Piling Up Stones

A righteous man will be remembered forever. Psalm 112:6

As we walked through the cemetery on the Mount of Olives, I noticed something very unusual. Rather than flowers, many of the graves were covered with stones and rocks of varying sizes. Our guide told us that the Hebrew people for generations had placed stones on the graves of righteous, godly people. The message they were stating was, “I have built my life upon the foundation you laid.”
Isn’t that a beautiful picture? Peter said, “You, also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house.” And Paul said, “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.” Have you ever considered that before? Every one of us has built our lives on a foundation that we did not lay. We depended on someone else to prepare the way…to set the standard…to live the example for us to follow.
When I first saw the stones on the graves, I thought that was a great way to honor someone who had played a vital role in the spiritual life of another. After all, everyone walking through the cemetery would see the multitude of stones on a grave and know that that person had influenced many people in his or her lifetime. Later, I couldn’t help but wonder if those people had ever honored their “mentors” while they were still living.
Then I thought about us today. I had to ask myself when the last time was that I told someone that I appreciated the spiritual truths they shared with me. After a person dies, it’s too late to tell them what they have meant to you. It is good to encourage those who have encouraged you. So, your first challenge this week is to do as Romans says, “Give everyone what you owe him:…if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”
The next thing I realized is that others are looking to us to lay a foundation on which they will build their lives. How does the foundation look that you are laying? Is it firm and complete, or is it full of cracks? Can you, like Paul, say, “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ?” Teachers everywhere know that students learn best when the teacher models the behaviors and actions he or she desires. As we go through life making disciples, we must model the behaviors and actions God wants his children to have. How do we know what God desires? Peter said, “Christ left you an example that you might follow in his steps.” Therefore, our lives must look like Jesus’ life. We’ve all heard the expression, “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck.” The same is true for us. If we walk like Christ and sound like Christ, then Christ must live in us. So, your second challenge this week is to walk as Jesus walked realizing that you are laying a foundation on which someone else will build their own spiritual life. Let’s be sure to build in such a way that the Lord’s house will stand firm when the storms of life hit.

Get Ready for the Hard Questions

Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great. I Tim. 3:16

Several months ago I was in the car with a friend and her young children when her four-year old son asked, “Mom, where was I when you were a baby?” There was a momentary pause in the conversation as his mom scrambled for a true but understandable answer for her preschooler.
Every parent, at one time or another, is asked a question that requires a calculated, yet delicate, response. Generally when those questions arise, the child is not looking for some great philosophical answer; he’s just trying to make sense of his world.
I never heard his mother’s response because his question caused me to stop and think. It made me think about us, God’s children, and the questions we tend to ask our Father. Just like this child, when we ask the difficult questions, it’s because we are trying to make sense of our situations and circumstances. And, just like a small child, we are sometimes not ready, due to our own immaturity, to understand God’s answer.
It is a loving parent who discerns how much a child is ready to understand, and then responds accordingly. God, too, is a loving parent. As we read the scriptures, we see repeatedly that God reveals things “at just the right time.” Jesus continually spoke in parables so that those who were ready to hear the truth would hear it while those who chose to harden their hearts would be “ever hearing but never understanding.”
What about us? Sometimes we are the children asking questions of the Father, trying to understand his thoughts and plans. Other times, we are the “parents.” People may turn to us and ask us the questions they don’t know who else to ask. Be wise and discerning in your answers because each person is at his own level of maturity. Think about the parable of the sower…what is the condition of the soil on which you are about to spread the seed?
Prepare yourself today so that, as a child of God, you will be fully mature and able to understand his answers to your questions; and as a spiritual parent to those less mature than yourself, you will always be ready to give a wise and appropriate answer. And remember, you can’t teach or explain that which you do not know. Therefore, study to show yourself approved.

The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just. The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip. Ps. 37:30

Battle of the Wolves

I came across an interesting story the other day. An old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside all people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, resentment, guilt, and pride. The other is Good. It is love, joy, peace, hope, humility, kindness, truth, empathy, compassion, and faith. The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked, “Which one wins?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
Think about it. We all know someone who seems to focus all of his or her energy on those negative things. Their thoughts and conversations revolve around their anger, regrets, etc. The more they “feed” those things, or think/talk about them, the bigger they seem to get. In the book of Romans, Paul says that we should think of ourselves with sober judgment. Sober can mean reasonably, sensibly, honestly. And, in 1 Corinthians, he challenges us to take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. You may not be able to keep those negatives from popping into your mind, but you do have the power, if you choose to use it, to take them captive. What happens when you make a thought obedient to Christ? You “feed” the good wolf.
Did you notice how similar the old Cherokee’s description of the good wolf is to the fruit of the Spirit? James reminds us that God opposes the proud (evil wolf) but gives grace to the humble (good wolf). He then says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. In other words, feed the good wolf and starve the evil one.
So, how do we actually do this? The scriptures say, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth, meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful,” and “Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the sinful desires of the flesh.”
It’s not going to happen overnight. You feed your body every day—multiple times a day. Which “wolf” do you feed that often? It’s easier to feed the evil wolf because that takes no effort. The scriptures tell us to study to show ourselves approved. The Psalmist says, “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
How are you going to take each thought captive and make it obedient to Christ? Study his word, memorize his word, live according to his word. The more you feed your spirit, the stronger it will grow. Feast on the word of God. “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your laws” Psalm 119:103.
Remember the words of the old Cherokee: Which one wins? The one you feed.