Day by Day

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"What Jesus Has Promised"

"Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28
   

In his first speech as prime minister of England, Winston Churchill said, "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat." It was the time of World War II.

What does Jesus have to offer as our Leader and Lord? He speaks with frankness: "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me" (Matthew 16:24). Again, this: "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). Our Lord did not say anything new. Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve into sin, words similar to those of the prime minister and of Jesus, our Savior, have been spoken to mankind in its state of spiritual warfare with God.

If this were all that could be said, no one would want to follow Jesus. But there is much more to say. If it were not for Jesus and His saving work, this is all there would be to life: blood, toil, tears, and sweat. Since God's own Son came into our world to take all the misery of sin on Himself, a great change has come about. Now those who follow Jesus are richly blessed. For them there is now no sword or warfare in their relation to God, but perfect peace and reconciliation.

It is a by-product of that peace that we can be at peace among ourselves. In our fellowship with God as His sons and daughters, and with ourselves as brothers and sisters, life's toils and tears turn to joyful service to Jesus. The sweat of the brow in which Adam and his descendants were to earn their bread is wiped away because in another garden Jesus agonized to the point that "His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground" (Luke 22:44). And what happens to our tears? To His people God declares in a promise as good as fulfilled: "[God] will wipe every tear from their eyes" (Revelation 21:4).

So we say, "Yes, Lord Jesus, we hear Your invitation and accept it gladly: 'Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest'" (Matthew 11:28).

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"We are Protected"

"From within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly." Mark 7:21-22
   

High above us and about the earth is the ozone layer that protects us against the ultraviolet rays of the sun. God, the Creator, planned a universe in which the forces of nature are balanced in such a way as to make life possible. Troubles ensue when people tamper with this balance. Floods, forest fires, droughts, the loss of living species, and other imbalances often result from our mismanagement of nature. Sending pollutants into the high levels of the atmosphere can lead to dire results.

Our natural world is often a mirror image of the spiritual sphere in which we as Christians live. The ozone situation is a case in point. The fall of the human race into sin resulted in total pollution. Think of what Jesus said, "Out of men's hearts come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly" (Mark 2:22). As these sins proceed out of the heart, they create a wide-spread, high-rising contamination of human society.

To make it at all possible for Christians to survive in an immoral world, God in His wisdom and love made provision to shelter His people from the destructive "ultraviolet rays" of His Holy Law. This Law, so Holy Scripture testifies, demands, threatens, condemns, curses, and kills. It reflects the holiness of God. But God is not only holy and righteous, He is also merciful and gracious. He sent His Son, none other than our Savior Jesus Christ, to atone for all sin. For "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The Gospel of Christ's reconciliation is our protective shield. It is our spiritual "ozone layer." As long as it is there and our faith in it continues, we are safe. Thank God for His saving Gospel!

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"Free of Debt"

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins." Acts 2:38
   

Heavy indebtedness, to say the least, is a great hindrance. It keeps the debtors from getting ahead. Most citizens cannot comprehend the federal government's debt that runs into the trillions. But they can understand the handicap when nearly a fourth of the revenue collected goes to servicing the debt. The money used for this is taken away from needful items in the budget.

The effects of personal indebtedness are the same. Many persons cannot get ahead because of their debt burden. They need to cut corners, leading to all kinds of deprivation.

Even worse is spiritual indebtedness. Every person born into the world is a sinner, a debtor. Our condition of original sin leads to sinful action. The debt of sin, both as condition and as action, is huge--infinitely more burdensome than what any sinner-debtor could pay for. When Jesus in a parable describes a man as owing his master ten thousand talents, that is, several million dollars, He implies that everyone's life, spiritually speaking, is so deeply in the red that no significant restitution can be made. An accompanying evil is always that the burden of sinfulness keeps people from fulfilling the purpose for which they were created: to live to the glory of God.

All that we can do is to say, as the Latin has it, "Pater, peccavi," "Father, I have sinned." When such a confession is made, together with the confession: "I believe that Jesus Christ, true God ... and also true man ... is my Lord, who has redeemed me," then our debt before God is totally cancelled. Then, when we pray, "Forgive us our debts," God does just that. Then we are free of all spiritual debts, free to forgive our neighbor also, free to dedicate our lives to the service of Jesus Christ.

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"Good Judgment with Faith"

Hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:5
   

"Build it and they will come," says a young farmer to his wife in the movie "Field of Dreams." So he prepares a baseball park in a cornfield. As the story unfolds, players from the past come to life, and spectators do arrive--all in fantasy, of course.

How extravagant can we become in our dreams, our plans for the future, our hope for better days? Christian faith allows us--yes, bids us--to expect great things from God. But God has also given us reason, a mind. He wants us to exercise good judgment in all things.

In our prayers we may come with all boldness and confidence before our heavenly Father as, in Jesus' name, we make our needs and desires known. As we do this, we exercise our faith so that, whatever our suffering, we produce perseverance, and perseverance produces character, and character produces hope, as Saint Paul teaches in Romans (see Romans 5:3-4). That is how we Christians grow in godliness. That is how we maintain the upward look of faith as we keep our feet on the ground.

In harboring and expressing our hopes, desires, and dreams, we do well to remember what God has promised to grant us. He will not grant us things that are harmful, foolish, or fanciful--not a thriving ballpark in the midst of a cornfield. We may pray for temporal gifts: good health, a beautiful home, a well-paying job, and everything that comes under "daily bread" in the Lord's prayer, but we pray for these things with the condition that God should grant them if they are good for us and in accordance with His will. We let God choose the time and manner in answering our prayers.

For spiritual blessings, on the other hand, we pray unconditionally, knowing full well that He wants us to have them: forgiveness of sins, strength to serve Him, strong faith, and hope. Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, once for all suffered on the cross so that we might have them.

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"Faith Amid Life's Troubled Waters"

Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. Psalm 69:1
   

When Marco Polo, an early world traveler, returned to Venice, he had a hard time making people believe that the mighty, 3,000-mile-long Yangtze River in China was in places so wide that one could not see the opposite bank. Big rivers, in flood stage, grow even wider and seem like inland lakes.

So it is with the rivers of trouble. Their threatening waters sometimes seem so wide that the other side cannot be seen. Then comes more rain, making it utterly impossible to cross over in our frail boats.

Joseph in Egypt saw his problems multiply, making them seem like the flooding Nile. Sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers, he was falsely accused of sexual harassment by Potiphar's wife and was committed to a foul dungeon (see Genesis 39). For pious Job, there was no end in sight as a whole series of afflictions befell him. He exclaimed, "Man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward" (Job 5:7). For him the sparks led to a total conflagration of the life he had known.

Undoubtedly all of us have been in situations when we exclaim with the psalmist, "Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck" (Psalm 69:1). Troubles beget troubles so that amid the inundation we cannot see the other side. But God did not forsake us. He assured us of His saving help. Our Lord does just that when we pray, "While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high. Hide me, O my Savior hide, till the storm of life is past."

God will stand by us also in the future. He will stand by His promises. This fact remains, "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all--how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:31-32). So, when we, in the hymnist's words, "tread the verge of Jordan," we can bid "our anxious fears subside." In the end God will "land us safe on Canaan's side."

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"Fellow Citizens"

In Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13
   

A man from an English-speaking country who was visiting Rome supposedly said that he enjoyed the sights, then added, "What I don't like is that there are so many foreigners here." He meant the regular inhabitants.

Every country, of course, has foreigners in its midst. Their presence is sometimes requested, unless they are tourists who bring business and then return home.

First-century Christians in the Roman Empire were regarded as disloyal and dangerous because they refused to offer incense to the deified Roman emperor. They were regarded as obnoxious foreigners. But it was all a mistake. Christ and the apostles taught their followers to be obedient, tax-paying citizens, rendering to Caesar what was his. They must, however, obey God rather than man when the government enacts laws contrary to God's Word.

While functioning as good citizens in the land, Christians are always citizens of a kingdom that supersedes all kingdoms: the kingdom of Jesus Christ. This latter is a kingdom of grace in which sins are forgiven to all who have faith in Christ, the Reconciler. It is a kingdom in which all believers, regardless of their station in the world, are equal. They are "fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone" (Ephesians 2:19-20). This kingdom of grace, also called the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, blends into the kingdom of glory, heaven. It is as the hymn writer states, "The saints on earth and those above but one communion make."

Christians are brothers and sisters in Christ. They are one. No one will claim, here in Christendom on earth nor in heaven above, as the visitor in Rome supposedly did, "There are too many foreigners here." All are fellow citizens in Christ's kingdom.

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"How to Think About Ourselves"

Offer your bodies as living sacrifices. Romans 12:1
   

The Farmers' Museum near Cooperstown, New York, houses among its exhibits the stone image of a man more than 10 feet tall. It is known as the Cardiff Giant. The museum describes it as "America's greatest hoax." Unearthed in 1869, it was at first believed to be evidence that once "there were giants in the earth." It turned out to be a giant deception.

Satan often resorts to a hoax to get people to think wrong things about themselves, such as the delusion that they stand 10 feet tall because of their accomplishments and wisdom. In the Garden of Eden he told Eve that she would be "like God, knowing good and evil" if she ate the fruit of the forbidden tree (Genesis 3:5). Eve believed this over-statement about herself. The message to all is this: "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought."

We are also taught the opposite: Do not think of yourself less than you ought. Some of God's people have at times done this. It was a great distortion--a hoax in the other direction--for the majority of the Israelite explorers of Canaan to come back to Joshua with the report: "All the people we saw there are of great size. ... We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them" (Numbers 13:32-33). Fear and pessimism were speaking here, and surely it came about by Satan's prompting.

How are we to regard ourselves? As sinners indeed, but also as persons wonderfully created by God, totally redeemed from sin and death by Jesus Christ, and made saints when the Holy Spirit gave us the saving faith through the Gospel. This is God's work in every Christian, regardless of age, station in life, or physical stature. One need not be a "Cardiff Giant" to do the great things Saint Paul urges: to offer our bodies and minds in devoted service "as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God" (Romans 12:1).

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"The Word Gets Through"

Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 2 Corinthians 11:28
   

There is a familiar saying concerning messengers of ancient times; "Neither snow, nor rain, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

An even greater tribute must be given to the apostles whom Jesus appointed to go into all the world to deliver the Good News of salvation. One could draw up a list of things that did not deter them. Neither the great distances involved, nor the indifference of many hearers, nor the hatred of the enemies of Christ's cross could keep them from completing their mission.

Such a list is contained in Saint Paul's recital of the dangers to which he was exposed: five floggings, three beatings with rods, a stoning, three shipwrecks, dangers in cities and in the country. The list was not even complete when he wrote it, and he had many more hardships to endure, including a martyr's death in Rome. But despite every hindrance, the apostle delivered his message that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15).

Through the centuries, neither snow, rain, nor gloom of night has kept Christ's messengers from proclaiming the Good News. They crossed "field and fountain, moor and mountain," using the available media of communication. At the time of the Reformation, Martin Luther's theses in defense of the Gospel spread over Germany in two weeks and in four weeks over all Christendom, thanks to the printing press. It seemed that the very angels themselves had been the messengers. As a matter of fact, the bearers of good tidings in all lands have been people, in most cases ordinary people.

Also in our day God speaks to our generation through His pastors and people. Through them He speaks the message of salvation in Jesus Christ, His Son.

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"A Life of Obedience to God"

How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your Word. Psalm 119:9
   

There are many ways of perverting and subverting the truth. One way was indicated by a university researcher who wrote, "Television emphasizes the deviant, so that it becomes normal." Abnormal behavior is represented as perfectly in order.

Another way of obscuring truth is the attempt to replace it with an outright lie. The devil tried it in beautiful paradise when he flatly contradicted God: "You will not surely die" (Genesis 3:4). At another time, in a most desolate region, he suggested to Jesus that He was not the Son of God. Satan perverts the truth also about himself. He, the prince of darkness, often poses "as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). The devil teaches people to pervert the truth, as Saint Paul writes in the opening chapter of Romans: "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator" (Romans 1:25).

We come back to the same theme: Deviant behavior is claimed to be normal. The same researcher writes, "Our culture used to give us boundaries. Today, there are no boundaries. Nothing is forbidden anymore." Because society no longer lays down moral and ethical guidelines for conduct and for making right choices, it becomes all the more important for us to study God's Word and follow it. The psalmist asks, "How can a young man keep his way pure?" He replies, "By living according to Your Word" (Psalm 119:9). This is sound advice for every Christian, regardless of age or gender. Saint Paul writes to young Timothy that Holy Scripture "is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16).

Through the Gospel we are drawn closer to Jesus Christ. He declared His love for us by setting an example of obedience to God and then offering up His life to bring us into communion with God. Drawn by this saving love, we gladly walk in His commandments.

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"Faith Founded on Facts"

We were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 2 Peter 1:16
   

Fantasy, appeal to the imagination, fiction stories--these have a place in life, especially for children. Poets, authors, and composers provide the fictional wherewithal in and through the various media. Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) uses the "Nutcracker Suite," a ballet, to tell the story of a little girl and her magical Christmas gift, a nutcracker, that comes to life and takes her on an adventurous trip to the Land of Snow and the Kingdom of the Sugarplum Fairy.

Fantasy, while appropriate in the field of art and entertainment, is out of place in religion if the idea is to deny that the truths of the Christian faith are based on historical facts. Already in apostolic times some people claimed that the teachings of Christianity were myths and fables. Therefore Saint Peter declares, "We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:16). He goes on to say that he and the other apostles were eyewitnesses of Jesus' ministry, especially eyewitnesses of His revealed glory as God's Son.

Jesus Christ is for real. He, the Son of the Highest, became incarnate and lived as a true human being among people. For this we have the back-up testimony of Saint John, who writes that the disciples saw Him with their eyes and touched Him with their hands. God's Son truly became flesh, born of the virgin Mary. He truly suffered under the historic figure, Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, was buried, and on the third day rose again.

Jesus Christ is not make-believe. The beautiful Christmas story of His birth is no myth. His deeds of love, many of them done with miraculous power, are not adventure stories. The angels who announced His resurrection are not sugarplum fairies. While we enjoy the music and narrative of the "Nutcracker Suite" and other masterpieces, we bear in mind that the story of Jesus and His love is the truth and that, believing in Him, we are saved.

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"Making Friends"

"I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves." Luke 16:9
   

An old saying in India has it: "If you're going to live by a river, make friends with the crocodiles."

Some places in the world are more dangerous than others. And some places, also some occupations and lifestyles, have special kinds of perils connected with them. Foresight is therefore important.

In a parable Jesus has an owner commend a dishonest manager for having acted with foresight when he made provision for his future. Jesus did not praise the manager for his dishonesty--he had the debtors falsify their account, thus currying favor with them as his future benefactors. Jesus praises him for his foresight, making the point that Christians likewise should look ahead to eternal life in heaven, there to be joined by those whom they have befriended. Many people will be in heaven because established Christians told them about Christ's salvation. Established Christians do this, not in order to be saved, but because they are saved. They do not merit heaven by good deeds; heaven is already theirs because of Christ's redeeming merit.

It is important to ask, What special hazards attend my life and my life's vocation? And if Christians know what they are, what provision are they making to protect themselves? If they handle the company's money, what are the "crocodiles" that are ready to devour them? What are the moral pitfalls in school, in the home, in the community?

The important alternative is: How can we turn things around so that the temptations for evil will become opportunities for doing good? God is pleased when His people live circumspectly. He tell us through Saint Paul: "Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-16).

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"God Answers Our Prayers"

May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice. Psalm 141:2
   

Will our thoughts this morning be the same this evening? And when the day ends, what will be our longings? Edgar A. Guest expresses this wish: "I don't want to stand with the setting sun, And hate myself for things I've done." Edgar A. Poe, another poet, anticipates the solace of sleep: "For the heart whose woes are legion 'Tis a peaceful soothing region." Thomas Ken penned those familiar lines from "Tallis' Canon:" "Forgive me, Lord, for Thy dear Son, The ill that I this day have done; That with the world, myself, and Thee, I, ere I sleep, at peace may be."

Believers mentioned in the Bible have looked ahead toward evening. The psalmist wants both his daytime and evening prayers to be acceptable to God: "May my prayer be set before You like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice" (Psalm 141:2). Many times God reveals His love at eventide.

Consider that first Easter day when two disciples were walking to Emmaus and the as-yet-unidentified Jesus joined them. They wanted Him to be their guest. "Stay with us," they said, "for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over" (Luke 24:29). Christians throughout the world join Cleopas and his friend in wanting Jesus to spend the night with them. They know that His edifying words would open the Scriptures to them.

Saint Paul's concern is similar to that of the poet Guest, cited above. He doesn't want the emotions of the day, if evil, to be continued into the night and beyond. He writes, "Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry" (Ephesians 4:26). If the events of the day provoke anger, especially in situations involving a co-worker, it is best to make peace then and there.

As we look toward evening, we likewise ask Jesus to be our guest, our dear visitor, whose words will renew our faith in Him as our Savior from death and sin and as our Lord risen from the dead.

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"The Slain Lamb"

"On the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family. ... All the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight." Exodus 12:3, 6
   

When coal miners took canary birds with them into the deep underground, the idea was not to hear them sing. The birds were to give them warning. If they died, the miners knew that a deadly gas was seeping into that area of the mine.

Animal-rights advocates do not approve of any misuse of God's lesser creatures. But what about using human beings to one's advantage, even taking their lives to enhance one's own position? That is exactly what King Herod did when he ordered the little boys of Bethlehem killed. He hoped to dispose of the newborn King of the Jews whom the Wise Men came to worship. To maintain his throne, Herod believed, the toddlers had to die (see Matthew 2:1-18).

Some 33 years later the high priest Caiaphas and his colleagues were afraid of losing their position to the same Jesus. They said, "If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation" (John 11:48). So from their viewpoint, they sent Jesus to the cross for their own lives and livelihood.

But God had the last word. By His overriding will, Jesus was the Lamb of God sacrificed for the sins of the whole world. This truth was anticipated throughout the Old Testament. Animals, including birds, were brought as offerings. These sacrifices, of course, did not have the power in themselves to atone for sin, for the epistle to the Hebrews clearly states, "It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Hebrews 10:4). It was always true, then as now, that the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God, cleanses us from sin. The sacrifices that Old Testament believers brought derived their forgiving power from what Christ was to do.

Canary birds in coal mines undoubtedly saved human lives. The virgin Mary at her purification had the choice of offering "a pair of doves or two young pigeons" (Luke 2:24). In brief, animals, including birds, have played parts in the overall unfolding of God's plan for our salvation.

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"God Remembers"

As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him. Psalm 103:11
   

If the St. Louis-born T. S. Eliot (1888-1965), who found fame in England as a poet and essayist, were to return to his boyhood home, he would find a large parking lot. Very likely, he would not be remembered by anyone.

The above is a very common experience of people who revisit the scenes of their childhood. In this respect, people are very much like flowers--perishable. The psalmist declares, "As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more" (Psalm 103:15-16).

People are often forgetful. This is something Joseph experienced in Egypt. In prison he interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh's cupbearer. The baker was hanged, as Joseph said, but the cupbearer, who was spared, "did not remember Joseph; he forgot him" (Genesis 40:23). How human! But two years later, when Pharaoh had haunting dreams, the cupbearer came forward and said, "Today I am reminded of my shortcomings" (Genesis 41:9). He then suggested that Joseph be brought from prison to explain the king's dreams.

All the while there is Someone who remembers. The psalmist goes on to say, showing contrast: "But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD'S love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children's children" (Psalm 103:17). God remembers us, however old we get and wherever we live. God's saving love in Jesus Christ attends us throughout life.

The God who remembers us is the same God we came to know in our parental home and whom we worshiped with simple childhood prayers. He is with us still. He recalls what we ourselves may have forgotten. But He does forget something--our sins, for which Christ died and of which we have repented. This is His promise: "I will be their God, and they will be My people. ...I will ... remember their sins no more" (Jeremiah 31:33-34). We thank God for His short memory in this regard.

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"We Live for Christ"

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21
   

In "Don Quixote" the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) tells the story of a would-be knight who wants to do good things, in keeping with the ideals of knighthood. He wants to right every wrong and to dream the impossible dream. So he goes ahead and tilts at windmills, regarding them as evil giants.

Many people want to have a worthwhile mission in life. So they espouse causes and become crusaders. It is an axiom in physics that nature abhors a vacuum. This appears to be true also in a spiritual sense. Human nature, when it is no longer filled with religion, tends to make a "religion" out of secular causes.

We find many instances of this in the Bible. A spiritual vacancy, in many cases, was filled with something less than a worthwhile social cause--filled instead with pride, selfishness, and greed. Judas Iscariot was undoubtedly a believer when Jesus called him as an apostle. But as the ardor of faith and love left his heart, "Satan entered" (Luke 22:3); Judas became a mercenary, then a betrayer. Money became his "messiah," silver his "savior," and hoped-for-gold his "god."

How important it is that we continually be filled with the Holy Spirit, leaving no room in our hearts for evil spirits to enter in! It is indeed proper for us as citizens to support necessary projects in the public domain. But we don't want secular causes in society and state to take away or compromise our commitment to Jesus Christ as our topmost priority. We want to keep saying with Saint Paul, "To me, to live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21). And we have good reason. Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us. He is the object of our affection. To spread His saving Gospel in the world "on the wings of the wind" (Psalm 104:3) is our mission. This is far better than tilting at windmills to find meaning in life.