There is a passage in the New Testament that gives a perspective on all that has occurred in the pages of scripture.

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4 – NIV 2011)

Everything that was written is there for three purposes.

The first is to teach us.  They are there to show us what God wants from us and how to live to please him.  Those old scriptures teach us the need for a savior and how God planned for one before he provided him. 

Second, the Bible encourages us to endure in our faith.  We can read of people’s lives like Job, Moses, Abraham, and Elijah and see how they held onto their faith through many difficult circumstances.  Hebrews chapter eleven focuses on these extraordinary lives of faith who endured because they believed God was guiding them.

Third, we can look at their lives and all they endured to find hope.  The pages of the Old Testament are filled with stories written to provide us with hope ultimately.  They are not dark stories of defeat and wrath, but rather the experiences of people who held onto their faith in the dark lights of the world. 

I find this last one incredibly important to us today.  Every day it seems like evil is winning, and the darkness is overcoming the light.  Many days it feels like I am living in the time of Elijah, and I cry out to God that I feel like the only one who follows him.

On those days when it feels like you are alone and don’t know if you can complete this journey with God, we have stories to encourage us.  Turn to the pages of the Old Testament and read about someone who lived a life for God and made it to the end.  There is hope, even when things seem hopeless.

It is popular in Christian circles to talk about taking a Sabbath.  I hear my preacher friends say it all the time. I see it in articles directed a Christians and notice the phrase spreading out across all the followers of Jesus. 

Every time I hear someone say this or read it in print, the hair on the back of my neck stands up.  There is this uneasy, almost angry feeling that grabs my soul when people express this thought.  What they are trying to say is, “You need to take a day off work, or you need a vacation or some time to rest.”  Instead of saying it that way, we try to give it a little religious dressing to avoid feeling guilt over their lack of busyness. 

In the Old Testament, the Sabbath was not taking a day off so you could mow the grass, go to the lake or watch sports.  The Sabbath started at sundown on Friday.  The family would go to the synagogue and spend some time listening to the words of scripture, having them explained, praying, and possibly singing.  Then you went home and rested.  Until sunset on Saturday evening, you and your family did absolutely nothing.  I mean nothing.  Zilch.  Nothing.  Nada. 

The Pharisees of Jesus day had created oral traditions surrounding what it meant to do nothing.  That is one of the debates they are continually having with Jesus.  He walked too far, and he healed. His followers picked and ate heads of grain.  He and his followers did too much.  For them, having a Sabbath meant you rested from all your work and felt no guilt about it.  It was perfectly acceptable to lie around all day.  Everyone was to relax, nap, talk and watch the world go by for an entire day. 

Wrapped up in this practice was this vital lesson.  Do you really believe God can run the world without you?  Do you think he can provide you with enough food to take a day off?  Do you believe that he is great enough to make your life work without your activity on this one day? 

Today we think of Sabbath in terms of rest, and I know that is part of the purpose dating back to the creation story.  But it is also a time of building trust, according to the Exodus story.  Most people I know are happy to take a day away from paid work, but God does not factor into it.  A true Sabbath is about resting safely in the arms of God. 

As I look back on my life, there is so much that I would do differently.  I have information I did not have when I made the earlier decisions in my life.  My experience has shown me the flaws in my choices.  I am a different person in so many ways than I was years ago. 

The weird truth is that one day I will look back on the decisions I am making today and think, “I should have done that differently.”  Because, once again, in the future, I will have more information and experiential knowledge that I do not have today. 

All of us are afraid to make mistakes in critical areas of life.  We hesitate, pray, ask advice, worry, plan and prepare to the best of our ability.  Yet you will never make entirely correct decisions, and that is okay. Instead, make the most informed choices you are able to and move forward in faith that God will be there to get you through. 

Sure, if I could relive yesterday, there would be many changes I would make.  One day I will wish I could relive today too.  Instead of replaying the past, focus on making the best choice you can today while continuing to trust God.  Faith is asking God to take your good and bad decisions and use them for his glory and your good, no matter how you will feel about them one day. 

In a court case, there are three types of witnesses. One is an eyewitness. They saw what happened, and they recall it to the court. The second type is an expert witness. They come to provide the courtroom with data from their years of education and experience. The last type is a character witness. These people can testify on behalf of another person’s positive or negative character traits and reputation in the community.

Let’s imagine you were going to court, and the first two had given their testimony. Who would you call as a character witness for you? What would they say about you? What would serve as their proof?

One day we will all stand before God and give an account for our lives. Many of us will claim the name of Jesus as our Savior. I wonder, are there any character witnesses who could back up that claim in your life? God knows everything, so maybe you don’t need a witness, but you will need to have something to back up your claim.

When Covid first hit, people, expressed to me how good it felt to slow down.  With everything canceled, they had more time for the things that matter most in life. 

Now we are over a year beyond the shutdown we had in my area.  I have noticed that everyone is busier than ever.  Schedules are packed with all the events that they did not get to do last summer, along with new adventures for this one.  They are busy every morning, noon, night, and weekend. 

I heard a preacher say that one way he knew he was too busy was when he was pacing, back and forth, waiting on the microwave.  Our parents used to wait an hour for a baked potato.  The setting on my microwave allows one to be done in four minutes.  And still, that last thirty seconds take forever.  In fact, usually, there are seventeen seconds left on the timer as I finally decided it was done enough and take it out a little early.

School activities are picking back up.  The calendar is quickly becoming packed with all the events that keep us busy.  One challenge for this fall is to regain some of your covid lifestyles, like taking the time to focus on the important things in life.  When your microwave is not fast enough for you, then you definitely need to slow down.  It will be good for your family and your soul. 

Most people listen for a reason. 

We listen because we hope to gain information that we did not possess before the talking started.  We lean in to hear words that we hope will transform our school grade, make us more productive, and better ourselves. 

Also, we listen to give a response.  This happens when we tune in while a friend is talking so that we know the proper advice to give.  We want to gather all the facts so that our wisdom will be informed as we try to help other people. 

Some people choose to hear and yet not really listen.  The words go through their ears but never make it to their brain.  If you are like me, you smile and occasionally nod your head in agreement, but your mind is on something completely different. 

The other day I came up with this definition of a true friend.  A friend is someone who listens for no reason.  They know your stories and are not looking to gain new or helpful information.  They understand they will probably not benefit from what you are telling them.  They do not listen to give advice unless specifically asked.  And they do not just hear; they actually listen to what you are saying. 

A friend is someone you can have a good conversation with, and there are no strings attached.  No one stands to gain anything other than human connection.  Friends listen, and that might be the greatest gift we can give one another.  

“Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.” (2 Chronicles 21:20 NIV 2011)

The writer of the book of Second Chronicles has been walking through the lives of the kings.  He comes to Jehoram, one of the kings of Judah, and he tells about the end of his reign.  Then he adds one unmistakable line. He states that he passed away “to no one’s regret.” In other words, no one was sad to see him go. 

The Message Paraphrase of the Bible says, “There were no tears shed when he died – it was good riddance!” I love the imagery.  This man passed, and no one shed a tear. Instead, there were comments at his funeral of good riddance. 

What kind of a man must Jehoram have been?  Not even his family loved him enough to be sad when he died.  No friends.  No loved ones.  No one cared.  How tragic? 

This man was given a life on this earth.  He was given a position of prominence, and it came with wealth and power.  Apparently, he used none of it for good. So the final result was the no one was sad to see him die and be buried. 

Perhaps one of the signs of living a godly life is that people are sad to hear of your death.  My prayer for you and me is that there will be at least a handful of people who regret our passing when this life is over.  I want our lives to have touched others positively.  I hope that when we die, it will be with much regret. 

There are two sides to every situation.

There is always a downside. It’s a negative; glass is half empty viewpoint. This creates stress, worry, and despair. If you look closely, you can see how everything could go wrong, and this could be the worst situation ever.

Also, there is always an upside. It’s a positive; glass is half full perspective. This creates smiles, laughter, and joy. If you look closely, you can see how everything will work out for good, and this could be the experience that makes life better.

There are two sides to every situation.

YOU get to CHOOSE which viewpoint you are going to take. The situations are always the same, and the only difference is your perspective on it.

Evil exists in the world.  The darkness of evil is ever-present, attempting to corrupt God’s people and lead everyone into sin.  This darkness can be present in significant actions like murder and rape, but it is also seen in acts of anger, gossip, sexual immorality, and greed.  Evil has many forms, and all of them are destructive. 

Paul writes to the Church in the city of Ephesus, and in the fifth chapter, he is telling them about making changes in their lives for God.  There are activities to stop doing and other things to start doing.  He then says that we are to stop living in darkness and begin to live in the light of the Lord.  Next, he adds, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11 – NIV 2011)

One thing a believer is to do is avoid evil. It’s another thing to expose the corruption that others might be accepting as good. 

This is not a call for people to be mean-spirited toward others with judgmental eyes.  It is not an excuse to boycott people and things with signs and shouts.  Later in that same chapter, Paul states that “everything exposed by the light becomes visible.” I believe it is an appeal for Christians to shine the light of truth found in God’s word into the world.  How do they shine that light? When they elevate their standard of living to match Jesus, the world will see the failure of their choices.     

The more we try to live each day for Jesus and in the power of his Spirit, we move away from what Paul calls “the fruitless deeds of darkness.” We will also shine a light on those around us, showing them the failure of not walking the same path.  When a believer’s life is not different from an unbeliever’s, we are failing ourselves, and those around us will suffer from a lack of light.  In both cases, darkness prevails.  

All of us want to know what the Bible means for our lives.  Most don’t read it for trivial information about a world long past and customs long forgotten. Instead, we spend time on its pages because we believe it has something for our lives today.  Within its books and chapters are lines of instruction, encouragement, hope, help, advice, and the wisdom to let us know God and ourselves better.  It is not a dead book from an ancient world, but a living document meant for us today. 

The problem is that the Scriptures were not written specially to us.  They document the event of ages long past that the ancient reader would understand.  They contain historical events along with divine commentary.  Someone wrote the pages for someone else in history to receive.  So to understand them correctly requires the hard work of proper interpretation. 

A tension exists for anyone who wants to know God’s word. First, you must work to understand what the author originally meant before you can accurately apply it today. 

While writing this post, I took a quick scan of social media.  The good news is that I saw numerous verses of scripture shared by people of faith in various ways.  The bad news is that several of them were out of context and violated their intended meaning. 

I know we want to share our faith, but we need to be sure we are doing it the way God desires.  Our rush to apply it to our present circumstances may do more harm than good.  God wants us to know him, but there are rules to reading his word and understanding it properly for today.