BEING AN EMBARRASSMENT

Let each of us judge ourselves, making sure that, insofar as possible, we live out our convictions with as much consistency, honesty, and intelligence as possible.  And let none of us be condescending or judgmental toward those who are trying to do the same, even when they seem a bit foolish in our eyes.  Let each of us be as wise as serpents as we judge ourselves, and as gentle as doves when it comes to judging others.  Once more, what some of us might deem foolish or embarrassing may, in reality, be profoundly effective.  It's one thing to be an embarrassment to God as we follow Jesus; it's something else entirely to be an embarrassment for God.  Let us pray for the courage to be willing to be embarrassed for God. 

-- Tony Campolo in “Following Jesus Without Embarrassing God”

#5278

DOING WHAT’S RIGHT

“In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”  (Judges 21:25)

Many times over in the Book of Judges God has shown Israel how He sees things. He urges them to live according to His ways, to do what is right in God’s eyes. But continually they instead do what is right in their eyes, according to how they see things.

It was a hot summer afternoon on the Los Angeles freeway.  I was driving along, when suddenly, in the middle lane was a pickup truck, going about 50 mph, with a makeshift swimming pool in the bed of the truck.  Three children were having the time of their lives, yelling and splashing.

The next morning in the newspaper there was a photo of the truck, wet children, and an embarrassed driver being handed a traffic citation.  The driver was quoted as saying, "It was so hot and the kids were having so much fun, I just hated to stop them."

Everybody in that truck thought they were free to do whatever they wanted -- what was right in their eyes.  Well, I know this: Freedom is not doing what we please; it's pleasing God in what we do. It’s doing what is right in God’s eyes.

-- adapted from Luci Swindoll in “Extravagant Grace”

#4617

THE ONLY OPINION THAT COUNTS

“Your Word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”  (Psalm 119:105 NIV)

George Will writes in “Men at Work”: "Baseball umpires are carved from granite and stuffed with microchips…they are professional dispensers of pure justice.  Once when Babe Pinelli called Babe Ruth out on strikes, Ruth made a populist argument.  Ruth reasoned fallaciously (as populists do) from raw numbers to moral weight: 'There's 40,000 people here who know that last one was a ball, tomato head.' Pinelli replied with the measured stateliness of John Marshall: 'Maybe so, but mine is the only opinion that counts'."

Christians are also pressed by the weight of numbers aligned against the moral law of God.  But the Christian knows that in the end, only one opinion counts: that of the beneficent Umpire of all human affairs.

-- Mark Turnbough

#4339

CHRIST’S MESSAGE HAS TWO WORDS

“Woman, where are they? Has no one judged you guilty?" She answers "No one, sir." Then Jesus says, "I also don't judge you guilty. You may go now, but don't sin anymore." (John 8:10-11 NCV)

If you have ever wondered how God reacts when you fail, frame these words and hang them on the wall. Read them. Ponder them. Drink from them. Stand below them and let them wash over your soul. Or better still, take Him with you to your canyon of shame. Invite Christ to journey [back] with you... Let Him stand beside you as you retell the events of the darkest nights of your soul.

And then listen. Listen carefully. He's speaking. "I don't judge you guilty." And watch. Watch carefully. He's writing. He's leaving a message. Not in the sand, but on a cross. Not with His hand, but with His blood.

His message has two words: “not guilty.”

-- Max Lucado in “He Still Moves Stones”

#4073