I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. … I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways. I will delight in your decrees and not forget your word. [Psalm 119:11,15-16 (NLT)]
“Biology!? Math!? English! AAHH!” groans Nancy in a recent one of Guy Gilchrist’s comics. “I shouldn’t have to memorize anything I can Google!!” she protests with a frown. Oh, I feel your pain, Nancy; indeed, I do! Were it not for my Bible’s concordance and Google, I’d be hard put to include Bible verses in my devotions. I can manage to remember the gist of many verses but don’t ask me for chapter or verse and you’d better not quote me because my words won’t be exact. If quizzed on Scripture, I definitely would need an open book test and, like Nancy, would much prefer having access to Google.
We are called to witness for Christ and yet, without a Bible (or a computer) in hand, I make a pretty poor witness. The Bible, however, is pretty clear about knowing God’s word—not just reading it—but actually knowing it. I may read it, I may study and write about it but, when it comes to actually knowing Scripture and being able to recite it, I’m at the bottom of the class.
Granted, being able to talk the talk and recite Scripture certainly doesn’t make someone a follower of Christ or a good witness for His kingdom. Having faith and walking the walk is more important that being able to rattle off Bible verses. Nevertheless, at some point, we’ll be asked why we walk with Christ and what makes us so sure ours is the path to take. It’s then that we need to be able to do some talking—to share what we believe and why we believe it.
At Bible study recently, someone asked our pastor how to defend his belief that Christ is the only way to salvation. The answer, of course, is found in Scripture—John 14:6 which says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” Our pastor reminded us that the Holy Spirit will provide us with the words we need when witnessing and, indeed, He will. Yet, we need to remember that God already has provided us with most of those words in the Bible. Let us never forget that God’s armor has only one weapon—the Sword of the Spirit—which is God’s word. Even without our Bibles, iPads or a wireless connection, we’ll have all the weaponry we need if we have God’s word in our hearts and minds.
I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding, practically speaking, than memorizing Scripture. . . . No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! Your prayer life will be strengthened. Your witnessing will be sharper and much more effective. Your attitudes and outlook will begin to change. Your mind will become alert and observant. Your confidence and assurance will be enhanced. Your faith will be solidified. [Chuck Swindoll]
Like many, I mistook the phrase, “just deserts” for “just desserts.” The phrase comes from a now obsolete meaning of the word “desert” which was something deserved or merited. However we spell or say it, we tend to take a certain amount of pleasure when our enemies, adversaries, and those people who manage to make our lives difficult or downright miserable get what they deserve. “Poetic justice,” we say while watching them reap the consequences of their actions. Bad attitudes, excess drama, inappropriate behavior, substandard performance, selfishness, pettiness, laziness and insubordination all have a way of catching up with people. It’s hard to have any sympathy for them when they end up in a world of hurt of their own making. Jesus doesn’t tell us we have to be sympathetic but He does say we have to love and pray for them! We don’t have to allow their poison to seep into our lives, make excuses for them, enable them, tolerate horrible behavior, or become embroiled in their drama, but we do have to love and pray!
Last January, an official in a northern city was found guilty of twenty counts of bribery, extortion, and conspiracy along with mail, wire and tax fraud. His crimes netted him over $2 million in ill-gotten gains. Last month, he was sentenced for those crimes and, while he didn’t protest his innocence, he did protest his punishment. His crimes were merely “ethical mistakes” made because he was inexperienced and just doing his job. His lawyer compared his offenses with those of other corrupt officials, asserting his client’s felonies were less criminal so a shorter sentence was in order. In addition, he wasn’t really all that guilty since, in spite of his dishonesty, the city still managed to collect over $700 million in fines from the program he managed. Being just a little guilty, however, is much like being just a little bit pregnant—no matter how you spin it, you’re still guilty or pregnant.
In Leviticus, Moses laid out God’s law regarding sacrifices—only a perfect animal was acceptable. One thousand years later, in the time of Malachi, the priests allowed people to offer blind, crippled, diseased and even stolen animals as offerings. The Israelites were offering God the animals that were worthless or someone else’s animal entirely. Since, by definition, a sacrifice requires the giving up of something of great value to us, those certainly didn’t qualify as sacrifices. The Israelites, like a dishonest salesperson who substitutes an inferior product for a good one, were actually cheating God.
“I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” sang the Rolling Stones in 1965. Back in 520 BC, the Jews of Jerusalem were probably singing their own version of that song. Sixteen years earlier, upon their return to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon, they had started to rebuild the temple just as God had instructed them to do. Within two years, however, construction had stopped. Granted, they had hostile neighbors who, fearing a prosperous Jewish state, harassed them. In actuality, though, they were more to blame for their delay than were their political opponents. Questioning God’s timing, they’d grown discouraged, lost focus and become more concerned about building their own homes than finishing God’s house. God sent a message to the people through the prophet Haggai pointing out that the harder the people worked for themselves, the less they had to show for it. By ignoring God and fulfilling their needs first, the Jews were destined to remain unsatisfied. Moreover, God was angry that He had been ignored. So angry, in fact, that He sent a drought to destroy their crops and livestock.
Devotions of the Heart 