Day by Day

[Soldier4Christ]

"Climbing"

So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Him, since Jesus was coming that way. Luke 19:4
   

Climbing fits well as a physical exercise. Children’s monkey bars and swing sets provide opportunities for using many different muscles and developing coordination. Public parks provide ingenious equipment designed to encourage safe climbing. High school gymnasiums often feature a climbing rope. Military basic training usually features obstacle courses requiring superb conditioning and climbing skills.

Spiritual aerobics also include climbing imagery to describe the disciplines of the Christian life. Think of all the mountains in the Bible, and Moses, Abraham, Elijah, and Jesus Himself climbing mountains in obedience to God.

Luke, though, describes a memorable climbing incident. Zacchaeus the tax collector, an outcast and a sinner, wants to see Jesus. No doubt he feels a need for rescue from his predicament. Since he is a short man, he runs ahead and then climbs a sycamore tree for a better glimpse of the Man from Galilee. Jesus then seeks him out and brings salvation to his house. Repentant, Zacchaeus believes in Jesus as his Savior.

What a marvelous example! Are we willing to climb for a glimpse of Jesus? Do we sense our own helplessness and need for His grace? He freely offers us the salvation won for us as He climbed Mount Calvary and was lifted on the cross. Through regular Word-and-sacrament communion with Him, He supplies the strength for us to climb every mountain in our lives and scale every wall as we serve Him and witness to others regarding our Savior.

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"Leaping"

“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.” Luke 6:23
   

Leaping provides a more strenuous form of physical exercise. Aerobic dancing features leaps into the air along with stretching and jogging in place. Long jumping, high jumping, and pole vaulting take great conditioning and muscles in the legs like coiled springs. Leaping ability helps greatly in basketball, football, and baseball.

The spiritual aerobics parallel to leaping with joy connotes a somewhat different imagery, though difficult to achieve. We think of happy reunions or jubilant football or basketball players after a victory leaping for joy. What makes Jesus’ words so difficult is His point of reference. He has been describing the inevitable persecutions which will come to faithful believers. “Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man” (Luke 6:22).

What a challenge – to leap for joy when we are being hated and rejected because of our faith in Jesus. On our own, we cannot leap in such circumstances. We have no spring in our step or joy in our heart. But Jesus “for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame” (Hebrews 12:2). He brings forgiveness and new life to us with the promised great reward in heaven by His grace alone. We can join the lame man healed by Peter and John outside the temple, “walking and jumping, and praising God” (Acts 3:. We can exclaim with the psalmist, “My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song” (Psalm 28:7).

[Soldier4Christ]

"Running"

Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1
   

Running always gets high marks as a vigorous form of physical exercise. Jogging has both zealous advocates and detractors, but millions purchase jogging equipment and pursue a rigorous program of regular exercise. Long-distance running seems to provide more aerobic value than sprinting.

The writer to the Hebrews uses the running imagery as a key to spiritual aerobics. Having reviewed for us the great heroes of faith in Chapter 11, he calls for a lifelong race with the necessary quality of perseverance. Paul echoes the same thought when he writes, “Run in such a way as to get the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24). Hebrews further points to the only One who can save us, “Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). He ran the race for us and won the victory. On our own we grow weary and lose heart. We cannot continue. We sin daily. But God supplies the strength, through Christ’s death and resurrection, so that we can “run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Proverbs assures us, “When you run, you will not stumble” (Proverbs 4:12). And Isaiah beautifully promises, “Those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength … they will run and not grow weary (Isaiah 40:31).

And so we run for physical exercise, disciplining our bodies for good health. And we run spiritually with eyes fixed on the cross of Christ which alone saves us and the world. Spiritual aerobics at work in the body of Christ.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Walking"

“What does the LORD require of you? …to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
   

Spiritual aerobics suggests the importance of exercise in the Christian’s life. The next five devotions will apply physical activities associated with exercise to the spiritual disciplines of the life in Christ. We start with walking. Most fitness manuals recognize the value of regular, brisk walking for good health. I personally derive great pleasure from lengthy walks during the various seasons of the year, combining wholesome exercise with an enjoyment of God’s creation.

Scripture uses the walking imagery to describe the believer’s relationship to God. Micah, for example, condemns superficial sacrifices of burnt offerings, hiding wickedness and the exploitation of people. Instead, he tells us “to walk humbly with … God.” John communicates the same truth when he contrasts walking in darkness with walking in the light: “If we … walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:6-7).

Jesus walked the road that led to Calvary because we had stumbled in sin and could go no farther. He completed His walk by dying for our sins and rising again from the dead. Made His children through faith, we now receive His power to walk humbly with our God in service to others. Proverbs tells us, “I … lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered” (Proverbs 4:11-12).

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"Spiritual Aerobics"

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:6
   

Physical fitness rates as a much higher priority in America today than in the past. Along with greater attention to nutrition and diet, aerobic exercise has received widespread endorsement. Such exercise demands careful discipline in order to bring results.

Saint Paul in Romans 8, his great chapter on the Holy Spirit, stresses the importance of what we might call spiritual aerobics. By nature we live the wrong kinds of life-style – selfish, rebellious, disobedient. But God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful humanity to be a sin offering. He fed on the Word of God, obeyed the Father, exercised spiritually in prayer and worship, and went to the cross for us. The Spirit of God brought Jesus into our hearts in our baptism and nurtured our spiritual life through whatever Christian education we received. The Spirit of life has set us free from sin and death.

We are now free in Christ to choose a life-style of spiritual aerobics. We put to death the old nature every day and let the Spirit control our minds. We come to God in prayer. We read and study His Word. We worship with fellow believers. We confess our sins, breathing out the stale air of sin and breathing in the fresh air of God’s forgiveness in Christ. As Paul puts it, “the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.”

We need careful planning, discipline, regularity, and positive motivation in order to grow in God’s peace and joy. But the Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Jesus Christ has won the victory for us. Spiritual aerobics, letting Christ live in us and through us, works to the glory of God.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Sitting at the Lord’s Feet"

She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said. Luke 10:39
   

In the Good Samaritan story, the priest and Levite are criticized for passing by on the other side instead of helping the injured man. In the well-known story of Mary and Martha, Martha is criticized for helping prepare food for Jesus instead of sitting at His feet like Mary. How do you explain the difference?

Martha serves without sitting at Jesus’ feet. Perhaps she serves selfishly, wanting to be recognized as a good hostess. Certainly she serves anxiously. Jesus chides her gently, “Martha, Martha … you are worried and upset about many things” (Luke 10:41). Caring for Jesus, wanting genuinely to serve Him, she grows fretful and troubled, showing open irritation toward her sister.

Are we sometimes guilty of trying to serve without sitting at Jesus’ feet? We may be serving for selfish reasons – looking good in people’s eyes, trying to soothe our conscience. Certainly we often serve anxiously. We push ourselves, rush around, worry and fret as we do the Lord’s work. Like Martha we don’t sit enough at the Lord’s feet listening to His Word.

Mary sits at Jesus’ feet and learns to serve. The rabbis had students “sitting at their feet.” Only men were allowed, no women. Mary finds it a great joy to be included by Jesus. She knows the value of not living “on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). She no doubt hears about her sin, God’s forgiving love in the Messiah, and the joy of serving God every day. She sits so that she may serve.

We also need to sit at Jesus’ feet, listening to His Word. All distractions put aside, we worship, commune, and study the Word. We see Jesus as the One who became a servant for us, fully paying for our sins on the cross. Thus we let Him prepare us for joyful, genuine service.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Passing By on the Other Side"

“When he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.” Luke 10:31
   

You know the story. Too bad about a negative title, but it labels a serious problem. Man in need. Fallen among thieves. Left half dead. Two people in a position to help—a priest and a Levite, both tied to the temple and the worship conducted there. Result: both passed by on the other side, leaving him to die.

Can you relate their inaction to your life? Wife in need of caring time with you. Newspaper and television sports take precedence. You pass by on the other side. People hurting and struggling at work or school. Business comes first. Tasks pile up. Promotion needs to be considered. No time. You pass by on the other side. National and local issues scream for your attention. Abortions increase. Teenage pregnancies rise. Refugees need help. But yardwork beckons. Vacations are needed. Making money takes precedence. You pass by on the other side.

The story, though, doesn’t end with the priest and Levite passing by. It goes on to describe the grace of stopping to help. A despised Samaritan cares enough to risk his safety and attend to the man’s wounds. We all recognize him as the Good Samaritan. We could think of him as a type of Jesus, the One who endured suffering, pain, and death for us to save us. His stopping to help us, “God’s enemies” (Romans 5:10), demonstrates pure grace and forgiveness.

And helped, we learn to stop for others. Forgiven, we receive the grace to help. Not “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29) but “To whom can I be a neighbor?” becomes our question. The answer comes back: “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37). With God’s help, no more passing by on the other side!

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"In the Wilderness"

God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. 1 Corinthians 10:13
   

I’m free from Egypt. What a great miracle at the Red Sea! I walk into the wilderness with a spring in my step. We’re headed for the Promised Land! God is wonderful!

Wait a minute. I’m hungry and thirsty. How long will we have to walk? My feet hurt. Why did God bring us here to die?

Where is Moses anyway? The clouds and fire from Mount Sinai were impressive. But now with Moses gone, I’m ready for that golden calf they’re making, a chance for some joyful celebration in this dreadful place.

You say we are near the Promised Land? Spies are returning. “A land flowing with milk and honey.” Sounds great! Giants? Fierce warriors? Why did God bring us here? We can’t risk entering the land. Forty more years of wandering! What a blow!

I’m grumbling again. What a horrible life here in the wilderness! Food the same. Water scarce. Rebellion. I’m ready. Oh, no, fiery serpents! We’ll all perish! I’m looking at the serpent of brass. Thanks, God, for saving me!

I can’t believe it. The Promised Land at last! God is faithful to His promises. We have arrived at our destination.

So it is with us. We journey with high hopes. The hopes are shattered. Weary trudging sets in. We grumble and complain. We seek religious thrills outside the church. We’re afraid to risk discipleship. But a faithful God leads us from slavery to eternity along a wilderness road marked with the sure promises of salvation and lighted by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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"Humble or Harried?"

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. 1 Peter 5:6
   

Americans often make a virtue of rushing around and leading hectic lives. Full calendars, frequent business trips, and endless meetings are considered marks of success. Is it any wonder that we often feel harried?

Saint Peter sounds a warning that living harried lives, trying to do it all on our own, may signal a lack of humility. Are you humble or harried? Peter refers to anxiety as one source of harassment. We worry about money, health, family, job. Peter adds that we are harried by the devil, who “prowls around … looking for someone to devour” 1 Peter 5:. Finally, Peter suggests that harassment takes the form of suffering for Christ. Persecutions came to the early Christians because of their faith. We also may suffer when we stand up for the faith in family and community.

Peter in our text suggests that we humble ourselves. Admitting our need for help, we turn to Christ, who “humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:. We humble ourselves by casting all our anxieties on Him, for He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). He bears the burden. We rest in Him. We humble ourselves by resisting the devil (1 Peter 5:9). We know that God has caged Satan, the roaring lion, in the death of Jesus. We humble ourselves by seeing God’s hand in suffering. He makes us “strong, firm and steadfast” after we “have suffered a little while” (1 Peter 5:10).

Are you humble or harried? By God’s grace you can humbly rest in Him.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Trophies"

They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 1 Corinthians 9:25
   

I just glanced at some trophies on my bookshelves, probably in need of dusting. So many have been discarded over the years with broken arms or heads or misplaced identification plates. But a few remain to remind me of tennis victories or basketball participation. I remember once working hard to win them and then displaying them proudly. Now they seem forgotten except for an occasional glance and the fleeting memory of a triumphant hour.

How avidly we collect trophies, not just the kind that stand on bookshelves but houses, cars, jewelry, club memberships, and perhaps even church memberships. We work hard, look for opportunities, meet the right people, take risks, and then savor the victories. Very impressive.

But then we hear Paul writing to the Corinthians about dedicated athletes training rigorously for the Isthmian games to win a coveted garland crown. “They do it,” he says, “to get a crown that will not last.” And only one gets the prize. How futile the pursuit of fading crowns or trophies that will gather dust.

Paul goes on to describe a much more worthwhile pursuit. “But we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” He describes the Christian life as a race or a boxing competition. Rugged training and great self-discipline are needed for a life of service to God. But the crown of eternal life comes only from God by His grace. God’s Son came to earth for us, obeyed the Father’s will, endured suffering, pain, and death on the cross to pay for our sins. Risen from the grave, He freely offers us the crown of life. We respond by living for Him with single-minded purpose, never taking our eyes off Jesus Christ and our crown of life. Our trophies gather dust. His trophy shines forever.

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"A Well-Watered Garden"

You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11
   

Summer gardens take much work before yielding good produce. Gardeners plow, plant, hoe, and weed to prepare for harvest. But the garden needs adequate water to grow. A well-watered garden produces an abundance of beautiful vegetables.

Isaiah describes Israel as a well-watered garden. What great promise! She would first become a dry desert because of her rebellion. But then God would bring deliverance and supply the water of life to His people by bringing them back from captivity. By making them a well-watered garden, He would enable them to produce much fruit as they rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem.

In our sun-scorched world of sin, we are helpless to produce an abundant crop. But God sent His own Son as the Water of Life to die for our sins. Through our baptism God has made us a well-watered garden so that we might produce a bountiful harvest of souls won for the Savior. We receive His watering regularly as we worship with Word and sacrament. We depend on Christ for life and respond with a joyful, caring, witnessing life-style. A well-watered garden indeed!

[Soldier4Christ]

"Confused?"

The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what He was talking about. Luke 18:34
   

Confusion reigns. So many words bombard us. So many conflicting facts are reported. So many contradictory ideas are expressed in politics and religion. So many life-styles surround us.

Are you confused also about your faith? Do you wonder why we have so many different world religions and denominations within Christianity? Do you struggle as to whom to believe? Do you have difficulty understanding God’s will for your life?

The disciples also got confused. Jesus had just told them that He was going to Jerusalem, where He would be arrested, beaten, and killed, and then would rise again. Luke tells us, “The disciples did not understand any of this.” Why the confusion? They had been walking with Jesus for an extended period. He had communicated quite clearly about Himself and His purpose for coming. But still they were confused. Why? As sinners, their minds were clouded. They could not grasp that Jesus must suffer and die to save them. Thank God that Jesus journeyed to the cross and saved them anyway! Then they began to understand the Scriptures correctly.

We often don’t understand either, despite the fact that as baptized Christians we hear His Word on a regular basis. We, too, are sinners with clouded minds, preoccupied with a selfish way of thinking. Thank God that Jesus still died for us! Now He opens also our minds to understand the Scriptures as we gather around Word and sacraments. The more we look to Jesus and absorb His Word, the more the confused, contradictory ideas of the world fade away and we clearly see our Savior. Confused no more!

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"Complaining?"

“I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.” Job 10:1
   

How common our complaining! The weather always seems too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry. We always need more money and more time. We complain about sickness, job stress, family conflict, church coldness, and garbage collection. Then when serious problems of an extended duration arise, we complain on a deeper level.

You know the serious plight of Job, who suddenly lost his possessions, his children, and his health. Sitting in rags on a dung heap, he faced stark reality and cried out in the words of our text. He did not understand, and asked God why he was suffering. He tried to maintain his own innocence and wondered when God would vindicate him.

Ultimately Job learned not to complain but to accept God’s authority as Creator. He also learned to trust in God’s love for him. No human arguments can suffice. We sin and deserve nothing but punishment. Like Job, we voice our complaints against God and others. We despair of ourselves and wish to place the blame on someone else. God silences also our complaints. We realize that we are sinful and that God is holy. But with our complaints silenced, we listen to His voice and hear a word of love. His Son endured all the pain, injustice, and punishment of a sinful world. No complaints from His lips. Silent before His tormentors, He went willingly to death on the cross for us. He lives, and so shall we. Complaints transformed to thanksgiving and praise!

[Soldier4Christ]

"Complacent?"

Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria. Amos 6:1
   

Last year’s World Series champion often struggles to win again. So easy to rest on past accomplishments! Complacency. Top management sometimes relaxes after climbing the corporate ladder and coasts toward retirement. Disastrous results. Complacency. Confirmed Christians frequently take it easy in worship attendance, Bible study, witness, and service. Their relationship with God and with other believers begins to slip. Complacency.

The prophet Amos writes to both Judah and Israel with a bold message against complacency. He describes their lives of ease – lying on beds inlaid with ivory, dining on choice lambs and fattened calves, strumming away on harps, and drinking wine by the bowlful while both countries, wicked and rebellious, are headed for destruction. Amos condemns their pride and self-satisfaction. He calls them to repentance and trust in the promised Messiah.

Amos’ words rock our complacency as well. We drift away from God and His Word, filling our lives with trivialities and selfish pursuits. We forget about God’s plan for the world and our key missionary role in that plan. Complacency shattered by the reality of God’s judgment, we turn to the One who came for us, always intent on His saving mission. Never complacent about the father’s plan or the opposition of Satan, He went to the cross and finished the work of paying for our sins. Even now He hears and forgives. And we, complacent no more, live for His purposes.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Backbone"

Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men!” Acts 5:29
   

We lack backbone. We bend, compromise, give ground, sell out, and look the other direction. Society preaches a new morality, abandons long-held standards, and lives permissively. Abortions on demand, pornography, corruption in high places, and ruthless business practices abound in our country. We lack the courage to stand up and be counted. Spineless wonders!

In the first days after Pentecost the disciples of Jesus faced stiff opposition from the religious establishment. Peter and John were arrested, brought before the Sanhedrin, and told to keep quiet about their faith in Jesus Christ. They could have played it safe and gone underground. They could have compromised their convictions. But by God’s grace these apostles displayed backbone. Arrested again for preaching Christ crucified, they replied, “We must obey God rather than men!” They continued boldly proclaiming the good news of Jesus. Ultimately their confession of faith cost most of them their lives as martyrs. But God used their testimony to build the church on the solid foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ as the chief Cornerstone. No spineless wonders, the apostles!

We confess our lack of backbone because of our weak, sinful flesh. He points us to His courageous Son, who endured the cross, despising the shame. With backbone He drove the money-changers out of the temple and exposed the sham of the Pharisees. Risen, He offers us forgiveness and strength to stand up for Him and obey God rather than men. Reinforced by regular use of Word and sacraments, we step forward with backbone to proclaim Jesus as Savior and Lord in today’s society. No longer spineless wonders!