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Joshua 1:1-9

25 Aug

1 After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. 3 I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you— 4 from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ 5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.

6 “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. 9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:1-9

Dear God, a dear friend posted a picture of her daughter getting ready for her first day of 4th grade today and said that the daughter was nervous. Apparently, however, the daughter has been memorizing Joshua 1:9: This is my command–be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

I decided I wanted to look at that verse and put it in context. Who is talking? Why are they saying it?

Well, it’s you talking. And you have a message for the newly appointed leader of Israel post Moses’s death, Joshua. You are telling him:

  1. It’s time to get going into the Promised Land.
  2. You are going to give them great success and help them inhabit the land completely.
  3. Be strong and courageous (verse 6) because I’ve chosen you to lead Israel through this time.
  4. Be strong and courageous (verse 7) and make sure you obey me (this will become important later).
  5. Study the Book of Instruction (are these the things Moses got from you in Exodus when he and Joshua went up to the mountain and Moses disappeared into the fire?).
  6. Finally, be strong and courageous (verse 9). Do not be afraid or discouraged because I’m with you.

For this little girl, it’s time to go to school. It’s go-time. You will be with her so she should be strong and courageous. And I know her parents will encourage her to study our version of the “Book of Instruction” (the Bible) and to obey your commands. They are wonderful people.

As for me, I know you want me to be strong and courageous, but what exactly do you want me to do? There are seemingly so many possibilities at work. I could lead our nonprofit in any number of directions. What are you calling us to do? What is our Promised Land? I think that sometimes we can get ourselves into trouble trying to create a Promised Land and not waiting on your timing. It’s a fine line. In Joshua’s case, because of Israel’s rebellion, you had to wait until Moses and his generation were gone. He was ready to be strong and courageous back when he and Caleb were spies with the other 10, but only they were ready to take the land. He was strong and courageous, but he also wasn’t the person at the top. It’s easier to be strong and courageous when there is someone above you who has the ultimate responsibility. It might have been a little harder for him to gather that strength and courage since he was not in charg.

Father, keep me from being foolish, but also keep me from being lethargic. Help me to be strong and courageous at work and in my personal life. Lead through me. Guide through me. Love through me. Bring your kingdom to earth and your will to earth through my life and the life of your church. Make me just one of billions who will represent you to our neighbors.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 25, 2020 in Joshua

 

Revelation 21:22-23

24 Aug

I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light.
Revelation 21:22-23

Dear God, I can only imagine. “Surrounded by your glory, what will my heart feel?”

I saw that the New Testament reading for the Catholic Church today was in Revelation. I don’t normally read Revelation. In fact, I find myself avoiding it because I just don’t know how to get my head around it. It’s a little like physics or even a circuit board for electronics. It’s like trying to understand how “time” works. I know those things are out there. I know I need them and they are important. But it’s hard to see the value in understanding everything about them. It’s enough to know it’s there. It’s enough to know you have this figured out. My job is to love you and love others. The rest will take care of itself.

Father, I might have the wrong attitude about this. Perhaps I should care more about the content and imagery in Revelation. If I should, please put it on my heart, and then give me a pathway into understanding the messages you want me to take from it.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 24, 2020 in Revelation

 

Exodus 2:1-10

23 Aug

1Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman.2The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. 3When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. 4His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

5The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. 6When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him, “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. 7Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. 10When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Exodus 2:1-10

Dear God, I don’t have the time to do it right now, but I really want to spend some time with Andy Stanley’s “Not In It To Win It” sermon. Maybe I’ll do it later when I’ve finished some other work. But I just keep coming across this concept lately–losing to win. The Israelites lost for hundreds of years for this very moment. All of the centuries of slavery led to the birth of Moses. Joseph (Jacob’s son) lost to win. Even Hagar. Job. David. Jesus. It’s there over and over again.

So it makes me wonder why we try to so hard to win. Why do we struggle for dominance and power? Why do we struggle for security? Why do we struggle to be right and prove others wrong? We have placed much too large of an importance on our own lives. I doubt people in third-world countries think as much of themselves and the impact their voice should have on the world as we do. I think that’s one thing that social media has given us–a false impression of the breadth of our influence. Ninety-nine percent of us only have influence on our immediate sphere, but somehow social media makes us think we have a platform. In reality, the only people listening to our opinions on social media are those who already agree with us. Everyone else stopped following us a long time ago.

Father, My life needs a complete paradigm shift. You’re getting me there. I can feel it. I’m sorry for my confusion from day to day. I’m sorry for feeling overwhelmed and not just looking to you for wisdom and direction. I”m sorry for my sin and selfishness. Thank you for the people who suffered to give me what I have. Help me to not squander what I have and to be willing to take a step back, to lose a battle, so that you might ultimately win the war, whether it happens in my lifetime or not. I guess that’s why I will not be afraid. Take the November election for example. I really don’t know which candidate will bring about your plan. I certainly know my preference, but I will not fear if my preference does not win because I know that your plan is much more thoughtful than mine could ever be.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 23, 2020 in Exodus

 

What would Jesus say to this?

20 Aug

Dear God, I was having a texting conversation with a friend last night. He is someone I met on a vacation over three years ago, and we have kept in touch through Facebook.

Anyway, we were talking last night and he wanted to know what Jesus would have to say about a lot of the wrongs happening in the world. In this particular case, the thing on his mind was corruption he witnessed firsthand at a food distribution for the the poor. He saw volunteers taking food before the needy were able to go through the line, and it disgusted him. He finally walked away.

So what would Jesus have to say about all of this? My reply to him was to listen to Andy Stanley’s sermon from last Sunday called, “Not it it to win it.” This man isn’t a Christian so I know it was a tall ask. He’s very likely not going to listen to Andy’s sermon, but I’ve listened to it three times this week, and I plan to sit with it and pray through it over the weekend.

The big thing I think Jesus would do right now is rebuke the church. Andy told the story from Luke 9:51-56. Jesus was wanting to stay in Samaria, but the Samaritans didn’t want him and his entourage there. James and John then asked if Jesus wanted them to call down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans. Jesus’s response was to rebuke them and press on towards his crucifixion in Jerusalem.

Why do I think Jesus would rebuke the church right now? Because Andy is right. The church has fallen into the worldly trap of wanting to win. We want to win the battle for influence and power. We want the world the yield to our way of thinking. We want to exercise political power and defend it when it starts to slip away. We want our morality to be legislated throughout the earth, and to do that we need more power. To get that power, we need politicians who will do our bidding, whether we believe they are Christians or not. If they say they will support our morality then that’s all we need to know. In chess terminology, if they will give us their queen, they can have most of our chess pieces. Then the world will be the place we want it to me…Oh, I mean you want it to be (sarcasm implied).

What would be included in Jesus’s rebuke? Frankly, I shudder to think of what he might have to say to his church. What he would have to say to me. But I’m pretty sure he would start with something close to the parables he taught about the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is something that starts from the bottom and grows from a grassroots level through love, the receiving of your grace, and then the sharing of your grace with others. There are moral standards in there to be sure. There is a need for asking for forgiveness of you. But these are what we need to do to be free. The kingdom of heaven is also like people who don’t care about their own rights and delight in the progress of others (see the parable of the workers hired at different times of day, but all were paid the same amount). And the kingdom of heaven is like the man who found it and sold everything he had to attain it because it was worth more than all he held on to.

Father, I’m about to go and do a prayer walk around one of our school district’s campuses that includes the high school, the primary school, and the district’s administrative building. Put my head into the right place as I do this. And better prepare me to answer the question, “What would Jesus have to say to this?” I want to always be about pointing others to you. Oh, and forgive me. Forgive us as the church. Help us to turn loose of our quest for power and influence so that our morality might be forced upon people. Help us to turn loose of that idol. Help us to turn loose of the idol of the Supreme Court, the President, the Congress, and any other person we think will do our work for us. Help us to do the work you put in front of us for your glory’s sake and not our own.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 20, 2020 in Luke, Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

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Philippians 1:20-24

18 Aug

For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.

Philippians 1:20-24

Dear God, the church just simply doesn’t feel this way right now. It feels like it’s all about living and having influence and power. We want to have influence over our society. We want to force our agenda from the top down. But that is not what the New Testament seems to model for us. For Jesus, the kingdom of heaven was always about grassroots movement. For Paul, it’s all about living a life that will ultimately be sacrificed for your glory.

I wish I knew more about church history over the last 2,000 years, but it seems to me that when the church has been most powerful is when the church was the most corrupt. See the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. See the televangelists who work so hard to have power and influence. On the other hand, some of the most genuine times have been when movements started from the ground up. The Maranatha movement of the 1970s. Promise Keepers in the 90s. And even Promise Keepers, when it started to gain power decided to try to influence society instead of influencing one person at a time.

I spoke with a Christian friend last night about whether we vote for the person for president or for the political platform. Do we depend upon government to be our influencer through ideology, or do can we allow ourselves to vote for the person who seems to be more our kind of person regardless of their ideology. I told him that I though there was a case to be made for the church not looking to the government to do its work, but to take the work upon itself.

Father, when it comes to this election, or even the work I have to do today, I don’t know if my philosophy is correct or not. What is the right thing to do? I don’t know. I’m just going to do the best I know to do in my life today and then let you take care of the results. I do know that you have given me a specific role to play in the world around me, and I don’t want to let you down. So if that role means suffering. If that role even means dying, I will consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may reach the goal and finish the task you have given to me. The task of testifying to the gospel of your grace.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 18, 2020 in Philippians

 

2 Corinthians 10:12-18

17 Aug

12 Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!

13 We will not boast about things done outside our area of authority. We will boast only about what has happened within the boundaries of the work God has given us, which includes our working with you. 14 We are not reaching beyond these boundaries when we claim authority over you, as if we had never visited you. For we were the first to travel all the way to Corinth with the Good News of Christ.

15 Nor do we boast and claim credit for the work someone else has done. Instead, we hope that your faith will grow so that the boundaries of our work among you will be extended. 16 Then we will be able to go and preach the Good News in other places far beyond you, where no one else is working. Then there will be no question of our boasting about work done in someone else’s territory. 17 As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”[c]

18 When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.
2 Corinthians 10:12-18

Dear God, when I really sit and still myself before you, the limits of who I am–who I truly am–come crashing down upon me. I am a broken human who is so grateful to have a God that loves him. I am keenly aware that You are the potter and I am the clay. Yes, there are times when I want people to adore me. I want to be appreciated and admired. I want to be acknowledged, not for anything in particular, but for who I am. I would love to have a spider looking out for me like Wilbur did in Charlotte’s Web, promoting me and telling people that I am:

  • “Some [man]”
  • “Terrific”
  • “Radiant”
  • “Humble”

I have to say, my wife would be very proud of me for making a Charlotte’s Web reference. She loves that book. But the thing is, Wilbur was better than me because he wasn’t really trying to be anything. He was truly humble, and that humility radiated into radiance and terrific-ness.

In this passage, Paul seems to have had his fill of arrogance from others and accusations of arrogance. I really like the part where he says they are boasting by comparing themselves to themselves, “using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!”

Father, in this moment, I just want to worship you. I want to give you all of the glory and be content with sitting in your shadow. I want to be at peace with my life, regardless of the circumstances. I want to somehow transcend looking at the world through my own eyes, but seeing not only the visible world with your eyes, but also the powers and principalities that you see that I cannot. I’ll never do anything of that if I try to boast or bring glory to myself. It never works that way. It didn’t work that way for Wilbur and it won’t work that way for me. Help me to love. Help me to love you and love others beyond any love I receive from others in return.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 17, 2020 in 2 Corinthians, Uncategorized

 

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Genesis 11:26-12:4

16 Aug

After Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. This is the account of Terah’s family. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot. But Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, the land of his birth, while his father, Terah, was still living. Meanwhile, Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah. (Milcah and her sister Iscah were daughters of Nahor’s brother Haran.) But Sarai was unable to become pregnant and had no children. One day Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram’s wife), and his grandson Lot (his son Haran’s child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans. He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled there. Terah lived for 205 years and died while still in Haran. The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

Genesis 11:26-12:4

Dear God, maybe we aren’t as great as we think we are. Maybe, sometimes, we are just convenient to your plan.

It’s interesting that Genesis doesn’t really give us any great insights into why you chose Abram. I imagine it had something to do with the fact that he was pretty much willing to do any weird thing you asked him to do.

  • Leave your family and go where I tell you (to be disclosed later). Okay
  • Listen to Sarah and send Hagar and Ishmael off to seemingly die. Okay.
  • Sacrifice your son on an altar to me. Sure.

I would imagine that the people around Abram/Abraham thought he was pretty weird. A religious zealot. But you gave him credibility through the blessings you gave him so I would imagine that was enough reason for the people around him to go along with him.

Is everything I just typed heresy? I don’t know. Maybe. But then I think of Paul. It certainly wasn’t his love for Jesus or goodness that made you call him. It was his zeal that you knew you could redeem and redirect for your purposes (is that more heresy?). Samson? Well, Samson was just a mess of a person, but certainly your person for a specific time. It certainly wasn’t his goodness or love for justice and mercy that earned him your favor. Jacob? A scoundrel if ever there was one, but you had some specific plan for this clan spawned by Abram through Isaac and Ishmael. Thousands of years later, and these are the two dominant religions in the world.

It makes me think of a Rich Mullins song called “Who God is Gonna Use.”

As part of the intro to this YouTube video he said, “Some people say, ‘Rich, don’t you feel like a phony talking about Christ?’ And I say, ‘No, I don’t because I don’t believe Christ loves me because I’m good.'” Then he goes on to sing about all of these people in the Bible you used about whom there was nothing particularly Godly. Balaam’s donkey. Pharaoh’s daughter who found Moses. Esther. Pilate.

So what’s my point in all of this? I think it’s that I can let go of any search for significance and rest assured that whatever significance you want my life to have you can accomplish with or without my decision to be significant. My job is to love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love my neighbor as myself. I’m called to do that because you deserve that. As to my worth in your kingdom, one day you will hold me accountable for what I did or didn’t do with my life.

“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
Matthew 25:31-40

I’ll admit that I don’t try to solve every problem I see. I don’t think there is any way that I possibly can. But then again, that is why you have the body of Christ and not just me. My job is to be sensitive to what you are calling me to do.

Father, give me ears to hear and eyes to see. Help me to not embrace my own posterity, but to embrace you. Help me to also see others through your eyes. Help me to not judge. To not assign a “kingdom value” to them. I would have totally discounted Abram, Jacob, and Samson. There are national leaders whom I discount now. I definitely have my opinions about who should win the next election for president, and I will vote that way, but I can also recognize that I don’t know your heart on this and I will trust that you are working out a greater plan that I cannot see even if it looks on the surface like we are taking two steps backward.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 16, 2020 in Genesis, Hymns and Songs, Matthew

 

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“The Kingdom of Heaven is Like…” — Matthew 25:14-30

13 Aug

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Matthew 25:14-30

Dear God, I’ll admit that I’ve never liked this one. I’m good with the people who got paid the same for different amounts of work. I’m okay with the virgins who got locked out because they didn’t prepare to bring enough olive oil for their lamps. But this poor fellow who started out with low ability and then didn’t want to disappoint you by losing what he was given…I don’t know. I feel bad for him.

But even as I typed that I started to wonder (and I know this isn’t a real guy, but a parable), what did he do with his time after he buried his one talent? Did he work? Did he just sit around and talk to people? I would say that Jesus’s intimation here is that he was lazy wicked (verse 26). He did nothing with his time. So what am I doing with the time you’ve given to me? What am I doing with the ability you’ve given to me? The resources? The blessing?

Father, I saw a pastor ask on Facebook earlier today, “Does anyone think it is wrong to seek power for the sake of power?” I have never seen in any of these passage from Jesus about the kingdom of heaven the idea of accumulating power. The kingdom of heaven is described as a treasure that is worth everything I am to attain. He describes it as something that starts at a grassroots and then the power of it grows organically and attracts others to it. And he talks about the responsibilities the kingdom’s citizens have to love, forgive, work, and be ready, by loving you and loving others. Assuming I am one who has already given all that I am (as best as I know how) to you, help me to be someone who contributes to the growth of your kingdom through the organic nature of love and service, and to always be ready by doing what I can with what you are.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 13, 2020 in Kingdom of Heaven, Matthew

 

“No Words”

12 Aug

“No Words”

Those are the first two words of my favorite Sara Bareilles song, “Uncharted.” No words.

My wife has a friend who has a terminal cancer diagnosis. What does one say to that friend? Are there no words? Or do I just not have them? I too have a friend who has what will ultimately be terminal cancer. I don’t know how long he has to live and I don’t know what his path is like. Does God have words for him that I am supposed to deliver, or does he just offer me?

There is a ministry in some churches called Stephen’s Ministry. These ministers are trained to just be with people through their situation. To sit. To be present. To love. Not to fix. Not to solve. Just to be a physical presence on God’s behalf, sharing life.

One of the tragic things we can do in a difficult situation is force the words. More often than not, when we try too hard to say just the right thing, it ends up being exactly the wrong thing. When we had our miscarriage 25 years ago today, some well-meaning people told us that it was God’s will or that something must have been wrong and there was a reason. Oh, just be quiet and sit with us in our pain. Just be present. Allow there to be no words.

“No Words”

I won’t try to speak
I’ll simply be here for you
You won’t be alone

 
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Posted by on August 12, 2020 in Miscellaneous, Musings and Stories

 

The Kingdom of Heaven is Like… — Matthew 25:1-13

11 Aug

“Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. “At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’ “All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’ “But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’ “But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’ “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’ “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return.”

Matthew 25:1-13

Dear God, I am tired of waiting for your return. I’ll be honest. I try not to think much about it. So what does that mean? Who does that make me in this story? Am I a bridesmaid who fell asleep with extra oil, or am I a bridesmaid who fell asleep with no oil?

I think it’s safe to say that I’m in good company if I’m asleep. But even if I’m asleep, am I ready for your return? Am I doing what I need to do?

I read a social media post yesterday from a pastor I respect, but it was all about political parties and how one should be favored over the other because it encourages hard work. I couldn’t help but think about the scripture I read the day before about the parable of the workers who were hired at different times during the day. Then I thought that, to some extent, it’s apples and oranges to compare them, but I finally wondered, “What would Jesus say to that post? If he were here right now, what would he say about it?” Then my mind started to wander into thinking about what Jesus would have to say to me about any number of things I do or say throughout the day. No, I would say that I’ve definitely gone to sleep, and I am glad I don’t have to face Jesus in person on a moment-to-moment basis. I’m not sure I could hold up.

Father, I hope I’ve brought enough oil to get me through the night. I hope that even if I’m asleep, you’ll at least find me waiting at the door. I might not be the best worshipper, prayer, studier, listener, preacher, teacher, husband, father, son, brother, uncle, friend, boss, employee, etc., but I hope the fact that I’m trying to bring what I have to the table every day is enough. I do love you and I know that I need you. I guess that’s a start.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 11, 2020 in Kingdom of Heaven, Matthew

 
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