Acts 13:16-22

King David made several big mistakes in his life. Yet he was called a man after God’s own heart and was mightily used by the Lord to lead the Israelites. What set him apart was the priority he placed on his relationship with the heavenly Father.

David delighted in knowing God and sought Him earnestly. Writing, “My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You in a dry and weary land,” he declared that God’s love was better than life and pledged to praise Him all his days (Ps. 63:1, 3-4).

David viewed the world from a God-centered perspective. He marveled at the Lord’s creative power in the world, relied on Him for protection and strength, and proclaimed allegiance in his writings. He also prayed fervently and frequently, lifting requests in the morning and expectantly awaiting a response (Ps. 5:3). At night he’d continue communing with God (Ps. 63:6).

Both actions–praying and meditating on God’s character–fueled his trust in the Lord. His faith sustained him throughout life: when he was a shepherd boy protecting sheep from attacks by wild animals, a young man defeating the giant Goliath, and the nation’s anointed leader escaping King Saul’s murderous plans. Whatever his circumstances, he sought the Lord and gave priority to their relationship.

The Psalms record David’s desire to know God and be known by Him. He sought the Lord’s guidance through prayer and had a heart for Him. Jesus invites us to draw near and spend our time learning from Him (Matt. 11:28-29). Have you made following Christ the priority of your life?

 The catchy beat was disarming. Driving down the highway with my hands tapping out the rhythm on my steering wheel, I thought this was just another clever pop tune with bubblegum lyrics. Then the words to the chorus caught my attention:

 “I don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore
I don’t know how I’m meant to feel anymore
When we think it will all become clear
I’m being taken over by The Fear.”(1)

This song sung by the young British pop star, Lily Allen, was not just another slickly produced tune without substanc. Allen sings of the destructive impact of materialism:

 “I want to be rich and I want lots of money
I want loads of clothes and loads of diamonds
I heard people die while they are trying to find them

 Life’s about film stars and less about mothers
It’s all about fast cars and passing each other
But it doesn’t matter because I’m packing plastic
and that’s what makes my life so fantastic

And I am a weapon of massive consumption
and it’s not my fault it’s how I’m programmed to function
I don’t know what’s right and what’s real anymore
I don’t know how I’m meant to feel anymore
Cause I’m being taken over by fear.”

 

Among other things, the song laments the vacuity of mindless consumption and its pervasiveness in our society. Consumption, as Allen points out, can be like any other form of addiction, providing an initial high that hooks us, but never again delivers what it promises. Instead, it leads us down the path toward diminishing returns and never ultimately calms our fear.

 Over 200 years before Ms. Allen stepped onto the pop music scene in the United Kingdom, John Wesley articulated the dangers of materialism. “I fear, wherever riches have increased,” he wrote, “the essence of religion has decreased in the same proportion. Therefore, I do not see how it is possible, in the nature of things, for any revival of religion to continue long….[A]s riches increase, so will pride, anger and love of the world in all its branches.”(2) Even as thousands and thousands were joining his ranks, he spoke prophetically about the inevitable decline and dissolution of this revival as a result of the increase of wealth arising from Christian diligence and frugality.

 Indeed, it is well known to students of human societies that an increase in prosperity often brings with it a precipitous decline in religious involvement. After all, why would anyone need God when there is Master Card and Visa?  The declining numbers in churches in the Western World seem to affirm that Wesley’s fears were warranted. Christian leaders speculate that if current trends continue in England, for example, Methodists will cease to exist in that country in thirty years.(3) Of course, long before Wesley uttered his fears, Jesus warned his disciples: “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and riches” (Luke 16:13). Jesus warns of the idolatry that so easily entraps us, luring us away from faithful allegiance.

 We might be tempted to disregard any such warning in times of economic “slow down.” How can people be tempted to serve “the master” of money, after all, when there is so much less of it? Yet even in its absence, we can find our hearts soothed more by money than by God and behold the signs of a dangerous dependence. When our hearts find salvation and security in having more and more material gain—whether we actually hold it or not—we are reminded of “the deceitfulness of riches” and the narcotic effects of material success.

 Thus clearly, the abolition of wealth or production is not the answer to materialism! Rather, the answer Jesus suggests lies in the proper use of wealth in our world: as a blessing for others and not just for our own use. Jesus instructed disciples to “sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven….For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Luke 12:33-34).

 John Wesley understood this, too, and in the spirit of Jesus reiterates the same idea: “We ought not to forbid people to be diligent and frugal: we must exhort all Christians, to gain all they can, and to save all they can… What way then (I ask again) can we take that our money may not sink us to the nethermost hell? There is one way, and there is no other under heaven. If those who gain all they can, and save all they can, will likewise give all they can, then the more they gain, the more they will grow in grace, and the more treasure they will lay up in heaven.”(4)

 In difficult economic times, this is far from unnecessary counsel. It may be, in fact, the very idea that finally breaks the chains of addiction and reveals a far better treasure.

 Margaret Manning is a member of the speaking and writing team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Seattle, Washington.

 (1) Lily Allen, “The Fear” from It’s Not Me, It’s You, Regal Records, United Kingdom, January 26, 2009.
(2) Cited in an article by Philip Yancey, “Traveling with Wesley” Christianity Today, November 2007, vol. 51, No. 11.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Cited from The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, vol. XV (London: Thomas Cordeux, 1786).

 Morning “He left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.” / Genesis 39:12

 In contending with certain sins there remains no mode of victory but by

flight. The ancient naturalists wrote much of basilisks, whose eyes fascinated

their victims and rendered them easy victims; so the mere gaze of wickedness

puts us in solemn danger. He who would be safe from acts of evil must haste

away from occasions of it. A covenant must be made with our eyes not even to

look upon the cause of temptation, for such sins only need a spark to begin

with and a blaze follows in an instant. Who would wantonly enter the leper’s

prison and sleep amid its horrible corruption? He only who desires to be

leprous himself would thus court contagion. If the mariner knew how to avoid a

storm, he would do anything rather than run the risk of weathering it.

Cautious pilots have no desire to try how near the quicksand they can sail, or

how often they may touch a rock without springing a leak; their aim is to keep

as nearly as possible in the midst of a safe channel.

 This day I may be exposed to great peril, let me have the serpent’s wisdom to

keep out of it and avoid it. The wings of a dove may be of more use to me

today than the jaws of a lion. It is true I may be an apparent loser by

declining evil company, but I had better leave my cloak than lose my

character; it is not needful that I should be rich, but it is imperative upon

me to be pure. No ties of friendship, no chains of beauty, no flashings of

talent, no shafts of ridicule must turn me from the wise resolve to flee from

sin. The devil I am to resist and he will flee from me, but the lusts of the

flesh, I must flee, or they will surely overcome me. O God of holiness

preserve thy Josephs, that Madam Bubble bewitch them not with her vile

suggestions. May the horrible trinity of the world, the flesh, and the devil,

never overcome us!

 

Evening “In their affliction they will seek me early.” / Hosea 5:15

 Losses and adversities are frequently the means which the great Shepherd uses

to fetch home his wandering sheep; like fierce dogs they worry the wanderers

back to the fold. There is no making lions tame if they are too well fed; they

must be brought down from their great strength, and their stomachs must be

lowered, and then they will submit to the tamer’s hand; and often have we seen

the Christian rendered obedient to the Lord’s will by straitness of bread and

hard labour. When rich and increased in goods many professors carry their

heads much too loftily, and speak exceeding boastfully. Like David, they

flatter themselves, “My mountain standeth fast; I shall never be moved.” When

the Christian groweth wealthy, is in good repute, hath good health, and a

happy family, he too often admits Mr. Carnal Security to feast at his table,

and then if he be a true child of God there is a rod preparing for him. Wait

awhile, and it may be you will see his substance melt away as a dream. There

goes a portion of his estate–how soon the acres change hands. That debt, that

dishonoured bill–how fast his losses roll in, where will they end? It is a

blessed sign of divine life if when these embarrassments occur one after

another he begins to be distressed about his backslidings, and betakes himself

to his God. Blessed are the waves that wash the mariner upon the rock of

salvation! Losses in business are often sanctified to our soul’s enriching. If

the chosen soul will not come to the Lord full-handed, it shall come empty. If

God, in his grace, findeth no other means of making us honour him among men,

he will cast us into the deep; if we fail to honour him on the pinnacle of

riches, he will bring us into the valley of poverty. Yet faint not, heir of

sorrow, when thou art thus rebuked, rather recognize the loving hand which

chastens, and say, “I will arise, and go unto my Father.”

His camp is exceedingly great. Joel 2:11 

Consider, my soul, the mightiness of the Lord who is your glory and defense. He is a man of war; Jehovah is His name. All the forces of heaven are at His command; legions wait at His door; cherubim and seraphim, watchers and holy ones, principalities and powers are all attentive to His will. If our eyes were not blinded by the dust of sin, we should see horses of fire and chariots of fire round about the Lord’s servants. The powers of nature are all subject to the absolute control of the Creator: Stormy wind and tempest, lightning and rain, snow and hail, and the soft dews and cheering sunshine come and go at His decree.

The bands of Orion He looses, and He binds the sweet influences of the Pleiades.1 Earth, sea, and air and the places under the earth are the barracks for Jehovah’s great armies; space is His camping ground, light is His banner, and flame is His sword. When He goes forth to war, famine ravages the land, pestilence smites the nations, hurricane sweeps the sea, tornado shakes the mountains, and earthquake makes the solid world to tremble.

As for animate creatures, they all own His dominion, and from the great fish that swallowed the prophet down to “all manner of flies,” which plagued the field of Zoan,2 all are His servants, and even the caterpillars and the worms are squadrons of His great army, for His camp is very great. My soul, see to it that you are at peace with this mighty King. Be sure to enlist under His banner, for to war against Him is madness, and to serve Him is glory.

Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, is ready to receive recruits for the army of the Lord: If I am not already enlisted, let me go to Him before I sleep and beg to be accepted through His merits; and if I be already, as I hope I am, a soldier of the cross, let me be of good courage, for the enemy is powerless compared with my Lord, whose camp is very great.

1Job 38:31 2Psalm 78:43-45

Family Reading Plan Jeremiah 20  Mark 6