Tag: life

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Care for Your Gifts of Body and Life

Holy Father,
The Ten Commandments are intended to be a blessing, not a burden. You have given us the precious gift of life, as well as marvelous bodies to carry out your will and your work in this world. While your grace and mercy compel us to protect your gift of life and to care for it, so often my own selfishness puts my body and life and the bodies and lives of others at risk. I neglect the care of my own body, disregarding what I eat, and making choices that put my health at risk. My body is a temple, and I dishonor you when I fail to properly care for it. And, while I may never have taken anyone’s life physically, since you view hatred toward others on the same plane as murder itself, I am guilty. 

You, on the other hand, valued life so much that you gave up the life of your only Son for the lives of all others. Having been spiritually raised up from the dead to this new life, now give me that same appreciation for life and the opportunities you give me to care for and to protect my own life and the lives of others. Help me to see and to embrace all the ways I can honor and serve you and others with my body and life.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

The Best Bread

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(John 6:24-35)

There are a lot of good things to be said for being more aware of our diet and nutrition in America, of having a better sense of what is going into our bodies and what effects certain ingredients have on us. However, such awareness is not without its consequences. One of those is that we end up taking the results of this study or that headline to the extreme when it comes to either the positives of negatives of a certain ingredient or type of food. So, rather than approaching food sensibly, in moderation one direction or the other, we go to extremes. We either over-do it on this miracle superfood that promises to help us live to 120, or we completely eliminate something that an “expert” warned could send us to an early grave if we have too much of it. One of the victims of our health-conscious, carb-cutting culture has been bread. We order our burger without the bun. We scoop our bagels. We don’t eat the crusts on the pizza.

That general perception in our culture that bread is nothing more than extra, unnecessary carbs could have a negative impact on our understanding of the imagery Jesus used in his teaching from John chapter 6. We may not as easily relate to the main point Jesus is trying to emphasize by using bread as his focal point, which is simply that bread represented a dietary staple. 

In Jesus’ day, and still today in many places all over the world, where Grub Hub or Door Dash don’t exist to bring directly to your door any delicacy or delight you crave at any given time, bread is essential. It represents one of the most basic needs in life. Elsewhere in his teaching, Jesus does the same thing in comparing himself to water; it is a basic need for life. So even though we may go days or weeks so much as a crumb of carbs, don’t let that conceal the main truth of Jesus’ teaching: just as bread is a basic need for life, so also – albeit on a much grander scale – is Jesus!

As we listen to Jesus teach, certainly we wouldn’t question his teachings on salvation or eternal life. After all, where would we expect to find a more qualified expert to speak and teach on salvation than the Savior himself? When Jesus speaks on the matter of forgiveness and salvation, we listen and believe, because he is the authority on the subject. 

But let’s also realize something else about the authority and author of our salvation: if he is the expert on such things, then wouldn’t he also be the most qualified to warn us about the most dangerous threats to salvation? In other words, Jesus’ warnings are not just fringe possibilities or long shots to forfeit our salvation, but are in fact the most serious threats of which we need to be aware. So let us listen to Jesus, not only when he speaks of the stuff of eternal life, but also when he warns us about that which seeks to rob us of it.

In the first part of Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse, we see quite clearly the warning Jesus provides. “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (v.27). Here is the question with which we are forced to wrestle if we want to appreciate all of Jesus’ teaching: are you working for food that spoils? Before you answer that question, we have to clarify what Jesus is emphasizing. We have to look at his warning as he sets it up in contrast to the “food that endures to eternal life.” 

Jesus isn’t throwing out a blanket prohibition against all of our personal pursuits or passions in this world. He isn’t saying the olympic athlete driven to be the best in the sport is sinning. He isn’t saying it’s wrong to want to advance your career. He isn’t saying you can’t have nice things. What he is saying, though, is that when our drive for those things surpasses or overshadows our pursuit of the food that endures to eternal life, then we have a problem.

With that understanding, we can ask the question again: are you working for food that spoils? What (or who) is it right now that you really really want? What do you have to have? What is receiving the bulk of your time and energy? What is consuming your thoughts? What will crush you if you can’t eventually get it or have it? What might even be a permissible reason for you to justify setting aside your integrity or ethics to get it? What are you willing to make significant sacrifices for as you seek it out? However you might answer any of those questions could be the indicator that you’re working for food that spoils.

And you know what happens to food that spoils, don’t you? Look at what happened to the Israelites who gathered too much manna in the wilderness (Ex. 16). It was covered in maggots! What a powerful visual aid for anything, everything, we could possibly work for or pursue with our short time here on earth that isn’t the stuff of eternal life! That’s what it all will come to! Whatever it is you’re burning the candle at both ends for will not amount to anything. It will all spoil and be gone. 

If it has hit you that you’ve been working for food that spoils for some time in your life, that’s the first step in turning things around. But beware – it’s very hard to give that up cold turkey and trade it in for the bread of life just like that.

Another pleasant visual aid that illustrates this can sometimes be found when bringing in your trash bins from the curb after they’ve been collected. Even after the trash has been emptied from the bins into the garbage truck, depending on what’s been in the bin all week, it isn’t uncommon to peek down into the bottom of the trash bin and see squirming maggots still hanging around. The trash is gone, but its effects are lingering.

So when it hits us that we’ve been giving our lives to working for food that spoils, and in repentance we want to turn things around, be aware that the effects of having worked so long for food that spoils can linger for a bit. It takes time to get rid of it.

But admitting that I’ve been working for food that spoils is the first step. Once I realize that, I can come to grips with how fruitless that endeavor has been, and how fruitful it will be to work for food that endures to eternal life.

Jesus had the crowd’s attention. While they didn’t fully understand yet, they did want to know what that looked like. They wanted to know what Jesus considered to be the kind of work he was calling for. “Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’” (v.28). While curious about turning things around, they still couldn’t detach themselves from the concept of working and pursuing and pleasing. 

This is understandable, given the essence of their religion, which was all about keeping laws and following rules. The Jewish faith emphasized obedience and righteousness and holy living. But, while these are all good things, they are not and never will be salvation things. They don’t save. People today who still share the sense that good people go to heaven are clinging to a work-based salvation. But good works for salvation is not only impossible; it’s also not what Jesus is after. There’s another “work” that is far more important. 

Jesus spelled it out for them. “Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent’” (v.29). Jesus’ take on work was not about what you had to be, but rather who you had to believe. That’s what God was after because that’s the only way God saves – through belief in his Son through whom salvation is secured. Believe in him and you are working for food that endures. And, even as Jesus is imploring his listeners to believe, notice who gets the credit for that work – even that is God’s work! When belief – faith – is created, it is always only God’s work, not ours.

No, we aren’t saved by works; we are saved by believing in Jesus. But you may wonder, since believing is a relatively simple thing, why can’t we then carry on with our daily lives and continue pursuing our other interests and goals in life, the stuff that possibly qualifies as the “food that spoils” which Jesus warned against? If I believe, and that is enough, and that is the work God requires, well count me in. I believe! Good enough, right?

Yes, it is good enough. But here’s the problem: you aren’t.

You aren’t good enough to sustain or maintain – let alone grow in – that belief, that faith. Think of a simple flashlight. It has one task. In shines light. And it will do that one task well and it will do that one task for a long time. But eventually you’ll notice the light from that flashlight begins to dim a bit. It isn’t quite as bright as it used to be. Once that happens, the rate at which it dims seems to accelerate until finally, there is no light. The flashlight stops doing its one job. Why? It’s time to recharge it or change the battery. 

We are not unlike that flashlight. We are called to shine in our faith. We really have one job: believe, which leads us to reflect that faith in our daily lives. But we cannot shine endlessly, and we cannot shine brightly, without either a regular charge or new batteries.

Or, to switch back to the picture Jesus is using, the focus of our series, we cannot function in faith without regularly being fed the bread of life. We need Jesus. A lot of Jesus, not just a few crumbs here and there. That may make our carb-sensitive culture a little uneasy, but trust me, you can’t have too much of this Bread! It is hands down the best bread!

Life for the Dead

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(2 Kings 4:17-37)

“Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” So wrote Benjamin Franklin to the French Physicist Jean-Baptiste Le Roy in 1789. Although it does not appear that Franklin was the originator of the phrase pertaining to the certainty of death and taxes, it was very likely his use of it that made the phrase popular. And it is a rather timely phrase, not only because the deadline for filing taxes is right around the corner, but also because two of the three readings in worship this same Sunday reminded us of the certainty of death. 

In the Gospel of John (ch.11), we hear of Lazarus, whose resurrection from the dead is arguably the most well-known biblical account of a person being raised from the dead – outside of Jesus himself, of course. In 2 Kings, we find a much less familiar account of an unnamed boy of unnamed parents who was raised by the prophet Elisha. While the two accounts do relate to the Benjamin Franklin quote, Franklin’s words also demonstrate something else: man’s inability to provide any real hope or comfort in the face of death.

Admittedly, one could argue that offering comfort or hope is not the intent of the Franklin quote. True, but couldn’t that just as easily be because that’s all the world can offer regarding death – no hope or comfort – just the certainty that death will come to each of us one day? 

You’ve very likely experienced the world’s inability to offer any hope or comfort if you’ve wrestled with the death of a loved one. It is a different thing to hear a non-Christian make such attempts. “Sending condolences or positive thoughts your way”, being “sorry for your loss”, and any other number of people’s personal ideas of what happens to us when we die – they all have this in common: they miss the mark terribly. 

But God has plenty to say in the face of death. Better yet, God has something to show us when words can sometimes fall short: he shows us life in the face of death. God shows us that it isn’t only death and taxes that are certain, but so is life from death. So as we consider one of the ten occasions recorded in Scripture in which the dead are brought back to life, we want to be reminded that when we face death, God provides much more for us than some empty, fast-forgotten phrase: he provides life. Real life. 

Though perhaps not as familiar as the other resurrection accounts in the Bible, the one before us from 2 Kings hits differently, as do any such accounts that involve children. While old age and long-lived lives ready us somewhat for the arrival of death, the death of the young increases its sting even more. But not even dying young allows death to put up such a barrier that God cannot overcome.

If we back up a few years before where we pick up in 2 Kings 4, it will provide some background. The Shunammite woman was a believer with not only the desire to support the Lord’s work but also the financial means to do so. She took on a building project to provide a place for Elisha to rest and recover as the itinerant preacher frequently traveled through her area. It was a room constructed on the top of the flat roof of her home, perhaps with its own external set of stairs to allow the prophet access to and from his room as he needed. 

As an expression of gratitude, Elisha offered to put in a good word for her. After all, Elisha not only had the backing of God’s generous hand but he also held a measure of influence among some of the royal officials. After she declined his offer, Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, pointed out that she had no son and the age of her husband seemed to rule out the possibility of her bearing a child in the future. So Elisha promised her that in a year’s time, she would be holding her own son in her arms. Sure enough, it happened just as Elisha said it would and the woman had a son, which is where our account picks up. 

After the boy was older, “one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. He said to his father, ‘My head! My head!’ His father told a servant, ‘Carry him to his mother’” (v.18-19). Although the cause of the boy’s suffering is not clearly revealed, it’s most commonly presumed that the boy was suffering from sunstroke – not at all uncommon in the region. While sunstroke could certainly be fatal, it didn’t appear that the boy’s father presumed it was that serious at this point. Thinking his situation was still treatable, the father directed a servant to take the boy inside to his mother to be cared for. Unfortunately, it was too late, as the boy died shortly thereafter on his mother’s lap. 

Mom didn’t waste any time. Placing the boy in Elisha’s bed in his room, possibly to keep avoid drawing attention to his death at this point, she made arrangements to visit the prophet Elisha. The timing surprised her husband, as there was no religious reason for her to be visiting the man of God. After the trip of between 15-20 miles, Elisha saw her arriving from a distance and sent Gehazi out to ask her if everything is alright. Determined to discuss the matter with the prophet himself and not his servant, she does what we still do today when we don’t wish to discuss our genuine feelings or concerns with someone by brushing aside any concerns with, “I’m fine.” 

But we already know that she wasn’t, and that became clear immediately as she came to Elisha. After reminding the prophet that she had never asked for a son in the first place, she fully trusted Elisha to do something about his death. She showed her persistence by insisting on remaining with Elisha even after he sent Gehazi ahead to try his hand at raising the boy by laying his staff on the boy’s face.

While we don’t know the significance of this action, it has been suggested that Elisha possibly knew the staff would not do anything and was setting the stage for superstition or other means to be ruled out so that it would be clear that the Lord alone would be responsible for this miracle. Regardless, after Gehazi returned to Elisha with word of his unsuccessful attempt, God’s prophet soon after arrived at the house.

What does Elisha do first? He models for us a great first step for every occasion: he prays. He knows that any miracle that would take place would only be the work of the Lord’s hand, so he rightly takes the matter to him first. Then, perhaps because it was the same manner used by his mentor, the prophet Elijah, in raising the widow at Zarapheth’s son from the dead, Elisha stretches his body on the boy. A dead body doesn’t take long to grow cold, and we’re told that the boy’s body started to become warm.

Yet this miracle wasn’t instantaneous (did God wish to stretch Elisha’s faith, too?). Elisha paced in the room, patiently allowing the Lord to work in his own time, and then persistently repeated the same action, stretching himself on the boy again. Finally, the sign of life, for dead people don’t sneeze! “The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes” (v.35). The Shunammite’s son lived! Elisha directed his servant to call for mom to come and hold her living son, which she did after falling to the ground at Elisha’s feet in humble gratitude for this miracle. 

The Lord’s hand in this account is evident. It was clearly a miracle that the boy was raised back to life in the manner he was, for there is no holistic reason or medical explanation for a life being restored by means of a living person stretching out on a dead person. No one who has died or is nearly dead is brought into a hospital’s ER so that the doctor can empty the room of all its medical equipment in favor of lying down on top of the person to save him. That’s not how it works! But, as we see in Scripture, it certainly can be how God chooses to work. 

Besides the miracle itself, which is always an amazing show of God’s power, what is the point? Why are the dead raised to life in the Bible? As I wrote earlier, including Jesus’ own resurrection, we have ten occasions in the Bible on which dead people are raised to life. But why?

Through these miracles, God tightens the connection between his physical and spiritual promises. What we see happen physically when God raises the dead solidifies for us the reality of what God also promises spiritually. 

We are all born dead in sin, but made alive only through faith in Christ (Eph. 2). As true as this spiritual truth is, it’s not always easy for us to grasp abstract spiritual truths. So what does God do? He shows us his power over physical death. He demonstrates what is possible by taking a lifeless corpse and making it alive.

What he has done physically he does for us spiritually. And because we believe he has brought us to life spiritually, we in turn have the confidence that he will do it for us physically. Do you see the relationship? 

God alone gives life to the dead – both spiritually and physically. We have the assurance of this because we believe. We have faith, the same faith in God as the Shunammite woman, very likely on the mind of the writer of Hebrews who wrote, “[By faith] Women received back their dead, raised to life again” (Heb. 11:35). Faith fills us with the doubly-blessed assurance of spiritual life and physical life forever. 

Outside of faith, there is no such guarantee. Outside of faith, a person may appear to be very much physically alive while at the same time remaining spiritually dead. If that person remains spiritually dead when he or she physically dies, the final result will be eternal death in hell. There will be no more opportunities for spiritual life after this physical life is over. This life, our “time of grace” as it is often called, is the time God has allotted for us to be made spiritually alive through faith. It is the time for us to see who Jesus is, what he has done, and to believe that as our Savior, he alone offers spiritual and eternal life to all who believe. 

At what cost? The events of Holy Week remind us, as the Holy Spirit takes us from the hosannas of Palm Sunday to the heartache of Good Friday. Jesus died so that there could be life for the dead. And in Jesus, that is what we have: life. And we aren’t just talking of spiritual life, but physical life. Real life. Eternal life. Through Jesus, death will not be your end, for he gives life for the dead. 

Living a Full Life

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Photo by Anton Darius

I’m ready to die.

I didn’t say that I want to die, but that I’m ready to die. I’m not suicidal. I wasn’t diagnosed with a terminal disease that has given me mere months to live. No, I’m just ready to die.

I am often struck by the energy and effort many put into life… without scarcely a thought about death. Perhaps they (you?) wish to avoid thinking about it. Perhaps they (you?) don’t put much stock in it (that is, what happens after death), so the belief is that if this life is all that there is, then we had better make it count.

But here’s what I have found: my life is so very meaningful and richly fulfilling because I am ready to die. That is because I know what will happen when I exhale for the very last time.

“I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. I myself will see him with my own eyes – I and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”

Job 19:25, 27 (NIV)

I’m ready to die, for I am at peace now with what I know will happen then.

So no, it isn’t the end of the world when hardship hits me in this life. Tragedy doesn’t turn my world upside down. Loss doesn’t leave me languishing helplessly. Bad things will inevitably happen, and I will take them in stride.

What’s more, I can give my absolute best in this life, because the life that is coming to me is the kind of gift that prompts one to spend his time here on earth expressing gratitude in every way possible.

I am ready to die. 

Therefore… I can really live.