Your Vow With God...

Make vows to the LORD your God, and perform them; let all who are around him bring gifts to the one who is awesome. (Psalm 76:11)

I read a story that was about the very bashful young man who was hesitant about demonstrating his affection for his sweetheart. "Oh, but that I were an octopus," he said one night, "that I might wrap all eight arms around you." His impatient sweetheart replied, "Don't worry about having eight arms. Just make better use of the two arms you already have." That is what we must do in doing the work of Jesus Christ. We shouldn't worry about whether or not we have the gifts to follow. We simply need to use what gifts we have to follow Christ and to do God's will.

Doing otherwise is simply a waste of time.

Dear God, may I realize more fully today the wonderful gifts you have given me. May I respond to your call in fulfilling your will for my life in touching your people with love and forgiveness. In Jesus name, Amen.

Called by God...

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (I Peter 2:9)

There are lights that flood a room and reveals that which is hidden. There are lights that shine as a fixed reminder of eternal truths. There is another kind of light, however. It is the search light of compassion and concern. It is the light that moves out into the darkness to seek the lost. This is the light of the shepherd who leaves the ninety and nine and goes out on the hillside to find the one sheep who is lost. It is the light a woman shines looking for a precious coin. It is the light of a loving God who will not let us go. Halford Luccock asked his two granddaughters what they wanted for their birthdays. "Give us a world," they responded. Soon he deduced that what they were asking for was a globe. So happily granddad went shopping for a nice large globe that would spin and would be an attractive addition to their room.

Expectantly, he waited their pleasure on their birthday as they opened their gift from him. Somehow when the present was opened, however, he sensed they were disappointed. "What is the matter?" he asked. "I thought this is what you wanted." "Well, yes," said one of them, "but we were kind of hoping for a lighted world." Immediately he understood that what they wanted was a globe with a light inside.

"I can fix that," he said. "Let me take it back and exchange it for a lighted one." Unfortunately the store where he bought the globe did not sell lighted ones. So he got his money back and set out to find a lighted world rather than a darkened one. Finally, he located a globe with a light in it, bought it and presented it to his granddaughters, who were delighted. Telling a colleague about this, he was asked if he had learned anything from this experience. He said, "Oh, yes. I learned one thing. I learned that a lighted world costs more."

A lighted world does cost more. It cost God His Son. If we are serious about letting our light shine in today's world, it will cost us something as well.

God of love, with Jesus as my inspiration, may my light shine brightly in this often dark world. In Jesus name, Amen.

Follow Him...

If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
(Luke 9:23)

Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz once said, "I've been on the top and I've been on the bottom. At Arkansas my first year, we won the Orange Bowl. Then everybody loved me. "They put me into the Arkansas Hall of Fame and issued a commemorative stamp in my honor. The next year we lost to Texas, and they had to take away the stamp, because people kept spitting on the wrong side of it. Life is full of highs and lows, and for many of us it is hard to be humble. But when we deny our own pleasures and desires, and put God first, then we begin to understand what is really important. Being filled with God's desires of love and hope.

Jesus tells us today, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." The cross here is a very important symbol. Carrying the cross means we carry a burden of helping others, it means God is important, it means we have hope, it means we have forgiveness, it means we use our financial resources to help others, and it means we want to share God's love, forgiveness, and hope with our family, our friends, and our co-workers.

When we deny ourselves, we put God first.

Dear Jesus, you gave up so much for me. Now, guide me as I deny my wishes for yours. Amen.

To Do His Work...

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. (Mark 8:32)

I read a story once of a Sunday School class that was talking about heaven. A little girl said, "If you are good, you'll go to heaven." A little boy asked, "Where do you go if you are bad?"
The little girl replied emphatically, "To the principal's office."

Choosing to go God's way is not so much about being good or bad, but it does have a lot to do with who guides our lives God or our own desires.

In our scripture reading today, Peter says to Jesus, "You're crazy." You are not going to suffer and die. You see Peter and the disciples had a different idea about what the Messiah would be like. He saw the messiah as an earthly king or president, who would restore Israel's freedom and power. The disciples were looking for their own desires to be met, not God's desire that Jesus would become the savior of the world.

We are being asked today to choose who we will follow. There are many surveys that say lots people in our society believe in God. But belief in God does not constitute living God's way. For when we live God's way, we will be willing to suffer with those who suffer, and we will make sacrifices so that God's work will get done in and through the church.

Loving God, help me say yes to serving you in every way possible. In Jesus name, Amen.

Forgive and Let Go...

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. (Matthew 6.14)

One of the hardest tasks any of us has is to forgive someone who has hurt us. Leo Buscalgia tells about one of his students who was jilted by her boyfriend. The young woman felt both hurt and rejected. At the time she felt she would never get over it. In her confusion she didn't understand her intense feelings to cause him harm in some way. It is a natural to want to hurt someone who has hurt us. This young woman had never been so hurt before in her life. Deep down, though, she knew she had to forgive. As she wisely put it, "I'm the one in pain, so I'm the one who's got to do something about it!"

She would have to forgive the young man for her own sake. Her pain was so intense that she was unable to study or concentrate. At her lowest point she even contemplated dropping all of her classes. She tried to build new relationships but failed. Finally she realized that if she wanted to go on with her life she would have to forgive and forget. And she did forgive. No longer is she a slave to her anger, spite, hate, and hurt.

It's hard to forgive someone who has hurt us. We think of ways we could get even. Sometimes we just want to write the person off and ignore them as if they no longer exist. It's difficult to forgive. And yet the one thing we all have in common is that we have all been hurt by someone else. It may have been intentionally or accidentally, but we've all been there. How we respond is the key.

Dear God, help me to forgive and let go. In Jesus name, Amen.

To Be like Him!

"When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt." (Matthew 18.24-27)

Jesus told a parable. A certain king wanted to settle accounts with his servants so he called them in one by one. There was a servant who owed the king ten thousand talents - a vast sum of money. It would be impossible for the servant to ever pay off his debt. He would have to work 150,000 years to earn ten thousand talents. The average person could not even comprehend such a gigantic sum. Jesus exaggerates the figure deliberately. He wants us to see that the servant could never pay the debt off no matter how hard he worked, no matter how much over time he put in, no matter how many weekends he worked. It was downright impossible.

The king was ready to sell the servant along with his wife and children into slavery because he could not pay his debt. The servant fell on his knees and pleaded with the king. "Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything." Out of pity, Jesus said, the king forgave the entire amount of the debt. The servant was free. The only thing he owed the king was a big thank you. What a relief! He and his family would not be sold into slavery. He was free. Thanks to the goodness of the king he didn't owe a cent.

We don't run into such a generous attitude very often. When we do, it makes our day.

The king in this story represents God who sent Jesus to pay our debt. What an awesome gift! Our response should be generous too in our forgiveness and grace to one another.

Lord Jesus, may I be as generous as you have been to me. Amen.