Life & Death Tightrope

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Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God.  And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too.  We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments.  Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.  For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.  And who can win this battle against the world?  Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.  1 John 5:1-5

We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them.  We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.  And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God.  And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ.  He is the only true God, and he is eternal life.  Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.  1 John 5:18-21

Habit determines everything.  

Habitually practicing the art of couch potato-ing can result in heart disease, or a guest appearance on a segment of My 600-Pound Life.  Habits set the pathway of our life’s decisions.  The apostle, John is giving sound spiritual advice to the church of how forming our life around obedience to God’s commandments is the pathway that leads to life. 

On first reading many people are tempted to imagine this obedience thing as walking a tightrope suspended over hell’s fires; one slip and you’re toast!  However, that would be inconsistent with God’s grace and patience.  God knows us and understands better than we do that when it comes to being perfect in our obedience we slip off a rope like that.  We see that in the apostle’s description of both sin and obedience; he points us in the direction of habituation, making a practice of either.  A well-practiced habit becomes our default, part of our character, who we really are.  A slip-up is an aberration, a setback from the path we really want to travel.  John is making the case that true belief in Christ, trusting Christ and relying on His power for every need and every shortcoming, is not only possible, it is part of God’s promise.  And what it looks like in everyday living is forming habits.  The person that wants more strength for living a life of obedience forms the habit of meditating on God’s Word.  A person who wants greater strength resisting temptation of any kind forms the habit of prayer, fasting, and removing themselves from the source of temptations. 

One of my mother’s favorite sayings was you lie down with dogs; you get up with fleas.  John’s whole case about being obedient to God’s commands is that we must make the choice where we will stand, and it must be peremptory; the first time we decide to cuddle up to the fleas of sin will be merely the first step in setting the habitual practice.  We warn our children about taking the first pill, or drink, or tobacco product so they will not get caught in the addictive downward spiral that affects their health.  We use parental controls on media to monitor their internet time and what content they view to protect them from the downward pull of pornography and violence.  Should we do less for our children and ourselves when it comes to spiritual health?

For You Today

A healthy spiritual practice is to habitually examine our habits; look at the things we do regularly with an eye towards answering the question:  is this what God wants my life to look like?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Adi Holzer via WikimediaCommons    Unless noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

Really?

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Thursday, August 24, 2017

We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth.  And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong.   In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.  But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.  And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire.  It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body.  It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.  People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue.  It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison.  Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God.  And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth.  Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!  Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water?  Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs?  No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring.  James 3:3-12^(NLT)

It’s not a problem, really; it’s just that rose tree in my backyard doesn’t really know whether it wants to be a rose tree that produces big pink blossoms…or a rose tree that produces little white blossoms.  Really?  Fickle, that tree!

It’s also like that in the human family – we have a hard time making up our minds about all sorts of things.  When Mrs. Preacher and I go to a store there is less than a 5% chance that the decorative pillow we just bought will actually live at our house.  (I save ALL receipts!).  To be fair, the closet in my study is also a disaster; I just can’t make up my mind how to file and arrange all that stuff…so it all gets pulled out often in search of a better system!

Now those kinds of human eccentricities are small potatoes compared to what James is holding up for us to examine.  According to the apostle the human tongue speaking out of both sides of its mouth may be the biggest problem with which the Christian family struggles.

Consider his illustrations:

Small bits for horses’ mouths, Small rudders for Big Ships, and a Small Spark starts a Big Fire –these small items wield huge influence.  But they are insignificant compared to the tongue which, unloosed and undisciplined can produce a lifetime of wickedness.

Then James gives a final illustration salvo – fresh water doesn’t come from bitter sources.  The conclusion is devastating when you apply it to a human life.  The tongue’s medium is words, communication. 

·       If there is untruth coming out, you know the heart lives in a lie.

·       If there is bitter condemnation flowing behind another’s back, you understand the slander came from the darkness of envy hidden within.

·       If the speech is without humility, how can there be a heart willing to forgive?

·       And on, and on, and on…a wildfire of heartache!

Nobody likes to be judged unfairly, but someone who professes to be a Christian, one who is pressing on as Paul wrote, for the high calling of Christ Jesus[2] to become Christ-centered, having the very mind of Christ…if you are hot-after becoming Christ-like, there must not be doublespeak, evil-speaking, or any other kind of foul thing proceeding from your mouth. 

Remember how Paul counseled the Philippian believers:

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing.  Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.  Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  Philippians 4:8^(NLT)

For You Today

When you think on honorable, pure and lovely things your speaking will also follow the same path; no sewer water from your clean spring!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy  Russell Brownworth (own work)

[2] Philippians 3:14