The title of this blog post is not talking about the beginning of physical life at conception or birth or the beginning of our spiritual lives at conversion. It is talking about the first two minutes of our lives as we experience them each and every day: the first two minutes after we wake in the morning.

Because we are often still sleepy and perhaps “coming to,” we tend to not even notice these first minutes after waking.  For many of us the day does not start to come into focus until we are up and dressed, or perhaps have had our morning coffee.  But just because we do not notice or think about the first minutes of wakefulness each day does not mean they are not important. In fact, it can easily be argued that those two first minutes of our day are the most important, spiritually, of our whole day –  of our whole lives.

Let me explain.  It is often said that the beginning of a journey is not as important as its ending, but it is often the beginning of the journey –  the planning, preparation, and mindset –  that determines if we will ever reach the end of our journey and how successful it will be.  The same may be said of a military operation or any important undertaking. Each day of life is no different.  Stumbling into each day we are given is akin to starting on a long journey or going on an important mission with no preparation at all.  Without proper preparation we will likely miss many of the opportunities –  and be oblivious to many of the dangers –  we may meet as we set out on each journey or into each day.

Lack of preparation also lessens our chances for success, as C.S. Lewis so aptly stressed in Mere Christianity, by opening us up to a world of distraction:

“... the real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger life come flowing in. And so on, all day.”

In these words, Lewis hit on one of the most important aspects of our spiritual growth – or lack of it: we must intentionally prepare our minds both to avoid distraction and to align ourselves with the way of God. 

Speaking  words of praise and thanks in the first minutes of each day is as much listening as it is speaking – we attune ourselves to hear what God wants us to hear as the day begins. The prophet Isaiah describes this very principle: “He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed” (Isaiah 50:4) –  and the result of this “hearing” is clear: “The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears;  I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away” (Isaiah 50:5).

So how do we accomplish this?  To properly prepare for each day and to maximize its opportunities, we must put our minds in spiritual gear from the moment we wake. Some may feel this would be almost impossible for them –  that they are not “morning people” or that they don’t wake up properly until they get in the shower, get to their coffee, or whatever. But the truth is no matter how slow we may be to get started each day, we can still focus our minds in the first minute or two after waking just as we can focus our eyes in that same time. 

This means that if we make our first conscious thoughts each day to be ones of thanksgiving for the gift of life, of praise for the One who has given it, and of dedication to the way of serving, giving, and helping – these thoughts not only set the tone for the whole day, they serve to reset the mind’s spiritual compass and increase the likelihood that as we go into the day it will not be to spiritually stumble and wander.

But it is imperative that this “orienting” of our minds and of our spiritual selves is done immediately when we wake.  We can do this before we open our eyes if we wish, or we can simply focus our minds as our eyes come into focus.  But if we start the practice and stick with it, we will find it not only becomes easier, but it also becomes ingrained and soon becomes second nature: we wake up and focus spiritually without having to think about it.

This may sound like a very small way to approach spiritual growth, but it is not.  One or two minutes of spiritual preparation for the day invariably means that our days go better from that perspective. Our normal morning prayers will be more focused and effective, our first –  and ongoing –  interactions with others in the day will better reflect the attitude God wants us to display, and we will be better primed to use the day to learn and grow, to serve and help, to the full.

Spiritual growth does not happen by itself; preparing for growth is a big part of making growth possible on a daily basis.  Walking with God means focusing and making necessary course corrections throughout the day, but our success in this and in growing in grace can be tremendously enhanced each morning in the first two minutes of daily life.

Are you afraid of change? I’ll admit it right up front: I often am. In fact, at some level we all are. Psychological studies have found that people are often afraid of change in their lives because of experiences they have had where changes led to less desirable situations.  Those experiences can often give us an almost hard-wired resistance to changing the status quo.   If you don’t believe that, think about the last time you switched checkout lanes in a grocery store because your lane was moving so slowly –  only to find the lane you changed into then slowed down even more –  and the resultant feeling of frustration with the change you made. 

More rigorous psychological tests have proven the  deep-seated nature of our frequent frustration with change.  For example, a University of Illinois study examined the multiple-choice tests of students and interviewed those who had changed their minds on questions, and thus changed their answers during a test.  The significant finding was that when they were questioned afterwards, the students who had changed answers indicated that switching a correct answer to an incorrect answer was much more frustrating and memorable than failing to switch to a correct answer from an incorrect one! 

And so it is, from tests in school to lines in stores and in countless other ways we experience small but memorable frustrations with change and may often resist it as a result.  These are hardly  catastrophic experiences, but the human brain remembers little things like that so when we are tempted to change something in our lives, the suspicion that it may make things worse kicks in almost immediately.

But we need to remember “the other side of the coin” of change: that change is necessary in order to enjoy all of the most satisfying aspects of life. We change in order to move from childhood to adult life, from school to career, from single status to marriage, and in many other ways as we grow and mature.  As Paul told the Corinthians “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways” (1 Corinthians 13:11, ESV). Like Paul, most of us are happy to give up childish pleasures and satisfactions for mature ones.   

Spiritually, we might expect the principle of giving up old wrong ways for better ones to be appealing, too, but human nature and the fear of change we so often develop can slow us down in this area.  In addition, limited understanding of the guidance the Bible gives us for change can affect us, too.   We may know that the New Testament counsels us all to “repent” or to change our ways (Acts 2:38, etc.), but that command is not a one-time thing –  it is an ongoing way of life.

The apostle Paul  had something to say about the fact that we need to continually focus on distinct areas in which we should change: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers … Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1-2).

Think about these words for a minute.  The idea of being transformed by renewal is an ongoing one in what Paul wrote. Being “transformed” simply means to be “changed,” of course, and the ongoing “testing” Paul then talks about in these verses refers to accepting the need to change and testing or trying new, better ways in various aspects of our lives.  That is not a natural process and it is not always a comfortable one – if it were, Paul would not have had to “appeal” to us to do it.  But the good news is that this kind of change is always positive and for the best when it is accomplished – and that is what Paul meant in saying it is “good and acceptable and perfect.”
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So how do we put the need to change into practice?  Primarily, we do so in the way we study the word of God.  We do so by reminding ourselves every time we read a section of Scripture not just to read for inspiration, but also to focus on commands or challenges to do or be something different from the way we are.   It means asking ourselves: “Is this me?”  “Should this be me?” and “How do I need to change to make it me?”   Because, spiritually, the only change we really ever need to fear is the change not made. 

Eagles are magnificent birds. It is easy to see why they are called the “King of the Birds” and, as a result, why various myths have grown up around them.  One of the most commonly heard myths is that after a number of years of life, eagles fly to remote mountain areas where they pluck out all their feathers (and in some versions of the story, even their talons before breaking off their beak) in order to grow new ones over a few months before rising as renewed creatures. 

It may be an inspiring image, but it really has nothing to do with reality.  If eagles lost all their feathers at one time – or even just their large wing pinions – they would be unable to fly, and as raptors they would not survive while the supposed process of transformation took place.  Ornithologists know that eagles do not lose all their feathers at once and become transformed in such a short space of time. In fact, the story really tells us nothing about eagles, but it does tell us a lot about human psychology.  

The process of transformation is not easy. It’s a painful and tiring one that most humans dislike and would gladly avoid if it were possible.  Hence there is appeal in the stories of eagles that are completely renewed in a few months, mythical Phoenix birds that rise, transformed, overnight from their ashes, and so on. They are great stories, but they mainly show how much humans would like transformation to be quick and easy. We want to fast-track the process, skip to the end of the story, and avoid the pain of the slowness of actual change.

So how are eagles transformed? The answer is simple: one feather at a time. Feathers do become worn over time, but eagles and other raptors generally do not pluck them out. Like all other birds, they go through a slow, ongoing process called a molt in which each feather is replaced, one or two at a time. And that is really how we change, too.  And change we must. Christian change or “transformation” is not seeking salvation in works, but seeking to please and honor God in our lives.

The apostle Paul wrote: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2), and: “… we all … are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord …” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Being changed to reflect the nature and character of Christ is one of the great goals that every Christian aims for, but we must be realistic about it.  It is a process of transformation that takes time. Notice that in 2 Corinthians 3:18, above, the ongoing, “ever-increasing” nature of the change is made clear.

It’s easy to become discouraged when we don’t see change occurring quickly in our spiritual lives.  But it is the nature of all real change that we don’t always see it happening before our eyes. The part of our nature we seek to replace is worn away slowly like a stone in a stream – but it is gradually worn away. The part of our nature that is growing to what we want to be is growing like the seed in the earth – we don’t see the growth, but it is happening nonetheless (Mark 4:26-29).  We may know this intellectually, but it is a great key to encouragement to realize at the end of each day, no matter how discouragingly slow our growth may seem, as long as we are continuing to fight against what we have rejected and to work for what we believe – the stone is being worn away, the seed is growing.

We know that according to the plan of God, eventually “We shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52 and Philippians 3:21).  That is something to which every Christian looks forward. But for now, until we get to that point, transformation comes slowly, with patience: one feather – one small change – at a time.

​Don’t worry, “impatience” is not a typo in the title above.  Patience is a good thing, of course –  something the Scriptures repeatedly tell us to develop.  The Bible shows that God is incredibly patient with us and he expects us to learn to be patient with others also (Colossians 3:12, etc.).  So what’s this about impatience?

As with many aspects of the Christian life, there is sometimes a place for impatience as well as patience, just as there is a place for both mercy and judgment, “a time to speak and a time to refrain from speaking” (Ecclesiastes 3:7), and so on. We might say that right impatience can be the “other side of the coin” of patience, but it’s just as real and can be just as necessary.

To understand this, we must first see that impatience can be an attribute of God. The Book of Judges tells us that after suffering affliction for some time, the ancient Israelites: “… put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord, and he became impatient over the misery of Israel” (Judges 10:16 ESV).  The Hebrew expression translated “impatient” in this verse is literally to become “short of soul” in the way we would say “short tempered” or “running short of patience” –  in other words, impatient –  not with Israel, but with its suffering.  This verse is unequivocal in telling us that God can express the trait of impatience when he views human-caused suffering and he wants to end it.

God can be impatient with other things, also – especially sin. He is patient almost beyond belief when it comes to working with us to help us toward repentance, but his patience with sin can run out, as we see in the narrative of the Flood where we are told: “Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with humans forever …’” (Genesis 6:3).  The apostle Paul also stresses the limits to God’s patience (Romans 2:4-5, etc.).

We find other examples of righteous impatience in the New Testament. Jesus himself displayed impatience with the money-changers in the temple (Matthew 21:12–17) and on occasions such as when his disciples (who had been given the power to do so –  Luke 9:1) could not heal a spirit-tormented child (Luke 9:38-40).  Luke tells us that Jesus’ response to his disciples and the boy’s father was clearly an impatient one in this situation: “You unbelieving and perverse generation… how long shall I stay with you and put up with you?” (Luke 9:41). Notice that the object of Jesus’ impatience was not so much the people themselves, but their unbelief despite having already witnessed many miracles.

Putting the various scriptures together that show godly impatience, we see a definite pattern. God is clearly said to express impatience, and it is usually with human-caused suffering, sin, and disbelief. How does all this apply to us? We are certainly called to be patient, and we are not called to express impatience with others, but a right response to all three of the factors of sin, disbelief and avoidable suffering should increase our impatience with ourselves. 

​Sometimes we need to become more impatient with our own sins and failings in order to make more progress in overcoming them (Romans 7:24-25). Sometimes we need to be impatient with our own disbelief when it is holding us back from spiritual growth (Mark 9:24).  And we need real impatience with ourselves when we cause any kind of avoidable suffering –  even in situations where we think we are in the right (Acts 8:3).  We certainly need impatience when we view much of the suffering that fills the world in which we live – and that impatience sometimes needs to be expressed in more fervent prayer for the kingdom of God and more active involvement in doing what we can to help alleviate suffering  (Matthew 6:10).   But in any situation, the right kind of impatience is always aimed at ourselves, whether to spur us to do more to help others or to further propel us in the growth for which we all should be aiming.

So if we are on the way to mastering the quality of patience, we should keep up the good work –  but we should not forget to work on righteous impatience also where that is appropriate!

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

One of the greatest misconceptions about God, even among many Christians, is that God expects us to be perfect – as he is – and is continually unhappy with us when we are not.  Jesus’ words “Be perfect…” from the Sermon on the Mount are so well-known that it is sometimes hard to see past what they are commonly thought to say to what they really mean.

To get a proper perspective on what God does expect of us, we must first look at Jesus’ words in context. In Matthew, Jesus clearly tells us to be perfect as God is perfect, but if we read the same account in the Gospel of Luke his words are recorded as “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).   Why the difference?  Both Gospels show in context that Jesus was talking about love (see Matthew 5:43-47 and Luke 6:27-35). Matthew’s Gospel stresses that our love should be perfect and Luke’s Gospel stresses that our love should be merciful – doubtless Jesus talked about both aspects of love. 
 
But when we look closely at the expression “Be perfect,” we see the situation even more clearly. The Greek word translated “perfect” in Matthew is a form of teleios which does mean “perfect,” but in the sense of being mature or complete.  Notice 1 Corinthians 14:20, for example, where we find: “Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults”– and the word “adults” is the word teleios.  In Hebrews 5:14 we find the same word translated mature: “… solid food is for the mature…”

In the context of love we find in Matthew 5:48 that Christ urged his followers to be mature and complete in their love – like God who is himself Love.  Only a few verses before saying “be perfect” Jesus had said: “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:44-45), once again showing we should be like God in our love.

Jesus’ statement in the Sermon on the Mount does not mean that God expects us to always be perfect. In fact, the New Testament shows repeatedly that God knows we cannot be perfect in every way (1 John 1:8-10). That is why God accepts Christ’s perfect life in place of ours, just as he accepts Christ’s death on our behalf (Romans 5:10).  But that does not mean that we need not strive in our own lives toward the goal of perfection (John 14:23-24) – as long as we realize that our efforts will never gain our salvation.  Our motivation for trying to be as perfect as possible must be our love of God.

This fact brings us full circle.  When we realize that God knows we cannot be perfect in this life, but that he does encourage us to grow up in him – to become more like him as we live each day –  we see God in better perspective. We see that the God of love has made a way for us to be perfect in his sight through Christ’s life in our stead.  But the God of love also offers to give us his love to enable us to continually grow to be more like him.
 
God does desire to see perfection in us, but he looks beyond us for that perfection.  God does not expect continued perfection in our own daily lives – just continued progress. The statement that we must “be perfect” is not a command to do the impossible, it is an encouragement to become mature in fulfilling God’s law of love (Romans 13:10, Galatians 5:14).

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts and civilizations — these are mortal. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously” (C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, p. 46).

C. S. Lewis penned these words over three-quarters of a century ago, but their significance is perhaps even clearer today as a result of modern psychology.   In the book What Makes Us Tick? The Ten Desires That Drive Us (2013), psychologist and social commentator Hugh Mackay stresses that the primary need of human beings – once the basic biological needs of food, sleep, etc., are taken care of – is “to be taken seriously.” Mackay’s research indicates that knowing we are of worth is more important to human beings than any other psychological need or desire.  
 
Why do we have this need to be taken seriously?  We might well be able to survive without it; but as Christians we might well suspect that this, like any need, is there for a reason.  Could it be that we all have a deep innate need to be taken seriously in order to help us to take other people seriously? Could it be that is one of the lessons this life gives us opportunity to learn?

The word of God certainly shows that God takes people seriously.   When Scripture tells us he is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9), it means that he takes everyone seriously.  When God repeatedly told ancient Israel to be kind to strangers among them (Exodus 22:21, Leviticus 19:34, Deuteronomy 10:19, etc.), he was commanding them to see them as people like themselves – to take them seriously.

And when we look at the life and ministry of Jesus, it is clear that he took people seriously.   He took sinners, prostitutes, and tax collectors seriously, although most everyone else in that society did not. He took women seriously in an age when most did not. He took Samaritans and Phoenicians – those of entirely different religious backgrounds – seriously, just as he took doubters within his own faith seriously.  Uniquely in that age, he even took those who perhaps had no understanding of faith at all – little children – seriously. 

In some ways, Jesus’ determination to take everyone seriously was one of the most radical aspects of his ministry and his message, and it is an approach that we who try to follow him must never forget.  But do we take those who live contrary to the Way in which we believe seriously?  It is a question we can ask of any group, of any individual.  Do we take fellow Christians in other denominations seriously? Do we really take those of other political, social, religious, economic, or regional backgrounds to ours as seriously as we should?
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Ultimately, we must all ask “Do we take every human being seriously?” It is one of the most fundamental messages within the Scriptures that God takes every individual seriously, and that we should also.

When we hear of counterfeit Christians or Christianity, we tend to think immediately of false doctrines, of heresy and perversion of the truth and of individuals or groups masquerading as “true” Christians.  

​But the situation can be more subtle than that.  The Bible certainly gives us the clear affirmation that  to be a true Christian we must have the Spirit of Christ – of God –  within us, or we simply are not what we think we are. The apostle Paul makes that clear in his letter to the Romans:

“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ” (Romans 8:9).

If we do have that Spirit acting in our lives, Paul tells us, there will be clear “fruits” or evidences (Galatians 5:22-23).  But it’s often easier to see those fruits in the lives of others than it is within ourselves. That’s especially true if we tend to be a naturally outgoing and accepting person, a person with a fair measure of natural human patience or other good quality.  Hopefully, as Christians, we can see growth in our lives regardless of where we started on the "goodness curve," but as C.S. Lewis famously argued, some do start out higher on the curve.

Perhaps that is why Paul gave another clue in Romans – an actual “litmus test” if you like – as to what it looks like to be truly acknowledging God in our lives.  But he did that in a place and a way that you might not have noticed:

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him … And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done” (Romans 1:21, 28).

Now when we read these verses it is easy to see them as only applying to those without God – the pagans and God-rejecting individuals of whom Paul was apparently speaking in Romans 1. But we should not miss the obvious broader application of what Paul says.  He doesn’t say that he is speaking of those who don’t know God, but of those who do (vs. 21).  Paul speaks of individuals who do know God but who demonstrate two very telling signs: they don’t honor God and they don’t give thanks to him.

But why would we apply this to apparent believers – especially if it is not the group Paul was  primarily speaking of?  The perhaps unexpected answer is found in the word “debased.”  We read this word with our understanding of the English concepts behind it and think only of moral or spiritual  degeneration.  But the Greek word Paul wrote holds a very different significance.  The word “debased” in Romans 1:28 is translated from a-dokimon, a word used of precious metals and coinage and meaning not standing up to a test of authenticity, not approved – in other words, fake or counterfeit.   The word was, in fact, regularly used of counterfeit money.

So Paul’s point is that God allowed people who knew him (and that could be the God-rejecting or the nominally God-accepting) to take on a counterfeit mind – a counterfeit Christianity where that applies – but the reason was not doctrinal lack of understanding; it was because they failed the tests of honoring God and thanking him.

It’s natural to think that theological litmus tests should be more complex or involve more intellectual issues.  But Paul makes it clear that  the most basic yet profoundly true tests of whether we are reacting properly to our knowledge of God and living as true Christians – or whether we are a counterfeit – are found in if we honor God in what we think, say and do, and if we give thanks to him. These are things that we can usually see and know about ourselves no matter where we started on the curve.
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Fortunately we can use this knowledge.  Being aware of these principles is one way we can avoid counterfeit Christians – and I don’t mean the kind we might see in church, but the kind we never want to see in the mirror. 

“Therefore … let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1 ESV).

Every New Year an astonishing number of people in the Western world resolve to lose weight and to make their health, appearance and lives more what they want them to be. Every year the vast majority of those tens of millions of people fail.  Most resolutions only last a month or so  – if that – and “I want to lose weight” becomes “I wanted to lose weight, but …”.

In talking about laying aside the extra weight, the author of Hebrews wasn’t talking about physical weight, of course, but about stripping away things that affect us in the race which we run.  The same can be said about all kinds of racing – from sailboats to cycles: the less non-essential weight we pull, the less we are slowed down.

That’s a principle that can affect us as we go into a new year, also – again, not in terms of physical weight, but the weight of responsibilities and activities that slow us and give us less time for more important things. Each year many of us make resolutions to try to do better at some of the things that are important to us – perhaps to spend more time in prayer, study, or service.  But adding more things to do to an already full “to do” list is often doomed from the outset.

Yet we try.  For example, here in the United States it is estimated that about 40% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions – but only about 8% of those who make resolutions say they are successful in carrying them out.  It’s certainly not for the lack of desire, but one of the leading reasons people give for failed resolutions is simply lack of time – the discouragement of trying to add an extra physical workout or daily Bible study session to an already overloaded day.

That’s where running lighter comes in.  The quickest, most effective way to run faster, more easily, more effectively, is to drop non-essential weight. The way to live more easily, more effectively, is often to drop non-essential things that slow us down.  Here’s where it comes down to resolutions.  A recent study of successful resolution makers found an interesting similarity between people from many different backgrounds and lifestyles:  those who were most successful in adding something they desired to their lives were very often the ones who dropped or cut back some non-essential in order to do it.

It’s the simplest of principles, but it’s one that works.  If you would like to really make progress in a good direction this year, why not resolve to add something you know you need in life – more time with the Book, more time in prayer, more time in helping others, or whatever. But if you don’t want to become one of the 92% who resolve but fail – drop something else. It might mean less time in front of the television or the computer, less time texting or shopping, or any number of things that take your daily time.  It can be anything that could be trimmed back a little, cut down some.    
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The fact is, if you are careful to drop something for everything you resolve to add, cut back something for everything new you want to do, your chances of success are increased dramatically.  So if you have wanted to do more in some aspect of your Christian life, try doing less in some other area of your day and see how it helps.  

In the days of the old sailing ships, the greatest danger most sailors faced was not piracy or storms at sea, but simply being “becalmed” or “adrift” perhaps hundreds of miles away from land. 

The word “becalmed” may sound peaceful, but it was a terrifying one to mariners on the old sail-powered boats. With no movement of wind or water, a ship was literally adrift – floating aimlessly for days or weeks on end until winds or currents took up again, or the sailors perished from lack of food and water.    

In a similar way, for most Christians, over the course of our lives, the most dangerous enemy of spiritual growth is probably not some sudden temptation or assault of our spiritual “enemy” or some personal “storm” of life,  but the danger of simply drifting. The author of the Book of Hebrews warned believers of this very situation:  “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away” (Hebrews 2:1). Notice that in this instance we are not warned against being pulled violently into temptation or spiritual failure, but simply against the danger of drifting like a leaf on a river or a bottle in the sea.

Our spiritual lives can begin to drift for a number of reasons. On the one hand we may become so overwhelmed with work, family or other things that we lose track of where we are going or do not see that, on a treadmill, we are going nowhere. Busy as we are, we are spiritually adrift and getting nowhere despite the energy we are exerting in life.  On the other hand, in an almost opposite manner, we can begin to drift in boredom. When everything is going well and we have no pressing responsibilities, it is sometimes easy to drift aimlessly in frivolous pursuits that begin to eat up the hours and days so that we eventually find ourselves drifting without real spiritual action and growth.  When this happens, we are unempowered to resist the currents of life, and spiritually we are more in danger of being “tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14).

The old sailing ship analogy can help us here.  Just as sailing ships received their power from the movement of the wind or sea currents, so the Christian life is really empowered by the Spirit of God, which is itself so often symbolized in the Bible by moving air (John 3:8, Acts 2:1-4) or moving water (John 3:5, 7:38-39).   When that spirit does not flow through us, we become spiritually “becalmed” and adrift. We may feel fine otherwise, but spiritual direction and growth are greatly diminished or not present at all.

The answer to this potential danger is given by the author of Hebrews, as we saw: “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away” (Hebrews 2:1).  We certainly keep the Spirit alive and strong within us through contact with God in prayer, and also, as we see here, in study and paying attention to the things we have heard.  Whether we are adrift through overwork or through boredom, so often the spiritual result is the same – we lag behind in prayer and study because we either feel we do not have time for them, or we feel bored with them. 

But the answer in both cases is not less, but more spiritual activity to “stir up” the Spirit within us as Paul wrote to Timothy: “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). These verses are usually quoted in the context of the power we receive from the Spirit, but they are equally talking about our fanning (like a blowing wind) the Spirit to increase its action.  We must take the initiative to fan the Spirit into action through our spiritual activity, and the Spirit in turn then directs and empowers us.  Spiritual growth is always accomplished this way – we are only growing to the degree that we are not drifting; we are only alive to the degree we are not adrift!

An excerpt from our free eBook on Christian encouragement: Some Days We Soar. You can download the book without cost here.





Have you ever had a friend thank you for something that you perhaps were not even aware you did?  Sometimes I think spiritual life can be like that, too. It’s easy to be aware of our failures and the many areas in which we want to grow and to miss the fact that growth is taking place. God does work changes in those who desire and ask for transformation (Psalms 51:10, Ephesians 4:22-24), and perhaps if we walked with Him much more closely, growth would be more obvious, but that doesn’t mean growth is not taking place because we do not always see it.

Think about the disciples for a minute.  By the time of the last evening of Christ’s life, probably every one of the disciples had exhibited enough human faults, failures, fumbles and foibles to indicate to them all that perhaps they hadn’t learned that much from their teacher. We might think of Peter’s many mistakes, but others even wanted to bring down fire from heaven (Luke 9:54), and it looks like they were all arguing about who was the “greatest” among them on that last evening (Luke 22:24). Additionally, Jesus probably knew that they would soon sleep as he agonized in Gethsemane, that they would all soon desert him, and that even the most dedicated among them would deny knowing him.

Yet despite their track record of failures and little apparent growth, Luke records Jesus as making an amazing statement regarding the disciples at that last Passover meal: “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials” (Luke 22:28).  It seems that Christ did not judge the disciples on their failures to date – or even those he knew were coming up soon – but on the right things they had done, on the areas where growth had taken place. He saw it in them even if they perhaps did not see it themselves.

It’s like the Parable of the Growing Seed that Jesus had given earlier in his ministry:

“This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come” (Mark 4: 26-29).

 This is a time-lapse parable like the time-lapse videos that speed up time to show plants growing and other slow-changing things happening before our eyes.  But the good news is that just as the farmer in the parable does not see or comprehend it, the slow-growing plant is growing nonetheless; and that, Jesus said, is how the kingdom of God grows.

Once we come to understand this we can be encouraged that growth is growth no matter how small it may seem right now. And that helps us to focus on the value of every small – even seemingly insignificant – advance we make. Each right decision, each right choice, adds up, no matter how small it may be.  As C.S. Lewis wisely wrote years ago in Mere Christianity:  

“Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of.”

Scripture: Philippians 3:12 "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me."

Something to think about:  So often in life, we tend to judge success in what we do by how far we have climbed up the ladder (or the climbing rope!) we are on. But, of course, if we are on the wrong ladder or rope, it doesn't make a lot of difference in the last analysis. In this scripture, the apostle Paul extends that thought to remind us that even when we are on the right climb we must never be satisfied with how far we have come. If we were given greater abilities and opportunities, perhaps more will be expected of us. But beyond our own lives, whatever we may have accomplished for good, God can always do more through us if we continue to press on.

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” 

The apostle Paul would certainly have agreed with that little saying.  As someone who went from being one of the greatest persecutors of Christianity to one of its greatest servants, Paul knew, perhaps more than most of us, what a difference “changing the way you look at things” can make.

Paul came to see very clearly how conversion and coming to faith changes  the way we see things  entirely. Notice what he wrote to the Christians in Corinth regarding this change:  

“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer” (2 Corinthians 5:16).

Here, Paul shows how we begin to see not only God, but one another in a different light, to see with love rather than lust, jealousy, resentment, hatred and all the other ways in which our human nature, left to itself, can twist our view of the people around us.

But changing our viewpoint doesn’t just stop at initial conversion.  It is an ongoing process. There are many times in the ongoing  path of growth and transformation that we begin to feel that perhaps we should change in some way or do something we have not been doing.  It is as if we feel  a continuing pull to make the change, but we are not entirely convinced in our own minds that we want to do so. Perhaps we are not sure we want to give up something, or we are unsure of what the repercussions will be if we make some important change.

It’s at times like these that we need to remember that often we have to change before we see why we needed to change or realize that the changed situation is in fact better.  There is nothing mystical in this – it just means that we need to step out and act, and then we begin to see the situation differently once we do.  That’s when  “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change“ comes in to play. Once we begin to turn from something we are coming to see is wrong, the more we stop wanting whatever it was. Once we  begin to view a person we had disliked with an attitude of  love, it’s surprising how often they seem to change for the better.  And once we try doing something we may have feared  or not wanted to have to do, we may find ourselves very happy that we did.

The important thing is to remember that spiritually we cannot wait until we see things differently – we must change, and then the different view develops naturally.  It is very much like the situation Mark Twain described when he wrote: “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.”  When we change, we change the way we see things – and it really is amazing how those things then change.

Perhaps the most difficult concept for the original hearers of the teachings of Jesus to understand was that of the Kingdom of God. Doubtless because of that fact, and its centrality in his message, Christ gave his disciples more parables on the Kingdom than on any other subject.

Many of those parables are short but full of meaning and today we have uploaded an article by John Birch on one of them: "The Growing Seed: Mark 4:26-34"– which explains an important aspect of how God develops His Kingdom.

As John states in his article, the parable uses a simple analogy with which people who lived close to the earth would be especially able to relate, but no matter where we live it's an analogy we can understand and by which we can grow. Be sure not to miss this exposition of the parable of the Growing Seed, here.

As the twelve tribes of ancient Israel neared the land they had been promised, two and a half tribes – Gad, Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh –  looked at the land where they were on the eastern side of the Jordan River and compared it to the wilderness they had come through (Numbers 32).  

Viewed from their new standpoint on the edge of the Promised Land, the eastern side of the Jordan looked good.  Perhaps it wasn’t exactly flowing in milk and honey, but it certainly seemed better than the desert through which they had come. Moses tried to dissuade the two and a half tribes, but they insisted that it was what they wanted, so he allowed them to stay on the “outside” of the Promised Land, except for fulfilling their responsibility to help the other tribes in the conquest.

So under Joshua’s leadership, the men of the “Transjordan” tribes had to leave their wives and families and go with the other tribes to fight the inhabitants of Canaan (Joshua 1:12-16).  When the dust settled, the men of the two and a half tribes were able to return to their homes, but they had seen first-hand the choice areas they could have inherited had they not  chosen second best.  Ironically, they still had to  fight even though they had relinquished any part of the “first place” prize.  But worse than that, the second place area they accepted was not as well protected, and was on the border of several of Israel’s enemies, the Ammonites, Edomites and Moabites. Their prize just wasn’t as good as it could have been.

In what areas of our lives do we accept “second place” without pushing for the best prize? In school or college we can accept less than what we could accomplish in assignments or grades if we just pushed a little harder. As young adults we may accept second best if we marry the first person who comes along. As spouses and parents we take second in one of life’s most important areas if we stop trying to develop our relationships with our mates and children. And as older people we take second best if we presume we are past doing anything much productive with our lives.  We can be unconsciously accepting second best in any area of our physical lives if we accept what is “OK” but not great.

Just as importantly, in our relationship with God, do we settle for second place in being content with where we feel we are in our development at any particular point, just keeping up a comfortable routine? Or do we keep looking for ways we can keep growing, helping, pushing to accomplish more of what really matters? 

Every runner knows that as a race progresses, if you stop pushing harder, you start falling back. Perhaps that analogy is worth keeping in mind. In the ancient Olympics and other athletic games and contests, there were no “second place winners” – only the first place finisher for each event was considered a victor.  The names of those achieving second and third place were not even recorded.  This is why the apostle Paul wrote: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24).   We should run our Christian lives as though there were only a first place prize; we should live as though we will not settle for less.  Like the ancient two and a half tribes of Israel, we will still have to keep fighting even if we do settle for less. So if we are going to have to run anyway for second place, why not run that bit harder, as Paul urges us, for first?  And remember, in the Christian race we are really only competing against ourselves. So why settle for second place when everyone can win?

There is a very cynical saying that you can get through life with just two things – a good memory and a good lawyer.  The fallacy of that saying is evident in every life made miserable by divorce, lost friendship and broken business arrangements – to name only three examples – where both a  good memory and a good lawyer were involved.

The truth is, although there is a place for right legal counsel and representation, it doesn’t always work – and a “legal” opinion can sometimes hurt you. This applies on the personal psychological level, also.  Everyone grows up with what we might call an “inner lawyer” – and it’s a defense attorney.  We all have such a lawyer – an unscrupulous one – deep within ourselves, no matter how good our overall intentions may be. You may not remember hiring the lawyer within you, or paying him or her, but that “lawyer” is certainly there and is always on call at a moment’s notice. 

Remember the last time you made a dumb mistake and when you were challenged by someone about it, you had an almost instant answer or excuse? That was your inner lawyer talking.  Remember the last time you debated whether you should do something that wasn’t really right, but you came up with some pretty good reasons why you should do it anyway? That may well have been counsel from your inner lawyer.  

Our human nature just naturally learns to defend itself in some of the ways a lawyer might defend us.  Human nature will  tell itself it’s not to blame for something, or even blame a situation on others.  It will tell us that a  thought, word or deed is not that bad – especially if it is OK in the letter of the law – because no one can keep the law perfectly, right? (You may have noticed that inner lawyers can quote scripture.)  But just as the Gospel of Luke tells us:  “… the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves …” (Luke 7:30 ESV),  although our inner lawyer’s arguments may sound good, they really are at odds with what  God is trying to accomplish in and for us.

Unfortunately, as a result, we will never grow spiritually or find real transformation as a Christian as long as we retain that inner lawyer.  Psychologists may call what we are talking about  “self-justification,” but it helps to think of the process as an inner lawyer because this makes it easier to spot the manner in which it works.   Whenever possible we need to take time to think before we let that inner lawyer speak – and what's more, when  the inner lawyer does start to wrongfully justify us, we need to be willing to fire him or her on the spot. It’s a kind of representation we really don’t need and are better off without.  This is easier said than done, because we can fire the inner lawyer today and still have him or her show up again tomorrow – or even later today.    It may take time to make this a habit, but if  we want to really make progress in our Christian lives, to misquote Shakespeare, perhaps the first thing we need to do is fire all our inner lawyers.

“Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution  long after the excitement  of the moment has passed.” - Cavett Robert

“How’s the resolution doing – you know, the one you made in January?” That’s a question many of us might cringe at, but it’s good to remind ourselves of Cavett Robert’s old truism.  The character we build in following through on resolutions is often just as important as the resolution itself.

The Bible shows that God’s servants often made resolutions, and  in each case these resolutions were faithfully carried out.  Notice just two examples from the Old Testament and New Testament, Daniel and Paul:   “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine…” (Daniel 1:8); “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

In fact, the Bible shows that God Himself makes resolutions. Notice in the Book of Zechariah, where God says:   “So I have resolved again in these days to do what is good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah...” ( Zechariah 8:15 HCSB).  Not only does God make resolutions that we can all be thankful He keeps, but also He reminds us of the responsibility to make and keep good resolutions: 

“ ‘If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me’” (Malachi 2:2).

While this statement may sound negative out of context, God simply points out that we need to be firm in our resolve to do what we need to do.  He knows that when we do not, we lose His blessings and, as a loving parent, He warns us against that outcome.  That is why God’s word frequently stresses the need to give our full resolve to doing what we come to understand we need to do.  That guidance can energize and inspire us to follow through. 

While some minor physical  resolutions may not have widespread effect in our lives, our major resolutions can have major effects on us, our marriages, our families and our relationship with God.  So let’s remember the resolutions we do make and maintain them.  The fact is, the more we follow through with our resolutions, the easier it will become to keep them. 

God is certainly aware of what we resolve to do in regard to the way of life that He reveals to us, and He will help us follow through if we are serious and ask for His help.  That is why the Psalmist could write, as confidently as he did:  “I am resolved to obey Your statutes to the very end” (Psalm 119:112 HCSB).

Many electronics and small home appliances that are returned to their manufacturers due to problems are worked with, tested, dusted off and sent back out for sale as “factory refurbished.” 



Perhaps they are a reasonable deal, but I have always had a deep distrust of such “refurbished” items.  Damaged or defective outer parts might be fixed, but what about the interior – the running of  some of these items? It seems to me that a refurbished item just isn’t as trustworthy as one made new and made right.  

Apparently, God follows that same line of reasoning with us.  After all, I suppose it would be possible for a spiritually “malfunctioning” individual to be repaired, then sent back out into the world again, but God’s word seems to indicate that’s not a good idea.  Jesus spoke a parable specifically relating to the wisdom of going with a new product:

“No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins” (Mark 2:21-22).

God did not issue a refurbished or revised edition of His Covenant, but introduced a totally new one (Hebrews 8:13). In a similar manner, the One who originally formed the human mind prefers to renew our outlook completely rather than just to affect an  attitude “adjustment” or “refurbishment” (Ephesians 4:23). He prefers totally remade characters, too: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).  In fact, he calls us to “… put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24).

Ultimately, we are told, God will establish new heavens and a new earth (Revelation 21:1-2), so it seems clear that He really prefers the new to the refurbished in every case.  In fact, He says:   “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:5).

If the One who has called us will remake everything in His quest for the renewed and perfected, shouldn’t we look at our own lives that way?  God clearly does not call us to be refurbished – with just the outer visible problems fixed – but with no real remaking of the inner person we are.  So it’s a question we can ask ourselves as we go further into this new year: Are we content with just being refurbished each day, or are we striving to be truly made new?

I owe the origin of this thought to Philip Shields who recently wrote “Learning is for Transformation – not just Information.”  It’s an important idea in Christianity, and sometimes we need to remember this basic concept.  The thought grew in my mind after recently visiting a Christian website where dozens of well-researched and well-meaning articles pondered scores of technical points and minutiae of the Scriptures.  I came away impressed and better educated, yet feeling that in no way had I grown. If anything, had I been sidetracked?  So Philip’s recent article “WHY Do We Study the Word of God?” resonated with me, and we reproduce a slightly condensed version of it on our site this week as the second article in our series on Bible study.

As Philip writes, the apostle Peter stressed that we should grow in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18), and the two go hand in hand – or should do.  Focusing on growing in grace alone can be problematic in many ways. We can end up limiting ourselves and even hurting others through misunderstandings and lack of real knowledge.  On the other hand, developing only the cerebral aspects of our religion and filling only our “encyclopedia” cells can be  even more limiting and ultimately damaging to Christian growth.   

We do need to grow in both knowledge and grace, information and transformation.  Just knowing is never enough - facts should lead to change or they are little more than Bible trivia. Paul shows this goal  clearly:  “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is …” (Romans 12:2).  Notice that the goal is to be transformed by the renewing  (not just the filling) of our minds. The changes accomplished  are more important than the memorized facts.

Simply put,  we need information and we need transformation; but if we err to one side of the road, it's better if our wheels are more solidly on the transformation side of the highway. 

The recent hoopla over comet Ison, which many astronomers thought might become the comet of the century, died quickly with the comet’s ignominious end, or as one astronomer quipped – as “the particles formerly known as comet Ison.”

The hoopla reminded me, however, of a comet I saw in my teens.  It was an incredible sight as an object  no larger than a speck in astronomical terms glowed as a beautiful lamp in the darkness around it. 

Since seeing that comet, the cosmic travelers have always fascinated me, not least in the way in which they shine. Nothing more than small lumps of and ice and other frozen matter, comets orbit around the sun, of course, and are relatively invisible till they come close to the solar orb. 

Once comets come close enough to the sun, however, the power of the solar wind begins to give  them the visible lamp-like tails which stream out behind each comet's body and glow by reflected light. The closer they get to the sun, the brighter they shine.

For the Christian, the comet is an obvious metaphor - an analogy for a truth we all know but need to remember.  Although we may be spiritually insignificant of ourselves, the closer we move to the One who is the center of our spiritual orbit, the closer we come to the One who scripture calls the “Rising Sun” and the “Day Star”  (Luke 1:78, 2 Peter 1:19), the more we become visible as a light in the darkness which may surround us. 

If, physically, even a “failed” comet such as Ison can attract as much attention as it did, perhaps we can see the spiritual potential in moving ever closer to the One who, through His power working in us, can make us a light in the dark.

“Is patience a gene?” I ask in the article “In a Hurry to Be Patient: A Personal Confession” just uploaded to the Tactical Living page. I ask facetiously, of course, but sometimes you might wonder. Why does it seem easy for some people to be patient while others are waiting for this blog post to be over already!

The Bible has some things to say about patience, and no one says more about it than the apostle Paul, perhaps because he had to develop patience himself.  Paul certainly shows the quality is as  important as many other aspects of God’s nature.   It’s not just a biblical principle, of course. Doubtless a patient type himself, Shakespeare wrote  “How poor are they that have not patience!” Though Mark Twain wrote on behalf of those of us who are not so blessed, “All good things arrive unto them that wait – and don't die in the meantime.”  

But patience really is an important quality of the Christian calling, and so in the article I share a simple personal  experience that may be helpful to some who, like me, need patience - quickly. 

We call it "the Christian walk", but I often think it's more like a climb than a walk - both in terms of when it gets tough, and the rewards of accomplishment.  The header image I chose for this page inspired me to begin this blog with this subject.   I used to enjoy mountain climbing, and although I don't do it anymore, I can't really think about climbing without thinking of some of the analogies between it and the Christian life.    The parallels may be basic, but I know some of climbing's strategic and tactical lessons have helped me, so I'll plan to write a short essay on that for the Tactical Living page and upload it in the next few days.   

Meanwhile, why do we climb mountains?  You can get almost as many answers to that question as you can find climbers to ask.  Some will say because the mountains  are there, others because of the challenge, and others just because.  But deeper down I think there really is something about climbing that mirrors a deep human urge to overcome and surmount obstacles.  I think that urge is something we tap into with things that are important to us, as  in the Christian goals of growing and overcoming.  And  I don't think I'm the only one who sees the parallels between climbing and some of our higher  goals.   As Edmund Hillary, celebrated “conqueror” of Everest, wrote, “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”