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Monday, January 4, 2021
“Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!” —Deuteronomy 5:29
For some reason, when someone tells me to do something (or even politely suggests that maybe I ought to do something), it makes me not want to do it. I’m a grown-up (supposedly), but, for example, if Jade mentions that I might want to put on a warmer coat because it’s frigid cold out, I will generally pause, pondering the suggestion. Jade will then (rightly) hypothesize, “You don’t want to put on a warmer coat because I suggested it?”
It’s not that I don’t trust my wife’s understanding of winter outerwear or the Fahrenheit scale. It’s true that she’s a bit zealous about bundling up, but fair enough—it gets really cold in Chicago. This is just one manifestation of a lifelong instinct I’ve had to question advice and authority: “I’m not saying I won’t put on a warmer coat, but I’m not going to do it just because you said to!” The author Gretchen Rubin would call me a “Questioner.”
We’re not all wired quite like this (thank God!), but we all have times when we bristle at authority. People who cheerfully give away thousands of dollars to charity bristle at small tax increases. Students who love reading refuse to read the novels assigned by their English teachers. The posted speed limits mainly serve to remind us what speed we should be sure to exceed.
We often bring this same attitude to our obedience to God. In the Garden of Eden, the very first humans chose to do the one thing they’d been commanded not to. We hear that God calls us to obey, and we get antsy before we even know what God’s commands are.
Pastor Andy Stanley often emphasizes that God doesn’t so much want something from us as he wants something for us. In this verse from Deuteronomy, you can hear the longing from God. He’s just established a covenant with Israel after liberating them from slavery. They are to be his people, and he is to be their God. He’s laid out a good rule of life that will bless their life together with each other and with him. And he longs for them to keep the commands, not because God gets something from it but because God longs for his beloved children to thrive.
If you’ve had good parents or known good parents or been a good parent, you know that—however imperfectly—human parents guide their children toward right-living not for the parents’ sake, but for the children’s sake. In an even better way, God teaches us how to live because he really wants us to live. So open your ears to his good instruction, so that life may go well.
Friday, January 1, 2021
“Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” —1 Peter 3:8
Today’s readings remind us of the attitudes and behaviors God wants from us, specifically in how we interact with each other. 1 Peter 3:8 holds Christ-followers to a high standard: we are called to have unity of spirit, love for each other, tender hearts, and humble minds. These aren’t actions we can check off a to-do list; these require total transformation. It’s not just about doing the things we’re called to do; it’s about being who we’re called to be.
How do we begin to pursue this kind of transformation?
Do you desire this kind of transformation? Honestly, sometimes I do; but at other times, my motivation feels flat and lacking. Sometimes, if I’m honest with myself, I just don’t want what God wants. It’s discouraging to try to live as God’s disciples when our will isn’t aligned with his.
In the book Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster says something that I need to be reminded of regularly. He makes this statement about the spiritual discipline of meditation: “Anyone who imagines he can simply begin meditating without praying for the desire and the grace to do so, will soon give up.” What I love about this statement is the idea that I can pray for the desire to do something.
When we don’t feel like treating people with compassion or showing humility, we can pray to change; but we can also ask God to help us want to change. We can ask to want our hearts and attitudes to be transformed. When we are feeling bitter or jaded or resistant, when we are lacking energy or motivation, we can ask God to help us want what he wants.
This means I can go beyond praying, “God help me to trust you” by asking, “God, help me to want to trust you.” I can say, “God help me to want to pray for my enemies” when it doesn’t come easily. When I feel like holding tightly to what I have, I can say, “God help me to want to be generous.” I can ask to want unity, sympathy, love, tender-heartedness, and humility. We can ask for these things boldly, because God invites us to come to him with our every need. Nothing is off limits.
There is no part of our lives that we have to attend to on our own. God is part of all of it. Wherever you struggle to follow Christ, may you turn to God in prayer for what you need.
Gracious God, help align my will to yours. Help me to want what you want, to see things as you see them, to love as you love. Wherever I am tempted to give up, help me to turn to you to keep going. Amen.
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Your Kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10
Each Christmas I imagine Mary and Joseph looking down at baby Jesus wondering what he will look like as he ages, what will he be interested in, how God will use him. But it doesn’t stop there. I inevitably fast forward to 33 years later when that baby has become a man and willingly walks toward his own execution so that I and everyone else who believes in him can live. It’s just so much weight being placed on the shoulders of a child. So for me, Christmas is always a little bittersweet.
What helps me is to remember who we are praying to when we recite the Lord’s prayer. When we pray this part of the Lord’s prayer we are looking toward the day when God’s reign and rule will be fully expressed on Earth. We are praying to the living God, the resurrected Jesus. The God who came into this world as baby, lived for 33 years, willingly died, and was resurrected so that we might have life.
Amen.
