Drew Boswell

a place for us to share ideas, talk about life, and learn together.

All Working For His Glory; John 9:1-13

First Baptist Church of Valdosta began a special needs ministry called PURE about two years ago. We have experienced many wonderful events including multiple Respite evenings and the highlight of the year was Tim Tebow’s sponsored Night to Shine. We have several families with special needs who are an essential part of our congregation and our prayer is to be a place where all are welcomed, loved, and ministered to. Not only does FBCV, but the the entire Body of Christ have a responsibility to love them, befriend them, to lead them to Christ, and to partner with them in ministry.

But what keeps this from happening in many churches? The following are some things that often keep believers from participating in these wonderful times of ministry, and how we can over come them.

The Problem of Misunderstanding (v. 1-2)

1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

Jesus was escaping a mob who desired to kill Him. In chapter 8 Jesus was teaching among many things that, “anyone who was without sin should cast the first stone” (8:7), and the He was the Light of the World (8:12). Eventually, the Jewish people became so mad that they picked up stones to kill Jesus, but He slipped away.

In spite of the heavy mood, Jesus was never in too big of a hurry to minister to someone in need. While Jesus was looking to minister, the disciples were looking in judgment. With “who sinned,” the disciples assumed that it was someone’s sin that caused the man to have this condition. They believed that sin was the primary cause of all suffering. According to their dogma, if anything bad happened to you in life it was because of your sin.

We see the opposite in Job 1:8 when it says “Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” Job was righteous and blameless yet his worked was rocked.

Regarding families with special needs, there is no reason to blame, but every reason to support the family, and to help display God’s mercy, kindness, love, and hope in their lives and the life of the child.[1] Families have questions that they may need help answering. “Why did God allow this to happen?” “Is it permanent?” “Can I afford the care?” “How do I discipline my child who has a disability?” “What do I say to people who stare at my child?” “Will my child ever be able to accept Jesus?”[2]

The disciples were asking the wrong question, and instead of helping they were judging.

The Purpose of the Man’s Condition (v. 3)

3“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

When it says, “this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life” we see that God seeks to display himself in the lives of those who follow Him.

What works of God were displayed?

 A. God’s compassion was displayed. No one “saw” this man except Jesus. Many times those with special needs are ignored as if they are not there, or they are judged as inferior or being deserving of their condition. In some churches those with special needs are even asked not to come back because it makes people feel uncomfortable. In both of the churches where I have served and been apart of a special needs ministry, there are parents who have told me of horror stories of how they were asked or told not to come back. Jesus noticed him, explained that it was no one’s fault, and that God had a plan for this man’s life (as He does for everyone’s lives).

B. God’s person was displayed. Jesus healed this man showing all who saw that He was from God. Jesus said in

John 10: 25 “…The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, …” Miracles were expressions of God’s salvation and glory.

When in jail John the Baptist sent some of his disciples to see if Jesus “was the one to come” (Matt. 11:3). Jesus told them to inform John of what He had done: “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor” (11:5). Miracles were proof of who Jesus was (God) and the presence of the kingdom of God (Matt. 12:39).[3]

When John wrote about miracles that Jesus performed he believed that they held deep spiritual truth, demanding obedient faith. Thus, Jesus feeding the five thousand (6:1-15) was Jesus’ presentation of Himself as the True Manna, the one who gives life and sustenance.[4]

In John 9 Jesus is presenting Himself as the light of the world. He gives spiritual light to all who are in spiritual darkness.  Jesus also understood His miracles as evidences of the presence of the kingdom in His ministry (Matt. 11:2-5); 12:28). Every miracle was a sign that God’s salvation was present.

His miracles were performed on the most unlikely of people. Jesus brought the salvation of God to those who were rejected by society. He healed the lame (Matt. 9:1-8), the mute (Matt. 9:32-33), the leper (Luke 17:11-19), and the blind (John 9:1-3).  Jesus brought the kingdom to all, regardless of their condition or social status.

C.  God’s empowerment was displayed. Not only is he empowered with new sight but he was bold before the Pharisees and other religious leaders. John 9:30 says “The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

This man who was blind from birth would have known nothing but begging his whole life, now he stands before the religious authorities and tells them spiritual things they can not understand.  We are empowered by God whenever we tell others about Jesus. He will always give us the words to say and the Scripture to use.  We are also empowered by God to do what ever it is that he has called us to do.

The Partnership of All Believers in the Ministry (vv. 4-5)

4As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

In the Jewish agrarian society all work had to be done during the day. When night came the work must stop. Jesus is saying that there will be a time when Jesus’ work would come to an end. We are to do the work that God has given us to do, and like Jesus that time is limited. All of our days are limited. In the time we have, we must work to build His kingdom.

Jesus is also clear that we are to partner with all believers in the work of God. Those with special needs are usually designated as receivers of ministry. But have we asked the question “What is their calling? What has God designed them to do for His kingdom?”

We are to partner with all believers and minister together. The church is to help people discover their calling in this life and to pursue God with all of their heart. 1 Corinthians 12:22 says, “on the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor.” (v.25) “ …its parts should have equal concern for each other.”

Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” Jesus did not stop being the “light of the world” when he ascended into heaven, but the light was brighter when He was here. He continues to be the spiritual light of the world (salvation) and he is also the physical light of the world (healing this man’s eyes allowing him to see the light.)

The Power of The One Who Sends (vv. 6-7)

6Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. 7“Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

We are reminded here with “he spit on the ground” of Gen. 2:7 “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”

Siloam is Hebrew for sent. Jesus was the one who was sent by His Father to earth. Jesus sends the disciples to continue His work.  Matthew 28:19 says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” God used the man who was born blind in a way that he could never have used the disciples. The man was able to witness for Christ six times in verses 1-42.

Witnessing is nothing more than telling someone else what Jesus has done for you. The disciples can not share this man’s testimony with the same impact, and no one can tell your story with the same understanding. When we are obedient to Christ we too will see things that we never could have seen before. God always calls us to faith in Him, then washes us of all sin, and through this process we see things differently.

Having a relationship with Christ is the only way for us to see the world (and people)
as God desires for us to see it. Many of you have only been saved a few years but when you look back on the things you did and enjoyed when you were lost, you would say “WOW, look how I have been changed!”

There is understanding in a relationship with Christ, purpose in a relationship with Christ, there is fellowship and friendships in a relationship with Christ, and there is power in a relationship with Christ.

The Puzzlement of the People (vv. 8-13)

8His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” 9Some claimed that he was. Others said, “No, he only looks like him.” But he himself insisted, “I am the man.” 10“How then were your eyes opened?” they demanded. 11He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.” 12“Where is this man?” they asked him. “I don’t know,” he said. 13They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind.

In ancient times, such severe physical deformities like congenital blindness sentenced a person to begging as the only means of support.[5] But now he had been changed. “How then were your eyes opened?” The man simply tells what Jesus had done to him.  He explained how he followed in obedience, and how he received his sight. People, when they see the change in our lives, will demand to know how you were changed.

“Where is this man? is the sensible next question for a person inquiring about the man who did this miracle.  Another way to say this is “how can I meet Him?” “Can I be changed too?” If you have never met Jesus you can not lead another person to Him. He had not as of yet met Jesus. The man finally met Jesus in vv. 35-39.

35Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36“Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” 37Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” 38Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

Those who knew this man, his neighbors and acquaintances, saw him after the healing. Some believed, some did not. Why? Some people simply will not believe in Jesus simply because they choose not to, even though all the evidence they need is right there in front of them. These people were faithless by choice.  All those who have received the saving power of Jesus, where he allowed us to see the truth (the light), have never seen the hand that healed them. We can only see the effects of Jesus in our lives.

A Man named Nicodemus came at night and asked Jesus some questions, and:Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 9“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.”

Salvation may seem to be strange or mysterious but we can look at the event of this man’s life. First, Jesus noticed the man. He calls us at different times in our lives to salvation. Then he required that the man show faith in him to be healed. We show faith in Christ by believing that Jesus died for our sins, and that he rose again. We then are able to see things through a new pair of spiritual eyes.

If you have never met Jesus or understand who He is, ask Him to heal your spiritual eyes and He will.

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[1] Jim Pearson. Exceptional Teaching. Cincinnati: Standard Publishing. p. 215.

[2] Ibid.

[3] R. F. Youngblood ed. Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville:Nelson Publishing. p. 847.

[4] Ibid.

[5] John MacArthur. The MacArthur Study Bible, Nashville: Word Publishing. p. 1601.

Training That Inspires One to Greatness


Boy Scout summer camp is one of those times when training is regularly available — This week I took part in a 16-hour course called IOLS (Introduction to Outdoor leadership Skills). It included topics ranging from Dutch oven cooking, first aid, knot tying, to new BSA regulations and orienteering (plus much more). These were basic skills that every Scoutmaster is supposed to know so that he/she can properly teach the boys in their Troop.

“Every Scout needs and deserves trained leaders. Leaders should understand their responsibilities, the aims of the program, and how to deliver it with enthusiasm and fun.” — BSA

I anticipated the skills, but what I did not expect is the sheer level of information that I didn’t know. After leading Scouts for almost 10 years there is still so much that I don’t know and things that we are just not doing as a Troop. Some of these limitations are subject to my limited schedule, and financial restrictions we have as a Troop — but what I have come to realize is that I need to do a better job at my own leadership. I came to understand this as I was going through the training, so the following are some thoughts relating to training and leadership in general.

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People Should Actually Be Trained. Training (and continued training) should leave those being trained (better) equipped to do what they do better. You may say, “Isn’t that obvious?” But more times than not, training is boring, the leader/supposed equipper is unprepared, and the main reason for the training is to check a box, get a card, or to just advance in some way — but no one is better equipped than had they not attended at all.

In order for meaningful training to happen, the equipper has to take his/her job seriously and understand why the skills are important to be learned. If the training is important enough to be required (or strongly suggested if you are in the non-profit volunteer world), then the skills are important enough to be learned. If no one is learning or being equipped then everyone’s time is being wasted.

People Should Be Inspired To Be Better Leaders. The time of training should inspire those in the class to improve what they do, not by shame or discouragement, but by setting a high standard. In my training this past week I was taken on a journey with a group of Scout leaders who had done their job for over 25 years and they were good at what they did.

I wanted to be like these leaders, to return to my Troop and model what I had learned. I wanted to be a better leader because of being around these experienced leaders. Training should inspire us to be better leaders. Most people in Scouting are there as volunteers because they want to make a difference in the lives of boys.  So, inspiring them is not a unreachable goal — they just need a leader.

People Should Want More. As I am thinking through all of the material that we covered, I have many more questions and have a realization that there is so much more that I need to learn. So training should also lead to a thought process where one seeks further training. I want to be a better leader and I know that I need to learn more if our Troop is going to improve.

The training this weekend began where I am going to end, with the mission statement of BSA, “The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law.”

The Scout Oath and Law mention character expectations of honor, duty, country, God, trustworthy, loyalty, etc. These are noble goals to inspire young men to have. But, it just doesn’t happen.  It is planned, coordinated, and has people who are passionate about seeing these things come to be in the life of young men.

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Whatever noble task you have set your heart toward it most likely will require continual growth and learning on your part. If you happen to be the one training, begin with why are you training in the first place (your mission), and then make sure that people are learning in a meaningful manner. Inspire them to follow a high standard and give them a model to follow (you as a great leader). If you do this, then they will want more, and you will have accomplished your goal of training.

Can God Use A Flawed Leader? 1 Kings 3:1-15

Caleb and Joshua’s birthday is coming up, and when they were younger every time we would go to the grocery store, Wal-mart, Burger King, or when they would see a commercial on TV; they would say almost constantly, “Dad, I want that for my birthday,” “I want that, I want that, dad I want that” and I may say, “Caleb do you really want a Shrek foam lamp?” or “Joshua do you really want that movie, it will give you nightmares?”

Many of our prayers are like that, “ Lord, I want this, and this, and that, and can you do this, and that” . . .on and on we go, while God is sitting there saying, “Are you sure you want to have that, or do this, or go there?” “I have such a bigger vision for your life than a Shrek foam lamp, I want to pour out my goodness on your life and give you this.” As you consider your walk with the Lord and the things you ask of Him, consider the following from 1 Kings 3. He desires to use flawed people to accomplish unimaginable things. He desires to use you to do the wonderful. But there is a process.

What Kind of Leader Would Solomon Be? (vv. 1-4)

“1 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the LORD, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the LORD. 3 Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the statutes of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. 4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.”

The book of I Kings opens with David making Solomon king, David giving his son some instructions and making a few requests of his son, and Solomon then doing some housekeeping. And in today’s text we get a first glimpse of what kind of king Solomon was to be.

An Alliance with Egypt 

When God was giving the people the law, he warned that the people would one day want a king, and he warned the people not to let him do certain things. Deuteronomy 17:16 “The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” To go back to Egypt was to return to a place of slavery.  But here we see that Solomon sees the need to marry the daughter of Egypt.

2 Chronicles 1:14-16 “Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. 15 The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig trees in the foothills. 16 Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue’ the royal merchants purchased them from Kue.”

Married to Foreign (Women)

1 Kings 11:1-2 “King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.”

Solomon marries these women from foreign lands. Just as an aside, this is not a racial issue — it has to do with the false gods these women worshiped.

Performing Burnt Offerings to Foreign gods

God wanted the people to worship and sacrifice on the altar of the tabernacle, in the manner He commanded Moses, but even more so, He wanted their obedience. Every time we see sacrifices mentioned in the Bible, we need to remember that this is part of God’s concession, and not His will, as we are told in 1 Samuel 15:22 “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”

Duet. 12:1-2, 4 “These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, as long as you live in the land. 2 Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. . . 4 You must not worship the LORD your God in their way.

But Solomon once again ignores God’s Word, “. . . . except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places” 

The Presence of “High Places”

“The king [Solomon] went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices.”  We first see the city of Gideon in the Bible when they fool Joshua in Joshua 9:14 “The men examined some of their [Gibeonites] provisions, but they failed to ask the Lord’s advice.” God’s command to Joshua and the rest of the people was to clear out the promised land of foreign people who worshipped foreign gods.   This group of people was allowed to stay, and now the king of God’s chosen people is there worshipping their gods.

Here are four examples where the leader ignores God’s Word and decides to do what “seems right in his own eyes.” But, how do we explain that God is about to appear before Solomon, he is going to bless him in ways that no other man has ever known, and yet we see him here, he is clearly going against God and His ways? The first time we really see Solomon acting as king, he is messing up big time.

Do you ever feel that way as a leader? You may not see at the time, but if you look back over your life you see mess ups, mistakes, bad calls, and just plain sinfulness. Can God use you? Is it possible to overcome these things?

Read on friend.  

The King Makes a Wish (vv. 5-9)

5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” 6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. 7 “Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

“The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices” While Solomon was on the high place, going against what God’s Word and Commandments clearly teach, sacrificing animals to other gods, “At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon.”

Romans 10:20 “And Isaiah boldly says, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.”

God in His grace and mercy came to Solomon, when Solomon would not come to the Lord in His Temple. And even though Solomon had sinned against Him, the Lord said, “I want to bless your life greatly!” he said, “Sinner, I want to use you, I want to bless you, I want to use you greatly!

This is one reason why I love the Bible, God loves to reach down and take sinful people and bless them and that’s what happened to the Apostle Paul in Acts 9:1-4 “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

Abraham, who was worshipping other gods is called, Joshua 24:2 “Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your forefathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River and worshiped other gods.”

God’s words didn’t come through a prophet, or a seer, God appeared to him in person. And He simply said to Solomon, “ask for whatever you want me to give to you.” Have you ever heard the teaching on prayer, that says, God answers prayer with yes, no, or wait?  Many times God desires to bless us, or use us in a powerful way, but we have to grow into it, or be able to handle it. God desires for us to learn things about ourselves and what He desires to do through us.

What if God were to come to you, and say, “ask for whatever you want me to give to you.” Jesus put it this way, Mark 11:22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23“I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.“

In this process of talking with God Solomon recognizes four things about himself:

(1) “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you . . . a son to sit on his throne this very day” — Solomon recognizes that he is in a position that he did not earn, deserve, “ it was because of someone else’s righteousness, his father David, that he is able to be where he is. When we spend time with God we quickly encounter His greatness and our humanity.

(2) “Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king,”  He recognizes that he was king, whether he deserved to be there or not, whether someone else could do a better job, no matter what his view of himself was, he was there, on the thrown and he was king.  If you find yourself to be the leader then God expects you to lead.

(3) “But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.” He recognizes that in his responsibilities, he does not know how to do it well. He feels like a child, inadequate, and fumbling. In most things that relate to leadership, people, and the spiritual, we humans are this way. Those that think they “have arrived” or are “experts” will eventually discover that it is by God’s grace that they have had success.

(4) “8Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.” Solomon recognizes that the task before him is a great one. He feels overwhelmed and doesn’t know what to do. God’s vision for you is great, do you see it? It is larger than what you can do on your own.

The Wonder of God’s Grace (vv. 10-13)

10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for, both riches and honor” so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.

Why was the Lord so pleased with Solomon’s answer? Because his response was all about asking God to give him what he needed to adequately do what God had put him in the seat to do, not his own selfish personal whims.

“I will do what you have asked . . . I will give you [so that]. . . Moreover [so that.]”  Solomon’s one time response to God brought about wisdom and wealth so that the world had never seen. But there was also an ongoing response to God that he had to make on a moment by moment basis.

“14 And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” 15 Then Solomon awoke,”and he realized it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.

God also promised Solomon long life, but there is clause, this blessing would be based on “if you walk in my ways” a moment by moment decision to follow God and His ways. Which is more important? The riches the world has never seen (which has no conditions) or a long life (with a condition)? God can give either, but to God which is more important?

Years on this earth, in obedience to God, and living out His calling upon your life, is far more precious than vast wealth, education, or any other trappings of the world. Why? Because the longer you have on this earth, the longer you have to influence other people. Solomon, would influence millions.

How great is the vision that you have for your life? Ask God to show you, “Lord how can I make the most of the years that you have given me, to influence as many people as possible for You?” Don’t let the worries of this world crowd that out. Don’t let that burning movement of His Spirit in your chest become an after thought.

“He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.” God came to Solomon in Gibeon and now Solomon moves into God’s will by going back to Jerusalem. The mercy and grace that God pours onto Solomon, moves his heart to obedience.

So if God loves to bless sinful people, and change their lives, shouldn’t we be all the more sinful? Romans 6:1-4 “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Solomon, understanding God’s grace, doesn’t continue to sin by going to Gibeon, he changes his life and leads the people to God in Jerusalem.

In order for God to show you His great plan for your life, you have to give Him your heart. Be ready when He comes to you. He will tell you of His love for you, and how he want to bless your life, how he wants to change your life, won’t you give Him your heart? If your wish is for Jesus to take your sin away, he will do it. If your wish is for Him to use you for His glory, He will do it. But be warned, it will be big, scary and require your dependence upon Him.

Panic; Psalm 74

There was a time when my boys were of an age where they loved to get up and turn on the TV and choose “their” show (Batman Brave and the Bold, Star Wars Clone Wars, H-G’s was Olivia), etc. One morning Kimberly had gone to run some errands with the rest of the kids, and Caleb I were left in the house. I was going to do some yard work so I called Caleb’s name. He didn’t respond, so I called a little louder, he was focused on this tv show that he was watching, and I he really didn’t hear me. But I told him, “I’m going out to the garage.” So I went out into the garage and started to get the lawnmower ready to cut the grass, I put some new string in the head of the weed eater, filled them up with gas, and I was out there about forty-five minutes just doing different things.

When the TV show went off, Caleb regained consciences and began to look around. He began to run through the house yelling for Kimberly and I. No one was in the house and he began to panic. His loving father was not there, and he felt all alone. Eventually he came outside, really upset – to find me in the garage.

Have you ever had a time when suddenly you realized that God was not there anymore, or at least it felt that way? You pray, but don’t sense His presence. You serve, and discover that His power is not there anymore – you know you are doing it in your strength. You come to worship – But He doesn’t speak to you – you are just going through the motions. You seek Him, but you can’t seem to find Him anywhere – He is gone. Just like with Caleb, God told you “I’m not staying here anymore, I want you to go with me”, but you have allowed ourselves to be distracted by something. For some time it has had our complete focus. But now there is an awakening.

“Few things in life are more excruciating than suffering defeats while serving God. When God’s work is met with setbacks, his people agonize over these losses and long for God’s kingdom work to be reestablished. And until God’s kingdom is again prospering, distress fills the hearts of his servants. Until we find Him, and are in His presence again there is panic. This is the focus of Psalm 74.”[1] This lament expresses how God’s people experienced agony because of their devastation and were calling upon him for relief and restoration.

In 2 Kings 25 the enemies of God have destroyed the temple, and even worse it seems that God has forgotten them. It occurs 586 years before Christ is born – those who were not killed by Babylon were carried off into exile. The people are pleading for God to reestablish his people in their land. So they pray – but if we find ourselves in a similar situation what should we pray for? The following Psalm walks us through how to pray for the panic to stop, and our hearts to be calmed.

I. Pray with a Realistic Picture of Reality (vv. 1-3)  

O God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? 2 Remember your congregation, which you have purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your heritage! Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt. 3 Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins; the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!

Because of the events that occurred around them, God’s people cry out and ask God, “Why have you rejected us forever?” God had not rejected them; he had withdrawn the power of his presence from them. The psalmist asked how long will this rejection last? His abandonment was demonstrated by the ransacked city and ruined temple (Psalm 79:1).

“Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture?” – God’s people see the image of a smoldering city that had been devastated by a foreign power and link it to God’s rejection and abandonment of his people.

The psalmist asks God to remember how He has dealt with them in the past – his people who He had purchased from Egypt (Ex 20:2). God had chosen them to be His inheritance (Deut 4:20), those that He has redeemed (Ex 15:13, 16), God had dwelt among his people on Mt Zion (1 Kg 6:12-13), which was God’s holy hill (Ps 2:6), and dwelling with them (Ps 132:5, 7). God has done all of these same things for us.[2]

The Psalmist is asking God to look at the smoldering temple, how God’s people have been carried off into exile – in other words, “Lord look at our current condition.” This was not just a short term thing, but “perpetual ruin.” The destruction keeps going on and on and on.

“Lord this has been going on for some time now”, and “the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary” There was nothing left within the temple that the enemy had not desecrated and destroyed.

II. Pray With A Realization of the Destruction (vv. 4-9)

4 Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place; they set up their own signs for signs. 5 They were like those who swing axes in a forest of trees. 6 And all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers. 7 They set your sanctuary on fire;
they profaned the dwelling place of your name, bringing it down to the ground. 8 They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land. 9 We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long.

The psalmist now points us to the foe himself. He comes into God’s house of worship and roars! He lifts up his battle flags and plants them right there in the meeting place where God’s people worship.

1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” While God’s people are distracted and focused on everything but the Lord, the enemy enters into the very temple of the Lord, and roars. His teeth snap the necks of the weak and the young.

As the enemy of the Lord he raises his disgusting and foul flag and he dares to plant it among the congregation. The enemy who roars says, “I have this one, and this one, and this, and this one, and this one, and this one – they are mine.” All the while, God’s people stare blindly into space.

The temple had beautifully carved wood paneling build by master craftsmen. So when we see “They were like those who swing axes in a forest of trees. 6 And all its carved wood they broke down with hatchets and hammers.” The enemy takes his ax to the temple paneling and splinters the temple. The enemy seeks to destroy what has been built. It is so much easier to tear down and burn rather than build.

How many churches has Satan taken his hatchet to, so that at the end of day it lays as a pile of splinters? Some here, some there – churches litter the landscape that have been destroyed – that have closed their doors for the last time.

Then when it was completely devastated, before it has a chance to rebuild – he goes one step further “They set your sanctuary on fire; they profaned the dwelling place of your name, bringing it down to the ground.” There is a very real enemy who seeks to bring every church burning to the ground.

The enemy has a plan and he is relentless in his carrying it out. The enemy is set on bring about our destruction – in hell they hold pep rallies where 8 They said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.” They will not be happy until every church is destroyed – including yours. Have you not seen him parade with his flags and clamp his teeth on your fellow church member? You seek to build, but he splinters it again and again with his ax of destruction.  

“9 We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long” – There is nothing more terrifying and discouraging then not knowing how long will this pain and devastation continue. How long will this condition last among God’s people? Will the church wake up?

Will it regain consciousness? When will the destruction become so great that it will awake and do something? Will the church have to burn around us? The splinters are hitting you in the face. The person that sat next to you last week isn’t there anymore, only his foul and horrific flag is left. Blood paw prints stains the aisles and the mother’s around you weep.

III.       Pray with God’s Reputation in Mind (vv. 10-11)

10 How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever? 11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them!

Why does God seem to do nothing as His temple is destroyed and His people are carried off into captivity? To answer this question we go back to 2 Kings 25.

2 Kings 25 tells us that the nation is punished because of the sins of Manasseh. Manasseh was a king that we first see in 2 Kings 21:2-9 â€œAnd he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 7 And the carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. 8 And I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the Law that my servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.”

There was a king who led the people to walk away from God. And the people willingly followed and left the Lord, and did things in the presence of the Lord that were horrible. The Lord moved, and His people did not follow, and it was only as they were being carried off into captivity that they awoke and realized what was going on.

IV. Pray With a Worshipful Heart (vv. 12-17)

12 Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. 13 You divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness. 15 You split open springs and brooks; you dried up ever-flowing streams.
16 Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun. 17 You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth; you have made summer and winter.

 When things seem the darkest and you don’t know how you will continue, it is helpful to remember what God has done for you in the past. The psalmist says “you” eleven times in vv. 12-17 – and he praises the Lord for what he has done for His people. He praises God for his strength to crush and control.

For example, we don’t know what a Leviathan is but God has crushed it. God has power over all of creation, streams, brooks, day and night, stars and moons, seasons, and where the land begins and where it ends – God is in control. God has the power to stop this condition that His people are in.

Even after Israel had turned to false gods, (which involved the killing of their own children), even after all that they had done – God was still their God and He was still their king. When they turn from their wicked ways, He is still there. This God and King is always seeking to restore and redeem his creation “working salvation in the midst of the earth.”

God is able to see and understand something that we can’t. Since he “is from old,” He has seen all this before. A people who follow God, then turn from Him, then He must discipline them, and then they return – only to repeat the cycle again.

V. Pray with God’s Promises In Mind (vv. 18-23)

18 Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs, and a foolish people reviles your name. 19 Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts; do not forget the life of your poor forever. 20 Have regard for the covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence. 21 Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame; let the poor and needy praise your name. 22 Arise, O God, defend your cause; remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day! 23 Do not forget the clamor of your foes, the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!

When the nation has forgotten why God had allowed the destruction of the temple, the psalmist asks God to remember. But to remember how the enemy has mocked Him and His name. He is asking God to not hand over his covenant people to the world or “wild beasts.”

Genesis 17:1-22 – God had promised to preserve them as a nation. When the “wild beasts” invaded their land they brought violence, and it filled the land with darkness – which is a reference to the grave. So the psalmist asks on behalf of the oppressed, poor, and needy for God to rise up and defend their cause. God’s people understood that as God’s people they were to be serving and helping the oppressed, the poor, the needy, the widows and orphans.[3]

Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” If God would spare and restore the church, then it would be for the reason that it could bring His name glory and be His hands in feet by serving others (widows, orphans, poor, needy).

So you went to church on Sunday? Did you eat some lunch afterwards? This week you plan to take the kids to ball games and swim practice. You’ll go to work and put in another week. You’ll probably even go back next week sing some songs and hear another massage. But be prepared to see another flag, and the enemy will claim another. Will it be one of mine? Will it be one of yours? Will we awake from our distractions?

There is a way to change the course of the wayward church – They don’t have to sit by and watch as the enemy plants his flags and destroys their families. Jeremiah 29:10-14 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”

They can awake and cry out to God. 

__________________

[1] Max Anders (ed.), Homlan Old Testament Commentary, Psalms 1-75 (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman & Holman, 2003), 373.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid. 374.

Choosing Between Two Invitations; Proverbs 9

 

There’s a story about a proud young man who came to Socrates asking for knowledge. He walked up to the muscular philosopher and said, “O great Socrates, I come to you for knowledge.” Socrates recognized a pompous numbskull when he saw one. He led the young man through the streets, to the sea, and chest deep into water. Then he asked, “What do you want?” 

“Knowledge, O wise Socrates,” said the young man with a smile.  Socrates put his strong hands on the man’s shoulders and pushed him under. Thirty seconds later Socrates let him up. “What do you want?” he asked again.  “Wisdom,” the young man sputtered, “O great and wise Socrates.” 

Socrates crunched him under again. Thirty seconds passed, thirty-five. Forty. Socrates let him up. The man was gasping. “What do you want, young man?” Between heavy, heaving breaths the fellow wheezed, “Knowledge, O wise and wonderful…” Socrates jammed him under again Forty seconds passed. Fifty. “What do you want?”  “Air!” the young man screeched. “I need air!” “When you want knowledge as you have just wanted air, then you will have knowledge.”[1]

The young man was seeking an earthly wisdom from Socrates, but we as believers say we seek godly wisdom. But do we crave it like we would crave air if we were without for a few seconds? In Proverbs 9 Solomon’s son is offered two choices. Like a person in the fork of a road, he is invited to go in two different directions. One takes him to safety the other will bring about his destruction.

 Wisdom’s Invitation (vv. 1-6)

“Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars. 2 She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table. 3 She has sent out her young women to call from the highest places in the town, 4 â€œWhoever is simple, let him turn in here!” To him who lacks sense she says, 5 â€œCome, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. 6 Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.”

When it says that wisdom’s house has seven pillars, it is showing the reader that the house is vast, large, open, and ready to receive many guests. The tables in this huge room are filled with food (beasts), and there is wine to drink. The mixed wine is a reference to watering down the wine. Jews considered undiluted wine distasteful. Passover wine was mixed with three parts water to one part wine. It may also reference the mixing of spices into the watered down wine for added flavor (Ps. 75:8).

Now it is time to gather the guests, so wisdom sends out her maids to gather them. They go to the highest points of the city and yell out where all can see them and hear them.  

Luke 14:15-24 “When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.”

It is Christ’s desire that any who want to have a relationship with Him, can call upon His name and He will answer them. All are invited to come to His house.

This feast that wisdom presents is not for some special elite group of people, she says, “Whoever is simple..or lacks sense…it is for the person who has come to realization that they don’t know everything and that they are not able to provide everything they need (joy, salvation, peace, meaning, purpose, freedom from sin, etc..)

So wisdom’s invitation is for the person to enter into her home where there is plenty of room, and turn from foolish living. Once you are there you are rewarded or are able to enjoy food and drink – or you are satisfied.

In Isaiah God presents himself as something to be eaten or partaken of – Isaiah 55:1-2 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.”

Then in the New Testament Jesus presents himself in a similar way: 

John 6:51-65 “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.”

So the call of Wisdom, as she calls on high, is to turn from a wayward path, and turn into her home. There the person will find drink, shelter, safety, contentment, food or provision, and ultimately life. We have life through our relationship with God, and apart from Him is the path of death. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

If the traveler as he stand out in the street hears wisdom’s cry, and says, “I’ll wait, let me think about it, and goes on his way – then he has made a decision to reject wisdom – you can’t wait to make a decision to follow Jesus, either you accept Him or reject Him.

 How Do We Choose? (vv. 7-12)

“7 Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. 8 Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning. 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. 11 For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life. 12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it.”

So in vv. 7-12 we have two types of people described here – (1) one person if you correct them, or try to teach them, will turn on you and you will be abused. This person is described as a foolish person, a scoffer of the things of God, and they will end up hating you. All because you made a comment about their behavior on Facebook, or asked them about something in their life that concerned you.

(2) Then there is a wise person, who when you ask them about something that concerns you, or seek to correct a behavior in their life loves you because of it. The wise man will listen to what you said and learn. He will become wiser.  

How teachable are you? Do you get defensive, or say “don’t judge me” and cuss the person out, or are you open to what others say, and seek to learn from them? Wisdom’s teaching is twofold (1) one is correction, and the other (2) is instruction on righteous living. We like the blessing, but not the pain of having others point out sinful behavior in our lives.

Verse 10 looks a lot like Proverbs chapter 1, and the ESV even translates them the same “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” But the word here for beginning in Hebrew has been substituted, and it means “turning point.” So the “fear of the Lord is the turning point of wisdom.” It’s when a person begins to fear the Lord that the person makes a turn in their life and begins to go a different way. They stop walking outside of wisdom’s home, and turn to come inside to the banquet hall.

God is shown to us here as a God who desires to be known, and to have a relationship with us. It is through our relationship with Him, we discover that He is holy, and because of this it requires us to change many things about ourselves.

“Holy One” in v. 10 is plural in the Hebrew – so it becomes “knowledge of the Holy Ones” which a way of emphasizing the fullness of God’s holiness. When we say “fear of the Lord is the turning point” of a person’s life, it means that person fears God because they realize that they are rebellious, sinful, and wicked in the core of who they are and God is holy and completely different than us. If they stay that way, then they will be cast away from God and punished for their wickedness.

But Jesus has provided a way for us to be made right with God – He gave up his life, by dying on a cross so that mankind may have eternal life. He was punished instead of us; He took our place. If we receive Christ “as the bread of life” and accept the gift of forgiveness of sin that he offers, and repent or turn from our sins, then you will have eternal life – this is the beginning of wisdom, a turning point toward an abundant and meaningful life.

If we receive wisdom’s invitation we are given the reward of multiplied days (or a longer life). An eternal life in fact.

Folly’s Invitation (vv. 13-18)

“13 The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing. 14 She sits at the door of her house; she takes a seat on the highest places of the town, 15 calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way, 16 â€œWhoever is simple, let him turn in here!” And to him who lacks sense she says, 17 â€œStolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” 18 But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.”

So here we go again by this bad woman’s house; but this time instead of calling her the adulteress as in Proverbs 6, now she is Folly. She has made no preparation, there is no mixed wine, or beasts prepared, there is no vast banquet hall – only the loud calling of a women who doesn’t know very much.

She presents a proverb “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” And to him who lacks sense she says, 17 â€œStolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” Instead of preparing a meal, she suggests that the traveler and she go and steal it and eat it in the shadows. But the offer is bread and water – instead of meat/beast and mixed wine. Those that lack wisdom don’t know that life can be more than bread and water, and stealing, and immediate gratification.

There is no nourishment in bread and water and in the end it leads to death. If the boy goes into Folly’s home he will discover that her guests are dead.

She is calling out to you when you pass by her house, especially to those who are “going straight on their way.” Proverbs 4:25-27 “Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.”

When I first started driving, I was working on getting my learner’s permit so it included several hours of being in the car under my dad’s driving instruction. And when I first started driving I would weave back and forth, back and forth, between the yellow and white line. So my dad said, “Look straight ahead, or focus way down the road, or where you will end up – not on what is directly in front of the car.” When a person looks way down the road, and not at an immediate circumstance, they are able to determine if this action, decision, course, etc. is the going to be best for them in the future.

So we have a father giving instructions to his son, but we don’t know which woman’s home he chose to enter – Wisdom or Folly’s. If you read on through the rest of the book, at each verse you are given these options – listen to wisdom and live a skilled life, or ignore wisdom and go to the grave, life or death.

Also, to follow Wisdom, it requires the person to make a decision, to grow, to change a direction in their lives. Whereas Folly, doesn’t really ask anything of the person. She only wants you to come along for the ride. Wisdom is a harder way of life, but it will lead to life.

 “If you want to be free to sail the seven seas, you must make yourself a slave to the compass” or so an ancient sailor once said.  All of life involves balancing our freedoms and our bondages. We can be free from the toothbrush and a slave to cavities. We cannot be free from the toothbrush and free from cavities. That kind of absolute freedom does not exist.

If we want the freedom of a good reputation, if we want the freedom of guilt-free living, if we want the freedom of emotional peace, if we want the freedom of moral authority, of a strong and happy family and physical health, we must make ourselves slaves to holiness and obeying God’s commands.

We can choose the freedom of immorality if we want. But then we become slaves to all the consequences. Decide in advance what you want for the rest of your life. Then ask yourself if you are willing to pay the price. You have the freedom and a corresponding bondage. You can get a bondage and a corresponding freedom. Choose wisely.  

Many people don’t choose to follow Christ because they are so focused on what they have to give up. They want to be free to do whatever they want to do. But they don’t realize that there is no true freedom, you are always a slave to something. So our choice is to be a slave to something that will give us eternal life and freedom from our sin.

Romans 6:16 “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”

Again, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one can come to the Father except by me.” (John 14:6) – would you like to meet Him?

[1] M. Littleton in Moody Monthly, June, 1989, p. 29

"For by grace you have been saved through faith." Ephesians 2:8

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