If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. We believe with our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we declare with our mouths that we believe, and so we are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disappointed.” [Romans 10:9-11 (NCV)]
You will find all true theology summed up in these two short sentences: Salvation is all of the grace of God. Damnation is all of the will of man. [Charles Spurgeon]
Thinking we’d never be old enough to retire in Florida, we used to spend our winters in a Colorado mountain town and our days skiing on the slopes. The lift line crew at one lift often posted riddles or trivia questions on a board at the bottom of the hill. As we pondered the answer while riding up, we’d see the answer at the top as we skied off the lift. One day the question was, ”What is greater than God? The poor have it, the rich need it and, if you eat it, you will die!”
We pondered the riddle while riding to the top of the run. I was perturbed that someone would think anything or anyone was greater than God, even in a silly riddle. Seeing no answer posted at the top, I skied back down to get it. When getting on the lift again, I complained that nothing had been written on the upper board. “But, you’ve just said the answer!” replied the lift operator. Duh! I’d completely ignored the obvious response while concentrating on the second part of the riddle. By focusing on the rich, the poor, and some sort of poison, I’d missed the first and obvious response—nothing is greater than God! The poor have nothing, the rich need nothing and, if we eat nothing, we’ll die!
I made a simple riddle far more complicated than necessary, something we often do with our faith. For example, during one Bible study someone asked what would happen to our dogs during the Rapture. While it made for a fascinating discussion (did you know some non-Christians offer “After the Rapture” pet care?), the various Christian views about the end times are perplexing. As for me, I’m not going to complicate my faith by pondering the Rapture’s date, let alone worry about pets when it happens or whether dogs and cats will be in heaven. We have a loving God and I’m sure He’s got everything planned out quite thoroughly.
It’s admirable that some people want to dig deep into questions of theology, doctrine, and dogma. I do it myself at times but often end up going down a rabbit hole which leaves me more confused than when I started! It’s incredibly easy to get bogged down in complex and unclear issues that make Christianity and the Bible far more difficult than they need be. Our relationship with God won’t suffer if we can’t hold forth on subjects like the Rapture and tribulation, annihilationism, predestination, Calvinism, Arminianism, and the various doctrinal differences between denominations. Trying to come to terms with the minute details can keep us from the big picture: having a relationship with God the Father, believing in his Son Jesus Christ, and feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
We don’t have to be theologians to be Christians; we just have to be followers of Christ. It’s not necessary to know Greek or Hebrew to read or understand the Bible. Attendance at seminary isn’t a prerequisite for prayer; it’s no more difficult than talking on the phone. We don’t have to take lessons in how to worship to be able to lift our hearts in praise and no evangelism seminar is required for us to share God’s message of love.
Let us remember that we have a God who designed caterpillars so they become butterflies and gave marsupials pockets in which to carry their young! He doesn’t repeat fingerprints or snowflakes, keeps our solar system functioning flawlessly, turns tiny acorns into giant oaks, gives us incredible rainbows, and made crying babies loveable. A God so powerful and resourceful that he merely spoke the universe into existence certainly was able to create us in such a way that knowing Him, understanding His word, having faith, saying a prayer, offering praise and thanksgiving, and sharing His message are well within our capabilities. Let’s remember—none of the Apostles were rocket scientists or Greek scholars and they did just fine!
The Bible is shallow enough for a child not to drown, yet deep enough for an elephant to swim. [Augustine]
Several years ago, an entertainment network did a story on the highlights of Charlotte, North Carolina. Since the Billy Graham Library was considered a point of interest, it was visited by the show’s co-host Kristy Villa and her film crew. Commenting on the many crosses she saw throughout the property, Villa asked, “I see all the crosses, but where is Jesus?” Her guide simply replied, “He’s in Heaven,” adding, ”He is also present in the lives of those who believe in Him and follow Him as their personal Lord and Savior.” Villa exclaimed, “Oh, that’s right! Some worship a crucifix, but Christians worship a risen Christ.” Indeed, Christ’s story doesn’t end with a dead man hanging on a cross. Nevertheless, rather than an empty cross, our emphasis should be on His empty tomb!
When we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow, I suspect the revered bishop who brought Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century wouldn’t recognize this day in his honor. Originally a religious feast, it’s now a day for parades, sales, “Kiss Me I’m Irish” t-shirts, corned beef and cabbage, music, dancing, and lots of green (including hair, cookies, the Chicago River, milk shakes, and kegs of beer). St. Patrick, however, would recognize the common symbol of the day: the shamrock. Of course, to Patrick, the shamrock, with its three leaflets bound by a common stem, was a metaphor for the Holy Trinity. The shamrock’s three leaflets also came to symbolize faith, hope, and love.
Having spared Israel’s first-born males during the final plague on Egypt, God called for every first-born Israelite male, whether man or beast, to be consecrated to Him. The entire male population of the tribe of Levi was 22,000 (about the same number of first-born Israelite men) and God substituted the Levites for the other first-born males. Substituting the Levites for the first-born male in every tribe centralized the sacred duties to one tribe without disrupting the other tribes’ families.
In 1986, holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel said, “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.” That thought, however, has a longer history. In 1897, in George Bernard Shaw’s The Devil’s Disciple, these words were spoken: “The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity.” The evil of indifference can be found as far back as 474 BC (during Judah’s exile) in the story of Esther and as recently as today’s news.
The only two miracles recorded in all four gospels are the resurrection of Jesus and His feeding of the 5,000. Since the gospel writers only told us the number of men at that al fresco meal, Biblical scholars estimate the actual number eating those loaves and fish to be more than double that figure. Perhaps it’s because of the magnitude of that miracle that people often want a logical (meaning earthly) explanation of how Jesus did it and skeptics love to offer their own version of the events.
Devotions of the Heart 