PAY ATTENTION

                                                             Psalms 90:12 (NIV)

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

               The watch word for today seems to be live for the moment. As a society we have placed much emphasis on living in the present, without much thought for the future. Living for the moment may enhance a person’s experience, but it also may bring unintended consequences. Living for the moment is not always the wise thing to do. How often have we heard the excuse, “we were just having fun”, after some unfortunate or destructive thing has happened.

               In my devotions today, I read the above verse from Psalm 90. I have read it many times, but it struck a chord this morning. The Psalmist is challenging us to look at life from the proper perspective. Living for the moment may be “fun”, but is it wise? There is more to life than this moment, this experience.

               I was reminded also this morning about leaving a positive legacy for those who follow us. In order to do that, a person must think in terms of the long haul, not the short run. A true legacy is built over time, one piece at a time. It is not built all at once. It takes intentionality and a vision for the future. At the end of our lives, do we want it said about us that we had fun or that we made a difference? I would prefer the latter.

               The Psalmist tells us to pay attention to our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Wisdom is something sorely lacking today. True is wisdom is not rash. It does not vary from moment to moment. It is not shaken by temporary set-backs. True wisdom has endurance. It wears well over time.

               Ther book of Proverbs is all about gaining a heart of wisdom. Solomon contrasts wisdom with folly. Wisdom brings genuine benefits over time. Folly offers a momentary thrill at the expense of the future. It seems like that is the world we live in today.

               The person who is wise looks beyond the immediate to what is yet to come. They adjust their actions to position themselves well for the future. I have been watching the Olympics this week. Last night we watched some cross-country skiing. The commentators noted that athletes that started out too fast ran the risk of running out of gas later in the race. It is a lesson any one who have run distance has had to learn. Pacing is important. You cannot sprint through a marathon. Life is the ultimate marathon. We can burn up all of our energy early or we can wisely pace ourselves for the long haul.

               Ultimately, wisdom comes from aligning our life with God’s purposes. The wise person has learned to listen to what God has said in His Word. James addresses this in his letter. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does. James 1:22-25 (NIV)

               Part of being wise is listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. When a person puts their faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in their life. He is there to be a person’s guide through life. As Jesus was preparing His disciples for His departure, He assured them that they would not face the journey ahead alone. Instead, He promised them the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. John 16:12-13 (NIV)

               The role of the Spirit is to shape our lives to conform to the image of Christ. He replaces folly with wisdom. But we have to consciously follow His lead. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Galatians 5:22-26 (NIV)

               The Psalmist calls us to pay attention. How we live our daily lives matters, not just for the moment, but for eternity. Paul challenges us to be very careful how we live. If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. Galatians 5:15-18 (NIV)

               There doesn’t seem to be a lot of wisdom today. We are enthralled with innovation and everything new. We discount the wisdom of the past as old fashioned and out of date. Yet, already we are discovering some of the unintended consequences of failing to consider where we are headed. It is time to stop and “number our days aright.”

Proverbs 3:5-8 (NIV)
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.
This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

 

TO BE “PERFECT”

 

Matthew 5:48 (NIV)
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

               We have a running joke in our family. My daughter will say, nobody is perfect, and I will respond, what about me? Then she responds, you’re not perfect, Dad, you’re missing parts.

               We often take solace in the fact that nobody is perfect. When we mess up in some way, we can take comfort in the fact that we all make mistakes. Perfection is a goal that none of us achieves. But that makes Jesus’ words in Matthew 5 very disturbing. It seems that Jesus is saying that not only is it possible for us to be perfect, it is expected of us. So what does Jesus really mean by his statement, be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect?

               I was reading a commentary this morning that addressed this very issue. The author made the point that the Greek word used here for perfect literally means to function according to one’s purpose. Jesus’ statement comes at the end of a passage where He instructs us to love our enemies. His rationale for this statement is that The Father shows grace and mercy to all, so as His children, we should do the same.

               We were created to reflect the image of God in the world. We are the only part of creation that was created in the image of God. Our very purpose in life is to be like God. Not to be God, but to emulate His essence. Part of God’s essence is love. God doesn’t love in the same way that we love. Our love is conditional. We love as a response to other’s love or to attain their love. But God is love. It is a part of who He is. His love is unconditional. So Jesus says, if we are to fulfill our purpose in life, we too need to love as God loves. This is but one aspect of what it means to be perfect.

               The Apostle Paul expands on this idea of being perfect in Ephesians 5:1-2. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Just as young children imitate their parents, so we are to imitate God. The more we imitate God’s character the more it shapes our own character. It is common for families to share certain characteristics. “I can see his father in him.” As followers of Christ, and children of our heavenly Father, we are to share His character traits as well.

               The commentator that I referenced used an analogy to help us understand the Greek meaning of the word perfect. He talked about buying a screwdriver to fasten a loose screw. The screwdriver fit the screw perfectly and accomplished its purpose. In that way it was perfect. As we fit into God’s plan of our lives, we too become more and more perfect. We fulfill the purpose for which we were created.

               Jesus’ command to be perfect alerts us to the reality that this doesn’t just magically happen in our lives. We have a part to play. Our choices, our actions, all lead us toward or away from our goal of being perfect in Christ. Praise God that He is patient with us and gives us the opportunity to try again and again to get things right.

               Paul emphasizes our role in this in Ephesians 4:1-3. As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. We cannot be passive about the way we live our lives. We need to be intentional if we are going to live up to our calling. Going with the flow will only carry us away from the goal. It is godly determination coupled with Holy Spirit empowerment that moves us in the right direction.

               Perfection (in any sense of the word) is out of our reach if we have to accomplish this alone. But we do not have to do that. As we put our faith in Christ and draw closer to Him, we are empowered to do what we cannot do on our own. In John 15, Jesus tells us the secret to fulfilling our purpose in life.

John 15:1-8 (NIV)
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

               It is only as we remain attached to the source of our life that we can bear fruit and become who God intended for us to be.

               Being perfect in a spiritual sense does not mean never making a mistake or always getting everything right. Being perfect means living out our God-given purpose in life. The more we align our life with the purposes of God, the closer we will come to truly being perfect.

Philippians 3:12-14 (NIV)
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.