“No!” David said. “Don’t kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the Lord’s anointed one? Surely the Lord will strike Saul down someday, or he will die of old age or in battle. The Lord forbid that I should kill the one he has anointed!” [1 Samuel 26:9-11 (NLT)]
But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, “I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.” [Acts 13:22 (NLT)]
In the Gospel stories of the two miraculous catches of fish, experience told the disciples that fishing in the light of day was the wrong time and casting a net from the right side of the boat was the wrong way to do it. Nevertheless, that’s exactly how Jesus told them to fish. If we look at those stories more figuratively, we see that night time was man’s time and the boat’s left side was man’s way. Those miraculous catches, however, tell us that the right time is whenever God says it is and the right way is however God says it’s to be done!
It’s not just in His fishing instructions to the disciples that we find Jesus’ way counter-intuitive and unconventional. Man’s way is to hold grudges but Jesus’ is to offer forgiveness. Man’s way is to get even; Jesus’ is to be merciful. Man’s way is exclusive; Jesus’ is inclusive. Man’s way values power, authority, and wealth; Jesus’ way values the meek, humble, and poor. Man’s way declares certain people unclean, disgraceful, worthless, or untouchable; Jesus’ way loves and touches them all. Man’s way is to be self-sufficient; Jesus’ is to be God-dependent. Man’s way doesn’t turn the other cheek, find strength in weakness, or go the extra mile, but Jesus’ way does! As strange as it sometimes sounds, God’s way always is the right way!
Seeing the oppression of his people under Pharaoh, Moses initially tried to do things his way in his own time. After observing an Egyptian beating a fellow Hebrew, he killed the offender and hid the body in the sand. While his motive was good, Moses accomplished nothing by killing one Egyptian. Doing it his way meant fleeing Egypt, separation from his own people, losing his position and power, and 40 years as an alien in a foreign land. Meanwhile, the Hebrews spent another 40 miserable years in slavery! It was only when Moses abided by God’s timing and way that he brought Egypt to its knees and the entire Hebrew nation to freedom!
On the other hand, when David was on the run from Saul, he passed up two opportunities to kill the king and take the crown. Even though he’d been anointed king by Samuel, David knew that God anointed Saul first. David trusted that, in God’s time and His way, Saul would fall and he faithfully waited until God’s time. He was, indeed, a man after God’s own heart!
As counter-intuitive as it often seems, we’re supposed to do things God’s way in His time. It’s not a question of how or when it’s always been done or we want to do it; it’s how and when God wants it done! Remember, if we’re not fishing at His time from the right side of the boat, it doesn’t matter how many times we drop that net!
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” [Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT)]
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2 (NLT)]
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Jeopardy introduced me to the word “performative” but, in an article about how scandals are hurting organized religion, the New York Times introduced me to another new word, “orthopraxy.” While “orthodoxy” means correct belief, doctrine, or teaching, “orthopraxy” has to do with correct practice, behavior, or action. Orthodoxy says, “Hear my words!” but orthopraxy says, “Watch my behavior!” With the flood of scandals throughout the Christian church, it’s easy to point our fingers at the disgraced Christian celebrities, megachurch pastors, and Roman Catholic priests whose orthodoxy didn’t match their orthopraxy—people who espoused devotion to God and adherence to His word while disregarding it in their own lives. Let’s remember, however, that whenever we point a finger at someone, three other fingers point at us! Although the Times article was about the disconnect between orthodoxy and orthopraxy in the church at large, there’s often a disconnect between the two in our personal lives, as well.
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” [John 21:15 (ESV)]
Because most of the disciples hailed from Galilee where fishing was fundamental to the area’s economy, Jesus’ parable comparing the Kingdom of Heaven to a fishing net gave them a beautiful visual image of the Kingdom when the final judgment occurs. Since we’re not Galilean fishermen, however, our picture of a fishing net might be like the hand-held ones used for trout or bass fishing. Jesus, however, used the word sagéné, meaning dragnet; its English equivalent is seine.
After using Peter’s boat as a preaching platform, Jesus told him to take the boat out to deeper water and let down his nets. Fishing was a way of life in Galilee and Peter, Andrew, James, and John probably started fishing with their fathers when they were just youngsters. Can you imagine their reaction to this inexperienced carpenter’s son from Nazareth telling them how to fish? Didn’t the rabbi know that net fishing was done at night when the fish were more active and less likely to see the linen nets? Having fished all night, the men were tired. By that time, they’d cleaned their nets and hung them to dry; they were ready to go home, eat, and get some sleep. Experience told them that if they’d caught nothing that night, they certainly weren’t going to catch anything in the light of day! Nevertheless, even though Peter balked at Jesus’ unusual command, he and his partners reloaded their gear, took out their boats, and let down their nets.
In Sharon Garlough Brown’s novel, Two Steps Forward, a character choses to pray the Hebrew word hineni during Advent. When another character calls it a beautiful but “costly” prayer, I grew curious about this word. Hineni is composed of two little words, hineh and ani. By itself, hineh is usually translated as “behold” but, when combined with ani (meaning “I”), it usually is translated as “Here I am,” “I’m here,” or “Yes.” However, like shalom, the Hebrew hineni loses the depth of its meaning in translation.
Devotions of the Heart 