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Recognizing the Shepherd
Some days, I find myself walking along the relatively narrow footpath, keeping in step with my Lord as He walks beside me. As we walk, the subject of our conversation floats between my own actions, concerns for my family and friends, and how I might learn to better recognize and experience His presence from moment to moment. And as I engage with Him, as we spend time together, His grace washes over me. In His presence, I want to be nowhere else.
But eventually I stop talking, while Jesus, too, remains silent. As our conversation dwindles I drift away from Him, just as a curious child runs off ahead or falls behind knowing Mom or Dad are close by. Away from the dazzling and immersive light of my Good Shepherd, I find myself acutely aware of other shiny and attractive things, as well as the not-so-attractive (though equally fascinating) refuse scattered in and along the gutter of this very road.
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With You
For so long I’ve tried
To be a better man
And show You I was worth the time
Striving to make a difference
Working to change the world
And doing everything I canI did what I did
What I thought was for You
Looking back, I did it for me
In Your name I worked hard
In Your name I brought hope
And I thought I was being trueBut I discovered that living for You
Was really just living for me
And the things I did for Your glory
Only brought glory to me
I reveled in my humility
And in taking the lowliest seat
Staying busy in work for the kingdom
With little time to sit at Your feetI longed to do more
Maybe my service wasn’t enough
That You expected better of me
Don’t some parts have more value
Is not the mouth more than the tooth?
The eyes not of greater stuff?But there is no reward
For all the things I do
For it is not my works You seek
But my laughter and tears
Through each and every year
Side by side in communion with YouSo I’ve learned to live with You
In every little thing I do
So that my efforts do bring honor
Not to me but instead just to You
Less is more when I’m holding Your hand
As we move with purpose each day
For I have chosen now what is better a
Which will not be taken away . . . -
Exit Strategy
One day I was striving forward, kicking stones and leaping over obstacles. I trudged through the unfamiliar jungle, whipping my machete back and forth to cut down the forbidding overgrowth that tried to hold me back. I could hear the rushing water of our meeting place, though I was still a long way off. I could picture the deep green pastures there beside the freshwater stream.
Equipped with purpose and power, knowing that my Master waited there for me, having prepared an unbelievable picnic spread under sprawling trees and a tapestry of wildflowers, I fought through the chaos with the knowledge (not just hope) that He was there and that we would soon be together and delight in one another’s company with food, drink, conversation, and laughter.
But it was getting dark, and I was still quite a distance from my Master’s presence. I continued slicing my way through the branches, but I was becoming exhausted and thirsty; and I began to feel alone knowing I was deep in a treacherous territory where bands of thieves reside and where vicious beasts prowl waiting to devour me. It got to the point where I had to take more and more frequent rests to gather my strength while trying to remain vigilant. At one point, however, when I was most weary and very slow to get up, it’s then that I heard a strange yet familiar voice speak to me and begin to share with me a gentler, simpler path through the dangerous unknown.
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Life After Death
It’s a general consensus in Christianity that Christ was indeed “raised from the dead.” This is referred to as The Resurrection, of course, and is certainly the turning point of history on which lay the entire foundation of the Christian Church.
And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is futile and your faith is empty.
1 Corinthians 15:14 NET Remarkably, there are many who believe in the resurrection, and of everlasting life in Jesus, yet struggle with the idea of or reported claims of near-death experiences (NDE). How do these things relate? Well, when we talk of “life after death,” we’re typically asking about one’s ideas or beliefs regarding the afterlife or, more specifically, Heaven and hell.
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And What Shall Remain?
Remove the dross from the silver, and material for the silversmith will emerge.
Proverbs 25:4 NLT Dross refers to the impurities within a metal that can be separated from the pure element by extreme heat. The oldest method of gold purification requires the metal to be made molten, at which point all other non-gold metals and materials float to the surface and can be easily removed.
Whenever we attempt to “purify” something, we have to put it through some type of process to make it pure for some purpose. And while our definition of “pure” may vary depending on the usage, we typically mean something that comprises 100% (or pretty darn close) of a particular component. In the above example, pure gold is 24 karat, with anything less than that being a mixture of gold and other materials.
In the gospel of Matthew, John the Baptist says of Jesus,
“His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Matthew 3:12 NIV -
A Better Perspective
As a programmer, I so often find myself attempting to solve a problem to which I know only the symptoms. Something isn’t working correctly, but I didn’t write the code or don’t quite remember how the code works.
As a result, I have to go through the process of discovery, attempting to understand the code to determine where the problem lies. But it’s easy, sometimes, to jump in and assume to understand it, and begin taking steps to solve the problem (or bug) by making alterations that seem right.
There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.
Proverbs 16:25 NIV What I quickly discover, in such cases, when my “fixes” don’t create the anticipated change, is that I didn’t have all the facts. I didn’t see the whole picture, and was attempting to address the symptoms instead of the problem.
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Faking It
I often struggle with the idea that my relationship with God is not real. It’s not me thinking that God isn’t real, it’s just me.
Am I just going through the motions pretending to be in love with Jesus, or is there something truly there? I don’t, for a second, think that Jesus doesn’t love me. Not for the smallest moment do I question God’s love for me. He has proven Himself to me time and again.
But is my love and devotion to Him real? Or am I just faking it? There are days when I feel overwhelmed by His presence, but then others when I don’t sense Him at all. There are days when I can’t stop talking to Him, and then days go by where I don’t speak with Him at all.
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70 Times 7
“Adah and Zillah, listen to my voice, you wives of Lamech, give heed to my speech, for I have killed a man for wounding me; and a boy for striking me; if Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”
Genesis 4:24 NASB Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”
Matthew 18:21-22 NKJV Some modern translations render “seventy times seven” in both cases as seventy-seven times. But if “sevenfold” means seven times, then “seventy-sevenfold” would mean seventy seven-times. The placement of that little hyphen changes the numeric value considerably. But it’s more important to see the correlation between these two passages, as Jesus was using the former hyperbole from Genesis to reinforce His point.
Lamech considered his killing of another man, in an unknown way for an unknown reason, such a heinous act that he felt he deserved to die 500 deaths (70 x 7)! Such an exaggeration to emphasize what a terrible thing he felt he’d done.
And it is this exact reason that Jesus uses it as an opposing example to explain the significant value of forgiveness. By virtually quoting the prior, He effectively reverses that principle of vengeance. To most of us, outside of the cultural context of Jewish teaching, Jesus’ words here don’t hold much meaning. We get it, but not really. Against the backdrop of the passage in Genesis, however, and knowing that Jesus’ hearers would have been quite familiar with the reference, we see the point in a new light.
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Where Have Those Feet Been?
Foot-washing was a very common practice in ancient times, since all roadways were generally regular old dusty dirt . . . with an added bonus. Folks all wore sandals of some fashion, but those nearly bare feet, combined with often hours of travel, resulted in quite filthy feet indeed.
Keep in mind, of course, in those days, people weren’t driving Toyotas, Fords, Chevys or Subarus, replete with their toxic emissions. No, they were driving camels, oxen, sheep, donkeys and goats, replete with their toxic emissions! Such transportation and walking cargo did not “hold it” until the next gas station. The animals relieved themselves as they moved, which was on the very highway on which everyone else was traveling.
This means that those designer sandals did nothing but keep stones from piercing the soles of their wearers’ feet, failing to protect them from the literal filth on the ground. While the sandals would keep such stuff from squishing through their toes (nice and steamy in the early morning), it didn’t keep it off their feet.
So when people came to their own or another’s abode, how did they keep such junk from being transplanted into their home? Well, typically, they’d simply remove their shoes and wash their own feet before going inside. But if there were household servants present, then they would be tasked with the job of washing guests’ feet. Sometimes that same servant that was awarded the responsibility could then get up and go prepare a meal. And this courtesy extended to any visitor of the home, whether strange or familiar, for it was important that the filth of the world not contaminate their dwelling place.
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Slavery Is Easy
I know, I know. But let’s talk about this. Heading back to the Old Testament book of Exodus, we’re reminded that God led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, not to the Promised Land . . . but into the Wilderness.
Christians tend to consider the Wilderness as only that place of wandering we sometimes stumble into from time to time. But the reality is that the Wilderness is where we live, and there is no leaving it until such time as we are granted admission into the Promised Land at the end of our great journey.
We look at the history of the Israelites having spent several generations as slaves in Egypt, not knowing any other kind of life. In fact, God allowed them to remain slaves long enough to erase their memory and history of any other existence. And that’s why He inspired Moses to write down their history, so that they could learn where they came from after the fact.
And just like the Israelites, we too have no idea what life before slavery looked like. Our slavery to sin is all we’ve ever known. We were born into slavery, raised by slaves, and grew to become great slaves.
