How can I repay the LORD for all the good He has done for me?

Psalms 116:12

 

It's amazing what three days of a stout stomach bug will do for your perspective. Carolyn and I have been pretty much bedfast for the past few days with an illness that is best not described, but which, suffice to say, most of us are all too familiar with and which none of us want to go through if we can avoid it. After having spent the last three days in that state, I have observed the following:

 

God is so good, to have allowed us to have a comfortable bed to rest on.

 

God is so good to have allowed us a well-heated home.

 

God is so good as to provide us with a variety of foods that will sustain us when most foods are of little use.

 

God is so good as to have provided us with a loving family and church who have made sure that we have everything that we need to get past such an event.

 

God is so good as to have allowed us such beautiful promises in His word as to keep our hearts with a proper perspective when we are feeling a little under the weather.

 

God is so good as to actually be concerned about our comfort and well-being, even at the same time that He is genuinely concerned for the well-being of those who are experiencing real trials, and not just the minor inconvenience of a seasonal illness.

 

God is so good as to provide an avenue of prayer when we need His assistance, and He is so good as to give us such a concerned group of friends who are so quick to use that avenue of prayer on our behalf, even when they are going through far more serious events in their own lives.

 

And these are just a fraction of the physical blessings He has provided. He has given us far more in spiritual blessings, including trust, and peace, and hope. He has revealed that these minor inconveniences of our lives, though major enough at the time we are going through them, are but incidents on the way to Heaven.

 

And, of course, He has lavished us with His grace and has gifted us with His only begotten Son.

 

How can we repay the Lord for all the good He has done for us? We cannot! But we can at least try our best, and that best must begin with our thankfulness that the Creator of the universe loves us so much that He is mindful of us even when are going through these unpleasant yet minor illnesses that we all experience from time to time.

 

And we are so very thankful! 

 

 

Instruct a wise man and he will become wiser still.

Proverbs 9:9, NIV

 

My daughter brought me the news the other morning while I was mowing her lawn. A man I had met shortly after moving to Happy nearly 30 years ago had passed away quite unexpectedly from a heart attack. His name was Richard Fry, and Richard was not only to become a friend, but also a brother in Christ. He was a good man before he became a Christian, so it is not surprising that he became an even better one afterward.

 

Richard was an intelligent man, seemingly being able to grasp anything that he wanted to learn about - but I want to tell you: he was cautious! He and his sweet wife, Terri, started worshipping with the church I preached at, and we hit it right off. I had been a real estate appraiser prior to becoming a preacher, and Richard was just beginning to get involved with real estate himself; first by remodeling a house, then by building several more, and eventually by becoming a real estate broker. In addition to our common interest, we were only about three weeks apart in age. And like I have already said, Richard was a good guy, so he was easy to establish a friendship with.

 

A while after they began worshipping with us, I asked Richard if he would be interested in a Bible study. To my delight, he readily accepted. We must have studied off and on for over a year, and I have to admit that I got a bit discouraged that he had not made a decision to become a Christian. His hesitation, however, was not based on a reluctance to make a commitment - he just wanted to make sure. He would take home the passages we would be studying at a particular time and study them for himself. He also read books and dug into the history of Christianity and the Bible. And one day, just like that, it happened.

 

He said that he was now absolutely convinced that not only was the Bible the true word of God (he had not any doubts about the Old Testament, but until then he had not been convinced about the New Testament) and now he was persuaded beyond a shadow of a doubt in his own mind that Jesus was not only a real man who had walked on this earth some 2,000 years ago, but he was demonstrably and conclusively the genuine Son of God.

 

Once he was convinced of this, Richard was quick to accept and do everything that the New Testament commanded. He repented of his past sins (yes, even good guys have sinned) he called upon the name of the Lord by confessing his absolute belief that Jesus was the Son of God and Lord of his life, and he was then baptized into the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit for the remission of his sins.

 

And once becoming a Christian, Richard did not stop there - he wanted to be a servant of the church as well. Within just a few months, he asked if he could teach one of our adult Bible classes on Sunday mornings. I was a bit surprised, for this is something that many men are hesitant to do, even when they have been Bible students for many years. The elders were agreeable in giving him a chance to do so, and he did not let us down. I have seen few men who were as serious about being a Bible scholar as Richard, and I have seen fewer still who were as humble, as capable, and who were as willing to put the time and effort into achieving that scholarship.

 

Richard not only taught that class but did so with such a gracious ability that he went on to teach many more times to the great benefit of all who heard him.

 

Did I mention that he was intelligent?

 

Anyway, Richard and Terri moved away several years later, much to our disappointment. We had not only lost two good friends, but two servants of the church in Happy. Fortunately for us, they did not move too far away, and we were able to see them from time to time. They began worshipping at a small congregation in Canyon and were as much a blessing to that group of Christians as they were to them. 

 

Now, suddenly and way too soon, Richard is gone. I had the privilege of getting to talk to most of his family just yesterday. They told me of something I already knew - that he was a good man, but also of many little things I had not previously known. They are a great family, and I would expect no less from having parents and grandparents like Richard and Terry. I also realized the more they told me of his life what a wonderful heritage he has passed on to them. In fact, it is more than that - it is a legacy!

 

And now, it is their turn, as in fact it is all of our turns. What will we do with the legacy that Jesus has left for each one of us? Will we jump in to follow Christ with little thought given as to the cost, and then like the seed planted in shallow soil quickly wither in our zeal to serve? Or will we be more like Richard, a man who made sure before he ever became a Christian. A man who put in the study and the effort to learn everything he could about God and Christ in order to make his faith more certain? Will we put our roots down deep into the soil so that we will not be easily shaken from what we have so carefully committed to?

 

In short, will we become so committed in what we can know about Christ in order that we might leave behind a legacy that others will want to follow?

 

I have temporarily lost a good friend and a wonderful brother in Christ. But I am all the more determined now that this will not be the last time that I get to see my friend. For if Richard was as faithful as he appeared to be, and if I can do my best to serve God in His ways despite my many and obvious failings, then by God's grace I am confident that we will meet again. And what a beautiful reunion that will be!

There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers; those who are pure in their own eyes and not cleansed of their filth.

Proverbs 30:11-12, NIV (1978)

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Old folk proverb

 

One of the most common arguments that I hear from those who do not want to repent and return to righteousness is that not everything was perfect before they stopped sinning. You may have found the same to be true. You might have observed that America is a much more sinful place than it was when you were younger, only to have someone challenge you by saying, "Oh yeah? America used to practice segregation and have Jim Crow laws! Things weren't so good when you had prayer in school!"

 

And this is where many Christians are shut down - they simply have no response to such arguments. The article today is an attempt to give a response.

 

Let me begin by saying that while two opposite things cannot be true at the same time, two compatible facts can. For example, you can have dirty bathwater, and you can have a baby in the bathtub. These things are both true, but that does not allow you to leap to the conclusion that both must be thrown out. So, the right thing to do would be to keep the baby and get rid of the bathwater.

 

America used to have segregation, and they used to have prayer and the Bible in schools. These facts, while undisputable, are also unrelated. It was not because people were Christians that some were racist. People were racist because they were not acting like Christians! The notion that things were not perfect prior to expelling God from the public schools is no proof that they are better now, nor is it proof that it was Christianity that was the root of past problems. It is true that Satan's children are pretty good at assigning blame to Christians, but it is also true that the problem is when people act like Satan's children but call themselves Christians.

 

Today, many accept the ludicrous proposition that you can be anything you identify as. A boy, they say, can identify as a girl. The obvious problem with this argument is that it just isn't so, any more than if I, as a slow 64-year-old man, were to identify as a young and incredibly swift Olympic runner. They still wouldn't let me in the Olympics, and I am not going to allow a man to attempt to go into the bathroom with my granddaughters no matter how they view their identity. 

 

It is true that there are Christians who are hypocrites. They say they are Christians. They identify as Christians, but they live like the Devil. This does not make Christianity bad, but it does highlight why God despises hypocrisy so: It puts the purity of Christianity into a bad light. 

 

And for those who equate Christianity with racism, understand this: It was Christians who insisted that slavery was a sin and who had the courage to fight a war to get this abominable practice stopped. You don't believe that? Go back and read about the abolitionist movement and you will find that it was started by Christians who were seeking to end this terrible sin. I realize full well that there were some who identified themselves as Christians who were for slavery, but again this does not make it so, any more than identifying as a cow would allow you to give milk.

 

Furthermore, it was those within the religious community that fought so hard for civil rights back in the 1950's and 60's. It wasn't until Lyndon Banes Johnson and his ilk who had fought so hard against civil rights finally realized that they were fighting a losing battle, that they switched over to becoming "champions" of the cause. And this is not a matter of speculation. One simply needs to go back to the congressional records to see who was promoting civil rights legislation in the 1950's and early 60's, and who was opposing it. 

 

So, what's the point? My point is just this: When we observe that America used to be a more righteous nation, and that we can see the need to return to that righteousness, we are not at all supporting the things that were wrong with the country - we are simply acknowledging that the sinful direction we are taking now is wrong and that we need to go back to the things that were right. Two things can be true at the same time! 

 

Perhaps one more example will help. Suppose a man finds a flea-bitten dog that is plagued with the mange. He cleans up and doctors the dog so that it is reasonably healthy, only to then proceed to beat that dog. Hauled into court, he offers the defense that the dog no longer has the mange or fleas, so it is actually better off now. Does the judge find the man not guilty? Of course not, he fines the man and takes away the dog and puts it in the hands of a more compassionate owner. By doing so, the judge is in no way suggesting that it would be good for the dog to have fleas and the mange again; he is merely pointing out that it is wrong to abuse an animal.

 

It is true that there were some failings to be found with society when we were a more Christian nation, but it is also true that it was not those who were complying with the teachings of Christ who were responsible for those failings - it was those who were failing to put their Christianity into practice. And it is also true that our atheistic-leaning country today is in a far worse state than the nation was when it was trying to do the right thing, despite having obvious need to correct the things that were wrong.

 

America needs to return to her Christian roots before it is too late! And we need to stop listening to the false arguments of those who would prevent us from doing so.

When Christ, Who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Colossians 3:4, NIV (1978)

 

I think it was Stephen Covey who wrote about keeping the main thing the main thing if we are ever to be successful in life. He was primarily speaking about business matters, but as true as it is for physical things, it is even more vital that we keep this principle in mind for our spiritual lives.

 

In the 30th chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses reminded the Israelites that the LORD was their life, and he went on to say in chapter 32 that the laws of God that he had presented to them were not just idle words, but that they were their lives. In the New Testament, Jesus repeated the truth that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The apostle Paul would later remind us that we were to do our best to correctly handle God's words of truth.

 

When you combine all of these truths and commandments, we are left with the inescapable reality that God and Christ are indeed to be the focal point of our lives, and we can only find what they want by taking their instructions to heart and living them in such a way as to make their commands the very substance of our beings - the bread of life, if you will. 

 

So, we must ask ourselves the following: Are God and Christ truly our lives? Are we going to their word to make sure that we are living the life according to their instruction? Or are they just a part of our life, and is the Word just something we read when we are at church or when we can squeeze it into our busy schedules?

 

The reason that understanding God is our life is so important is that in His eyes (the only eyes that count) the main thing for us is to live for He and Christ. The only way we can do that is if we are reading His Word in order to know how to live that life. This is key, because so few of us really understand this because we are too busy making the things that we do the main thing. In other words, we all too often get our identity from whatever our main activity is for us at the present time.

 

So, if you are still going to school, you likely view your life through the lens of those activities. You are a student, or you are a basketball player. Maybe you allow others to define you as we were prone to do when I was going to school in ancient days. Then, you were a "brain" or a "jock". Maybe you were a "geek" or a "stoner" but whatever the term was, the way other people viewed you was often what became your life.

 

It's pretty sad, when you really think about it...

 

and as we get older, it doesn't get any easier to figure out what our lives should really consist of. When we are just getting started, we are graduates, then newlyweds, then parents. Before too long, we are defined by whatever our occupation is. "He is an insurance man", or she "is just a housewife". And the reason that we are so tempted to make our lives the main thing that we do is because these things really do take up the bulk of our time - and they are important! Being a student is often a full-time job, and being a parent or having a career is even more so. So, can we help that we become whatever it is that we do the most? Can we help it if the main thing in our lives defines who we are?

 

We may not think so, but that is not the point. The point is that God has already told us what the main thing is when He informed us that He and His Son were our lives, and that His commandments are not somehow "idle words" but that they are our lives. In other words, we must realize that the essence of our lives is to be Him! God created us or we would not even exist. If He were to withdraw His breath from this world, everyone who does exist would cease to do so. 

 

And we must realize that we are here for a purpose! We are not here for a random walk on earth to merely dabble in whatever experience pleases us or demands our attention. We are here for the sole reason that God wants us to be here. And despite the fact that we so often act as if He doesn't even exist, for some reason He still loves us and wants us to be with Him forever. And while we cannot say for sure what it is He has in mind for our eternities, we can know from what we observe here on earth that it will be worthwhile, and it will be meaningful. Furthermore, it will be better!

 

But this better life, both here on this physical earth and later in heaven, is reserved only for those who will love the Father and the Son, who will love Their Word, who will seek Their will, and who will do it! For those who understand that the Lord is their life, life is wonderful, and after this life there will be heaven! But for those who fail to realize this - for those who fail to make God their life now, the end result will not be pleasant. Which path, I wonder, will we choose?