Morning “Delight thyself also in the Lord.”  Psalm 37:4

 The teaching of these words must seem very surprising to those who are strangers

to vital godliness, but to the sincere believer it is only the inculcation of a

recognized truth. The life of the believer is here described as a delight in

God, and we are thus certified of the great fact that true religion overflows

with happiness and joy. Ungodly persons and mere professors never look upon

religion as a joyful thing; to them it is service, duty, or necessity, but never

pleasure or delight. If they attend to religion at all, it is either that they

may gain thereby, or else because they dare not do otherwise. The thought of

delight in religion is so strange to most men, that no two words in

 their language stand further apart than “holiness” and “delight.” But believers

who know Christ, understand that delight and faith are so blessedly united, that

the gates of hell cannot prevail to separate them. They who love God with all

their hearts, find that his ways are ways of pleasantness, and all his paths are

peace. Such joys, such brimful delights, such overflowing blessednesses, do the

saints discover in their Lord, that so far from serving him from custom, they

would follow him though all the world cast out his name as evil. We fear not God

because of any compulsion; our faith is no fetter, our profession is no bondage,

we are not dragged to holiness, nor driven to duty. No,

 our piety is our pleasure, our hope is our happiness, our duty is our delight.

 Delight and true religion are as allied as root and flower; as indivisible as

truth and certainty; they are, in fact, two precious jewels glittering side by

side in a setting of gold.

 “‘Tis when we taste thy love,

 Our joys divinely grow,

 Unspeakable like those above,

 And heaven begins below.”

Evening  “O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face … because we have sinned against

thee.”   Daniel 9:8

 A deep sense and clear sight of sin, its heinousness, and the punishment which

it deserves, should make us lie low before the throne. We have sinned as

Christians. Alas! that it should be so. Favoured as we have been, we have yet

been ungrateful: privileged beyond most, we have not brought forth fruit in

proportion. Who is there, although he may long have been engaged in the

Christian warfare, that will not blush when he looks back upon the past? As for

our days before we were regenerated, may they be forgiven and forgotten; but

since then, though we have not sinned as before, yet we have sinned against

light and against love–light which has really penetrated our minds, and love in

which  we have rejoiced. Oh, the atrocity of the sin of a pardoned soul! An unpardoned

sinner sins cheaply compared with the sin of one of God’s own elect ones, who

has had communion with Christ and leaned his head upon Jesus’ bosom. Look at

David! Many will talk of his sin, but I pray you look at his repentance, and

hear his broken bones, as each one of them moans out its dolorous confession!

Mark his tears, as they fall upon the ground, and the deep sighs with which he

accompanies the softened music of his harp! We have erred: let us, therefore,

seek the spirit of penitence. Look, again, at Peter! We speak much of Peter’s

denying his Master. Remember, it is written, “He wept bitterly.” Have we

 no denials of our Lord to be lamented with tears? Alas! these sins of ours,

before and after conversion, would consign us to the place of inextinguishable

fire if it were not for the sovereign mercy which has made us to differ,

snatching us like brands from the burning. My soul, bow down under a sense of

thy natural sinfulness, and worship thy God. Admire the grace which saves

thee–the mercy which spares thee–the love which pardons thee!

Remove far from me falsehood and lying.  Proverbs 30:8 

 Here we have two great lessons—what to deprecate and what to supplicate. The happiest state of a Christian is the holiest state. Just as there is the most heat nearest to the sun, so there is the most happiness closest to Christ. No Christian enjoys comfort when his eyes are fixed on falsehood—he finds no satisfaction unless his soul is quickened in the ways of God.

The world may find happiness elsewhere, but he cannot. I do not blame ungodly men for rushing to their pleasures. Why should I? Let them have their fill. That is all they have to enjoy. A converted wife who despaired of her husband was always very kind to him, for she said, “I fear that this is the only world in which he will be happy, and therefore I have made up my mind to make him as happy as I can in it.” Christians must seek their delights in a higher sphere than the tasteless trifles or sinful enjoyments of the world. Empty pursuits are dangerous to renewed souls.

We have heard of a philosopher who, while he looked up to the stars, fell into a pit; but how deeply do they fall who look down. Their fall is fatal. No Christian is safe when his soul is lazy, and his God is far from him. Every Christian is always safe as to the great matter of his standing in Christ, but he is not safe as regards his experience in holiness and communion with Jesus in this life.

Satan does not often attack a Christian who is living near to God. It is when the Christian departs from God, becomes spiritually starved, and tries to feed on lies that the devil discovers his moment of advantage. He may sometimes stand foot to foot with the child of God who is active in his Master’s service, but the battle is generally brief. He who slips as he goes down into the Valley of Humiliation will find that with every false step he invites the devil’s attack. O for grace to walk humbly with our God!

Isaiah 45

Revelation 15

Once upon a time there were two grains of wheat lying on the floor of a warm and cozy barn. But one day, the farmer came in and told them, “I want to take you out of this comfortable barn and plant you in the earth. I’m going to place you in the cold ground and cover you with soil. It will be dark, and you will die. But I promise that you will multiply and become very fruitful.”

The first grain of wheat turned down the suggestion. “No way!” he said. “Count me out. I like my comfort, and I don’t want to die.” But the second one, after carefully considering the pain and discomfort of dying, decided the promise of a future harvest was worth the sacrifice. So the farmer took him outside and planted him in the ground, while allowing the first grain of wheat to remain inside the barn.

A few days later, a small green sprout appeared over where the seed had been planted. Then it grew and became a tall stalk of wheat that produced one hundred more grains. For the next forty years, the farmer planted all the seeds that had originated from that first grain of wheat, and year after year, the harvest multiplied. However, the grain of wheat that stayed in the barn remained there by itself, never multiplying–but he was very comfortable.

Which grain of wheat are you? Are you playing it safe, or have you let Christ plant you in the world? The only way you’ll ever become useful and fruitful in God’s kingdom is to abandon your own selfish desires, get out of your comfort zone, and serve the Lord by serving others.

Cognitive dissonance, the study of psychology tells us, is the internal tension that results when our experience doesn’t match our professed beliefs and values. It is that sense of unease when we encounter something that contradicts what we have held to be true. We often experience this tension in the course of academic training as we learn new ideas. But perhaps dissonance is felt most acutely when it occurs in the realm of faith commitments. How is it that my spouse has left me if marriage is God’s ideal? How is it that prayers seemingly go unanswered if I have been so faithful to pray? How do I reconcile my personal or the global experience of suffering with a view of a good and loving God?

 Now those who have never experienced (or noticed) cognitive dissonance as a reality in their own lives might be quick to offer all kinds of explanations for those who don’t find it quite as easy to reconcile the gaps between beliefs and experience: We have drifted away from our moral center. We have not studied enough, or prayed enough. Perhaps we have not understood right teaching. And surely there are times when all of these explanations may be true.

 But is it always so easy to explain dissonance away? I asked this question anew when I looked at the questions of John the Baptist. The gospels portray John with all the intensity and moral outrage of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, or Malachi—zealous prophets from the days of ancient Israel prone to weeping and crying out with zeal and tenacity. The courageous cousin of Jesus preached repentance resolutely, and even baptized Jesus in preparation for his own earthly ministry as the Jewish Messiah. He stood against the immorality and hypocrisy of those who were religious and political leaders. John was resolute in his ministry as the forerunner to the Messiah. Even as his own disciples came undone and complained that the crowds who once clamored to see him were now flocking to Jesus, John stood clear in his calling: “You yourselves bear me witness, that I have said, ‘I am not the Messiah,’ but ‘I have been sent before him'” (John 3:26-28).

 Yet all of this background creates a dramatic contrast once John was imprisoned. His resolve was shaken. Both Matthew and Luke’s gospels record his dissonance: “Now when John in prison heard of the works of Jesus, he sent word by his disciples, and said to him, ‘Are you the expected one, or shall we look for someone else?'” (Matthew 11:3; Luke 7:20)  His question belies his own ‘gap’ between the reality he envisioned and his current reality in a cold prison cell. If Jesus is the Messiah, John must have wondered, why am I sitting in this jail?  The Messiah John proclaimed would “thoroughly clear his threshing floor” and “burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12). The Messiah was coming to rid Israel—and indeed the world—of evil. Yet in John’s day to day existence in his lonely prison cell, evil had won the day. “Are you the expected one, or shall we look for someone else?”

 John’s dissonance is not unlike the gaps we often fall into between what we believe and what we experience. Yet the suffering that results from the gaps, according to author Scott Cairns, “[These also] can become illuminating moments in which we see our lives in the context of a terrifying, abysmal emptiness, moments when all of our comfortable assumptions are shown to be false, or misleading, or at least incomplete.”(1) The gap between what we, like John, believe about the nature and ministry of the Messiah and the reality of a Jesus who is free from our comfortable assumptions often creates unbearable dissonance.

 Jesus acknowledged that his ministry would be disruptive, and even be misunderstood. In responding to John’s doubts, Jesus said, “Blessed is the one who keeps from stumbling over me” (Matthew 11:6). Surely, the gaps between what we believe and what we experience often cause us to stumble and fall. Yet, as Cairns suggests, might mining those gaps also illuminate new paths of discovery from Jesus’s own life and ministry? The gaps we experience often hold the treasure of new insight and the beauty of a more faithful devotion if we are willing to let go of our “comfortable assumptions” and dig deep, where what is precious and most valuable is often found in the deepest places of dissonance.  

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

 (1) Scott Cairns, The End of Suffering (Brewster MA: Paraclete Press, 2009), 8.

Morning   “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”   Revelation 22:17

 Jesus says, “take freely.” He wants no payment or preparation. He seeks no

recommendation from our virtuous emotions. If you have no good feelings, if you

be but willing, you are invited; therefore come! You have no belief and no

repentance,–come to him, and he will give them to you. Come just as you are,

and take “Freely,” without money and without price. He gives himself to needy

ones. The drinking fountains at the corners of our streets are valuable

institutions; and we can hardly imagine any one so foolish as to feel for his

purse, when he stands before one of them, and to cry, “I cannot drink because I

have not five pounds in my pocket.” However poor the man is, there is the

fountain,  and just as he is he may drink of it. Thirsty passengers, as they go by,

whether they are dressed in fustian or in broadcloth, do not look for any

warrant for drinking; its being there is their warrant for taking its water

freely. The liberality of some good friends has put the refreshing crystal there

and we take it, and ask no questions. Perhaps the only persons who need go

thirsty through the street where there is a drinking fountain, are the fine

ladies and gentlemen who are in their carriages. They are very thirsty, but

cannot think of being so vulgar as to get out to drink. It would demean them,

they think, to drink at a common drinking fountain: so they ride by with parched

lips.  Oh, how many there are who are rich in their own good works and cannot

therefore come to Christ! “I will not be saved,” they say, “in the same way as

the harlot or the swearer.” What! go to heaven in the same way as a chimney

sweep. Is there no pathway to glory but the path which led the thief there? I

will not be saved that way. Such proud boasters must remain without the living

water; but, “Whosoever will, let him TAKE THE WATER OF LIFE FREELY.”

Evening   “Remove far from me vanity and lies.”    Proverbs 30:8   

“O my God, be not far from me.”   Psalm 38:21

 Here we have two great lessons–what to deprecate and what to supplicate. The

happiest state of a Christian is the holiest state. As there is the most heat

nearest to the sun, so there is the most happiness nearest to Christ. No

Christian enjoys comfort when his eyes are fixed on vanity–he finds no

satisfaction unless his soul is quickened in the ways of God. The world may win

happiness elsewhere, but he cannot. I do not blame ungodly men for rushing to

their pleasures. Why should I? Let them have their fill. That is all they have

to enjoy. A converted wife who despaired of her husband was always very kind to

him, for she said, “I fear that this is the only world in which he will be

happy,  and therefore I have made up my mind to make him as happy as I can in it.”

Christians must seek their delights in a higher sphere than the insipid

frivolities or sinful enjoyments of the world. Vain pursuits are dangerous to

renewed souls. We have heard of a philosopher who, while he looked up to the

stars, fell into a pit; but how deeply do they fall who look down. Their fall is

fatal. No Christian is safe when his soul is slothful, and his God is far from

him. Every Christian is always safe as to the great matter of his standing in

Christ, but he is not safe as regards his experience in holiness, and communion

with Jesus in this life. Satan does not often attack a Christian who is living

 near to God. It is when the Christian departs from his God, becomes spiritually

starved, and endeavours to feed on vanities, that the devil discovers his

vantage hour. He may sometimes stand foot to foot with the child of God who is

active in his Master’s service, but the battle is generally short: he who slips

as he goes down into the Valley of Humiliation, every time he takes a false step

invites Apollyon to assail him. O for grace to walk humbly with our God!

. . . Who saved us and called us to a holy calling.   2 Timothy 1:9 

 The apostle uses the perfect tense and says, “who saved us.” Believers in Christ Jesus are saved. They are not looked upon as people who are in a hopeful state and may ultimately be saved, but they are already saved. Salvation is not a blessing to be enjoyed upon our dying bed and to be sung of in a future state above, but a matter to be obtained, received, promised, and enjoyed now.

The Christian is perfectly saved in God’s purpose; God has ordained him to salvation, and that purpose is complete. He is saved also as to the price that has been paid for him: “It is finished” was the cry of the Savior before He died. The believer is also perfectly saved in His covenant Head, for as he fell in Adam, so he lives in Christ.

This complete salvation is accompanied by a holy calling. Those whom the Savior saved upon the cross are in due time effectually called by the power of God the Holy Spirit to holiness: They leave their sins; they endeavor to be like Christ; they choose holiness, not out of any compulsion, but from the power of a new nature, which leads them to rejoice in holiness just as naturally as when previously they delighted in sin. God neither chose them nor called them because they were holy, but He called them that they might be holy, and holiness is the beauty produced by His workmanship in them.

The excellencies that we see in a believer are as much the work of God as the Atonement itself. In this way the fullness of the grace of God is beautifully displayed. Salvation must be of grace, because the Lord is the author of it: And what motive but grace could move Him to save the guilty? Salvation must be of grace because the Lord works in such a manner that our righteousness is forever excluded. Such is the believer’s privilege—a present salvation; such is the evidence that he is called to it—a holy life.

Family Reading Plan    Isaiah 44    Revelation 14

When Jesus left His home in heaven, He didn’t come to earth to be a superstar. He came to serve. As His disciples, we’ve been left here on earth to follow His example and serve a lost and hurting world. The story of Zacchaeus shows us some Christlike qualities that we need to develop in order to serve as the Lord did.

Awareness: Although surrounded by a crowd, Jesus stopped and took notice of one particular man perched in a tree. Zacchaeus was hated and rejected because he was a tax collector. Although he was rich, there was something missing in his life, and Christ recognized his need. There are people all around us “hanging in trees”–needy, empty, and searching for hope. But too often, we’re preoccupied with our activities and don’t even notice them.

Availability: Jesus was heading to Jerusalem to carry out the most important act in human history: our redemption. Yet He stopped to have a meal with a spiritually needy man. What could be so important that it keeps you too busy to give others what they need most–your time?

Acceptance: Although Zacchaeus was a notorious sinner, Jesus didn’t say, “Clean up your act, and then I’ll come to your house.” We’re called, not to fix people but to share the transforming gospel of Christ.

How are you doing at serving those around you? Maybe it’s time to slow down and open your spiritual eyes to see all the needy people. God places opportunities all around us, but if we’re not attentive, we’ll miss them. Sometimes you just have to look up to see who’s in the tree.

C.S. Lewis once noted that if we had to choose between reading old books and new books, it should be the old books we choose. “Not because they are better,” he wrote, “but because they contain precisely those truths of which our own age is neglectful.” Lewis was well aware that there were truths spoken through other worldviews that he was blinded from simply because he existed in his own. 

 Our worldviews are no exception. Every thought and experience, every book and idea that crosses one’s path, has been shaped within a very particular worldview. Life is in fact so oriented by this unconscious zeitgeist that blindness is often a difficult concept to accept. 

 But that doesn’t make it less real. Blindness is as natural to humankind as the desire to understand. We are often blind to our own faults, blind to truths we don’t want to hear. It is the cure to such blindness that is important. Noting the interconnectedness of worldview and spirituality, Eugene Peterson writes, “There is widespread interest in living beyond the roles and functions handed to us by our culture. But much of it ends up as a spirituality that is shaped by terms handed out by the same culture.”(1) What do you do to see authentically? What do you do to protect yourself from walking blindly down paths shaped by dangerous ideas, down roads paved with misleading promises? How do you see what is real and not what is just culturally programed?   

 The Christian pilgrim powerfully attests that it is worship that opens our eyes and God’s Word that illumines our path.  A story is told of a man in a country far from his own. The man walked along, his coat buttoned up tightly on a frigid, windy day. As he walked through the crowded street noticing the somber faces that passed him, he was suddenly taken aback by a stranger who plainly stood out. As if in his own world, a man walked by contentedly whistling a tune. Wondering at first how he could even manage to whistle in the cold, the foreigner then noticed the tune that was hitting his ears. It was a fairly uncommon Christian hymn, yet a hymn that happened to be of great comfort to him personally. The words rushed into his mind as if a message from God personally: The Great Physician now is here, the sympathizing Jesus.  

 Catching up with the man, the foreigner joined in the whistling. Immediately, the man’s eyes lit up and they finished the hymn together. Each man spoke excitedly in a language unknown to the other, as they pointed to the heavens, touched their hearts with their hands, and embraced. Waving goodbye, the two men went their separate ways whistling, having experienced the transcending hope of the sympathizing Jesus and the illumining presence of God in a dark and lonely world.     

 It is a simple and true story that conveys the profound mystery of worship and its ability to present a worldview and kingdom beyond our own. Without a word spoken, two worlds were bridged because a tune resounded of a Spirit both hearts knew deeply. If a whistled hymn and a heart for God can unite strangers, imagine what will be when every tribe and nation cries out for God together. The Christian knows Jesus as the transformational hope, the eternal one who stepped into history to transform all of those in time.  As Ravi Zacharias notes, “Thus, worship brings together the divergent areas of our lives and allows us see the composite whole.” The living God is able to bring sight to the blind and meaning to every life’s story because God is the author of all things. Like the prophet Isaiah, eyes are opened in worship because we are suddenly before something bigger than any eye can imagine. 

 Might we stand accordingly with the hymn writer who asked in the illumining presence of God, “Open my eyes that I may see. Open my eyes—illumine me, Spirit Divine!”

 Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

Morning  “Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting.” Daniel 5:27

 It is well frequently to weigh ourselves in the scale of God’s Word. You will

find it a holy exercise to read some psalm of David, and, as you meditate upon

each verse, to ask yourself, “Can I say this? Have I felt as David felt? Has my

heart ever been broken on account of sin, as his was when he penned his

penitential psalms? Has my soul been full of true confidence in the hour of

difficulty as his was when he sang of God’s mercies in the cave of Adullam, or

in the holds of Engedi? Do I take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of

the Lord?” Then turn to the life of Christ, and as you read, ask yourselves how

far you are conformed to his likeness. Endeavour to discover whether you

 have the meekness, the humility, the lovely spirit which he constantly

inculcated and displayed. Take, then, the epistles, and see whether you can go

with the apostle in what he said of his experience. Have you ever cried out as

he did–“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this

death?” Have you ever felt his self-abasement? Have you seemed to yourself the

chief of sinners, and less than the least of all saints? Have you known anything

of his devotion? Could you join with him and say, “For me to live is Christ, and

to die is gain”? If we thus read God’s Word as a test of our spiritual

condition, we shall have good reason to stop many a time and say, “Lord, I feel

 I have never yet been here, O bring me here! give me true penitence, such as

this I read of. Give me real faith; give me warmer zeal; inflame me with more

fervent love; grant me the grace of meekness; make me more like Jesus. Let me no

longer be found wanting,’ when weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, lest I

be found wanting in the scales of judgment.” “Judge yourselves that ye be not

judged.”

Evening  “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling.”  2 Timothy 1:9

 The apostle uses the perfect tense and says, “Who hath saved us.” Believers in

Christ Jesus are saved. They are not looked upon as persons who are in a hopeful

state, and may ultimately be saved, but they are already saved. Salvation is not

a blessing to be enjoyed upon the dying bed, and to be sung of in a future state

above, but a matter to be obtained, received, promised, and enjoyed now. The

Christian is perfectly saved in God’s purpose; God has ordained him unto

salvation, and that purpose is complete. He is saved also as to the price which

has been paid for him: “It is finished” was the cry of the Saviour ere he died.

The believer is also perfectly saved in his covenant head, for as

 he fell in Adam, so he lives in Christ. This complete salvation is accompanied

by a holy calling. Those whom the Saviour saved upon the cross are in due time

effectually called by the power of God the Holy Spirit unto holiness: they leave

their sins; they endeavour to be like Christ; they choose holiness, not out of

any compulsion, but from the stress of a new nature, which leads them to rejoice

in holiness just as naturally as aforetime they delighted in sin. God neither

chose them nor called them because they were holy, but he called them that they

might be holy, and holiness is the beauty produced by his workmanship in them.

The excellencies which we see in a believer are as much the

 work of God as the atonement itself. Thus is brought out very sweetly the

fulness of the grace of God. Salvation must be of grace, because the Lord is the

author of it: and what motive but grace could move him to save the guilty?

Salvation must be of grace, because the Lord works in such a manner that our

righteousness is forever excluded. Such is the believer’s privilege–a present

salvation; such is the evidence that he is called to it–a holy life.

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. . . There he broke the flashing arrows, the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war.  Psalm 76:3

Our Redeemer’s glorious cry of “It is finished” was the death-knell of all the adversaries of His people, the breaking of “the weapons of war.” Behold the hero of Golgotha using His cross as an anvil, and His wounds as a hammer, dashing to pieces bundle after bundle of our sins, those poisoned “flashing arrows,” trampling on every indictment and destroying every accusation. What glorious blows the mighty Breaker gives with a hammer far more powerful than the fabled weapon of Thor! How the diabolical darts break in pieces, and the infernal swords are broken like old clay pots! Consider how He draws from its sheath of hellish workmanship the dreadful sword of satanic power! He snaps it across His knee as a man breaks dry sticks and throws it into the fire.

Beloved, no sin of a believer can now be an arrow bringing death, no condemnation can now be a sword to kill him, for the punishment of our sin was borne by Christ, and a full atonement was made for all our iniquities by our blessed Substitute and Surety. Who now accuses? Who now condemns? Christ has died, yes, has risen again. Jesus has removed the weapons of hell, has quenched every fiery dart, and has broken the head off every arrow of wrath; the ground is covered with the splinters and relics of the weapons of hell’s warfare, which are only visible to us to remind us of our former danger and of our great deliverance.

Sin no longer has dominion over us. Jesus has made an end of it and put it away forever. Our enemy’s destructions have come to a perpetual end. Declare all the wonderful works of the Lord, all you who make mention of His name; do not be silent, neither by day, nor when the sun goes down. Bless the Lord, O my soul.

Family Reading Plan

    Isaiah 43

    Revelation 13

Acts 20:16-24

The apostle Paul was consumed by a passion that was even greater than his desire for life or the dread of suffering. He had a ministry to fulfill and a message of salvation to deliver. His words in Acts 20:24 help us understand the foundational concept involved in our salvation. Paul called it “the gospel of the grace of God.”

We’re saved simply because the Lord is gracious. He knew we could never be good enough to bridge the gap between our sin and His holiness. That’s why you will never hear of “the gospel of the Law of God.” That would not be good news at all! Can you imagine singing, “Amazing law, how fearful the sound, that saved a wretch like me”? We could never fulfill the requirements, especially the way Jesus enlarged the meaning of the law in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7). But grace–that’s totally different. It has nothing to do with our worthiness or good performance, but is solely based on God’s unmerited favor towards us.

What’s most amazing is that the avenue for our salvation is through faith alone. The grace that God extends in saving us is His gift, and not anything we can add to by our works (Eph. 2:8-9). Otherwise, we’d have to clean up our lives in order to be saved, and that would nullify grace.

Praise the Lord for His wonderful plan of salvation. Christ paid our sin debt with His death, and all we have to do is believe it. Even after salvation, God’s grace keeps flowing. We never have to worry that we aren’t good enough and will fall out of favor. His grace is forever.

The dictionary defines the word “vacation” as “a period of time devoted to pleasure, rest, or relaxation.” Though I imagine it happens less often than not, it seems the ideal vacation would come to an end just as the life we left behind begins to seem preferable. Yet even if it is with reluctance that we let go of our last vacation day, most of us can imagine why we must. By definition, a vacation is something that must come to an end. To vacate life as we know it on a permanent basis would be called something different entirely.

Though we know that the days of a vacation are short-lived, we nevertheless enjoy them. Even as they fade away into the calendar, they are remembered (and often nostalgically). That they were few does not hinder their impact. On the contrary, a few days devoted to relaxation are made valuable because of the many that are not.

And we know this to be true of life as well—that it is fleeting, makes it all the more momentous.

As one musician candidly notes, “There are arbitrary lines between bad and good that often don’t make a lot of sense to me. I don’t want to die, obviously, but really, the wonder of life is amplified by the fact that it ends.”(1)

Like withering grass and dwindling summers, fading flowers and vacation days, life cannot escape its end. Like the seasons we live through, generations spring forth and die away. Like the vacations we take, so our days pass away into the calendar. If we refuse to look at any of these endings we live foolishly; if we look only to their ends we miss something about living.

The psalmist saw the importance of seeing our lives as they are and living in this reality. “Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life” (Psalm 39:4). It is a prayer said with an eternal hope even as it is aware of the fleeting nature of time. “But now, Lord, what do I look for?  My hope is in you” (39:7).

To see our lives as they are is to see that we are, as one theologian observed, “a vision of God and a mountain of dust.” It is to embrace a fearful but hopeful thought that gaining one’s life might somehow involve losing it, that endings though sometimes painful are often necessary, and that somehow to die is gain.

When Jesus stood with the disciples staring down the very hour he came to face, he told his friends that his time with them was coming to an end. He told them that his departing would usher in the Great Comforter, that he was leaving to prepare a place for them, and that in his coming and going the world would see that he finished exactly what the Father sent him to do. He reminded them that in the ending of this season was the budding hope of another. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going” (John 14:3-4). Jesus did not just go and so end his days as a human on earth; he went to prepare a place for an extended time together.

The psalmist writes, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” Into this great mystery we can live our days, knowing that within the giving of a life to God and in the ending of a life given to God is a great and imperishable beginning.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia. 

(1) Dave Matthews, Washington Post, August 16, 1998.

Morning   “The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.”   Psalm 126:3

Some Christians are sadly prone to look on the dark side of everything, and to

dwell more upon what they have gone through than upon what God has done for

them. Ask for their impression of the Christian life, and they will describe

their continual conflicts, their deep afflictions, their sad adversities, and

the sinfulness of their hearts, yet with scarcely any allusion to the mercy and

help which God has vouchsafed them. But a Christian whose soul is in a healthy

state, will come forward joyously, and say, “I will speak, not about myself, but

to the honour of my God. He hath brought me up out of an horrible pit, and out

of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my

goings: and he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. The

Lord hath done great things for me, whereof I am glad.” Such an abstract of

experience as this is the very best that any child of God can present. It is

true that we endure trials, but it is just as true that we are delivered out of

them. It is true that we have our corruptions, and mournfully do we know this,

but it is quite as true that we have an all-sufficient Saviour, who overcomes

these corruptions, and delivers us from their dominion. In looking back, it

would be wrong to deny that we have been in the Slough of Despond, and have

crept along the Valley of Humiliation, but it would be equally wicked to

forget that we have been through them safely and profitably; we have not

remained in them, thanks to our Almighty Helper and Leader, who has brought us

“out into a wealthy place.” The deeper our troubles, the louder our thanks to

God, who has led us through all, and preserved us until now. Our griefs cannot

mar the melody of our praise, we reckon them to be the bass part of our life’s

song, “He hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.”

Evening   “Search the Scriptures.”   John 5:39

The Greek word here rendered search signifies a strict, close, diligent, curious

search, such as men make when they are seeking gold, or hunters when they are in

earnest after game. We must not rest content with having given a superficial

reading to a chapter or two, but with the candle of the Spirit we must

deliberately seek out the hidden meaning of the word. Holy Scripture requires

searching–much of it can only be learned by careful study. There is milk for

babes, but also meat for strong men. The rabbis wisely say that a mountain of

matter hangs upon every word, yea, upon every title of Scripture. Tertullian

exclaims, “I adore the fulness of the Scriptures.” No man who merely skims the

book of God can profit thereby; we must dig and mine until we obtain the hid

treasure. The door of the word only opens to the key of diligence. The

Scriptures claim searching. They are the writings of God, bearing the divine

stamp and imprimatur–who shall dare to treat them with levity? He who despises

them despises the God who wrote them. God forbid that any of us should leave our

Bibles to become swift witnesses against us in the great day of account. The

word of God will repay searching. God does not bid us sift a mountain of chaff

with here and there a grain of wheat in it, but the Bible is winnowed corn–we

have but to open the granary door and find it. Scripture grows upon the

student. It is full of surprises. Under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, to the

searching eye it glows with splendour of revelation, like a vast temple paved

with wrought gold, and roofed with rubies, emeralds, and all manner of gems. No

merchandise is like the merchandise of Scripture truth. Lastly, the Scriptures

reveal Jesus: “They are they which testify of me.” No more powerful motive can

be urged upon Bible readers than this: he who finds Jesus finds life, heaven,

all things. Happy he who, searching his Bible, discovers his Saviour.

. . . Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.   Numbers 11:23

God had made a positive promise to Moses that for the space of a whole month He would feed the vast company in the wilderness with meat. Moses is then overtaken by a fit of unbelief, looks to the outward means, and is at a loss to know how the promise can be fulfilled. He looked to the creature instead of the Creator. But does the Creator expect the creature to fulfill His promise for Him? No; He who makes the promise always fulfills it by His own unaided omnipotence. If He speaks, it is done—done by Himself. His promises do not depend for their fulfillment upon the cooperation of the puny strength of man. We can immediately see the mistake that Moses made. And yet how routinely we do the same!

God has promised to supply our needs, and we look to the creature to do what God has promised to do; and then, because we perceive the creature to be weak and feeble, we indulge in unbelief. Why do we look in that direction at all? Will you look to the North Pole to gather fruits ripened in the sun? You would be acting no more foolishly in doing this than when you look to the weak for strength, and to the creature to do the Creator’s work. Let us, then, put the question on the right footing. The ground of faith is not the sufficiency of the visible means for the performance of the promise, but the all-sufficiency of the invisible God, who will definitely do what He has said.

If after clearly seeing that the onus lies with the Lord and not with the creature we dare to indulge in mistrust, the question of God comes home forcefully to us: “Is the LORD’s hand shortened?” May it also be that in His mercy the question will be accompanied by this blessed declaration: “Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”

Family Reading Plan       Isaiah 40       Revelation 10

2 Corinthians 3:1-6

Paul never claimed he was capable of accomplishing all that God called him to do. He simply learned to look beyond his own inadequacy to the sufficiency of Christ. If we’ll adopt the same practice, we, too, can discover the blessings hidden in our own experiences of inadequacy.

Our insufficiency drives us to God. When we realize a situation is bigger than we can handle, we’re quick to open the Bible and diligently pray for guidance and power.

Inadequacy relieves us of the burden of self-effort and self-reliance. The Lord has us right where He wants us–at the end of our rope with nothing left to give.

Inability motivates reliance on divine power. We’ll never be adequate until we draw from the Holy Spirit’s inexhaustible strength. He does in and through us what God never intended that we do on our own.

By using weak, inadequate people, God demonstrates what great things He can do. He actually delights in choosing unlikely individuals to carry out His purposes. There’s no limit to what He can do through someone willing to give Him full control.

Inadequacy challenges our faith. Paul says, “Our adequacy is from God” (v. 5). Those who focus on the reliability of this promise and step out in obedience will grow in faith.

Why go through all the fear, pressure, and frustration that accompany feelings of inadequacy when there’s an alternative? Let the Lord make you adequate: rely upon Him and allow Christ to live in and through you. He will replace your anxiety with a quiet spirit of contentment.

There is a widespread belief around about the Bible that it is some kind of powerful patriarchal conspiracy which has been used to oppress women. As a female speaker I find that this question is frequently asked: “How can you as a woman promote such a sexist book? The church has tried to keep women down!” As a Christian, I believe I need to be sensitive to the issues which underlie such an emotive question. While it may indeed seem to be the case that women have been discriminated against by religion, the Bible itself deserves closer examination on the subject. How is it that many of the greatest Jewish and Christian pioneers have been women? What does the Bible really say about this subject?(1)

Throughout the Bible there are numerous positive images of women and stories that involve women. In the Old Testament women share the image of God at creation. At the end of time at the Second Coming of Jesus, the church is represented as the bride of Christ. All the way through from beginning to end, the Bible includes the feminine as an integral part of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. While it is true that the Bible is written over a long period of time into specific cultures and that some of these contexts did not give equal social advantages to women, it would not be true to say that the message of the Bible is sexist or discriminatory against women.

In the New Testament, there are quite a number of significant events involving women, particularly considering the conservative cultural attitudes of the context into which it was written. This context is demonstrated by a simple statement in John’s Gospel in the famous encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. There is a telling little sentence in 4:27 which sheds a great deal of light on just how radical the Bible is in affirming women. The disciples come across Jesus during his conversation with the woman and we are told they “were surprised to find him talking with a woman.” This is the context of Jesus’s ministry and yet he goes against these cultural trends time and time again.

He does this firstly by having female disciples. In a culture where the idea of women travelling around with a group of men, or having the status of disciple was seriously questionable, Jesus has a number of women who are included in his travelling circle who also contributed financially to the needs of the group. In fact, when Jesus is told that his mother and brothers are waiting outside to see him, he points to his disciples and says, “Here are my mother and brothers.” This statement is unthinkable unless there were women among his disciples. In the Middle Eastern culture of the 1st century, it would be unspeakably offensive to point to male disciples and use female imagery to describe them. The group of disciples referred to must have included some women.

We also see Jesus teaching women in the New Testament. In Luke 10:38, we read of Mary who sits at the feet of Jesus and engages in theological study, much to her sister’s chagrin. This phrase “to sit at the feet of” is the same formulation as Acts 22:3 where Paul describes his training under Gamaliel. The clear implication here is that Mary is affirmed as worthy of a Rabbi’s theological instruction; indeed, it is interesting that later on in John’s Gospel we read of Martha, Mary’s sister, who is the first to be taught one of the most astounding theological statements of the New Testament. Jesus says to her, “‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies.” In contrast to the cultural norms of the time, Jesus made a habit of revealing great theological truths to women. The first person who discovers Christ’s true identity in John’s Gospel is the Samaritan woman at the well. We must not underestimate how radical this is:  Jesus was turning cultural taboos on their heads by teaching women and allowing women to be his disciples.

In reality, it is clear that women played a full and vibrant role in the ministry of Jesus, both as examples within his teaching and as recipients of it. While this may seem absolutely right and proper in our 21st century context we must remember how radical this was in first century Palestine. Jesus intentionally affirmed and included women. We see a continuation of this in the early church, from Lydia and Tabitha to Philip’s daughters, where women undertook various roles. While it is true to say that there are two particular passages in Paul’s writings which seem to go against all of this, by commanding some women to be silent and forbidding others from teaching, these must be read and interpreted in the context of the rest of the Bible. Paul himself gives guidelines for women when they publicly prophecy and mentions women who do teach like Priscilla.

When we come to the text of the Bible with the issue of sexism in mind, we must be clear that while God is predominantly spoken of with male imagery and ultimately is incarnated in the man Jesus, this is not to say that women are undermined or undervalued. Some female imagery is used of God, and Jesus constantly affirms the value of women, teaching them and interacting with them as human beings. Both male and female are created in the image of God and both are so precious that Christ comes to the earth to redeem both male and female with his blood shed on the Cross.

Amy Orr-Ewing is director of programmes for the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics and UK director for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Oxford, England.

(1) A version of this article was first published in Idea Magazine, Jul/Aug 2005. See also Is the Bible Intolerant? by Amy Orr-Ewing (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006).

Morning  “There fell down many slain, because the war was of God.”  1 Chronicles 5:22

Warrior, fighting under the banner of the Lord Jesus, observe this verse with

holy joy, for as it was in the days of old so is it now, if the war be of God

the victory is sure. The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of

Manasseh could barely muster five and forty thousand fighting men, and yet in

their war with the Hagarites, they slew “men, an hundred thousand,” “for they

cried to God in the battle, and he was entreated of them, because they put their

trust in him.” The Lord saveth not by many nor by few; it is ours to go forth in

Jehovah’s name if we be but a handful of men, for the Lord of Hosts is with us

for our Captain. They did not neglect buckler, and sword, and bow,

neither did they place their trust in these weapons; we must use all fitting

means, but our confidence must rest in the Lord alone, for he is the sword and

the shield of his people. The great reason of their extraordinary success lay in

the fact that “the war was of God.” Beloved, in fighting with sin without and

within, with error doctrinal or practical, with spiritual wickedness in high

places or low places, with devils and the devil’s allies, you are waging

Jehovah’s war, and unless he himself can be worsted, you need not fear defeat.

Quail not before superior numbers, shrink not from difficulties or

impossibilities, flinch not at wounds or death, smite with the two-edged sword

of the  Spirit, and the slain shall lie in heaps. The battle is the Lord’s and he will

deliver his enemies into our hands. With steadfast foot, strong hand, dauntless

heart, and flaming zeal, rush to the conflict, and the hosts of evil shall fly

like chaff before the gale.

Stand up! stand up for Jesus!

The strife will not be long;

This day the noise of battle,

The next the victor’s song:

To him that overcometh,

A crown of life shall be;

He with the King of glory

Shall reign eternally.

Evening   “Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.”

Numbers 11:23

God had made a positive promise to Moses that for the space of a whole month he

would feed the vast host in the wilderness with flesh. Moses, being overtaken by

a fit of unbelief, looks to the outward means, and is at a loss to know how the

promise can be fulfilled. He looked to the creature instead of the Creator. But

doth the Creator expect the creature to fulfil his promise for him? No; he who

makes the promise ever fulfils it by his own unaided omnipotence. If he speaks,

it is done–done by himself. His promises do not depend for their fulfilment

upon the co-operation of the puny strength of man. We can at once perceive the

mistake which Moses made. And yet how commonly we do the same!

God has promised to supply our needs, and we look to the creature to do what

God has promised to do; and then, because we perceive the creature to be weak

and feeble, we indulge in unbelief. Why look we to that quarter at all? Will you

look to the north pole to gather fruits ripened in the sun? Verily, you would

act no more foolishly if ye did this than when you look to the weak for

strength, and to the creature to do the Creator’s work. Let us, then, put the

question on the right footing. The ground of faith is not the sufficiency of the

visible means for the performance of the promise, but the all-sufficiency of the

invisible God, who will most surely do as he hath said. If after clearly

seeing that the onus lies with the Lord and not with the creature, we dare to

indulge in mistrust, the question of God comes home mightily to us: “Has the

Lord’s hand waxed short?” May it happen, too, in his mercy, that with the

question there may flash upon our souls that blessed declaration, “Thou shalt

see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.”

. . . Be zealous.   Revelation 3:19

If you want to see souls converted, if you want to hear the cry that “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord,”1 if you want to place crowns upon the head of the Savior and see His throne lifted high, then be filled with zeal. For under God, the way the world will be converted is by the zeal of the church. Every element of grace will do its work, but zeal will be first; prudence, knowledge, patience, and courage will follow in their places, but zeal must lead the charge. It is not the extent of your knowledge, though that is useful, it is not the extent of your talent, though that is not to be despised, it is your zeal that will do great exploits.

This zeal is the fruit of the Holy Spirit: It draws its vital force from the continued operations of the Holy Spirit in the soul. If our inner life dwindles, if our heart beats slowly before God, we will not know zeal; but if everything inside is strong and vigorous, then we cannot but feel a loving urgency to see Christ’s kingdom come, and His will done on earth, even as it is in heaven.

A deep sense of gratitude will nourish Christian zeal. When we reflect on the miry pit from which we were lifted, we find plenty of reason for spending ourselves for God. And zeal is also stimulated by the thought of the eternal future. It looks with tearful eyes down to the flames of hell, and it cannot sleep: It looks up with anxious gaze to the glories of heaven, and it cannot stay still. It feels that time is short compared with the work to be done, and therefore it devotes all that it has to the cause of its Lord. And it is continually strengthened by remembering Christ’s example. He was clothed with zeal as with a cloak. How swift the chariot-wheels of duty went with Him! He never loitered on the way. Let us prove that we are His disciples by displaying the same spirit of zeal.

1Revelation 11:15

Family Reading Plan

Isaiah 39

Revelation 9

2 Corinthians 2:14-17

No one likes feelings of inadequacy, but they are something we must learn to handle, as none of us can avoid them permanently. Tragically, though, many people live with a cloud over their head because in their thinking, they never measure up. For some, this may be due to childhood experiences that negatively affected their self-image. For others, the problem stems from a lack of success related to work, relationships, marriage, parenting, or any number of things.

The area Paul deals with in today’s passage is our Christian life. He asks a question that points to a common insecurity: “Who is adequate for these things?” (v. 16). Have you ever avoided serving the Lord in ways that challenge your comfort zone? If so, you’ve probably missed a tremendous opportunity to overcome feelings of inadequacy. He’s promised to lead us “in triumph in Christ,” (v. 14) but unless we believe Him and step out in faith, we’ll never experience the life He has planned for us.

Feeling inadequate is not a sin, but using it as an excuse is. When the Lord challenges you to do something that you feel is beyond your abilities, you have two options. You can focus on Christ and proceed in triumph or focus on yourself and withdraw in defeat.

It’s really a matter of faith. God would never ask you to do something without empowering you to accomplish it. This doesn’t necessarily mean you will do it perfectly, but each step of obedience is a victory. The alternative is to play it safe, but then you’ll miss out on God’s best for your life.

Father Greg Boyle is in the business of erasing the past. A Jesuit priest who is the founder and director of “Homeboy Industries” in East Los Angeles, Father Boyle has put together a team of physicians trained in the laser technology of tattoo removal. The team is part of a program that takes the tattoos of ex-gang members and wipes the slate clean. For many, it is as crucial a service as it is merciful.

Gang-related tattoos prevent many former gang members from getting jobs or advancing in work. For others, the markings critically impinge on mental health or put them in serious danger on the streets. There is no fee or community service required to receive the tattoo removal offered by Homeboy Industries. It is strictly a gift—a gift that is perhaps a modern look at Christ washing the feet of his friends. Currently, there is a waiting list of over a thousand names.

For those involved, the spiritual imagery is often compelling. The seeming permanence of a gang tattoo fosters the attitude that the gang’s claim is also permanent. It is a mark of ownership as much as identity. The emotional consequence is that it seems a part of you that can never be shaken. I suspect some of us have felt like this with past mistakes, actions whose mark we cannot shake off, decisions embedded into our existence like permanent tattoos on bodies longing to forget.

It’s not hard to see how profound the erasing of such marks could be in the life of a former gang member. The life marked by Christ is similarly altered. Like former gang members who have had the marks of a former life removed, so our sins are blotted out by Christ. They are remembered no longer.

To those holding on to the scarred markings of former sin God would say: “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25). Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Like the unmarked ex-gang members among us, we are made into something new.

One of the curious things about the growing list of people interested in laser tattoo removal is that Father Boyle is straightforward about the procedure. The process of tattoo removal is extremely painful. Patients describe the laser procedure as feeling like hot grease on their skin. And yet the list grows, each name representing a life that longs to be free and is willing to endure the pain to seize it.

Followers of the Christian faith have described God’s work in our lives as the “refiner’s fire.” Removing the impurities we have embedded into our lives is at times quite uncomfortable. But like a child that trusts her mother enough to endure the pain of having a splinter removed or the young man who undergoes the burning process of removing a gang tattoo, we are freed by skillful hands. The Great Physician is sometimes a surgeon. But when we look at God through the refining fires of God’s presence, we know that it was well worth putting our name on the list (whether it was our doing or God’s in the first place). “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” At his table, we are made new.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.