Good Thursday morning! The sun is shining today! By August my tune will probably change to something like: The sun is up, got the shades down to manage the heat as best I can, hope fall comes soon, boo-hoo. The seasons come and go, but sometimes not soon enough for our impatience. Last night I read in Genesis 1 a surprising thing. Did you realize that the plants were created before the sun and moo? Did the plants grow well in darkness? Perhaps not, the Spirit of God hovered over the waters, perhaps it was not dark like we imagine. Oops, that should be 'sun and moon', the cows wouldn't arrive until the sixth day. In writing I should go back and correct my mistakes, but sometimes it's better to just have fun with them. On the other hand, if it was dark until the sun first came up, then God provided for the plants.
We often worry about our state of financial affairs. That is a nice way of saying we worry about money too much. God has promised to provide for us and Jesus commanded us not to worry about what we will eat or wear. You're worrying about rising food costs or your clothing for the next big event, aren't you. Something about stating that very thing the Bible says usually sets me to worrying in just the way I am not supposed to worry. A talent for worrying is not what I want to present to God at the end of my life. "Yes, Lord, I tried to do lots of good works, but I was just so good at worrying that I spent most of my time doing that instead." Ouch, that hurts. I shouldn't write quite so personally.
I have it on good authority however, that the Bible was not written for me alone. Evidently worry is a problem for a lot of folks on any given day. I have found that when Jesus took the time to address an issue to his disciples or to the people gathered to hear him that the issue has always been a common one. We all struggle with worry, sexual immorality, money, materialism, idolatry, and all those other things that the Bible calls with one simple name: sin. Not one of us is alone in our struggles. You come to believe in Jesus, and the struggle with your carnal desires begins in earnest. Well, God has provided for that too!
In the first part of 2 Peter you will find: He has given us everything we need for living a godly life. What? Then why do I struggle so much with the lusts of the flesh? Well, you do still have your flesh, don't you? God didn't immediately change our flesh so that we no longer feel hungry, thirsty, or the urge to mate. We don't often think that when we came to the cross we were signing up for service in God's army, but there it is. As soon as the Holy Spirit moved into our life, your flesh and my flesh went to war with the better nature God began building in our lives. As the Holy Spirit put up a new wall, the flesh came along at night and started knocking holes in the freshly painted drywall. The wall was to keep the flesh from seeing the temptations of the world, but the flesh wanted to see more. God gave us a great set of spiritual armor, but the flesh likes to put down the shield of faith, and raise the visor of that helmet of salvation to see what is going on in the world. We know that the world is just waiting for that, and its prince will pounce on us in those under-guarded and under-armored moments. The fight with the flesh will go on. Listen to Jesus; he is everything we need for living a godly life.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend for those of you getting started today. Family is coming to my house. If you want to tell them stories of a humbling nature about me... just stay home until they're gone, okay!
Bucky
No comments:
Post a Comment