Tag: A Word for Wednesday

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Messiah! The people were waiting for Him, the prophets searching intently, for all had staked their hopes on this Anointed One who was to come. He would be their Savior, their deliverer, their “God with us.” Yet somehow, those who sought Him missed Him. He came, just as He promised, but they did not recognize Him, this One sent from God. How does this happen? How could this possibly be?

Perhaps it was because when Jesus entered the world of His creating that first Christmas night—humbly stepping into human flesh for a specific time and a specific purpose—He focused on what really was important: others. Think about it, if the Christ1 had come in majestic splendor, could He have lived and taught among the people, caring for them with acts of compassion and opening Himself up to them with words of truth and love? Were He to dress in royal robes and adorn Himself in silver and gold, could He have shown us to how to give ourselves in humility for others? Had Jesus seated Himself aloft on golden thrones, how far would He have to had to have stooped to wash the soiled feet of others? And had He lived aloof from others, could He have bidden them, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”?2

The apostle Paul tells us that Jesus, though being in very nature God, “did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”3 You see, Jesus showed His genuine heart for us by becoming just like us—not merely in human form with flesh and blood, but by being like us, truly like us. Born with no fanfare. The son of a laborer. A servant. Not as one who tells others what to do, but as one who models what to do. Nothing phony, nothing fake; just real, the kind of person who earns our trust.

In fact, Jesus is the One we can trust. He’s shown it. He’s lived it. And two thousand years later, He is still calling us to Himself—to be forgiven and live forgiven, to entrust our broken life to Him in whom we have eternal life, and to take this love of God and share it with others.

This Christmas Day and every day, may we say “yes” with grateful lives, so all may see this Savior, this deliverer, this “God with us.”

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Christ in me is salvation.

1 “Christ” is the Greek word for the Hebrew word, “Messiah,” and the English term, “Anointed One.”
2 Matthew 11:28
3 Philippians 2:6-8

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Our Daily Balance

“Oh, how I love your law! I mediate on it all day long.” (Psalm 119:97)

A testimony. Throughout the course of my career, fifty to sixty-hour weeks in the office were common, and there was no shortage of seasons when seventy, eighty or more hours were necessary to accomplish all that lay before me. As a rule, I did not begrudge these times, for work was enjoyable, proving Solomon’s words true: “That each of them may … find satisfaction in their toil—this is the gift of God.”1 All of my remaining time was zealously guarded and joyfully given to my wife and son.

It was Christmastime one year when I decided to begin keeping a Bible journal: Every morning, I would read a Scripture passage and then write down whatever thoughts came to mind, whatever inspirations stirred my soul and any words of prayer returned in response. So incredibly rich was this time that fifteen morning minutes with God morphed into thirty, forty-five, sixty and sometimes more. I was overjoyed by all I was learning, and amazed to find this—though my workdays shortened in proportion to these moments of meditation, they also became more productive. Moreover, a broadening perspective, a deepening trust and an uplifting calm enriched my vocational experience, all the result of newfound balance and the power of God’s word.

How appropriate that Israel’s king of renowned wisdom, while extolling work-satisfaction as a gift from God, would also caution us against the extremes of toil. “It is in vain,” wrote Solomon, “that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.”2 Both enjoying what we do and resting from it are gifts from God. To open one divine present and not the other leaves us incomplete, dissatisfied and exhausted. We were designed to create through discovery, construction and collaboration, yet we were also called to rest from our labor in the presence of God and to proactively love the precious people who journey this life with us. Such is the nature of the eternal God of creation whose image we bear—the God who rests, the One who loves us with an everlasting love.

Stepping by faith into work-life balance, we lose nothing and gain everything.

Father, your wisdom is beyond my understanding and your love knows no boundaries. Draw me into your presence—through prayer and your word—for there you provide strength and there I find rest. Amen.

Christ in me is peace.

1 Ecclesiastes 3:13
2 Psalm 127:2 (ESV)

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The Day of Small Things

For far too long it seems, I searched life’s receding horizons for “days of significance,” the kind when financial goals are met, career positions reached, or longed-for relationships born. Then all would be well, I thought. Yet it was a very different kind of day, a plainly unremarkable one, when it dawned on me that life is chiefly a collection of simple days, each with its own DNA yet very much like most others. After all, how many times in life do we earn a degree, land the new job, or find our heart’s love? We call them “momentous occasions” for a reason: though exciting and savored, they are also few and brief. We do well to celebrate them while they last.

Most of our calendar pages are of the seemingly inconsequential variety, or what God through the prophet Zechariah called, “the day of small things” (Zechariah 4:10 NASB). We marginalize them, but the truth of the matter is, these are where life is truly lived, where hands are held and loved ones hugged, where kindnesses warm the grateful heart and compassions comfort the deepest pain. Mementos from these every-days accent our homes and overflow our scrapbooks with the unlikeliest of treasures, but richest—pre-school handprints, Senior Play programs, and first-love rose petals. Here also is where God prunes us for growth, paring back pride so humility may grow and lopping off foolishness to make way for wisdom. Perseverance eventually pushes up through life’s difficult dirt, and a million fears finally wither before a time-tested God.

In the grace of God, these days of small things coalesce into a lifework far exceeding the splendor of any single moment—indeed all of them—we once thought significant. They usher us reliably through an existence of meaning and purpose, for through the collection of them we mature and bear fruit for eternity—some of which we are already aware and far more to be revealed in an age yet to come. In awe, then, we bear witness to God in worship rising from a deeper depth and praise reaching to a higher height, for we have seen His wisdom, beauty and faithfulness shine most brightly through “days of small things,” which, together, are no small thing at all.

Father, we praise you. How great is your goodness, and how unsearchable your wisdom! Mold us all our days into the image of your Son, and be happy with our wondrously transformed lives. The glory is yours forever. In Jesus’ name, Amen.