Teach me. Give me. Direct me.

It was another Sunday, and I had been taken to yet another church service. I didn’t dislike going to church, but there were parts of the service which were quite frankly boring. I can remember one Sunday holding open one of the pew Bibles as it was read from the front. All that was going through my mind was ‘when are we going to get to the end?’. As a child the Bible seemed irrelevant, dull and something for the big people. I now look back and wish someone had shared with me what the Bible truly is about. That it’s not irrelevant, it’s not dull, and it certainly isn’t only for the big people. In fact if we really think about it, the Bible is the most exciting book that has ever come into existence. How is that you say? Simply this, the words in the Bible are God’s words. It is through the pages of Scripture where we can hear the living God speak. Think about that. The One who made the universe, the One who created all things, the One who knows you better then you know yourself. You can hold in your hands words that this God has purposefully fashioned to be. I love these three verses from Psalm 119:


Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees,
that I may follow it to the end.
Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law
and obey it with all my heart.
Direct me in the path of your commands,
for there I find delight.
Psalm 119:33-35

These three verses offer a helpful pattern of prayer for the one who comes hungry before the words of the living God. Three verses; three pleas. Teach me. Give me. Direct me.



Teach me

Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees,
that I may follow it to the end.

Praying that God would teach us not only what his decrees are, but also teach us the way of his decrees. That he would teach us his ways so that we might walk the path that leads to eternal life. We live in a world with so many competing ways, so many competing ‘decrees’. Every day we are bombarded with messages from the media and the surrounding culture to follow their ways. With each new day, this verse helps us redirect our lives in the way of the Lord, but we can’t do this on our own, we need him to teach us, and so we say - teach me.



Give me

Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law
and obey it with all my heart.     

As God teaches me to follow his ways, we need to ask him to give us understanding. If someone tells you to do something yet you don’t understand why, it is very unlikely that you will obey what you’ve been asked to do. Keeping God’s law and obeying it with all our hearts doesn’t come naturally to us. We need to ask God to give us understanding so that we not only see the value of keeping his laws, but we also begin to grow a deeper desire to do so. If I truly understand the goodness of God’s laws, obeying them will gradually move from a duty to a delight. God’s desire is that ALL my heart is obedient to his ways. Without his help I have neither the ability or desire to be obedient, and so we ask - give me understanding.



Direct me

Direct me in the path of your commands,
for there I find delight.

We live in a world filled with delights. However when we stop to think about it, how many of us view the commands of God as a source of delight? Probably this is the last place we look, but the Bible says otherwise. The Psalmist asks God to direct him in the path of his commands - why? - because in them he finds delight. This is true for us and should become a daily plea as we sit before the pages of God’s word. For as he teaches us to obey his word, as he gives us understanding in his word, the more hidden delights we begin to discover. Where do you go to find delight? The Bible reminds us that every delight, every good thing, comes from the very hands of God. It should therefore not surprise us that an even greater delight is to be found in the author of all delights. It is therefore as we seek direction down the path of his commands, that we find such delights, and so we ask - direct me.

Just another book?

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

 

Hebrews 4:12

 

At times, life can feel like we are navigating a jungle. As we make our way through the dense forest, we are all too aware of the dangers that surround us. Not only are we aware of these dangers, we feel helplessly ill equipped to deal with them when they emerge. Questions start to fill our minds - will I ever experience peace again? How will I get through this? I just don't feel I can go on any more?

What we need is a guide. In fact, the very reason people hire guides when they explore unfamiliar territory, is because they need the wisdom of someone who knows the ground ahead. Where do you first go for wisdom when the way ahead seems impenetrable? Perhaps it is a person, a website, a self-help book or a particular location. Although these places can be a source wisdom and help, might I suggest another that is so often overlooked - the Bible.

If we are to have any hope in navigating the jungle of life, there really is no greater source of wisdom than the living word of God. This of course is the chief claim of the Bible, that it is "...living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). The analogy of the jungle begins to break down here but stick with it for a little longer.

 

The writer to the Hebrews is saying that the words of the Bible are not simply dry spots of ink, they are alive! In deed during the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday 2nd June, 1953, upon being presented with the Bible, the moderator said these words, "Here is Wisdom; This is the royal Law; These are the lively Oracles of God". Perhaps we have lost sight of this assertion in our increasingly technological age where the Bible has been pushed aside as dusty, old fashioned and out of touch with modern 21st century life. And so in concluding this train of thought, to put it bluntly, either the Bible is an inspired book with words breathed by the living God, or it is not. If the former is true, then the Bible truly is wisdom to end all wisdom, the guide we so desperately need as we journey through the jungle of life.

You see no matter how much machete waving goes on in the jungle, the origin of our problems lies much closer to home. We might think that the solution is found in cutting down the leaves of my circumstances, however this implies that in order for my life to change, I simply need to change what is around me. And so it follows, the more leaves I cut down, the closer I will come to finding the path and making my way out of the jungle.

Remember the words of the writer to the Hebrews? Here they are again, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Notice how the word of God, the Bible, is described as a two-edged sword, piercing not the things around us, but the very things that make us who we are. Also note how the word of God, the Bible, discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart. This is what the Bible seeks to uncover, not so much the circumstantial and influential realities around us, although these are important, but the deeper realities of the human heart. Only then can we truly find the wisdom we need to navigate the jungle ahead.


Wisdom Personified

To end this blog post, I feel it's important to mention one more thing. If I can put it this way, the wisdom of the Bible goes beyond itself. We should never read the Bible in such a way that we forget the one it is pointing to. The Bible is all about Jesus! If my reading of the Bible is to simply gather facts and information to help me along my way, then I've missed the point. Jesus says:

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.  (John 5:39-40).

There is much wisdom to be found in reading the Scriptures, but let us not forget, that true life and true peace is only found in a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Paul writes, he is the one in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3).

Jesus is the guide we all need. He is the only one who can not only help us navigate the jungle of life, he is one who makes sense of the jungle. He made it, he owns it, who else would you want by your side?

The Parable of the Prodigal Son - Lost and Found

When I was about 14, my religious education teacher asked our class to go home and draw a picture of what we thought God looked like. Although I wouldn't have called myself a Christian, I was a bit unsure about this task but it was either draw a picture or write an essay - so there I was thinking - if there is a God what is he like?

Now we need to be careful because the Bible warns us against making an image of God. He has however revealed much about his character in the Bible, and Jesus, the apostle Paul says is the "image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). But if we were to paint a picture of God - what picture would you choose?

Perhaps you picture God to be like a police officer - someone in authority who lays down the law.

Or maybe he is like an army major - someone who commands us to do this or do that.

Or we may think of him like a teacher - assessing our every move to see if we make the grade.

The parable of the prodigal son from the gospel of Luke, offers us another picture of God, not as a police officer, an army major or a teacher but God as a father.

You see yes God is in authority - he created the world and so by right is in charge (Genesis 1:1).

Yet why did he create it? Was he bored? No. Did he need us? No.

This story shows us what God is like - he is a God who cares about the lost.

Just before this story Jesus tells us two other stories - one about lost sheep and another about a lost coin - and both stories end with these words.

"Rejoice with me I have found my lost - coin, sheep".

Why do we rejoice when we find something that was lost?

Because the thing that we lost had value. The thing that we lost was important to us. The thing that we lost was not just a thing, but in our eyes it was treasure.

The Bible says God made us to know him. We are not just things in his eyes - to command or to be pushed around - no - we are of great value in the eyes of the living God.

The verse before our passage says this:

In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. (Luke 15:10).

Think about that for a moment. One sinner who repents and there is rejoicing in heaven. One person out of billions who turns back to God and there is much joy in the heavens. One. If you at the moment feel as though God does not care, maybe due to current circumstances, due to the past, due to fear about the future, take heart because the gospel tells us that God not only cares for you, but he is determined to get you back.

You may be asking, "What do you mean get us back?" My prayer is that we would not only see our lostness, but we would see how God has entered into our lostness to find us and to bring us back to himself. That's the gospel. 

Three points to ponder: 

1. Rebellion
2. Repentance
3. Rejoicing


Rebellion

And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

Here we are introduced to two sons, a younger son and an older son. And by being sons, they are automatically in relationship with their father. We do not choose who our mother and father are - they just are.

Yet more than that, their relationship to their father means they are rightful heirs of his estate. That is, everything that he has will one day be divided between them.

But how does somebody inherit a relatives property? What has to happen in order for these two sons to receive their father's inheritance? He must be dead. This is what is required if the sons are to receive their inheritance - their father must die.

And in verse 12 what do we read, the younger son said to his father, "Father, give me my share of the estate."

His father is still alive, yet here he is demanding his inheritance now. In other words he is saying - "Father I wish you were dead!" - "I want your property but I don't want you!" And what is his fathers response to this request?

"So he divided his property between them."

No argument - he freely gives his son what he has requested.

And what does the son do next? He goes to a distant country, a land far away and wastes his wealth on wild living. He spends everything and it's not long before the money runs out, the music stops and reality sets in.

There is a famine in the land and he is in need. And so the very place where he put all his hope for happiness, all his desire for satisfaction, has become the very place that brings him to his knees.

Do you see where his selfish rebellion has led him? Away from his father, in a distant land, with nothing. In his rebellion against his father he is lost. And this my friends is a picture of sin. A picture of our rebellion against God.

We live in God's world - yet when I search my heart, I know that like the younger son I can be more interested in getting the things of God rather than knowing God himself. I, like the younger son, can easily think that happiness and satisfaction in life can be found away from God - but very soon I am brought down to earth as I see again and again the fleeting, temporary and half-baked pleasures of my sinful rebellion. And it is coming to realise our rebellion, that will lead us repentance.


Repentance

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”

I was once driving and it was long journey. I can't remember where I was going, but what I do remember, is that there was a point in the journey when I realised I was going the wrong way. And so like any good driver, I stopped and turned around.

This is what repentance is. To repent of something is to turn around. On my car journey I couldn't just turn a little bit, no, I had to make a complete turn in the other direction. And two things were needed in order for me to be moving in the right direction. Number one. I had to realise that I was wrong. Number two. I had to act and put this new found knowledge into action.

Verse 17 - we read - 'When he came to his senses..."

There was point in this younger sons experience when he came to his senses - he looked around him and he realised what a mess he had got himself into. But more than that, he remembered something of how his father treated his servants.

You see the younger sons decision to turn around and go back to his father, was something to do with him seeing afresh how life with his father was 100 times better than anything he had experienced in this far away land.

His fathers servants had food to spare and here he was starving to death! And so he says:

I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’

True repentance is not just turning around as though nothing has happened. No true repentance is when we recognise that because our rebellion we are not worthy to be called sons.  

Maybe God is showing you ways in which you have been rebelling against him - how will you respond? Will you turn away from your rebellion and back to God?

All of us need time and time again to come to our senses and remember the goodness of God and the foolishness a life lived without him. And when someone repents - like the coin that was found, like the sheep that was found - there is rejoicing in heaving.


Rejoicing

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

As the younger son makes his way back to his father's land, rehearsing what he is going to say. What happens next is the last thing that he would have expected to. Yes, he has rebelled against his father, but his father still loves him.

In fact his father is searching for him. Did you see that? "While he was still a long way off his father saw him." When we lose something we treasure it is never lost in our memory - and perhaps this father would wait, look and wait, to see if one day his son would turn back to him.

And when he sees his son what does he do? He runs and embraces him and kisses him. He is filled with compassion. For an elderly man in the culture where this was written to run would have been unheard of. Yet the father does just that. Lifting up his robe above his knees he runs to his son and before his son could finish his words his father says to his servants:

‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’

This is a wonderful picture of the grace of God found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Not only is this rebellious son forgiven but he is welcomed back. Yet not only is he welcomed back into his family as a son, he is given the best robe, a ring for his finger and shoes for his feet. His relationship with his father has been completely restored. From having nothing he has gained everything. And this is what happens to all those who repent and turn back to God.

Paul writes in his letter to the Ephesians:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world...

...were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.

This is the gospel. My salvation and acceptance before God has nothing to do with my effort, my works, it is nothing to do with me, but all to do with Christ. All that is required of us is to acknowledge our sin and rebellion, repent and turn back to God. And when this happens - there is much rejoicing in heaven!

And so I leave you with this question - have you turned back to God? Or are you still seeking to find happiness and satisfaction in life apart from God. My plea and prayer is that you will see that true life, true happiness, true satisfaction is only found when we are in a right relationship with the God who made us.

He made us to know him, and as we come to know him, we will come to know life in all its fullness.

The most common command, but certainly not the easiest...

Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: they do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

Luke 12:22-26

Mentioned 366 times, the most common command in the Bible is, "Fear not". Related to fear is the emotion known as worry. Like fear, God has something to say about our experience of worry. One of the most well-known commands of Jesus is simply this, "Do not worry...". If then Jesus says, "Do not worry...", why do we still worry? If we truly believe the words of Jesus on the subject of worry, surely now we can rest easy over our current circumstances? If only it were that simple! Consider some of the ways in which you are worrying today. Perhaps it's concerns over your finances, maybe it's uncertainties over your future. Whatever it is that is causing you to worry, my guess is that you believe what Jesus says, yet worry still clings stubbornly to your soul refusing to let go. Can we ever be free of worry? Is Jesus command to not worry really realistic? The more I read and think on the subject of worry, the more convinced I am that worry has to do with trust, and trust has to do with confidence. 

I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOU >>> I TRUST YOU >>> I DO NOT WORRY

I LACK CONFIDENCE IN YOU >>> I LACK TRUST >>> I WORRY

Who is your captain?

A recent advert for 'Air Fast Tickets', included a fictional airline company called 'AirBahal'. As two passengers make their way onto the plane, the man is boasting about the low cost of the tickets. Yet as they make their way to their seats, the phrase 'you get what you pay for', takes on a whole new meaning. The inside of the plane looks like a cross between a farmyard and a market. So far it isn't looking good. Surely things couldn't get any worse, could they? Yes, they could. Out comes the captain. Although appearances can at times be deceiving, you instantly know that this is a man who shouldn't be flying a kite, let alone a jumbo jet. His over-sized boiler suit and comical pilots helmet, begin to make you wonder whether he's up for the job. As soon as this unnerving character opens his mouth, his words do not inspire confidence. 

"Me, AirBaHal captain, you very lucky, this super-lux plane er... has... er... belts... for everyone. Down down for balloon jackets and extra balloons... for water... eh. Ah... I have this er... metal petal shoe horse for good luck, ...trip good."

As the 'captain' makes this announcement, the look of terror and an abundance of worry lines, begin to appear on the passengers faces. No wonder! They are about to be 30,000 feet in the air, with a captain who looks as though he got his pilots license off e-bay. Lack of confidence in the captain, leads to lack of trust, which leads to worry. 

The Inevitability of Worry

Worry is inescapable in a broken world. We will all in some way experience times of anxiety, times when we will come face to face with worry. In a world full of sin, worry is an inevitable reality. If then worry has to do with trust and trust has to do with confidence, in our times of worry, what are we trusting in? Where are we placing our confidence? The world we live in is God's world. The reason Jesus can say to us "Do not worry...", is because he is God. He not only knows us and our circumstances, he is with us in our circumstances. He is the maker of everything and the only one who has the right to say to us not to worry (Colossians 1:16). Why then do we still worry? Answer, we don't trust God. Why don't we trust God? We lack confidence in him. And so instead we try to place our confidence in ourselves. 

In other words, worry is my way of trying to be in control of the world and everything around me. Yet if you think about it, I am doomed to fail, because the world and everything around me is not mine. I will never be able to control my circumstances, no matter how hard I try. To use our earlier illustration, the good news for the Christian, is that their life is not under the control of an 'AirBahal' captain, but under the control of the Almighty, LORD God of heaven and earth who is the Sovereign Creator of the universe. The good news is that we can trust him because not only has he proved he is up to the task, he is the only one suitably qualified for the task. A helpful example of this is found in the story of the Exodus. 

Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.‘Therefore, say to the Israelites: “I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.”’

Exodus 6:5-8

Notice two things. 1. The promise. 2. The person who delivers the promise. God says unequivocally that he WILL bring his people out from under the yoke of the Egyptians, he WILL free his people from being slaves, he WILL redeem his people with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgments, he WILL take his people as his own, he WILL be their God. Promise after promise after promise is made, and he says that his people WILL one day know that he is the Lord their God. No one else brought them out of Egypt, he did. No one else brought them to the promised land, he did. Notice how this passage ends, with four words - I am the Lord. The trouble is, we all too quickly forget who is the Lord of our lives. More seriously, we start to live as though we are the Lord of our life, not God. 

Remember, worry has to do with trust, trust has to do with confidence. If I'm trusting in something other than God to do what God can only do, worry will more than likely be the outcome. Only God has the power to free his people from Egypt, only God can deliver them to the promise land. The question is will they trust him? Will they rely on his strength, or will they rely on their strength? The great news for the Israelites, is that time after time God displays his power, showing them that not only he is capable of freeing them from their slavery, but also he is determined to save them and fulfill his promise of old. 

You and I may not be in the land of Egypt, we may not be slaves to Pharoah, but in some small sense, each new day brings with it a mini-Egypt, a place of slavery, a situation that will cause us to worry whether or not we will make it to the promised land of peace. Ultimately Egypt is a picture of our slavery to sin, sin which places me at the centre of God's world, sin that will lead to death. When I worry, I am in one sense saying to God that he is not in control and therefore treat him as though he is an 'AirBahal' captain, and so I better fasten whatever seatbelt I have and help him work out how to fly the plane! However isn't it true that worry leads to more worry? As I begin to realise rather quickly that I'm not actually in control, my worry levels begin to increase. What does all this mean? It means, we need to know who the captain is. We need to know who to let take control. 

The good news for us is that we serve and know the same God as the Israelites, a God who is faithful, a God who is more than enough to help us in our time of need. If ever I am to be able to deal with worry, I need to know this God. The question therefore is do I know this God? If I build my confidence in God, I will begin to see that he is able to help me in my time of need. With this new found confidence, I will learn to trust him more and as I learn to trust him more, I will not need to worry. In theory this sounds easy, but I know this is far from the truth. Yet as we close, it's worth considering, are we striving to harvest a right understanding of who our God really is, by reading his word, meditating on his character? If not then perhaps it's time to head back to the scriptures. Jesus can say to us, "Do not worry...", because he is the one who has done what is needed to bring about everlasting peace in our lives. Through his death on the cross, Jesus died to sin, freeing us from its slavery, and gifting us with the hope of eternal life, a place in the promised land of God's eternal kingdom. As we look to him, we will begin to see that the peace he offers is incomparable with anything this world can offer (John 14:27). 

The Long Haul

You and I may be in for the long haul, a flight where we will no doubt encounter much turbulence along the way. The question however is do we know the captain, the one who is not only in control, but the one who has promised to get us to our destination. As someone who knows the struggle of worry, overcoming anxiety is easier said then done. Yet what a blessing it is to know that we are not alone as we walk through times of worry, Jesus is right their walking with us. Reminding us that we need not worry, because we are valuable, we are loved, we are his, and he will fulfill his promise of peace in our lives. Let's encourage one another with this truth, as we journey together to the promised land.

Our Hearts Desire

Desires are a daily part of our human experience. As we journey through our daily lives, each new day brings with it a whole host of new desires that fill our hearts and minds. From our dream house, to that ideal job, from our hopes of marriage, to our longings for intimacy, although our desires are often good, what we do with our desires is another matter entirely. It is when these desires become so big in my life, that they begin to move into a place they were never intended to dwell, the recesses of my heart.

God made us for a world full of pleasure. In Genesis 2, we learn that the garden where God put the man he had formed, was filled with all kinds of trees which were - 'pleasing to the eye and good for food' (Gen 2:9). Our very bodies were designed to experience the pleasures of God's creation. Notice how the fruit God provides is first 'pleasing to the eye'. I've often wondered how amazing it is that I could quite happily stare at a beautiful scenary for hours on end without getting bored. It is true that there are many things in the world which have the ability to captivate our eyes. Things that bring us a great sense of pleasure and delight. Yet, not only do we receive pleasure from our eyes, our tongues provide us with a feast of delights when it comes to food. Have you ever wondered why a chocolate cake covered in chocolate and filled with chocolate tastes so good? Because chocolate is tasty! (Unless you don't like chocolate). Without our taste receptors, food would not only taste bland and uninteresting, but we would also be unable to detect toxins and identity certain foods which offer valuable nutrition. It seems therefore that the food in the garden was not only 'pleasing', but was also 'good'.

With then so many good things around us, how are we to live rightly in a world filled with pleasure? We need to ensure that the things we desire are in their rightful place. Our hearts were only ever meant to desire one thing - God. Whenever we seek to fill our hearts with things apart from God, we are always left wanting more. This is because the things of this world cannot fill a God-sized hole. Augustine of Hippo once said, “We were made for You, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you." In a similar train of thought, CS Lewis in his book 'Mere Christianity' wrote:


“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”

Turning then to the Bible, what does God have to say on this inner desire to be filled with good things. We must be clear that the Christian is never saying that things such as desiring a good job, nice house, loving marriage, or even enough money are bad desires. It is when these desires begin to take the place of God that our hearts are in danger of idolatry. What is idolatry? Simply, giving ourselves to something other than God. This is ultimately all to do with the word 'worship'. Paul Tripp, in his book 'Instruments in the Redeemer's Hand' comments that:


“Human beings by their very nature are worshipers. Worship is not something we do; it defines who we are. You cannot divide human beings into those who worship and those who don’t. Everybody worships; it’s just a matter of what, or whom, we serve.”

So the question is therefore: Has a good desire turned into a God-replacement? Has a desire become so big that it has become an object of our worship? Are we looking to something other than God for what only God can provide? The Bible offers us help to re-orient the compass of our hearts so that we are heading in the right direction. It first begins with the truth that we can be fully satisfied in God alone. It's hard to believe, but it's true! The Psalmist writes (emphasis added):

I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing. (Psalm 6:2)


The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. 

(Psalm 34:10)


Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple. 

(Psalm 65:4)


The Psalmist demonstrates an amazing confidence that in God he really does have everything he needs. This of course doesn't mean he stops desiring things outside of God. It does however mean that he is fully aware that only God can truly satisfy the deepest desire of his heart. With the hole of his heart filled with the pleasures of God, he is now freed up to enjoy the things of the world for what they are rather than demanding from them what they can never give. Money no longer is a 'must have' for happiness. If I have money, I'm thankful, if I hit hard times, I'm not shaken because my happiness is founded not on the sands of temporal pleasure but on the solid rock that is God. Money, sex, possessions are not the things that define my happiness - Jesus is. Whether I have a small house or a big house, married or single, my heart can be truly satisfied in the abundant treasure of knowing Jesus Christ.

Perhaps none of this makes sense and we are feeling confused as to why God seems to be withholding from us a good thing that in itself is a good desire. In our journey through life, we will desire many things, good and bad, there therefore must be an element of testing our heart to ensure that our desires are in their rightful place. If the tangible pleasures of this world seem to trump the hidden pleasures of God, keep in mind that God has promised to fill us with joy in his presence, with eternal pleasures at his right hand (Psalm 16:11; paraphrase). As we seek to grow a deeper desire for the pleasures of God, we will know a greater satisfaction beyond anything this world could offer. How then do we kindle such affections for God? Through reading his word, prayer and regular communion with his people. A new day has arrived, what is at the top of your list when it comes to your desires? My hope today is that God would satisfy our hearts with good things, things that are pleasing in his sight, that we may learn to enjoy the pleasures of his world in the way he has called us to do so.

For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. 

(Psalm 107:9)

"Momentary masters of a fraction of a dot."

Messenger Boy: Are the stories true? They say your mother was an immortal godess. They say you can't be killed.

Achilles: I wouldn't be bothering with the shield then, would I?

Messenger Boy: The Thesselonian you're fighting... he's the biggest man I've ever seen. I wouldn't want to fight him. 

Achilles: That's why no-one will remember your name.

In the 2004 cinematic adaptation of Homer's great epic Troy, Achilles is a man focused on one thing and one thing only, his name. That is, that people would remember it. Nothing else matters in a world where either you prove your worth, or end up vanishing like a silent breath on a winters day. This theme of vanity is seen throughout the book of Ecclesiastes and the writer begins his lament at the apparent meaningless of life with these words:

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,

vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

What does man gain by all the toil

at which he toils under the sun?

A generation goes, and a generation comes,

but the earth remains for ever.

The sun rises, and the sun goes down,

and hastens to the place where it rises.

The wind blows to the south

and goes round to the north;

round and round goes the wind,

and on its circuits the wind returns.

All streams run to the sea,

but the sea is not full;

to the place where the streams flow,

there they flow again.

All things are full of weariness;

a man cannot utter it;

the eye is not satisfied with seeing,

nor the ear filled with hearing.

What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done,

and there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there a thing of which it is said,

“See, this is new”?

It has been already

in the ages before us.

There is no remembrance of former things,

nor will there be any remembrance

of later things yet to be

among those who come after.

The opening word of this outpour of anguish is 'vanity'. The word in English has been translated from the Hebrew word 'hebel' (הָ֫בֶל) and is better translated as 'vapour' or 'breath'. In the eyes of the writer of Ecclesiastes, all is vanity. Everything we do, everything we see, everything we are will soon come to nothing. This is a sobering thought and yet it is a thought that when taken seriously is inescapable. Without the existence of a God our lives will inevitably come to nothing. We have come from nowhere and we are going nowhere and so in the grand scheme of things, you might ask the question 'what's the point?'. Of course many people will argue that we are to simply live our lives ignoring this overarching question of whether everything we do has a meaning. Just live and be happy. Yet does this way of thinking really sit at peace as we journey through our life? One of my favourite photographs, is of a picture of planet Earth taken in 1990 by the Voyager 1 space probe from a record distance of about 3.7 billion miles from Earth. It is called the 'pale blue dot' and in the picture, the earth appears as a tiny dot suspended in a ray of light engulfed by the surrounding darkness of deep space. Commenting on the photograph, astronomer Carl Sagan says:

"...The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity – in all this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves..."

He goes on to say "...There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world." Momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Intriguing words which in so many ways remind us of how small and you might say insignificant our lives are in the vast ocean of history. From the peasant making ends meet in an unknown village, to the prince living in the luxury of a grand royal estate, both nonetheless enduring the same end, returning to dust from whence they came. How are we then to view our lives in light of such sobering and let's face it depressing thought? Perhaps one solution is to fashion for ourselves a name that will endure into eternity. Like Achilles, we spend our whole life inventing 'who we are' and showcasing this person to the people we meet along life's highway. The better my name and the greater my success, more value can I attach to my life. All my personal achievements will help me deal with the question I ask myself as I near life's end - 'was it worth it?' - 'did I make it count?'. 

If Sagan is right, in light of our brief existence on planet earth, if there is no God then there is no objective (outside of us) meaning to our lives. If there is no objective meaning then any purpose we are to give to our lives is to come from within. I will make of my life what I make of it and one of the many ways I seek to do this is in the preservation of my name. I want to be known. For some this will come with a desire for celebrity status, to be known by millions, for others it will reveal itself with a desire to be known and accepted by close family and friends. Either way, harvesting an obsession with my name is likely to lead to feelings of fear and anxiety when I don't receive what it is I am looking for. And in the end, does it really work? What if I don't make it? What if I end up being rejected? What if things unravel and don't go as I'd hoped they would? 

There is so much we could say as we consider these questions, yet it is in the gospel where I believe the answer to our quest for meaning in life is to be found. The belief that there is a God who created everything (see Psalm 24:1-2; Isaiah 40:28; Colossians 1:16) is key to unlocking such meaning. The opening five words of Genesis makes this abundantly clear - 'In the beginning God created...'. If this is true, it changes everything. No longer are we simply residents on a lonely speck in the endless realms of space. No longer are we simply riding the wave of history in a relentless ocean of chance. The presence of a Creator, immediately calls for the presence of purpose, and if there is purpose to our world, then our lives are going somewhere. 

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13). 

 

The writer to the Hebrews tells us that nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight and that one day we must give an account for our lives. Notice the word 'must'. It will not be optional, and is a day that is approaching with every passing second. This isn't to be seen as scaremongering, but is to be a reminder that how we live our lives in the 'here-and-now' does matter. It will matter not simply 'how' you lived your life, but 'who' you lived your life for. Did you live for your own name, or did you live for the name of the One who made you? Did you seek your value, identity and life in serving your name, or did you seek your value, identity and life in serving the name of the One who became a servant for your sake? In his letter to the Philippians (2:9-11), Paul writes: 

 

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth

and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

 

At times life can seem like a vapour, a chasing after the wind. Life can feel like a constant battle to prove that I am a somebody and that my life really does count. The good news of Jesus frees us from the entanglement that such self-motivated living brings. The good news of Jesus brings hope for all who have failed, and are stumbling around in the dark. He is the light we all so desperately need (John 8:12). Are we simply momentary masters of a fraction of a dot, or is there more beyond what we see around us? I would argue that in the gospel of Jesus Christ there is living proof that this is the case. That the pale blue dot which hangs with such fragility in the vastness of space, is known and loved by a God. A God who stepped into human history to save a people for himself. It seems fitting to end with a poem about the life of one man who changed the course of human history forever. 

 

 

One Solitary Life


He was born in an obscure village
The child of a peasant woman 
He grew up in another obscure village 
Where he worked in a carpenter shop 
Until he was thirty when public opinion turned against him

He never wrote a book
He never held an office
He never went to college
He never visited a big city
He never travelled more than two hundred miles
From the place where he was born
He did none of the things

Usually associated with greatness
He had no credentials but himself
He was only thirty three 

His friends ran away 
One of them denied him 
He was turned over to his enemies 
And went through the mockery of a trial 
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves 

While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing 
The only property he had on earth 
When he was dead 
He was laid in a borrowed grave 
Through the pity of a friend 

Nineteen centuries have come and gone 
And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race 
And the leader of mankind's progress 
All the armies that have ever marched 
All the navies that have ever sailed 
All the parliaments that have ever sat 
All the kings that ever reigned put together 
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth 
As powerfully as that one solitary life 

Dr James Allan Francis © 1926.