“Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 27. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy feet from evil.”
The suggestion to “ponder the path of (our) feet,” means that we are to think about the direction we are going. The problem in the lives of a lot of people is that they do not stop and think about where they are going or what they are doing. Understand that I am not talking down to you. I can look back on my life, particularly my younger days, and ask myself, “What in the world were you thinking?” It is obvious that people who became addicted to drugs, for example, were not thinking about what they were doing; (Thank the Lord, that was never one of my problems.) Surely they heard stories at some time in their lives about people whose lives had been ruined by drugs. There are even older people, who should know better, living terrible lives. I guess we all do things sometimes without thinking about what we are doing, but we are not doing ourselves any favors when we do. We are even told what the results will be if we will “ponder the path of (our) feet.” When we think about where we are going, all our ways “will be established.” Another translation of this is, “then all your ways will be sure.” When we live thoughtful lives we know where we are going. The idea is that when we live thoughtful lives we will give Jesus a place in our lives and the Holy Spirit will lead us in the right direction. This doesn’t mean that we will never take a wrong path, but we will know that we are not on the right path and turn from it. I referred above to my younger life. When I was about twenty years old and about to be discharged from the Navy; I wondered what I was going to do with my life. I knew what I should do with my life, i.e., that I should go into Christian ministry. The Lord spoke to my heart in a profound way and then I knew what I would be doing. When I “pondered” my path, and let the Lord in on it, then I knew the direction that I should take. Most of you reading this, probably know what direction I took. I would like to think that I have done it perfectly, but you know that I have not. But it has been good to know all along the way where I was going and what I was to do. I give the Lord all of the credit for that. If you are drifting through life and are dissatisfied with your life, then you might need to “ponder” what you should do. The Lord has a plan for your life, and you will not be happy until you take the path that He has laid out for you. Trust me, there is a plan laid out for you and when you take it, your way “will be established.” There is more to think about. Verse 27 reminds us that when we take the right path, we are not to “turn to the right nor to the left,” and that we are to “remove our feet from evil.” Even when we are taking the path that the Lord has laid out for us, we need to be careful because the devil will always be there to tempt us to take a “right” or “left” turn. We need to be careful where we put our feet. It’s like walking in a mine field, and we do not know where the "mines" are. What we need is someone to guide us away from the “mines.” This is why Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit when we believed in Him. In John 16:13a, Jesus told His disciples and us: “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth.” Let’s take the Bible’s advice and “ponder the path of (our) feet.” Obeying this admonition will help us live better lives, and will keep us on the right path. Bro. Joe
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“Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.” HCSB
This verse is a culmination of a discussion on the rapidity of the days of our lives on this earth. The sense of it is, since life goes by so quickly let us live each day carefully so that God’s true wisdom may develop in our hearts. In other words, it is easy for us live each day and waste it on life’s frivolities and not gain wisdom from God. Or we can spend our time thinking about things that seem deep to us, but have nothing to do with God’s wisdom. These rapid lives of ours should be spent developing God’s wisdom in our hearts. Thinking of this, I began to wonder what route would we take in the development of this wisdom, and how would it affect our lives? First, we would realize the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” That is we will spend part of our day meditating on the greatness of God, reading about His greatness in His word. When we realize that our God is indeed an awesome God, we develop a great respect for Him that can be described as fear, because if He is this great, how can I fight against Him? The problem with a lot of people is that their concept of God never goes beyond the primary level. They hear about, read about and maybe even think about God, but they do not really reflect on His greatness. Somehow, they miss that He can part the Red Sea, that He can turn water into wine, or that He can walk on water. We need to take a part of each day and meditate on the greatness of God so that we can hold Him in the great awe that He deserves. Then He will start to make a difference in our lives. Second, we should realize that the acceptance of God’s love for us is the acceptance of God’s wisdom. At the same time that we learn to fear the God who can turn water into wine, we learn to accept the Bible’s admonition that in spite of all of our failures, foibles and sins, He loves us anyway. From this fear comes a great realization of God’s eternal love. When we come to the conclusion that “Jesus loves me, this I know, For the Bible tells me so,” we have truly accepted God’s wisdom into our lives. A lot of people just never seem to grasp the profound love that God has for them. If they only fear God’s power, they can never learn to accept His love. Grasp this fact, the almighty God loves you. Third, we should realize that faith in God is the practice of His wisdom in our lives. Throughout the Bible, we are urged to believe in God and to have faith in His activity in our lives. When we learn to fear God, and accept His love for us, the next step is to put our faith in Him so that we can put God’s wisdom into action in our lives. When we put our faith in Him, we become His personal servants, sharing His wisdom in our lives day by day. We are not saved by works, but we are saved to work, and it is only when we entrust each day to Him that we can effectively work for Him. God’s wisdom is bound up in our fear and standing in awe of Him. We truly accept that wisdom when we realize that He loves us and we practice that wisdom when we embrace Him by faith. Does this sound about right to you? Bro. Joe “Where when does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell? 21. It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing, concealed even from the birds of the air. 28. And (God) said to man, ‘The fear of the Lord that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.’”
From his misery, Job gave us the real source of wisdom, for which people are always seeking. Real wisdom is not derived from education. This, obviously, doesn’t make education unimportant in attaining knowledge, but it is not the source of real wisdom. Let’s see what Job tells us about the source of real wisdom. First, real wisdom does not come naturally, for “it is hidden from the eyes of every living thing.” There is such a thing as earthly wisdom, but that is not real wisdom. The source of real wisdom is hidden in God and is revealed by Him. Second, Job reveals that “the fear of the Lord that is wisdom.” No, this does not mean that wisdom lies in being always afraid of God, but to reverence Him as Lord and God. The fourth commandment is “thou shalt not take the Lord thy God in vain.” This is not limited to the one curse word that we always refer to “taking the Lord’s name in vain.” It means to take Him lightly in all aspects of our lives. For example, we should not take God lightly in the decisions that we make in our lives. A really wise person will seek God’s will out of reverence and worship. I do need to remind you that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews10:31) He does not take it lightly if we do not hold Him in reverence and worship. Third, with real wisdom comes real understanding: “To shun evil is understanding.” We find out how unwise it is live without reverence for God and His will for our lives when we do not shun evil. We need to steer clear of evil, which is always present and always invites us into its net. This is why part of real wisdom and understanding is to seek God’s forgiveness, not if we sin, but when we sin. Jesus who prayed from the cross: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do,” is always ready to forgive us when we come to Him in sincerity and repentance. (Wow, what a long sentence. lol) So, seek real wisdom and real understanding. Bro. Joe “When there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keeps the law happy is he.”
This can be translated as “when there is no revelation the people perish." The point is that the vision that we have should not come only from our imaginations, but from the Lord. We cannot have just any old vision that we want to have and claim that it is from God. If our visions are to be of value to other people, we need to seek God’s revelation, not our own, nor for that matter, somebody’s best-selling book. What is the source of God’s vision? You will not be surprised at my answer. An authentic vision for our lives comes from reflective, meditative prayer. Daily prayer draws us closer to God, and enables us to hear His “still small voice.” People ask how I know that it comes from God.” Answer: I just know! My life has virtually become one long prayer, not because I think that I’m so good, but because I need God’s vision and guidance each day. Without the presence of God, I feel that I would perish – to quote the text. I decided to write these daily devotions, not because I think I’m a great writer. (Don’t you dare say “Amen.”) I do it because God led me to it. I don’t think God thinks I’m a great writer either, but He knew that I needed to do it, and that other people, for some reason or other, need for me to do it. An authentic vision for our lives comes from a close reading of God’s word. I am in the process of reading the Bible from cover to cover every year. I often read it through with study notes from great Bible thinkers. My vision for life comes from just reading and prayerfully studying the Bible. You might be thinking that with all of that praying and all of that Bible reading, I must think I’m about perfect. Believe me! That is not true. I used to tell people to talk to my late wife, Mary, if they wanted to find out how “perfect” I am. (Since she has gone to heaven, I can refer you to my two daughters, and a few of my preacher friends. I also have a couple of brothers who could fill you in on my “perfection.”) When I preach and write, I do it from a biblical perspective, because I need to do it, and because, for some reason or other, other people need for me to do it. From biblical wisdom, and from reflective and meditative prayer, comes a sense of purpose. Everyone has to have a purpose for living, or should have. Mine is to be a preacher, teacher and encourager – not necessarily in that order. Those are the three gifts that God has given me to carry out His vision for my life to keep myself and others from “perishing.” (Since my recent stroke, I’ve had to preach, teach and encourage entirely through writing.) I didn’t start out to write a personal testimony about my vision, but I felt led in that direction. I hope that you have gained a greater sense of your vision for your life through this effort. Just remember that your life's vision can be discovered through prayer and revelation from scripture. ‘ Bro. Joe “Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from trouble.”
I was perusing the book of Proverbs and came across this verse. I moved on from it, but I found myself coming back to it several times and reading it over and over again. I thought to myself, “Where has this verse been all of my life?” I know that I have read it at least one-hundred times over the years, and it somehow escaped my attention. Well, it didn’t escape my attention today. Those of you who know me, know that “keeping my mouth and tongue” has not always been my forte – so to speak. In fact, one of the best lessons that I have learned over the last few years is that it is best to keep my mouth shut most of the time. I think that what I have learned, or will always be in the process of learning, is that most of the time it is best to keep my mouth shut instead of stating my opinion or arguing, whichever might happen to be the case at the time. I have learned, or am learning, the lesson of this text: If I will keep my mouth shut and my tongue still, I will save myself a lot of trouble. Let me share two things that came to mind when I meditated on this text. If we will keep our mouths shut until it is wise to open them, we will not embarrass ourselves by what we say. I guess that some of the hardest moments in my life, reaching back over the years since at least my teen years (waaaayyyy back), have been when I have embarrassed myself by what I said. There have been times when I have wanted to clap my hands over the mouths of other people because they were embarrassing themselves by what they were saying. If we will keep our mouths shut until it is wise to open them, we will not embarrass ourselves by what we say. You have probably heard the saying: “It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than it is to open it and remove all doubt.” (Or something like that.) I have particularly learned this in my church work. There have been times when I have spoken without having all of the information that I needed and have had to apologize. (I’m referring more to deacon’s meetings, business meetings and making church announcements, for example, than to my preaching from the Bible.) Learn the lesson of when to speak and when not to speak. If we will keep our mouths shut until it is wise to open them, we will not say things that will hurt other people. Think back over your life and think about how many times you have said things to people that were hurtful that you wished you could reel back into your mouth. Of course, this is impossible. A word once spoken cannot be recalled. There is an old saying that “sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me.” This might be true to a certain extent, but it is not altogether true. Words cannot break your bones but they can break your heart, and demean you. Perhaps, we would be wise to think about what we say to someone, and ask whether or not we would want the same said to us. I’ve known people who referred to themselves as “plain spoken” and spoke their minds regardless of who it hurt. One thing that I have noticed about these people is that it is not wise to be “plain spoken” with them. These are usually the people that you have to watch what you say to them or they will take offence. We need to learn to refrain from saying things that will be hurtful to people. There is so much more that I could write about what I have learned about keeping our mouths shut, but I have to remember that I am writing a blog and not a book. Maybe you need to learn the lesson of this text: “Whoever keeps his mouth shut and his tongue still keeps himself, or herself, out of trouble.” (This is the Beauchamp "translation.") You can fill in the blanks of what I have not written about the wisdom of keeping our mouths shut. Bro. Joe “Now therefore, listen to me my children, for blessed are those who keep my ways, 33. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it. 34. Blessed is the man (person) who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. 35. For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord. 36. But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul, all those who hate love death.”
In Proverbs, Solomon personified wisdom and had it talk as though it was a person. In fact the voice of wisdom is so closely allied to the voice of God that it is impossible to tell the two apart. In fact, Godly wisdom is an integral part of the Godhead. For example look at verses 23 and 27 of Proverbs 8: 23. “I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was ever an earth.” 27. “When He prepared the heavens, I was there.” We can surmise from this that the voice of wisdom is in essence the voice of God. What does the “voice of wisdom” tell us in these verses? First, it tells us in verse 33 that when we hear the instruction of wisdom we will be wise, and the implication is that if we disdain the instruction of wisdom, we will be unwise. I do not know of anyone who wants to be considered unwise, but I know plenty of people who are. (I can sometimes include myself in this category. Don’t laugh, you probably can too.) The “instruction of wisdom” is instruction from God, for from Him comes all wisdom. For example, we were given the Ten Commandments to enable us to live in God’s wisdom. If you will think of them, to break those commandments has proven unwise since the beginning of time, even before they were given. Who thinks of a person broken and destitute because of a sinful lifestyle as wise? In fact, people might look at him or her and say, “What a fool.” Second, it tells us in verse 34 that when we hear the instruction of wisdom we are happy: “Blessed is the man (person) who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.” “Blessed” can be translated as “happy.” So it might read, “Happy is the man (person) who listens to me.” True happiness is found the will of God. I know that when I have been careful to adhere to the will of God, my life has been happier than when I have not. You can probably say the same thing. It has been shown over and over again that happiness is not found in a sinful lifestyle. One might find momentary happiness, but not the kind that is built upon the joy that Christ gives us as we do His will. It is interesting that in John 10:9, Jesus said: “I am the door: by me if any man (person) enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture.” This is close to “watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.” True wisdom and happiness are found by entering the door furnished by God, which is Jesus Christ. Third, it tells us in verses 35-36: “For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord; 36. But he/she who sins against me wrongs his/her own soul; all those who hate me love death.” The point here is that to walk in the wisdom of God is live and to fail to do so is death. To find life here is compared to obtaining the favor of the Lord. Who, among those who believe in Him, does not want God’s favor? When I pray for people such as myself, my family, friends, and missionaries, etc. I pray for God’s favor on me and on them. But we can’t have His favor by simply asking for it, we have to live a life that personifies the wisdom of God in order to have it. This does not mean that we have to be perfect, but it does mean that we have to be obedient. Why would anyone in his or her right mind want to be out of God’s favor. The “voice of wisdom” is talking to you. I hope that you will read the verses carefully, and read the accompanying article carefully, and choose to heed the voice that leads to happiness, life and favor. Bro. Joe “A double minded (indecisive) man (or woman) is unstable in his (or her) ways.”
We have to make decisions from the time we get up in the morning until we go to bed at night. Some of those decisions are good and are good for us, but some of those decisions are disastrous. That’s why we need to watch we do in the moments of our lives. Think of David as he lounges on his roof and sees the beautiful Bathsheba. He knows that she is another man’s wife, but at the moment that doesn’t matter. He becomes consumed by the moment and commits adultery with her. His decision to sin on the spur of the moment led to disastrous results for the rest of his life. He went on with life, but it was never the same again. Think of Simon Peter as he brags to Jesus that he will never deny Him. I think that he meant it at the time, but when the moment came that he had to decide whether or not to deny Jesus, at that moment he denied Jesus. Peter went on with his life after that, and lived effectively for Jesus, but that one moment could have ruined his life. I think back over my life and think of the moments that I have acted impulsively and wished that I had not. At one point in my teen years, I decided that I just would not study – and I stayed real true to that moment. I ended up dropping out of high school, and have been playing catch-up ever since. I have graduated four times in my life, from college and seminary, but I do not have a high school diploma. It wasn’t the lack of the diploma that hurt, it was all of the knowledge that I didn’t have when I entered college. The sad thing is that David could not go back and relive that fateful moment; Peter could not go back and relive that fateful moment, nor could I go back and relive that fateful moment. I’m sure that in your own personal story, you could relate some moments that you wish you could relive. Here is the point: We need to watch every moment that we live. Satan and his demons are out there trying to make sure that we yield to our worst impulses at given moments. Unless a person is absolutely morally corrupt, he or she knows right from wrong. When we come to those moments when we have to make decisions that affect the rest of our lives, we need to think of consequences. The Holy Spirit will warn us, but we have to listen to Him. Satan is an expert at making the wrong thing the “right thing.” He encourages us to give in to whatever pleasure might come from the moment. I’m sure by now that you have learned that pleasure is only for a moment. When the moment of sinful pleasure is over, then comes the regret. But you can’t go back and reel it in. This is not just true of our actions; it is also true of our words. How many times have you said something that at that moment seemed clever and cute, only to have it come back and bite you. There have been times in my life when I wished that words had strings attached to them and I could snatch them back. I remember one Sunday morning visiting Sunday School classes. It was a hot summer morning, and energy was hard to come by. I went to the senior adult ladies class, looked in the door and saw them sitting there deflated by the hot summer day. Trying to be my “cute” self and say something “cute,” I brilliantly said: “Good gracious, y’all look like the last rose of summer.” Brilliant! Let us say that it took me a long time to get over that moment. Let me put it this way: you do not want to alienate the older sisters in a church. I didn’t really mean what I said; I just went with the impulse of the moment. Bad idea! Isn’t that usually the case? We need to watch what we do or say, and think of the consequences. Sometimes the consequences are menial, but sometimes they change our lives for the worst. Let’s just decide that we are going to think before acting or speaking. Good idea! Bro. Joe “I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto your testimonies (commandments). 60. I made haste, and delayed not to keep your commandments.”
Have you ever said to yourself, “I should have given a little more thought to that"? I have. In fact, I have also said, “I should have given a lot more thought to that.” We have all probably said about certain things in our lives, “What in the world was I thinking?” The psalmist gave some good advice about stopping and thinking about what we say and do in life. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he reveals to us the importance of right thinking. Right thinking will lead us in the right direction. The psalmist wrote, “I thought on my ways.” We need to stop and think about what direction decisions we make in life will lead us. For example, when a person takes that first snort of cocaine, he or she is asking to be addicted for the rest of their lives. If they would stop and think, they would not give their lives to such a sordid addiction. Perhaps, bad decisions that you have made in your life have not been that dire and life-changing, but they, nevertheless, led you in the wrong direction. The decision can be something like deciding which TV programs to watch. There is a lot of bad stuff on TV that will lead us in the wrong direction if we are not careful. It’s those little bad decisions that add up and lead us in the wrong direction. When you make decisions in life, think about what direction that decision will take you. If you sense that it will not take you in the direction of God’s will, it would be better to take another route. Right thinking will lead us toward God and not away from Him. The psalmist wrote, “…and turned my feet to your testimonies.” The only way that we can make decisions that will lead us toward God and His will for our lives, is to make decisions under the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit to them who would guide them. If we seek His leadership, we can be sure that we will be in God’s will and not away from it. I have made decisions in my life that were led by the Holy Spirit, and I have made decisions that were not. I can tell you from these experiences that following the guidance of the Holy Spirit is better. When Paul and Barnabas went on their first missionary journey, a young man named John Mark went with them. Early in the journey it is recorded in Acts 13 that when they “sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, John left them and went back to Jerusalem." If John Mark had thought through what the Holy Spirit wanted of him, he might not have made the journey in the first place. Stop and think before you make a decision about your life about whether or not it is from the Holy Spirit. Right thinking will reveal to us what our real priorities should be. The psalmist wrote, “I made haste, and delayed not to keep your commandments.” Notice: “I made haste.” This means the psalmist did not waste his time on low priority things, but centered his thinking on high priority things. We can have many priorities that will not make our lives better. God has given us gifts and talents, and we should use those talents and gifts building up God’s kingdom. We waste a lot of time on non-essentials. Please do not read here that I’m telling you to never relax and to never seek entertainment. What I am relating is that there is a time and place for everything, but we are responsible for putting right priorities in their proper perspective. Give some thought to right thinking. Bro. Joe “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak then am I strong.”
We normally think of weakness as a negative thing, and in some sense it is. For example, when we are weak and cowardly, afraid to face life and to do our best, weakness is a negative thing. But the way Paul uses the word here it is a positive thing. Paul had just taken his unknown “thorn in the flesh” to the Lord to have it done away with. Instead of healing Paul of the “thorn in the flesh,” the Lord told him: “My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” That is when Paul wrote the words of our text that led him to write: “for when I am weak then I am strong.” What does Paul mean? First, we need to see what he does not mean. He does not mean that because Jesus didn’t heal him that he will just accept the fact that he is weak and there is no need to go on in the Lord. There have been many people who made requests of God and God did not do as they wanted; therefore, they just gave up church and gave up trying to overcome. Jesus does not want us to give in to weakness and determine that we can just sit on the sidelines and not do anything for the Lord in our church or community. Second, we see that when Paul accepted his own weakness, he more fully realized that his real strength lay in the Lord. We make a mistake when we try to serve the Lord and do it on our own strength. We do not approach service for the Lord in the spirit of, “I will do the best that I can.” That might be true in sports, for example, but when we seriously want to serve the Lord, we want to do the best that the Lord can help us do. Sometimes we feel like we failed because we didn’t sense that we “won” in our service for the Lord. But it doesn’t always work that way. If we go about our service in a slipshod way, with poor preparation in prayer and study, then we need to give ourselves a swift kick. But if we have depended on the Lord in prayer and study, no matter what the results are, we win. We win because we depended on the strength of the Lord. I have heard preachers say that they thought they had preached their sorriest, but at the time for the invitation the altar was full. I realize that when that has happened in my ministry, that the Lord did a mighty work in spite of my weakness, and I can say with Paul, “When I am weak, then I am strong.” Jesus allows these things to happen to remind us that we are dependent on Him. Third, we need to understand that we do not just depend on the Lord in our work in the church. We depend on the Lord every day of our lives. What a wonderful thing it is when we realize that no matter what our weaknesses, the Lord will make us strong. For example, if we try to keep the Ten Commandments on our own determination, we will break them. Satan loves for us to depend on our own strength when he is tempting us to do things that will ruin our lives and our witness for the Lord. We are no match for him. He was the cause of Paul’s“thorn in the flesh.” Paul did the right thing by taking the matter directly to the Lord. The Lord’s powerful grace has not diminished since Paul’s day. The same power available to Paul is available to us. There are times when we take our weaknesses to the Lord when He will answer our prayer immediately. But there are other times, like in Paul’s case, where Jesus is using our problems to teach us how to depend on Him in spite of the problems. If it is a sin problem, the Lord will forgive. If it some kind of impediment, like a “thorn in the flesh,”He will give us the grace and strength to live beyond it. Take this as a personal reminder and rejoice! Bro. Joe “Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Our main motivation should be to bring glory to God in all that we do. I know that is a tall order, but I think that we need to seriously endeavor to bring glory to Him. Before we make a decision to do one thing or another, we should ask if we are doing it for the glory of God. I do not know what “it” means for you. “It” can be to sing in the choir, teach a Sunday School class, do a good deed for a neighbor, or whatever. The point is that whatever “it” is it should be for the glory of God. There are at least three ways that we can determine whether or not something is done for God’s glory. First, if you do this thing will you be able to thank God for it. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us of the importance of this: “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” You will know in your heart whether you are serving for the glory of God, and when it is done, you will be thankful for the opportunity of doing it. Psalm 100:2 tells us to “serve the Lord with gladness.” This means that God lets us serve Him, and when we do a service for Him, whatever it might be, we should gladly do it and we should thank Him for letting us serve Him. If you serve in order to receive the praise of people, you are not doing it for the glory of God. This was a prevailing sin of the Pharisees in the New Testament. Jesus said that they prayed gave alms and tithes, etc. for the glory of people, not for the glory of God. This has become a cliché, but we need to remind ourselves that our Christian service is not for us but for Jesus, and He should get the glory for it. This does not mean that you should not have a sense of accomplishment when you do something for the Lord. We just need to remember that we did it for the Lord. Second, if you do this thing can you do it in Jesus’ name, or will you do it in Jesus’ name? Colossians 3:17 reminds us: “And whatsoever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.” Notice that this verse also tells us to be thankful that we are allowed to serve God in some way. We need to ask ourselves, if I do this thing, will it be worthy of the name of Jesus. I don’t know if we would take this to the extent that if we water the flowers, we will do it in the name of Jesus and for His glory, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask. We need to ask if a service that we are going to render is worthy of the name of Jesus. Let me show you where this would be important. Maybe you have something that you need to get straightened out between you and a fellow Christian. When you take the step to straighten it out, will you do it in a way to honor the name of Jesus, or will you do it to “get it out of your system”? If we can’t do a thing in Jesus’ name, whatever it is, we should not do it. Third, if you do this thing will it ultimately bring glory to God? 1 Corinthians 10:31, our text written above, tells us to be mindful of this. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus said: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven.” If you do “good works” in order for people say what a great person you are, you are not doing them for the glory of God. Again, this does not mean that you should not get a sense of satisfaction out of what you do. God would certainly not demand that of you. But we should be careful that the focus is on God and not on us. I will confess after preaching thousands of sermons over the years that this motivation is not always easy, because we want to know that what we do is appreciated, but we should be careful anyway that God gets the glory. Bro. Joe |
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