Evaluating Priorities

Many use the New Year holiday as a time to evaluate priorities. When we do, we have to ask ourselves what is important to us. Our family? Our friends? A job? The community? Or is God the most important reality?

Jesus did not minimize family or friends or daily life. Remember that He restored sick children to their parents, He provided food for hungry people, and He blessed a wedding with His presence and with supernatural provision.

Yet Jesus made it clear that family and friends—or jobs and communities—cannot be most important. God must be pre-eminent.

He told a young man to sell everything he owned and then he would have treasure in heaven. (Mt. 19:21b NKJV) He told the disciples that anyone who prefers family members is not worthy of Me. (10:37b)

It seems too harsh when not understood in the light of grace. But if we put God ahead of all else, if He is first in our lives, through His provision we have more love to give others. In fact, we have more than if we had not put God first.

When preparing for His death, Jesus said, For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (16:25)

Jesus should always be our example, and He never subverted His priorities. He abandoned everything to His Father's will and brought salvation to all who receive him.

Originally published December 31, 1992.
Picture: Antique ceramic angels. Photo by Solveig.

Sacrifices

Children learn to make amends when they’ve done something wrong—a necessary social skill because they (and we) will never escape sinful human nature. Perhaps this is why we tend to view God as a stern judge—and think we have to appease Him with sacrifices.

The Israelites literally sacrificed animals to pay the penalty for their sin. We don’t offer cattle or goats today, but we often think we must give up material possessions—or give up having a good time.

Even in the Old Testament, Scripture taught that God does not appreciate sacrifices that come from a desire to appease—a desire to earn favor. Sacrifices should come out of gratitude from a heart that has received and appreciated God’s favor.

A psalmist spoke for God when he wrote, I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens . . . He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God. (Ps. 50:9,23 NIV)

God’s blessings—i.e., favor—do not come because we sacrifice but because He loves us and gives Himself to us.

Originally published June 15, 1984.

Look and Be Radiant

One of the psalmists said, Look to Him and be radiant. . . . (Ps. 34:5a RSV)

That’s quite an order. Yet the Bible tells us Moses was literally radiant and did not realize it. After spending 40 days and nights with God on Mount Sinai without food or water, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. (Ex. 34:29b)

The radiance of Moses reflected God's glory and it came after deep fellowship with God. God trusted Moses, and He imparted much into His faithful servant. Moses received instructions concerning important laws. There were the Ten Commandments which is still the foundation for our law today—but there were other precepts as well. And Moses also received instructions for worship, sacrifices, and building the Tabernacle.

Moses brought God's instructions to the people and then the radiance served a useful purpose. He needed a divine infusion of God’s Presence to implement God’s plans.

Originally published October 30, 1981.

Faith Made Complete

The Bible tells us God tested Abraham by telling him, Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering. (Gen. 22:1-3 NIV)

Many years earlier Abraham had met and responded to this God who was different than the pagan gods. Pagan gods demanded human sacrifice, but the God Abraham knew and loved did not. Now Abraham’s God seemed to require the very thing He had abhorred. How could Abraham understand that it was God speaking?

We cannot fathom such an event. Difficult as it must have been, Abraham obeyed. Early the next morning he and Isaac set off on a three-day journey with two servants and a donkey to carry supplies.

Centuries later James used this story to illustrate the relationship between faith and deeds when he says, You see that his [Abraham’s] faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. . . . (Jas. 2:22)

Sometimes God comes to us and seems to ask the impossible. Will we obey?

When the voice of God told Abraham that he should not offer his son but rather a ram caught in a thicket, he obeyed again. In his obedience, he learned once again that he could trust his Friend.

But Abraham did not know God's plan when he began his journey. His part was trusting his friend. He had to walk by faith.

Originally published November 9, 1984.

Picture: From Patty's garden, 2008. Photo by Solveig.

Birds of Prey

God spoke to Abram in a vision: I am your shield, your very great reward. (Gen. 15:1 NIV) That sounds wonderful, but Abram was less than thrilled. He might have appreciated God as his shield, but in his world, children were a primary blessing. He and Sarah had none. He wanted a child and he said, O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless. . . . (v. 2)

God answered by again promising Abram that he would receive a son. He promised land, too. And Abram was so free in God’s presence that he asked how he could believe God was really speaking to him. God replied by instructing him to prepare a specific sacrifice.

Abraham followed the instructions, but then something strange happened: birds of prey came down on the carcasses. . . . (v. 11) In this tender moment of communion with God—of knowing God’s divine love and attention—Abraham was forced to deal with wild animals that threatened to destroy his offering. He drove them away. (v. 11)

Was it a test? A challenge? Later than night, God spoke to him in a dream—revealing the future of his descendants. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram. (v. 18)

We don't know why God deals with people the way He does. Abraham's experience with birds of prey might not have seemed as strange to him as it does it us. Abraham somehow knew God was with him.

We, also, somehow know God is sovereign and that He is with us. And like Abraham, we might experience strange events when God comes to us with His promises. Then, like Abraham, we're called to trust Him. And like Abraham, we stand against whatever threatens to destroy our relationship with this God who speaks and offers promieses.

Originally published March 9, 1984.

Picture: Oriental poppy, Patty's garden, 2009. Photo by Solveig.

Pierced Ears

Since Cain and Abel, people have tried to find favor with God by offering sacrifices. But God desires obedience. He accepts sacrifices when they come through acts of obedience.

Sacrifices were in line with God’s established practices in the Old Testament, and they’re still around. In today’s society, sacrifices might include monetary gifts, abstaining from something, good deeds, or an act of self-surrender. One of the things they accomplish is helping us recognize our vulnerable, weak nature.

A psalmist used a vivid image to portray the ultimate sacrifice: Sacrifices and offerings you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced. . . . (Ps. 40:6a NIV)

The image is based on the Old Testament practice of temporarily selling yourself into slavery to cover debts or some other need. When the time of service was done, a man could volunteer to remain a slave permanently. If he did, the owner would pierce his ear as a mark of his permanent status. (Ex. 21:4-6)

The point is the total commitment of an unending sacrifice. God's great desire is not merely temporary gifts or sacrificial offerings; He wants us to give the sacrifice of ourselves.

Originally published September 17, 1982.
Picture: Lindenwood Park, Fargo, 2008. Photo by Solveig.

The Lord Thundered

When the Israelites gathered at Mizpah, they turned toward God. To act upon their resolve, they did something we might find strange—they poured precious water (they lived in a semi-arid country) onto the ground as an offering. Then they fasted and acknowledged their sin.

Whenever God’s people turn to Him, God’s enemies try to interfere. In this instance, the army of the Philistines advanced toward them, and the Israelites were afraid. Had they given in to their fear, they would have lost the ensuing battle.

Instead, they asked their leader Samuel to continue to pray fervently for them. Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it. . . . (I Sam. 7:9a)

We don’t offer suckling lambs today either—Jesus is our sacrificial Lamb. But regardless of the historical reference point, when people trust God and turn to Him, God has the upper hand in any ensuing battle.

The story of the Israelite battle is exciting: Now as Samuel was offering up the burn offering, the Philistines drew near . . . But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder. . . . (v. 10a)

Just like that, their enemy became disoriented and they were able to take the initiative by pursuing the Philistines and routing them out of the area. God intervened for His people when they cried out to Him.

Originally published October 11, 1991.

God Remembered Noah

When God told Noah to do something, Noah obeyed. He built a huge ark. Some believe he worked on it for 120 years.

Even so, he must have felt queasy when he entered with his family and the animals—and when God shut the door behind them as they left behind the only world they knew. Then, the waters prevailed on the earth one hundred and fifth days. (Gen. 7:24 NKJV) Until, finally, God remembered Noah.”(8:1)

Aren’t you glad God remembered? Promises can be a problem. Noah was familiar with people, and nothing is totally guaranteed when dealing with people. People are prone to forget or be irresponsible. But Noah knew God, too; God is faithful and He keeps His Word. Noah trusted God, and we can count on Him as well.

If we think God forgets promises it’s because we’re prone to forget promises ourselves. But God is not man, and He didn’t forsake Noah. When the water subsided, Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. (8:20)

Based on Thoughts originally published January 12, 1988, and February 26, 1993.