In fact, during Jesus’ ministry, he told the disciples, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34) That doesn’t sound very peaceful, does it? The controversy over Christmas that remains today is that Jesus divides people over opinions of who He is and what He did and can do for the world.
We spend too much time in life trying to decide who and what we should be and which decision is best for us? Should I vote Democrat or Republican? Should I go to a state school or a private university? Should I be Baptist or Nazarene? Should I go to that movie or not? Do I trust that pastor (or blogger) or some other who seems to contradict?
The life of a believer is not always rosy. I’m quite sorry if you are new to the faith and that surprises or disappoints you. Sometimes the outside world assumes that because we claim to know God personally that we have somehow risen above the stresses of life. That is far from the truth.
Let me try to explain. Throughout the 16th chapter of Exodus, Moses recounts the story of the Israelites gathering manna, which were thin flakes of bread. Every morning, each person gathered the manna by a measure called an omer. For 35 verses in chapter 16, if you are inquisitive like me, you are wondering, “Moses, what is an omer? How much is that?”
So why do I share this? Well, it gives you another pie recipe you can try, but really to illustrate that, if you don’t follow the directions carefully, your recipes will fail. So it is in the Christian life, or any life for that matter. God has a plan. He has spelled it out in His Word. If we follow it, we will experience rich reward. His first command is to “love the Lord with all our heart”. Then, we are told to “love your neighbor as yourself”. The rest of the commands are in the Book. We aren’t saved by works and we don’t remain saved by works, but Jesus said “If you love Me, you will do as I command.” So our proper response to God’s love is obedience. In fact, it’s how life works best.
In our recent series “Hunger” at Grace Community Church, I shared a system I have used for spiritual growth that has helped me mature. I had numerous people ask me the following week to describe the details of my “system”. It really isn’t anything scientific or deeply thought out, but has helped me greatly.
It started like this. Years ago I was explaining to a friend that I was at one of those “trying to discover God’s will” points in my life. I have been there many times before and will be again. His advice was something like, “Maybe you need to start with a blank piece of paper and give God ample space to plan out the rest of your life. Make yourself completely available to Him.” That made a lot of sense. I left our meeting, however, with a very probing question for myself. Did I really have blank piece of paper?
I read a strong reminder for those of us that have the responsibility of preaching God’s Word, but I think it’s applicable for all of use. These are Jesus words to us from The Message Version.
In the Biblical days of Solomon, bird hunters would spread a net on the ground, baited with food for the birds. As the birds would fly down for dinner, the hunters would pull up the nest quickly, capturing many of the birds. Birds are smarter than one might think, though. If they saw the hunters laying down the nets, they wouldn’t land and so they wouldn’t be caught by the trap.
Today, maybe even for just a couple moments, I am reminded that I can take God all my burdens…He can handle them without fret, with complete patience, and without getting angry at my insufficiencies.
