Not For Stuff

If God were to take away every thing that you hold dear - your health, your family, your finances, all your earthly possessions - would you still praise Him? Instinctively most of us would be tempted to respond with a tentative "yes", tentative because so far we haven't been placed in that position. However, in a culture where good health and material possessions are perceived as things to which Christians are entitled, and the basis on which we testify that "God is good all the time, and all the time God is good", would we still think He is good if He allowed the enemy to take it all away?

Satan, the one who accuses us before our God day and night (Revelation 12:10), doesn't think so. Consider this conversation between him and God: "Then the LORD said to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.' 'Does Job fear God for nothing?' Satan replied. 'Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.' The LORD said to Satan, 'Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.' Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD" (Job 1:8-12, NIV). Those familiar with the story know the tragedies that came upon Job, one of the richest men of his day, as a result. He lost ten children, seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, all but a few of his servants, and he himself was covered with sores all over his body. Lest we forget, God Himself said of him, "There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." If anyone deserved good health and material blessings, it was Job.

If we are honest with ourselves, facing the same set of circumstances, most of us would have abandoned God. We need look no further at how we react when something does not go the way we planned, or something bad happens unexpectedly. The reaction of Job's wife mirrors the human frailties, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!" (2:9). Unlike us reading his story, Job was not aware of Satan's accusation, or of the confidence God had in the fact that his worship of Him was not the result of the stuff He had blessed him with. But as the last messenger told him of the death of his sons and daughters, we read, "At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised. In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing" (1:20-22).

In the midst of circumstances we cannot begin to imagine, Job knew enough of God to know that He was still to be praised, He was still to be worshipped. It is one thing to praise God for all He has done in our lives, but it is something else to praise and worship Him because of who He is. The next time you offer up praise, consider what is it based on. Are you praising Him because regardless of what is going on in your life He is worthy to be praised, or are you praising Him because He has blessed you with stuff?

Following Jesus

It is difficult for Christians in western countries to really appreciate the level of self-denial required of true disciples of Christ. We live in societies where emphasis is on the self and individual rights, a message so ingrained in our psyche that though we sing "All to Jesus I Surrender," some of us really have no intention of surrendering control of our lives, and all that pertains to us, to Him. We admire those who take charge of their lives, make the decisive decisions that needs to be made, and who are successful because of their efforts.

Yet in the kingdom of God things work in the opposite way. Jesus told His disciples, "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?" (Matthew 16:24-26, The Message). In other words, the me-first principles that work in our society have no place in God's scheme of things because once we accept Jesus as Lord, our lives are no longer our own (1 Corinthians 6:19); we are subject to a different set of principles. In commenting on this portion of text, Bible Commentator Adam Clarke noted the principles of the Christian life Jesus put forth: 1) Having a sincere desire to belong to Him; 2) A renouncing of self-dependence and selfish pursuits; 3) To embrace conditions (troubles and difficulties) God has appointed for us to meet in walking the Christian road; and 4) To imitate Christ and do and suffer all in His Spirit.

No one could accuse Jesus of sugarcoating the cost of discipleship, but the disciples were not to be denied; they stood their ground. It was the same conviction with which Paul wrote, "Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant--dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by Him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ--God's righteousness. I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience His resurrection power, be a partner in His suffering, and go all the way with Him to death itself" (Philippians 3:8-10).

As it was with the first century believers, so it is with us today. We are called to surrender our lives, our goals, our aspirations and all that we hold dear, for the cause of Christ. He has to lead and He has to be in control for our union with Him to be effective. So, you really want to follow Jesus? How much of you, and everything to do with you, do you still control?

Take Off the Limits

The night before Jesus stepped into his boat, Simon Peter, along with the men in his fishing cooperative, had spent an unsuccessful night fishing. The nets that had trawled the bottom of the lake had felt heavy when they were lifted, but when checked they contained everything else but fish. It was not the first time and it would not be the last. On this morning the nets were cleaned, washed, and if needed, repaired. The men would have been tired and exhausted. There was no catch to sell that day so it was a chance for them to rest, regroup, and perhaps go back out later.

However, what they had in mind had to wait because according to the narrative, Jesus asked to use Peter's boat from which He would teach the people that had gathered to hear "the word of God" (Luke 5:1-3). "Now when He had left speaking, He said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught" (v.4). In the natural, there were at least two things wrong with those instructions. First, Peter's immediate protest was valid, "Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing" (v.5a). The unasked question being, "Why should we go back out there?" Secondly, experienced fishermen knew that the best time for a catch was in the late evening and early morning hours. It was in these cool hours that fish cruised in the shallow water looking for food on or near the surface. Jesus' instructions ran counter to that.

Amidst Peter's logical objection, and what may have been going through his mind at the time, was a realization of who was speaking to him. He continued, "Nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net" (v.5b). In verses 6-11, we have the rest of the story that resulted. An important observation is that by letting down one net, instead of “the nets” as instructed, Peter placed limits on his miracle. What does all of this have to do with us? Often times when we look at our circumstances, our minds, based on our previous experiences, tell us what is possible and what is not. At this stage, it is easy to object to an instruction from God because it does not line up with our experiences. Yet we are reminded that His ways are not our ways, neither are His thoughts our thoughts. In other words, His ways of doing things can be and often is much different from anything we could imagine.

 In the same way that Peter righted himself and took Jesus at His word, we can do the same thing too. For it is not the way we see, feel, or think that is important; it is what He says and our obedience to His instructions that is. We, however, can take it one step further and take off the limits we put on God. When He moves, there is not enough room to hold the blessing (see Ephesians 3:20). Just ask Peter.