 2:20-21, 23-27

There are two basic types of discussions that you can have in theology. Actually, the same can be said of politics, philosophy, or any number of topics. The first of these conversations is with someone who agrees with you. The second is one with someone who disagrees. I suppose you can have one with someone who is ignorant of the subject and seeking to learn, though that may be better placed into a teaching category rather than a discussion category, since if the other person is discussing his opinions, he must have formed them already.

Now, I enjoy having conversations about Christ with people who do not agree. This is called Evangelism. I am trying to explain what it is that Christ did for us upon the Cross in the hope that the Spirit will work on the man’s heart and turn Him to Jesus. These conversations can be very frustrating, and yet they are necessary. Before I was a Christian, people had these conversations with me, and I disagreed, but the truth had its effect on me, and God used these conversations, in part, to save me.

Conversing with someone who agrees may often be more helpful. This seems counterintuitive, but it’s true. See, when I speak to a nonbeliever, I rarely get any deeper into the theological pool than that we are all sinners and in need of Grace. I will explain these things, but I do not go into Reformed Theology or Eschatology. But if I am in a room with a fellow Calvinist, we will build on each other’s theology, and come away with a greater understanding of God.

John here is writing to Christians. He has already addressed them as such earlier, and now, right in the middle of a discussion of the antichrist, he brings this up again. He is writing not that they need the truth, but because they already have it.

This is intriguing to me, mainly because I was surprised at the force with which he says this. But I thought on it some more. You know, I don’t think I’ve had a conversation about the antichrist with an unbeliever. No, in those cases, when we speak of God, I will concentrate on the most basic matters. I don’t speak to unbelievers about predestination.

Some will tell you that those sorts of matters are unimportant. Stick with the “mere Christianity,” they will say. It may surprise some of us how little the Bible is interested in the mere Christianity. Instead, the Bible is constantly pushing us deeper. John here as well is distinguishing between the sort of conversations we have with unbelievers and those we have within the Church. There are things he says in this letter not because they are unbelievers, but specifically because they are believers. That initial call to Christ saves us, but we still have more to learn.

Let’s look at it this way. When a lawyer speaks to someone ignorant of the law, it is only on the most basic matters. The lawyer will not learn anything. But when two lawyers speak, they will both learn from each other. When a doctor speaks with a patient, the doctor teaches and explains, but learns nothing. But a doctor will learn from another doctor.

I hear about a lot of churches that have abandoned the teaching of God’s word in any deep sense in favor of attracting the unbeliever. It’s wonderful to teach unbelievers about the faith, but what happens to him once be first believes? Is there no one to teach him more of God at that point? Perhaps it is true that he has learned everything he needs to know to save his skin from the fires of Hell, but should that satisfy us? I would suggest the opposite. If I were so saved, plucked from my self-inflicted march steadily toward the gates of Hell, I would very much like to know more of my Savior. You couldn’t stop me from singing His praises.

In addition to simple gratitude, the believer, by the giving of the Holy Spirit, here described as an anointing, is given understanding of the truth of God. John says we have all knowledge. This does not mean that I can now fix a car perfectly because I have the Spirit. No, it means that I have been given a glimpse of God’s Holy Light, and in that light I am safe from damnation.

Look at the context here. John shifts back and forth between talking about the antichrist or plural antichrists and about believers. He contrasts the two. Here’s what he’s saying. People are going to be out there misleading the world about Christ. But you have the Holy Spirit, so you know Christ. That Spirit guides you in truth. Those who don’t have that Spirit will be tossed around as though in a storm, and they may follow the lies of the antichrists. “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” John tells us this in verse 19.

John is writing to believers not because they do not know, but because they DO know, and with that knowledge they guided further. They know the truth of John’s words because of the anointing of the Spirit. They can understand spiritual things because God the Spirit is leading them.

The unbeliever may look at the doctrine of eternal security and scoff. They will say, “Well, what if someone accepts Christ, and then decides it’s not for him?” They ask that because they have not experienced something of that light. We don’t accept Christ – Christ reveals Himself to us, and we cannot help but to bow before him. He is not some toy that can be set aside! He is the Lord of all, the Creator of the universe, the King of kings and Lord of lords! If you have experienced Him, then you are changed. You are changed, and you hunger for more.

These things do not make sense to the lost, but they make sense to those who have been knocked over by the love, grace, and awesome power of our Lord. I can’t give that up! I cannot! It is like air to me. If I try to not breathe, my body will force me to breath. If I try to give Jesus up, His Spirit cries out within me and pulls me home.

There are a lot of people in church who have never experienced this. I was in church for two decades before I became a Christian. I didn’t know I wasn’t saved. I prayed a prayer once and that was good enough for the people around me. But they were just words. They didn’t make me a believer. God made me a believer!

And this is the promise that he made to us – eternal life. It is not promised to those who do enough good works. It is not promised to those who say enough Hail Marys. It is not promised to those who give away enough money, or who don’t drink, or who recycle, or who vote, or who work hard at their jobs. It is promised to those sinners – those wretched, weak, lustful, prideful, anger-filled, greedy, selfish, self-centered, hopeless sinners who are forgiven by His Blood.

If you repent and believe, you will be saved. If you prayed some prayer one time in your youth, I would have no confidence in your salvation. But if you repented – if you came face-to-face with your sin and were horrified at your own wretched nature to the degree that you could do nothing but to fall to your knees and cry out, “Lord Jesus, forgive me! I don’t deserve it! I don’t deserve anything but your wrath. I have nothing to offer, nothing to give, nothing to rely on except your grace. Save me!” If you repented, then there is hope. Look to the Cross, my friends. Look to the Cross, for by His Blood we are saved.

If that abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. You are secured by His Spirit. You will not be taken away by the false teachings of the antichrists.

Sons of the devil

“A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech,”
-Proverbs 6:12

Who would you think of if I used the phrase, “a son of the devil?” I think we would immediately think of the worst people on earth, wouldn’t we? Maybe we wouldn’t even want to think of a person in those terms at all. Maybe we would shy away from calling even the worst human beings such a phrase.

This passage to me is so interesting because of how Solomon describes the evil men of whom he speaks. Their sins are very subtle sins. Unlike other places in Scripture where the evil are described as being murderous and laying in wait to rob people, this “worthless person” sins with mere lies and false dealings. We’re not talking about a tyrant here; we’re talking about a deceptive salesman!

More than that, we’re talking about us. We so often use words to our advantage. Sometimes, we will just flat out lie. Sometimes, we will just withhold truth. Sometimes, we will just tilt what we’re saying by the words we use. Telling your boss “I suggested that our customer may be able to find such products at another location” has a different ring to it than, “I yelled at the customer to get out and never come back!” I’ll admit it – I’ve done that. (Not those exact words, but I’ve manipulated the language to look better than I am.) I’ve been questioned one a decision I’ve made, and I’ll try to word it in the best way possible.

We use our tongues for gossip and slander, and usually we don’t even think about it.

You may be wondering how this makes us children of the devil. While this translation is very accurate, it loses something in the translation. “Worthless” here uses the Hebrew word “beleyah’al.” We may better recognize it as Belial. The word literally means worthless, but it also, over time, became another name we use for Satan. We can see this use in 2 Corinthians 6:15.

I don’t think that Solomon was intending that primarily, and yet it is a phrase that Jesus Himself threw against a group of Jews when they were trying to kill Him. The reasoning He gives for using such a phrase is interesting:

Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.
-John 8:43-47

When we lie, gossip, slander, and generally use “crooked speech,” do we reflect Christ, or Belial?

We can see how truly serious even the common sins are when viewed in those terms. In truth, every lie is a rebellion against God. We are following the ways of Satan rather than of Christ. These things are so common that we tend to blow them off. Don’t do that. Don’t blow it off, because God doesn’t.

If we are to walk in truth and light, then we will walk with an honest tongue. That’s harder than it sounds, and yet by the Blood of Christ we will be forgiven when we stumble, and by the power of the Spirit we will be better conformed to the image of Jesus. So watch your tongue, knowing that it is God working within you.

If you have not been saved, perhaps this better understanding of the sin of lying will show you how critical it is that we have a Savior. You cannot earn God’s favor, but He loves us to much that He sent His Son to die for the sins of those He saves. Repent of your sins and believe in He who died for you, and you too can be saved.

The fierce dogs of debt

“and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.”
-Proverbs 6:11

Solomon has been talking in these last verses about the slothful, or lazy. Here he has a very practical warning, but it is a warning that we too little heed.

Americans are loaded down with debt, and it’s usually over the silliest of things. I hear people complaining about how much they owe all the time, but they have really nice televisions and cars and go out to eat three times a week.

And it is really those little things that get you. You know, eating out a meal doesn’t hurt too much, but continuing to do it really bites into the budget (pun intended). For me, it was books and movies. One book doesn’t cost that much, but ten do, and I was having such difficulty with my budget because I kept buying books.

A small thing, but it can hurt.

A lot of that can be solved by eating at home more and going to the library rather than the bookstore. A lot of it is solved by settling for an ugly used car rather than the brand new one you don’t need. But a lot of it is your work ethic.

There are people who are deep in debt who just need to get a second job. And they don’t want to, because they don’t want to work that hard. Some people just need to get a FIRST job! Some people need to start working hard at work so they will get a good raise.

I’ll tell you the truth – if you get a steady job and watch what you’re spending, you’re probably going to do fine financially. If you work hard and get a raise or get promoted, you’ll do better.

If you spend all of your money on foolish things, then poverty is going to creep up on you fast.

God has given us time and money to steward, not to waste on whatever we want. It’s not our time. It’s not our money. It’s His, and He has given it to us to use properly. When we waste them, we are saying that our own desires for things, comfort, and pleasure are worth more to us than He is worth.

As Paul tells us, if we are saved, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). The context here is in sexual sin, but the meaning goes into all areas. How do we conduct ourselves with our time? Are you lazy? If you are not, are you trying to glorify Him with your time, or are you glorifying yourself?

If you are not glorifying Him, repent of this sin and have faith in Him. Jesus paid the price for your sins when He died upon the Cross. Confess your sin to Him. The Spirit will work in you for a change, but your hope lies in Him alone.

We will continue to sin in this way or another (or likely both), but Jesus continues to intercede for us with the Father. Trust in Him for your sanctification.

So many reruns, so little time!

“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,”
-Proverbs 6:10

We could almost rewrite this warning against laziness to add a few modern conveniences. A little Facebook, a little television, a little movie-going, a little Wii, etc. Our time rests better than any other times. In the great scheme of history, our 40-hour work week isn’t terribly much. There usually isn’t too much to do around the house either. Modern conveniences have made cooking and cleaning much easier than in past generations. We don’t have many intellectual or spiritual pursuits. Our evenings are typically filled up with entertainment.

It is easy to see how too much of that corrupts us. Just look around. We have overweight children all over the place. I mean, I’m overweight now, but I couldn’t have been back then. Everything I wanted to do involved running! As many medical advancements as we have made in the last decades, heart disease still ranks as the number one killer in America.

We are drowning in debt, partially because we charge all of our entertainment, and partially because we’re not working hard enough to pay it off.

In the Church, we have malnourished congregations. So few (and even few preachers) take the time to try to understand our faith or our God. We go to listen to the music and get a pep talk, or to have the preacher tell us we’re awesome and we’re going to be rich.

Instead, the television becomes our little false gods. We turn every chair in the living toward it as though it were an altar, and we set our lives according to what it is going to show.

Slothfulness is a sin, and it’s a sin for exactly that reason. It causes you to focus inwardly only, to seek after your own pleasures and comfort, rather than outward toward God and toward others.

The effects of this sin can be seen on every street, in every company, and in every church. We have lost the will to make an effort.

These things may seem minor, but they are not. Laziness has an effect on your life, and it has an effect on your relationship with God. Worst of all, when we are lazy, we are rejecting God in favor of ourselves. We are rebelling against Him and His Law so that we can watch some mindless show on television. I mean, if my wife did that to me, I would be offended! If I had asked for an evening together, and she declined so that she could watch a rerun of Seinfeld, I’d be pretty hacked off.

But God is more deserving still, and we were created for His glory.

I am far too often in error over this one. I am far too often putting in a DVD when I should be reading the Word. It’s not that we should not rest. Obviously, we must sleep. God has set aside a day every week for rest as well. But we take that rest and spread it around to every evening and every day. We live for it!

Because of Jesus’ death upon the Cross, we can be forgiven even of this sin. Even though we turn away from Him in favor of playing on Facebook all day, yet still He would forgive us if we would turn from that in repentance and faith. He paid the price we owe when He was upon that Roman Cross. He paid the price even for the sin of ignoring Him.

We all, at times, are a little more interested in rest than we should be. But God has offered His life in our place so that we can be forgiven.

Crazy early in the morning

“How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?”
-Proverbs 6:9

My friends think I’m a little strange. More times than not, I’m up by about 6:30 on weekends. Work days, I’m up earlier, but even if I don’t have to be anywhere, I get up rather early.

A lot of it is from habit, but most of the reason I get up early is because I was saved out of what this verse is talking about.

When I first started college, I would sleep late in the day, didn’t really clean up much, and basically lived a very lazy life. I played a lot of video games, watched a lot of television, etc. To an extent, it got better when I got a job in the evenings, but I would end up sleeping later in the day to make up for the time I spent at work late at night.

I was a complete night-owl, and I tried to schedule absolutely nothing, even classes, in the mornings so I could sleep in. On weekends, unless I was working, I would barely leave the apartment. More honestly, I would barely leave the couch.

Over the years, God has used a lot of different events and situations to convict me of my laziness. By His grace, I’ve gotten a lot better. I don’t like wasting time now. I really want to get up and get working on whatever it is that needs done now.

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not perfect in this area yet. I’ve wasted time this very day, and probably will tomorrow too. I’m still not taking exercise as seriously as I should (which is evident by the shape I’m still in). But the Spirit is working on me.

Laziness is a sin. We don’t really want to admit that staying in bed is sinful, but often it is. Not all the time – we do need to rest, but to overdo it is sinful. We were made to bring honor to God, and we use the time He gave us for entertainment or just slothfully laying around.

I’m not telling you this to guilt you into jumping up right now and taking a jog. That’s not what I want from this. What I want is for you to do the only worthwhile thing we can do with any sin – to confess it to God and to look to the Cross for forgiveness.

It is the conviction of the Holy Spirit that changes us, not some pep talk. It is the work of that Spirit that forms us into something better, not self-help. Let’s face it, if we could really save ourselves, our lives wouldn’t look like they do. But in Christ, we can be reconciled with God.

I’m not talking about a prayer that will instantly make you thin. I wish! I’m talking about the conviction of sin that will bring about works in keeping with repentance. For me, being convicted over my laziness has resulted in me being a bit more careful with my time. It’s not something I have forced out of myself. Instead, it is the only thing I COULD do after being convicted by my sin.

It is the Cross that heals us. How long are you going to lay there? Repent and be forgiven!

Working by faith

“she [the ant] prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.”
-Proverbs 6:8

All ages have had lazy people, but I think our age makes the problems so much worse. In older times, you could sleep late if you wished, but that would make it hard later to eat. When you had to grow your own food, the amount of work you put in had a direct result on the amount of food you got out of it.

But what if I slept late and didn’t work very hard today? It could be that my boss would fire me, depending on how late I was coming in and how bad of a job I was doing. More likely, I just wouldn’t get a very good raise at the end of the year. That might not be so bad. At my last job, in fact, everyone in the organization got the exact same percentage raise every year. It was a government job, and they cut out merit raises before I got there. So a little laziness there, as long as it didn’t get me fired, would probably have no effect at all!

So we’ve lost something in our understanding of laziness. We’ve lost that understanding that being lazy would have immediately and severe consequences. We could actually say that about a lot of the sins now. In a society that blames no one, we’ve done our best to get rid of any consequences at all for anyone’s actions.

Laziness is, however, a sin. And no matter what this society does to remove the consequences of sin, the heart of those consequences remain. That gradual numbing that sin brings remains, the numbing that continues unto death.

It is a deserved death too. We have lost the understanding of the value of things. We have lost the understanding of the value of time and resources. They are God’s! They are God’s, and He has loaned to us time, breath, resources, and even our bodies. They are not ours to do with as we wish. They are His, and we treat them so casually.

The wages of sin is death. We have offended God in all of our sins, including lust, pride, arrogance, hatred, greed, and even laziness. We have taken what we His and treated it with rebellion and distain.

The answer to this problem is not to try harder and see if you can earn your way into good favor. It’s faith. See, without faith we cannot please God. So the work of God is to believe in Him whom He sent. In repentance and faith we will be forgiven.

When we are forgiven, we are given His Spirit to guide us. The Spirit makes it so we can walk in accordance to His desires – no longer by sheer force of will, but by faith.

I don’t have to harvest my own food. But when I go to work, I can bring honor to God by working in faith. Even that, by grace, we can do in faith. It’s hard to be lazy when the Spirit has moved you so much.

If this is a problem, your first step is to repent and look to the Cross for forgiveness. If you fail tomorrow, then repent again. Over time, the Spirit will work in you. He will change you to look a little more like Him.

Hey! Get off the couch and get a job!

“Without having any chief, officer, or ruler,”
-Proverbs 6:7

Have you ever just sat and watched an ant? I suppose everyone has in childhood. They are fascinating. You’ll see one ant scouting about. Talk about self-motivation! He doesn’t seem to ever rest. He finds some source of food, and before long, he’s told several hundred of his friends. Now they are lined up, back and forth, carrying food back to the anthill then going to get more. They are so efficient and quick about their work.

I would be able to get so much done if I have such focus and drive. I would be writing scores of pages every day. I would get more done at work. I would spend more time with my wife, and she would be thrilled at the attention. I’d have the Bible memorized, in Greek and Hebrew, in a couple of years. I’d also invent a transporter like in Star Trek. That’s right. And a phaser too. I would be awesome.

But I don’t. Solomon is pointing to the ant here to inspire us to action, but isn’t expecting us to literally act like ants. But in pointing to these, one of the least of God’s creation, he is pointing out something in us. The ant runs and works and does not stop, even if there is no supervisor around to force him to work. We, on the other hand, are prone to laziness.

And that’s a terrible thing to say in the grand scheme of things. We’re the ones made in the image of God, after all. We’re the ones who have dominion over the whole earth. And a bunch of ants show us up. Terrible!

In examining these ants, our own slothfulness reveals itself, doesn’t it? I mean, I will compare myself with coworkers and think, “Well, I’m working pretty hard.” I compare myself with the ant, and I realize how easy I have it, and how much rest I really take.

It’s convicting, and it should be. God has given us the time we have on this earth, and we basically waste it. We were given this time to glorify Him, but instead we use it to entertain ourselves.

Is it really that serious? I think so. What if you went to work every day and, instead of doing work, watched television, played on Facebook, and basically wasted your time there? If you had even a halfway attentive boss, you would be called in for a talk pretty quick!

God is infinitely more worthy of your time than any boss, especially because He’s the one who gave it to you. He is the one who gives you every breath you breathe. He is so gracious with what He has given you, in fact, that He asks you to take a day off every week to rest!

How easy it is for all of us to slip into a self-centered attitude. We don’t even realize we’re doing it. We just go about our day without given a second thought to how much time we are spending on ourselves rather than God.

These ants show us just how lost we are. When we don’t have to worry about our next meal, our minds go directly to whatever will entertain us.

When Jesus came, He showed us how it was done. He spent His life in service, in teaching, and in worship. He set a standard that I could never hope to meet. Thankfully, He did not come to just show us how it is done, but to bring forgiveness because we cannot do it alone.

Though I cannot count the minutes, hours, days, months, and years that I have wasted in chasing my own desires, Jesus paid for that time upon the Cross. In His Blood He paid for the sins that I have committed. Justice has been served, and I will be welcomed into eternal life because of what He did.

The Spirit is constantly convicting me on this one. By Grace, I think I’m getting better about using the time God has given me. I am so thankful for another day to give it a whirl, but I am more thankful for the forgiveness offered to me when I fail yet again.

Lazy bones!

“Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.”
-Proverbs 6:6

I am still upset about my own laziness last weekend. Granted, it was a long week, and I am totally in favor of having a day of rest every week. Even so, I’ll still use one of the weekend days to get some writing done, record and post the podcast, and that sort of thing. Not last weekend. Last weekend, I couldn’t summon the energy to get anything done at all.

To my defense, I had worked a lot of hours last week, and I had to push myself even harder because I was behind on a couple of projects. I was just worn out. Still, come Monday morning, I was shocked at how badly I had wasted the time.

Not that I’m any stranger to wasting time. Especially in my late teens and early twenties, I spent all my time with television and video games and the like. That troubles me too. Somewhere along the road (and it was probably literally on the road – when an 18-wheeler almost killed me), I think God revealed to me that I don’t have all the time in the world, and that hours of Final Fantasy every night probably wasn’t a good use of the time.

We have been given a certain period of time in this life. It’s not long, even for those who live to be over 100. In the grand scheme of things, we don’t have much time. At the same time, these years we have are a gift from God, a little bit of grace for all of us.

Like the gift of money, resources, talents, intelligence, and the like, we are expected to steward our time well. How have you used your time? Has it been serving God or playing Final Fantasy?

I’m not saying that a little TV is bad. We need rest, and we are instructed by God to have a day of rest every week. Considering the benefits to stress level, health, family, and spiritual life this day has, it is a good way to steward your time.

The problem is this – I still waste time. I try not to, but I do. And it is a sin to serve my own self-interest with my time rather than to serve God. When we do that, we are putting our own desires about the God who created us and the world around us and gave us the time we are so casual about. If I were judged by the way I use my time, I would fall far short of the perfect standard set by God.

In Christ, though, I am forgiven. By His Blood He paid the price I owe for my own selfishness. In His death He made it so I can live.

And when He saved me, He gave to me the Holy Spirit to guide me in the ways of righteousness. The Holy Spirit points out to me when I’m wasting time, when I’m about to sin, when I am thinking of myself more than about God.

I still sin, and Jesus is still the means of my forgiveness. But by His Grace, I am studying those ants more now. I don’t want to waste my time.

Like a squirrel up a tree

“save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler.”
-Proverbs 6:5

I very much like nature. I like watching birds and squirrels and the like. There is little much more exotic in the city where I live, but at times I can sneak up on a squirrel on a tree trunk. I never get really close, of course. Usually, if I’m close enough that I can see him well, I won’t try to get any nearer.

The squirrel doesn’t know that I don’t mean him harm. As soon as him figures I’ve gotten a little too close, he’ll scurry up the tree faster than my eye can even follow.

It’s this sort of image that Solomon is trying to convey here – that of speed. He has been talking to us about what to do if we find we’ve made some financial or social mistake. He tells us to go to the offended party and try to make it right.

Most of us know we should do that, but we try to wait. Let things settle down. Maybe the other person will forget. Solomon tells us to go immediately. Move as quickly as a squirrel up a tree to get yourself out of this trap.

The gazelle can’t always get away from the hunter. The bird can’t always get away from the fowler. I’ve never caught one, but I know that squirrels have been caught before they can get up that tree. It doesn’t mean they don’t try their best to get away.

In the same way, when we have wronged someone, we should hurry to resolution, even if we cannot achieve our goals here. If you’ve made a bad financial decision, go try to make it right. If you’ve said something that offended someone else, go try to make it right. Go this very day!

The Bible never assumes that we can actually live good and moral lives. The Word assumes that we will mess up. Other religions may tell you to work really hard to earn your way into heaven, but not Christianity. The very core of the Christian faith is the understanding that we are not perfect (far from it!), but that Jesus is.

That matters quite a bit, because Christians should never claim to be good people, just forgiven people. As Solomon here bids us do when making these errors, we confess our sins to the Father, and in Grace are forgiven. This can only happen because of the death of Jesus. God is holy and righteous, and He does not simply allow sin to go unpunished. But when Jesus died on the Cross, He took upon Himself the punishment for those sins.

When we repent and have faith, we are forgiven because of His action, not our own.

When you sin, take Solomon’s advice. Seek out Him whom you wronged and ask forgiveness. Don’t wait. Go to Him today. As quick as a squirrel up a tree.