One of the many things I like about this time of year are the wonderful aromas that come from the various blooms of late springtime. I especially enjoy the fragrance of the honeysuckle that grows around the perimeter of our property. Just the other day I was riding the mower when I noticed it. I actually smelled it before I saw it, and started looking around for it. There is was–honeysuckle—an honest to goodness delight for the nostrils.
The Bible says that we Christians are the aroma of Christ. We spread the fragrant scent of the gospel wherever we go. Our presence makes known to everyone—saved or lost—the good news of salvation through Jesus. What a great privilege it is to be used by God in such a special way!
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.”—2 Corinthians 2:14-15.
A recent Family Circus cartoon had young Dolly sharing this piece of advice with her younger brothers—“Remember—no running in the house if an adult is watching.”
That seems to be the mindset of many adults when it comes to our own behavior. The main priority is to not get caught. Don’t speed…if there may be a police officer nearby. Don’t cheat on your taxes…if you think there is a chance you might get audited. Don’t litter…if there is someone watching.
While many are simply striving not to get caught engaging in bad behavior, we should strive for something nobler. We should make it our goal to do the right thing, even when no one is watching.
Keep in mind, of course, that God is always watching! No one else may see our bad behavior, but we can’t hide anything from God.
“Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!”—James 5:9.
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”—1 John 1:8-9.
President Theodore Roosevelt’s policy for leading the United States was described in his famous line, “Speak softly, but carry a big stick.” That’s a far cry from current President Joe Biden’s promise that the United States would lead “not by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.”
These two vastly different views of leadership spring from vastly different worldviews. A biblical worldview maintains that a nation has the God-given duty to use its strength to protect and defend its citizens so that they may have the freedom to live, work and worship without the threat of harm being perpetrated against them from any enemy, foreign or domestic. Romans 13:1-7 points out that God has established the ruling authorities and that “rulers do not bear the sword for no reason.” (v.4). This viewpoint holds to the fact that the citizens of a nation are better served if their leaders choose to lead from a position of strength. A non-biblical worldview rejects the notion that it is best for a nation to lead from strength, and therefore searches in vain for other ways to protect its citizens.
The result of our current administration’s disdain for any kind of a “Big Stick” policy has resulted in a rash of huge problems for the United States.
The surge of illegal immigrants at our southern border is finally being described as a crisis even by some of the liberals in media. This blatant disdain for our immigration laws has emboldened drug cartels and human trafficking networks, has created immense problems for homeland security and will put a huge strain on our economy as many of these illegal immigrants will no doubt take advantage of all the benefits that are offered them at the expense of the American taxpayers.
A major oil pipeline was recently hacked, causing a fuel shortage in some parts of the country and an increase in gasoline prices all across the nation.
One of our valued allies, the nation of Israel, has been under attack, and the ensuing violence has caused a number of casualties on both sides.
COVID-19 has killed nearly 600,000 Americans, and many survivors have serious on-going effects from the disease. In addition to this, the pandemic has taken a terrible toll on the U.S. economy. Yet in spite of all of this, the United States has been remarkably reluctant to hold China responsible for any part they may have played in allowing this disease to spread and then covering up their culpability.
These are just a few anecdotal examples of how a nation can suffer from a lack of strong leadership. When those who wish harm to the U.S. and our allies sense weakness in the leadership, they are emboldened to take action, and the citizens of the country pay the price. It is critically important that we heed this biblical principle of leading through strength.
Church leaders and parents could learn from this principle as well. Congregations with weak leadership see a rise in unholy behavior from their members. Children who are not disciplined do not learn that there are consequences for bad behavior. We all would benefit from strong, godly leadership at all levels of society.
Rosa Parks, mother of the civil rights movement, was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give her bus seat to a white man. Boycotts and protests followed, and eventually the Supreme Court ruled racial segregation unconstitutional. In Quiet Strength she writes: “I have learned over the years that knowing what must be done does away with fear. When I sat down on the bus that day, I had no idea history was being made—I was only thinking of getting home. But I had made up my mind. After so many years of being a victim of the mistreatment my people suffered, not giving up my seat—and whatever I had to face afterward—was not important. I did not feel any fear sitting there. I felt the Lord would give me the strength to endure whatever I had to face. It was time for someone to stand up—or in my case, sit down. So I refused to move.”
Settle in your mind what is right, and you will find courage in your heart.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”—Ephesians 6:10.
Many people in our culture today do not give the institution of marriage the respect that it deserves. Some want to redefine it. Others simply choose to ignore it and pretend that marriage is merely optional for a man and woman who want to live together. Still others do not take their marriage vows seriously, and their neglect manifests itself in various ways.
However, marriage is a wonderful, God-given institution, and the Bible says that marriage must be honored by everyone. Those who don’t honor marriage can expect to face some negative consequences if they do not repent.
Let’s all decide to give marriage the respect that it deserves.
“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”—Hebrews 13:4.
Anything that is extremely valuable will be counterfeited.
Fake gems have been around for thousands of years, but as the technology for making them has advanced, fakes are now harder to detect with the naked eye.
Experts advise buyers to verify a stone’s value with gem-testing labs before any sales are final. When paying big money for jewels, you want to be very careful about getting the genuine article.
It is the same with truth. We must ensure we are not falling for heresy.
“Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”—Acts 17:11.
One of the most awesome events recorded in Scripture is the incredible encounter that Isaiah had with God in Isaiah 6. Here we read about how God commissioned this prophet and called him into his service. As we look at this text, perhaps we can see some similarities to the call that God has for our lives.
Isaiah suddenly found himself in the presence of God. We don’t know if he sought this encounter with the Lord or if it was initiated by God. We do know that the Bible urges us to seek God’s presence, and that we will be rewarded if we do.
When Isaiah found himself in the presence of God, with heavenly beings worshiping the Lord in all of his holiness, Isaiah was stricken with the recognition of his own sinfulness. V.5 says, “Woe to me!”, I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
I think that we often come into the presence of God with an attitude that is far too casual. A true encounter with God will leave us with a sense of our lack of holiness and a feeling that we do not deserve to be in his presence.
It was at this point that a seraphim flew to Isaiah with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched Isaiah’s lips with the coal, and his guilt was taken away and his sin was atoned for.
Just as God made atonement possible for Isaiah, he makes atonement possible for us today through the sacrificial death of his Son Jesus. The blood of Jesus takes our guilt away and our sin is atoned for when we are baptized into Christ (Romans 6:3-4; Acts 22:16).
We tend to think that the story ends with atonement, but that is not the case. V. 8 continues, “Then I heard voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”
Many people seem to be saying to God, “Here am I! Please send someone else!” But Isaiah realized that his atonement came with some responsibilities. Since he had been forgiven, he now had the duty to take God’s message to others who needed to hear it. So he volunteered to go wherever the Lord sent him. This is still the proper response for anyone today who has had an honest encounter with God.
God then proceeded to inform Isaiah that his mission would not be an easy one. He would be talking to people whose hearts were calloused and whose spiritual senses were incredibly dull. If you find yourself frustrated by trying to convey a message from God to the spiritually imperceptive people around you, don’t get discouraged! You are in good company! The prophets and apostles and even Jesus himself often found themselves talking to people who wouldn’t listen. But take heart! Isaiah 6 ends with a glimmer of hope. The seeds of the gospel message will eventually bear fruit. Those of us who know what it is like to be in God’s presence and to worship him must be diligent in trying to convince others that they need to come to God for forgiveness as well. So let’s keep worshiping God and serving him as we tell others the good news about Jesus.
A man was once asked to explain the difference between the word “complete” and the word “finished”. After some thought, this is what he said: “If a man marries the right woman, he is complete. If he marries the wrong woman, he is finished! And if he marries the right woman, and she later catches him with the wrong woman, he is completely finished!”
“He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.”—Proverbs 18:22.
Years ago a friendly exterminator patrolled some neighborhoods in Chicago, peddling what he called “the Mississippi stuff.” The Mississippi stuff was a pesticide he had bought hundreds of gallons of in the South, and it really did the trick on cockroaches. The exterminator went door-to-door with his hand sprayer, and his business grew as satisfied customers recommended his remarkably effective work to all their friends and neighbors.
In the process, however, this one pest control specialist is alleged to have single-handedly created an environmental catastrophe. The effective pesticide—methyl parathion—is outlawed by the EPA for use in homes. Southern farmers use it on boll weevils in their cotton fields, and within days the pesticide chemically breaks down into harmless elements. Not so in the home. There the pesticide persists as a toxic chemical that can harm the human neurological system with effects similar to lead poisoning.
When the problem was recognized, the EPA was called into Chicago for the cleanup. Drywall, carpeting, and furniture sprayed with the pesticide had to be torn out and hauled to a hazardous-materials dump. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated that the total cost of the cleanup would be some $20 million, ranking this as one of the worst environmental nightmares in Illinois history.
The exterminator was charged with two misdemeanors. He apparently didn’t know much about the pesticide he sprayed so liberally. His attorney said, “It’s a tragedy. It is one of those situations where he did a lot of harm, but his intention in no way matches the damage he has done. He is a family man and handled it with his own hands. Do you think he knew how toxic it was?”
What you don’t know can hurt you. That is true both of pesticides and of false teaching. Some have said that it doesn’t matter so much what you believe as long as you are sincere. Nothing could be further from the truth! Many people in Chicago believed that they were getting rid of roaches without risking the health of themselves and their families. They were wrong. Tragically wrong in some cases.
Jesus warned against false teachers. In Matthew 7:15 he says, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” The letters to the churches are filled with admonitions to avoid false doctrine and to rebuke those who teach it. Titus 1:11 says, “They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.” 2 Timothy 2:17 warns, “Their teaching will spread like gangrene…”
So, it does matter what you believe, and what you don’t know can indeed hurt you. False teaching can cause great damage to individuals, families and entire congregations. Learn the truth and stick to it! Avoid false teaching at all costs!
When it was built for an international exposition years ago, the structure was called monstrous by the citizens of the city, who demanded it be torn down as soon as the exposition was over.
Yet from the moment its architect first conceived it, he took pride in it and loyally defended it from those who wished to destroy it. He knew it was destined for greatness. Today it is one of the architectural wonders of the modern world and stands as the primary landmark of Paris, France. The architect, of course, was Alexandre Gustave Eiffel. His famous tower was built in 1889.
In the same way we are struck by Jesus’ loyalty to another structure—the church. The world considers the church a monstrous construction and they wish it would disappear. But Jesus says that he will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Jesus, the architect of the church, defends his work, and he knows that the structure is destined for greatness when he returns.
Jesustrek 