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Tuesday, 08 May 2012 05:09 |
God holds parents accountable for addressing the conduct of their children. It is not enough to merely speak words to our children. If their conduct is dishonoring to God and within our reach to address, we are accountable to do so. We see an example of this in 1 Samuel 2-3. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were disgracing God through their handling of the sacrifices, their treatment of God’s people, and their sexual debauchery (1 Sam. 2:12-17, 22, 29). Eli spoke to them about these things, calling their sin “sin” and warning them of the consequences (2:22-25). However, it appears he did not take the steps necessary to ensure that their deviancy was checked and the honor of God’s name protected. Even after his conversation with his sons, the Lord still rebuked Eli, saying, “Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded, and honor your sons above Me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?” (2:29)
It was not enough that Eli has spoken with his sons and warned them about the consequences of their sin. As their father and the High Priest of Israel at the time, it was within his power to restrain them from serving as priests and to have them punished for their wickedness. But he did not. He was responsible and accountable to God to take the steps necessary to restrain their sin and protect the honor of God’s name. As a result of his failure to take appropriate action, God declared, “I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them” (3:13).
We should take heed to those words. Are their sins that our children are committing, which are within our reach to restrain, which we are not addressing? Have we spoken to them and warned them, but not followed through with appropriate discipline? Have we communicated boundaries, but failed to enforce them? Perhaps we yell a little louder each time they disobey, but do we take actual measures to correct their foul speech, to prevent their mistreatment of their siblings and disrespect of authority, to keep them from indulging in sinful habits and promoting sinful conduct?
There are different seasons of life and parenting. There are seasons when our children are out of the home, and when their conduct is unknown to us or beyond our ability to restrain. In such seasons we pray, we reason, we continue to love, and we trust God to address what we cannot, and to deal mercifully amidst our weaknesses and limitations. But in those seasons when our children are still in the home or under our guardianship, or their God-dishonoring conduct is within our reach to appropriately restrain, we are responsible to do so. We must lovingly enforce boundaries and discipline disobedience. We must not “honor our children above God” (cf. 1 Sam. 2:29). We must love our children by loving God most and we must trust God to work through our imperfect, but sincere attempts. We cannot change our children’s hearts, only God can. But we must apply His word in caring for our children and pray and trust Him to work through our efforts to address their hearts. We are not responsible for saving our children, but we are responsible for bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph. 6:1).
May our gracious Father enable us to be faithful fathers and mothers and may He have mercy on our children even through our imperfect efforts.
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Sunday, 29 April 2012 15:02 |
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[Read 1 Kings 18:19-19:18]
There were a few things that Elijah had to learn after his triumph over the Prophets of Baal and Asherah. So God led him to Mount Horeb for that purpose. Reaching Horeb, he found a cave and lodge there. There the voice of the Lord came to him, “What are you doing here Elijah? This question called for reflection, which would bring light of self-condemnation and self-instruction to Elijah. Elijah answered, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away” (19:10).
God was gracious, and there was no reproof, but He commanded Elijah to go out and stand on the mount before the Lord. There the Lord passed by; first as a great and strong wind that tore the mountains and broke pieces of rocks before the Lord, but He was not in the wind. “After the wind, an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper” (19:11-12). Elijah did not need to be told where the Lord was. For when he heard the low whisper, he wrapped himself and went out and stood at the entrancing of the cave (!9:13).
Elijah realized, then, that he had misunderstood the ways of Lord: that the storm and the fire that go before God is not God himself. But this knowledge needed supplementation with direct instruction from the Lord. And so the Lord asked a second time, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” And he answered as before. The Lord then told him that He still has work for him to do and that he, Elijah, was not alone: that He "will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him" (19:15-18).
Not only did Elijah misunderstand the ways of God, he also thought that God’s cause would fail without him, and that God depended upon him. We, too, have a tendency to forget that God’s ways are not our ways, that our end in view is not necessarily His end in view, that God does not depend upon us: our prowess and ingenuity, but that we depend upon God, and that the cause of God will triumph without us.
Because we are so prone to forget these things, the Lord puts us in distress to instruct us and refresh our knowledge of Him. Do not despise the instruction of the Lord. The Lord corrects and instructs the one he loves.
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Thursday, 26 April 2012 05:12 |
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[Read 1 Kings 18:19-19:18]
Elijah appeared suddenly as an embodiment of God’s wrath. Wherever he went there was destruction: draught, famine, fire, or a torrent of rain. He seemed to have dominion over the forces of nature, and among men he was the mighty one. He challenged the prophets of Baal and Asherah in a contest of worship on mount Carmel, and he defeated them by calling on the name of the Lord (1 King 18:19-39). Yet, no sooner had he defeated the prophets of Baal and Asherah, he ran for his life and asked that he might die, saying, ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life…” (1 kings 19:3-4). He became distressed. We are so much like Elijah or perhaps we should say that Elijah was so much like us.
The Scripture says that Elijah was a man of like nature with us (James 5:17). Peter confirmed this. He walked on the waters, but only to cry after that experience, Lord save me I perish (Matthew 14:28-30). It seems to be the case that after a great spiritual blessing or triumph God’s people become distressed, disheartened and sometimes bitter towards God because things did not turned out exactly the way we expected, or because of God’s humbling to protect our souls from pride, etc. (2 Cor. 12:1-10).
Moments of spiritual distress are, however, teaching moments. Paul needed to learn that the grace of God is sufficient. Peter needed to learn that he must walk by faith and not by sight. There is always something to learn during our spiritual distress. Perhaps the Lord is teaching us about humility as in the case of Paul or about walking by faith, as in the case of Peter or to delight ourselves in Him and not in some attainment. When you are spiritually distress pay careful attention to hearing from the Lord. It may even be about God’s ministering comfort to your soul.
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Sunday, 15 April 2012 19:28 |
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“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.”
(Matt. 6:33)
The order is important in seeking to provide for our families and ourselves. Reversing the order may result in one’s eternal ruin. Moreover, this is not the way to get temporal things. Seeking God first is the way. He says that if we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, all these things will be added to us as well.
This is a promise. Not only would we posses the kingdom of God and His righteousness, earthly things as well. Seeking God first is a win, win situation. There is nothing to lose, but everything to gain. After all, all the goods of the earth belong to God to dispose at His will. It is none other, but the same God who has promised that if we seek first His kingdom “all these things” will be added unto us.
Now “God is not man that he should lie, or the son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” (Numbers 23:19). Faithful is He who has promised (Hebrews 10:23).
Seeking God first is the best and sure way of obtaining ‘all these things.” All “these things” are not a reward for seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness, but that seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness includes every other blessing, even “all these things.” Now I ask, is it unreasonable to put God’s service first before provision for our families and to trust our families in God’s keeping? It is clear from our text that God’s kingdom and righteousness are our primary concern, and our lives should be ordered accordingly. Is this how your life is ordered? God has promised to add “all these things” to us.
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Saturday, 07 April 2012 06:16 |
The cross of Christ is like unto the tree that made the bitter waters of Marah sweet. Early during the exodus journey out of Egypt the Israelites encountered a situation in which they could find no suitable water to drink. The water they had found at a place called Marah was bitter and undrinkable. When they began to grumble against God, Moses called out to God on their behalf. In response, God showed Moses a tree which he threw into the water so that it became sweet and drinkable and beneficial to the people (Ex. 15:23-25).
The cross of Christ is like unto that tree – it makes the “bitter waters” of this world sweet to the soul who trusts in Christ. In this world we have tribulation, but we can take courage because Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33). Because God did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up on the cross for all of us who believe, we can be confident that He will not withhold from us any other thing necessary for our eternal good (Rom. 8:28-32). All the bitter trials of this life through the cross of Christ are made unto us sweet waters of sanctification and growing fellowship with God (Rom. 5:1-8; 8:16-18; James 1:2-4). Through His atoning death and victorious resurrection, Jesus has made even the bitter water of death a doorway for the believer into the everlasting sweetness of unhindered fellowship with God in His presence – for to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). Death, which came into this world as a bitter consequence of sin and the curse (Gen. 2:17; 3:15-19; Rom. 5:12), through Christ’s death is made a sweet blessing to us who believe, in that it becomes the doorway through which God releases us from the body of this death, issues our soul into His immediate presence free from all sin and its consequences, and prepares us for the resurrection from the dead (2 Cor. 5:1-10; Rom. 7:24-8:4, 11).
For those who refuse Christ’s offer of mercy and continue to disregard His grace to their dying breath, death remains an entrance into everlasting torment (Matt. 25:46; Rev. 14:11; Rom. 2:4-11). But it need not be so for any individual. Because of Christ’s death and victory, all who come to Christ in sincere repentance can hear the same reply as the criminal who cried out to Christ for mercy in his final hours - “You will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:42-43).
Through Christ’s death and resurrection the sting and victory of death is taken away so that we can now say, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55). Because of Christ’s victory, “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).
The cross of Christ has become the tree that makes the bitter waters sweet. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!
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