May 24 I Don't Want To

May 24 

I Don’t Want To!

Jg 21:25 …every man did that which

was right in his own eyes.

Recently I saw a political cartoon that described some of the problems in the world today. People who have been working for various causes are pictured with comments about their cause. One said “I want free birth control”, another, “I want free education” and it continued with comments like “I want free health care”.  

Contained within the expression “I want free…” is the idea that they want something and they do not want to pay for it. Changing the words from “I want free..” to “I don’t want to pay for…”  may change how the message sounds but the two are essentially the same in meaning. I want free means I want something but I don’t want to pay for it.

I am reminded of a great pianist who at the end of his wonderful performance met people in the lobby. A lady told him “I would give anything to be able to play the piano like you do!”

“No you wouldn’t!” he responded. “I gave everything to learn to play like that. I practiced when I didn’t want to, when I didn’t feel like it, when I wanted to do something else. I had to give up a lot of things just so I would have time to practice.”

Unfortunately, that lady’s mentality exists among Christians today. We say we want to have things but we don’t want to pay for them. We want blessings without burdens, permission without prohibitions, wisdom without work, and spirituality without study. Almost every positive desire (I want) also contains a negative (I don’t want). 

Most Christians wished they knew more about the Bible. But it is foolishness to think you can learn the Bible without reading, studying, and working at it.

For our meditation today we will consider some things we should be doing but don’t because we don’t want to.

Eat your vegetables. They are good for you!

“I don’t want to. I don’t like vegetables!”

 

2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,

rightly dividing the word of truth.

“I don’t want to. I don’t have time for it. Besides I don’t like to like to study!” 

1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts:

and be ready always to give an answer

to every man that asketh you a reason of the

hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

“I don’t want to. I’m not good at that kind of thing. I just tell them to ask our pastor."

 

Ps 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart,

that I might not sin against thee.

"I don’t want to memorize Bible verses. It takes too much time. Besides I can just look it up on my smart phone."

Ps 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD;

and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

"I don’t want to spend my time sitting around meditating. I would rather do something that is more fun."

 Enuf already!  By now you have gotten the idea. There are lots of things the Bible says we should do but we don’t want to. So we don’t!

Why is that? Are we all disobedient rebels against God? Of course not. Most of us have a heart’s desire to please God. But somehow we just don’t do what we know we should. Paul had the same problem.

Ro 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

Romans 7 is an argument against justification by law and the flesh. In the next chapter Paul describes the difference when the Holy Spirit indwells us and empowers us to do what we should, instead of what we want.

Ro 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

So if we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit what is wrong with our “wanter”. Why do we want to do things of the world, but don’t want to do things of the Spirit?  Paul also answers that question in the 12^th chapter of Romans where he tells us to not be conformed to this world.

But we want to be. And therein lies the crux of the matter. We have opened the doors of our homes, schools, and churches to the world. The Internet and TV have flooded our homes with things we should not see, words we should not hear and depicts the worst immoral activities as normal. We have allowed our schools to eliminate Biblical standards, and even the mention of Christ. We have sat silently while our churches have drifted from a reverential house of Christ centered worship where the goal was to glorify and worship Jehovah, to places where the goal is to maximize attendance, tell people Jesus is their friend, and eliminate what people don’t want.

Our meditation for today is to be mindful when the scriptures say to “do” something and our response is “I don’t want to” we should stop and ask ourselves why we don’t want to. Is it because we are becoming conformed to the world? Is it time to do some mental housekeeping and get our minds refocused?

Ro 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,…

If you feel unhappy that the Bible wants you to do something that you don’t want to do, you need to reset your “wanter.”  If the worst thing you have to do is “eat vegetables” you don’t like, consider yourself fortunate. Christians in the past have paid much higher prices and suffered greatly because of their obedience.

 

 

Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood,

striving against sin.

 

 

May 23 Bad Friends

May 23 

The Elevator Riddle

Pr 13:20  He that walketh with wise men shall be wise:

but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

The view from his 30^th floor apartment was wonderful. The elevator would quickly take him down every morning so he could walk a couple blocks to his office building. But when he came home the elevator would only take him to the 20^th floor. Then he had to take the stairs for the last ten floors. Why?

 This old riddle is so well known you have already guessed the answer. But I included it because it fits so well with our devotional thought for today, which is to be careful who our friends are.

A wonderful book entitled “God’s Little instruction Book” by Honor Publications contains Bible verses that have been reworded in thoughtful and often humorous ways. The proverb that we are considering today is reworded the following way.

“Your companions are like the buttons on an elevator. They will either take you up or down.”

That should also be a great clue to the riddle if you haven’t already figured it out. The guy walked up the stair for the last ten stories because he was too short to reach the number thirty and could only reach as high as #20 on the elevator buttons. I know….Groan!!

An excellent bad example of having wrong friends is Lot. He went to live in a wicked city. He married a woman from Sodom. His daughters married men from Sodom. The last we hear of him he is homeless, living in a cave with two daughters who had adopted the morals of Sodom and as a result were guilty of incest with their drunken father.

The proverbs are wonderful examples of wisdom we should learn as we mature and grow wiser. However age has little to do with wisdom. There are old fools just as there are young ones. The lesson for us today is simple to understand, but often ignored, especially by the immature, of whatever age.

I once heard an interesting expression that said we are only changed by the people we meet and the books we read. If there is any truth to that we should choose both books and friends carefully.

          In the end of the 14^th chapter in Genesis we see an example of not making friends with bad people. There we read of several kings joining in battle. The result was that Sodom was sacked. The winners took everything of value from Sodom, including the people, which included Lot. When Abraham got word that his nephew had been taken, he armed his servants and rescued Lot and all the people and their possessions. The king of Sodom showed up and thanked Abraham. That old pervert king told Abraham to keep the stuff just return the people.  Abraham wanted nothing to do with the king of Sodom and told him he would not take a thread or a shoelace. He had just wanted to rescue his nephew Lot.

      The book of Proverbs lists some people that we should not be friends with.

Pr 22:24  Make no friendship with an angry man;

and with a furious man thou shalt not go:

Shouldn’t we make friends with people who need Christ so we can help them with their anger issues? No! Would you go to those who have an infectious disease so your health could make them well? No, because you would eventually catch their illness. So it is with an angry man. Which is more natural for us, to become angry or to be meek and forgiving? Verse 25 explains why we should not be friends with an angry man.

Pr 22:25 Lest thou learn his ways,

and get a snare to thy soul.

     We are also told to stay away from foolish people.

Pr 14:7 Go from the presence of a foolish man,

when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.

Foolish people say foolish things, desire foolish goals, make foolish decisions, and have foolish friends. Don’t be one of them!

  A black soldier I was stationed with said it best. “Now there is three kinds of people in this world. There is the man who knows and knows he knows. That man is wise and you should honor him. Then there is the man who do not know and he knows he do not know. That man is unlearned and you should pity him. Then there is the man who do not know but he thinks he knows. That man is a fool and you should flee from him.” 

The thought in our devotional is obvious and needs little explanation. But it is a good reminder. What kind of people do we spend our time with? If they are complainers, whiners, angry, dishonest, given to bad language, smutty conversation, and strong drink do not expect your wholesome life will transform them.  Rather you will be conformed to their way of thinking, speaking and acting. Now you may not become as bad as they are but you will not stay as godly as you once were. They will not catch your Godliness. You will catch their ungodliness.

Our meditation for today is to consider the kind of people we choose to associate with. What draws us to be friends with them? And while we reflect on that we should keep a verse from Romans in our mind as well.

Ro 12:2 And be not conformed to this world:

but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,

that ye may prove what is that good,

and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

May 22 Temptation

May 22

Temptation

Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation:

She was the only one who knew where the bag was hidden. The treasure it contained had been a recent gift from a relative and needed to be in a secure place. She knew where it was because she had hidden it. But a few days later she discovered the bag was empty and she knew who had emptied it.

She had. The bag had contained about a pound of wonderful home-made peanut brittle. She had consumed it within a few days so it would not be a temptation. She explained, with a sheepish smile, that since she ate it all she was no longer tempted by it because it was gone!

We may smile at her humorous logic. It is a little like the common expression “I can resist anything except temptation.”

 We find a serious comment about temptation in the first chapter of the book of James. There we are told that happiness is a result of enduring temptation.

We sometimes wonder why God sends temptations our way. Is it to help us learn to endure? No, not at all. If we think our temptations are from God, we are starting with a false premise. God does not send us temptations, and the scripture warns about thinking that way.

Jas 1:13 ¶ Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

The next verse gives a clue where temptations come from.

Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted,

when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

That indictment grates on our “high self-esteem” culture. We didn’t do it, and if we did it wasn’t our fault. Blaming someone or something else is not a new idea. Adam and Eve both tried to excuse their sin. Eve blamed it on the serpent.

Ge 3:13 …And the woman said,

The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Even worse Adam blamed God!

Ge 3:12 And the man said,

The woman whom thou gavest to be with me,

When Moses came down from the mountain and saw a big naked party going on he asked Aaron what had happened.

Ex 32:22 And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.

 23 For they said unto me, Make us gods…,

Aaron blamed everyone else for the party atmosphere and then he blamed circumstances for the golden calf.

Ex 32:24 … Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire,

and there came out this calf.

 

At other times we excuse bad behavior because of our gene pool.  “I take after my mother …….my dad was that way…”

Or we try to explain we are victims of our environment. But the Bible tells us we cannot blame temptation on either our nature (genetics) or our nurture (environment).

But we all suffer from temptations from time to time. If we can learn where they come from perhaps that will give us a key to “enduring” the temptation and not giving in.The Bible is also clear about where temptations come from.

Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when

he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Here we learn that temptations come from within. Different people are tempted by different things. It is easy for us to condemn people who are tempted by things that do not tempt us. Few of us can walk through a modern mall without some temptation arising. There is the smell of pizza, popcorn, chocolate or cinnamon rolls, the desire for the latest fashion, or electronic gizmo, or skimpy women’s underwear, fancy cars, jet skis, jewelry, etc etc. If there is an area where you can be tempted it is probably in a mall somewhere. The point is we carry the desire within ourselves and when confronted with what entices us our inner desire wakes up and temptation begins to stir within us.

Temptations (lusts) are from within. Enticements (lures) do not create temptation, they only awaken the lusts within us.

You might walk by a bakery and just smell grease. If you have no lust for donuts you will not be tempted. Someone else smells the same bakery and all they can think about are donuts, cookies and cake. The bakery smell is not the source of their temptation, but it may be a lure for the temptations that reside in them.

John McArthur, in his commentary on James, has an interesting take on these verses. He sees a progression.  

Desire- Our temptations start with an inward desire.

Deception - When we are enticed we often deceive ourselves into why something would be OK just this once. We rationalize why we should be permitted to violate some scriptural teaching. Just as Eve saw the fruit was nice looking and desirable to make her wise and she was told it would be OK to eat it. But she violated what God had said. We deceive ourselves.

Design – We plan how we can do something and get away with it or otherwise avoid blame.

Disobedience – The culmination of desire, deception and design is disobedience.

The Bible explains the results of yielding to temptation in verse 15.

Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

The temptation we are discussing in this devotional is not the simple eating a donut, or buying a new phone. It is allowing temptation to take over even if that means we do not do what we should be doing, we yield to the sin of covetousness (gotta have the latest thing) or become poor stewards of what God has given us and waste both time and money trying to satisfy our temptations. (Lusts)

Our meditation for today is to be more alert to temptations, understand that they are from within and that we should learn to govern them and learn to endure the daily temptations we have. When you learn to endure temptations you will not feel deprived but delighted. Happy. That is the lesson for today. Don’t be tempted. Be happy. Double happy!

Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried,

he shall receive the crown of life,

which the Lord hath promised

to them that love him.