Tag: A Word for Wednesday

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The Pharmacist and the Physician

True story. It was in a church committee meeting several years ago that we took time to seek the Spirit’s guidance on a matter through Scripture and prayer. When it came time to share our thoughts, a doctor on the committee looked at his scrawled notes and, a bit baffled, confessed, “I can’t read my own writing!” Seated next to him was one in the pharmaceutical profession. He calmly reached over, took the physician’s notepad, and said, “Here, let the pharmacist read it.” And he did! He read the doctor’s chicken scratch verbatim! Talk about perpetuating a stereotype!

The prophet Jeremiah once mused, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”1 We know of our sin, and some of it we know all too well—it has been too painful and discouraging for us not to. Just when we think we’ve seen the worst of it, however, or that we’ve overcome the most of it, we realize otherwise. For though our hearts are our own, we can neither entirely read them nor fully comprehend them. What temptations sneak up on you, for instance, and tantalize a hidden chamber of your soul? But God can search our hearts, and He does know our minds,2 and this is for our own good. Why? Because, as Paul writes, “the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, the Spirit himself intercedes for us . . . in accordance with the will of God.”3 So also, through the Word of God, the Spirit God speaks understanding into the deepest reaches of our soul “to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives; it straightens us out and helps us do what is right.”4 He turns a tough diagnosis into a great prognosis.

There are times when we cannot read our own hearts, and there are other times when we choose not to for fear of what we will find. But like a physician, “the Lord looks at the heart”5 and like the pharmacist, he reveals it to us in a way we can absorb, understand and commence with our healing. We can entrust ourselves to God entirely, for He is all about our wellbeing.

Father, You love us perfectly. Forgive us when we are oblivious to our sin or when we are afraid to face it. Jesus has paid for all of our sin, so we are perfectly safe in facing any of it, knowing You are transforming us into something unimaginably better. Lead us in this confidence and joy today. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 Jeremiah 17:9
2 Jeremiah 17:10
3 Romans 8:26-27
4 2 Timothy 3:16 TLB
5 1 Samuel 16:7

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True Virtue

Virtue signaling—it is the outward display of personal “goodness” for the purpose of showcasing one’s moral correctness on a matter. For instance, while many people base their sanitary mask decisions on a perceived threat or lack thereof, some others—from never-maskers to ever-maskers—parade their choice as a public assertion of personal virtue. Or what about the CEO who publicly postures diversity as a corporate value, even though it bears no evidence in his private hiring practices? Virtue signaling is a thing, and it can show up in our Christian witness.

Have you ever heard—or uttered—this kind of recounting of personal witness: “People at work know I’m a Christian”? I’ve heard and said this many times. Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with others knowing we are believers—we should live in such a way that is consistent with our faith and freedom in Christ Jesus, “[shining] as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life.”1 Jesus himself taught the crowd gathered on the Mount to hear Him, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”2 Likewise, Paul taught the Philippians, “Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”3 Yet it is not enough for people simply to know we are believers. If anything, showcasing our faith before others without holding out to them the Source of our hope and the promise of their own further separates us from each other. It signals a contentment to appear virtuous before others, yet with little regard for their ultimate good.

Our witness to the world is our changed life, but our message to them is that theirs can change, too. For “to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”4 And when Christ is born in us, we have nothing to prove for He is our everything, nothing to hoard for His abundance is limitless, nothing to hide and everything to proclaim. Jesus is, in us, true virtue. He turns our inward focus outward. “Yes, I am a believer, and you can be, too.”

Father, You lavishly pour Yourself out for our good. Lead us by Your Spirit today, that we would share with others the hope they may have in Christ Jesus, Your Son. In His name we pray. Amen.

1 Philippians 2:15-16 ESV
2 Matthew 5: 16
3 Philippians 1:27
4 John 1:12 ESV

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The Doors

Did you ever walk briskly toward a door, naturally expecting to open it and walk through in stride, but it was locked? Face plant! OK, full body plant. It’s bad enough when no one is looking, even worse when you leave an audience laughing like a night at the improv. Sharing the love and forgiveness in Jesus Christ with others can be like this in a way—some doors of the soul swing wide in welcome, while others lock out the words of life. As I wrote in my first book, Christ in Me, “Many times over the years, I’ve turned away from clear calls to witness, share, or serve and felt awful about it. Other times, I’ve tried to force my own opportunities and felt stupid. But isn’t it exhilarating when we see a God-opened door, take a deep spiritual breath of trust, and then step into the moment? Those are the times we savor. Watch for them.”1

We must realize this: it is God who opens doors in those who would welcome Him, and He accompanies us when we step through them as couriers of the gospel message of new and forever life in Christ. To this end, Paul appealed to the Colossian church for their prayer support: “Pray for us . . .  that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.”2 It is God who opens hearts, and it is He who gives us clear words to reach them.

To the Corinthians, Paul wrote, “A great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.”3 What can we conclude about “a great door” that has opened, but that it was once impenetrably shut? So we take courage when encountering closed doors, for they may open at any time. Pray for them. Watch for them. Then step inside.

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.4—Jesus

Father, You open gospel doors in hearts all around us, every day. Grace us to watch for them, to wait for them, and to step through them with the words You give us to speak. Thank You for those who spoke Your words of life to us. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 Paul Nordman, Christ in Me, (Maitland, Florida: Xulon Press), 84.
2 Colossians 4:3-4
3 1 Corinthians 16:8-9
4 Revelation 3:20