The Continental United States has thousands of walking and hiking trails, but the three most important are the Pacific Crest Trail that follows the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges in the west, the Appalachian Trail in the east, and the Continental Divide Trail that runs through the heart of the continent along the Rocky Mountains between Mexico and Canada.  Together, these three trails –  often little more than a narrow footpath – run almost 8,000 miles and make up the celebrated “Triple Crown of Hiking” –  the great three-in one American long-distance walk. 

There is an interesting spiritual analog to this concept of a great three-part walk. Both the Old and New Testament scriptures refer to “walking” in God’s ways, and  in the New Testament we find Jesus’ words about the “narrow way” leading to eternal life (Matthew 7:14), and Christianity itself is referred to as “the Way” (Acts 9:2; etc.).  We all recognize this concept of the Way and our walk in it, but it can be helpful to think about it a little more deeply –  to break down the walk of Christianity into its component parts.

The apostle Paul does exactly this for us in his letter to the Ephesians. In the fifth chapter of his epistle Paul refers to our walk three times – giving us three parts, as it were, to the Christian Way.

1) Love:  “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us …” (Ephesians 5:1-2, emphasis added here and in the following scriptures).   When Paul stresses love as the first part of our Christian walk, he is, of course, following the teachings of Jesus directly (Matthew 22:36-40). It is a teaching reflected by every writer of the New Testament and perhaps summarized most famously in the words of the apostle John:  “And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love” (2 John 1:6).  After expounding on the walk of love with both positive and negative examples of what it is and is not, Paul moves on to the second part of our great walk.

2) Light:  “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true)” (Ephesians 5:8-9).  Throughout the New Testament we find that light is synonymous with truth, and walking in the light and in the truth are the same thing. But in these verses Paul expands the analogy of light in equating light with those things that are “good and right and true” (vs. 9).  Once again, Paul follows up his point in the following verses with positive and negative examples of what this means for our everyday lives, but his point is clear: light-truth-righteousness must be a major part of our walk with God and others.  As John tells us: “If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another …”  (1 John 1:6-7).

3) Wisdom: The final part of the three part walk that Paul describes may be somewhat surprising at first, but it is one that teaches an important lesson. “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,” (Ephesians 5:15-16).  In this final part of his explanation of what walking with God means – the final part of the three-in-one Way –  Paul stresses that we must avoid foolishness and walk wisely. Yet again he gives positive and negative examples of what this means in the following verses, but the principle is summed up in verse 17 where he tells us “Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”  For Paul, if we understand God’s true intent for us, we will be walking wisely and applying wisdom to the way we walk in love and in truth. 
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Paul understood that we can walk the walk of love yet still be without truth –  or vice versa. But he also understood that without wisdom our overall walk in love or truth can be seriously affected.  The responsibility lies on us individually to complete this part of our walk just as much as the other parts – to examine how we express love and truth in our lives and to ensure that wisdom is there, also. 

​Naturally, we can ask God’s help for all parts of our walk with him –  for love (1 John 4:7), for truth (Psalm 119:18), and for wisdom (James 1:5).  But Paul shows us that it is only when all three parts are in place that our walk is a complete one –  the “Triple Crown” of our walk with God.

​One of the primary laws of success is not to try to pursue too many goals at one time. When we attempt many goals at once, we tend to stretch our efforts too thin – and if we are not careful we can become mediocre in everything we do.  As a result, many leadership experts stress that it is best to focus on one major goal at a time, and to put most of our efforts into that single, primary, goal.

So how does this fact balance with what we are called to do in our Christian lives?  The apostle Paul actually gives us at least three major goals for which we should be aiming – and we are not given the luxury of tackling one goal at a time!  But let’s look at those biblical goals and then consider how we can fulfill them without lessoning our success with any one of them.

Goal One: Perhaps the primary goal Paul gives every warrior of the Way is to glorify God. The apostle made it clear when he wrote: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).    In context Paul is talking primarily about food and drink, but the words “whatever you do” add a breadth of application that clearly means we are to glorify God in everything we do – and of, course, everything we think or say.  That’s a huge goal, but it meshes perfectly with what Jesus himself said about the greatest commandment being to love God (Matthew 22:36-38).  If we truly love God, we will be seeking to glorify him in every aspect of our lives.

Goal Two:  Although the first goal of the Christian life we looked at is already incredibly broad, we can now add on a second goal: helping and strengthening others.  Just as Jesus taught that in addition to love of God we must love our neighbor (Matthew 22:39), so Paul stresses the importance of loving others through helping them in whatever way we can: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Galatians 6:10).   We should note that Paul urges us not only to apply love in our dealings with everyone – but also especially to do what we can to help fellow believers.

Goal Three: We already have two major goals to contemplate, but Paul adds a third one: being a light to unbelievers.  This is fulfilling the “Great Commission” Jesus gave his disciples before his ascension (Matthew 28:18-20), and it is called a “great” commission or goal for good reason. As Paul wrote: “For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth”  (Acts 13:47 and see also Acts 26:18, Philippians 2:14-16).  In a figurative sense, of course, “Gentiles” includes all who are not part of “spiritual Israel” (Romans 2:28-29, 1 Peter 2:9, Galatians 6:16) – in other words, all unbelievers – which is another huge goal.

So the biblical evidence is clear. As Christians, we are given not one, but at least three major goals, and we are expected to fulfill them all! But given what we said at the beginning of this article, how can we possibly fulfill three such massive goals without diluting our efforts and producing only mediocre results in what we accomplish?  Fortunately, the Bible answers this question in a very encouraging way.  Unlike physical goals which usually require focused attention and effort that can be applied in only one area or another, the New Testament makes it clear that if we are diligently working toward one of the three goals we have been given, we will, in effect, be working toward them all.

Consider a small example of this.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught his disciples: “… In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16 ESV).   Did you see it?  If we are fulfilling the goal of letting our light shine before others, we will also be fulfilling the goal of bringing glory to God!  Paul made exactly this same point when he wrote that through the spreading of the word: “… the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 4:15).

Putting this example in a practical context means that helping a stranger or a fellow believer in some way not only fulfills the goal of serving and helping others, but our action also glorifies God – whether the person we help knows we are a Christian or not.  A little reflection on the three goals we have been given will show that every one of them overlaps and interacts with the others in the same way.
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This does not mean that we need only attempt to do one of the things we have been given to do in our Christian lives, but it helps us to see that unlike attempting physical goals, we can successfully accomplish multiple spiritual goals at once.  That is one of the most encouraging things we can know about the Way to which we have been called, and it is a powerful antidote to feeling that we are responsible for managing long lists of spiritual goals.  We are given multiple goals, but when we strive to fulfill any one of them, very often we are working on fulfilling them all.

Ironic as it might seem, the further we progress along the Way to which we are called as Christians, the more it seems we see the failings and errors  of our own nature.   That can be discouraging at times, but when it happens we need to remember something. 

The Bible gives us two stories that speak to this situation, though we might not realize it unless we give the matter some thought. The first story, in the Old Testament, relates to a vision of the prophet Isaiah:

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple… “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” (Isaiah 6:1, 5).

Isaiah’s very clear reaction on seeing God in this vision was one of understanding his own spiritual inadequacy and “uncleanness.”   Now compare this story with another in the New Testament  – how Jesus revealed his divine power to Peter and the men fishing with him:

“One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret … he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”….   When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break …. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”  (Luke 5:1-8).

Although these two stories may seem very different on the surface, Peter’s reaction to seeing even a small glimpse of Jesus’ divinity was not unlike the effect of the vision of Isaiah – it was a realization of his own unworthiness and sinful nature.   Admittedly, these events occurred at the beginning of the careers of the two servants of God, but the principle remains the same – the more we come to understand of God, the more we are conscious of our own failings. 

It was many years after the conversion of the apostle Paul that he wrote: “What a wretched man I am!” (Romans 7:24), and “… I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle…” (1 Corinthians 15:9). Yet Paul continued this same thought to the Corinthian Christians: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect” (vs. 10).  Despite his painful awareness of his own failings – after many years  of God working with him – Paul could still say near the end of his life: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).  Both statements were true! Just like the rest of us, Paul doubtless realized his own spiritual failings all the more as the years progressed, yet he knew that God was changing him and completing a purpose in his life.  

To use a simple analogy, before conversion we live in spiritual darkness – like living in a dark room – and cannot see any of the “stains” and “black marks” of sin that cover us.  As we are converted and move  toward the “light” (remember, God is spiritual light), the more we begin to see those black marks on ourselves – and the brighter the light becomes, the more we see even the smallest stains.

It is a  simple truth of the Christian life that the more we grow and come to see God, the less we like what we see of ourselves. Yet this can be encouraging – looked at the other way around, the less we like what we see of ourselves the more we are probably seeing of God and moving closer to him! 

This is not the same as living our lives in a despondent spiritual attitude that focuses on how unworthy we are.  It is just an honest realization of our own spiritual inadequacy and a heightened awareness of ways in which we do fail – sometimes in small things that we would never have noticed earlier in our Christian lives. 
 
Perhaps we can say that our occasional discouragement with our own failings can be turned around.  The more we see the failings of our own nature, the more we can be encouraged that we are doubtless moving closer to God who is enabling us to see those things.  We can rejoice that just as we see ourselves more clearly as we move closer to God, he can continue the process of helping us to see him and making us more like him. ​

 
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven …” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

Unless you live on a balmy tropical island where the temperatures stay fairly constant and there are few indications of seasonal change, your life is full of rhythms that you don’t think about much, but which are always there.  Day and night, hot and cold, spring and fall, summer and winter, daily high temperatures and daily lows. We take such rhythms for granted and don’t particularly stress if we find ourselves in a period of darkness, cold, or whatever – we know that the warmth or the light will return in time.

Although we may understand and live with this aspect of physical life, as Christians we don’t always apply that understanding spiritually – although it is equally true of our spiritual lives. In his classic work The Screwtape Letters C.S. Lewis noted that there are times when God seems particularly close to us and our spiritual lives seem to go easily: our faith seems strong, we want to do what is right – and temptations to do otherwise are relatively easy to overcome.  Yet there are other times when God may appear to be more distant, our faith seems less secure, and overcoming temptation is somehow harder.

Our spiritual lives, just like our physical lives, are a series of ups and downs, of “highs” and “lows” as well. But that is not the bad news we often presume it to be. In writing about this fluctuation in our spiritual experience, Lewis stated:  “Now it may surprise you to learn that [God] … relies on the troughs even more than on the peaks; some of His special favourites have gone through longer and deeper troughs than anyone else.” Although Lewis used the terms “peaks” and “troughs” and we may perhaps say “highs” and “lows,” his point is clear –  and is one that is worth thinking about.

Lewis effectively argued that it is during our “troughs” or low periods, much more than during our “peaks” or high periods, that we are growing into the sort of creatures God wants us to be: “He wants [us] to learn to walk and must therefore take away His hand; and if only the will to walk is really there, He is pleased even with [our] stumbles.” This is an important understanding of our spiritual lows –  that during those times our efforts may be especially appreciated by God. So Lewis also writes, “… the prayers offered in the state of dryness are those which please Him best.”  When we demonstrate that we want to continue to walk with God even when we do not feel inspired or particularly blessed or helped, we also demonstrate the reality of our faith and commitment. 

That is a truly encouraging perspective if we can grasp it and make it ours. Although the spiritual aspect of our lives has its ups and downs and times of drought as well as times of abundance, God can and does use our spiritual low periods to increase our personal growth and service, if we let him.  In fact, some of the greatest advances in Christian missionary and aid work have occurred at extreme low points in the lives of those who have been instrumental in bringing them about. Sometimes we are just more receptive to the needs of others and to possibilities to serve that we do not tend to see when we are cheerful and buoyed up in good times.

Just like the daily or seasonal weather cycles with their “high” and “low” temperatures, we will always experience highs and lows in our spiritual lives.  But realizing that lows do not last forever and that while we are in them they may provide opportunities to grow that spiritual highs do not give us can make a big difference in how we live and what we accomplish.  Looked at this way, we can strive to persevere through problems and discouragements not only in order to survive and to make it to the end of the road to which we are called, but also to grow and to accomplish more than we could perhaps otherwise have done. 

*All C.S. Lewis quotes in this article are taken from chapter 8 of The Screwtape Letters, originally published in London during 1941 and 1942. 

“... the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

Some of us love the sight of a universal gym or a set of free weights. Some of us view such things as being remarkably like our idea of medieval torture devices.  But whether we willingly undergo a hard workout or not, everyone admits that becoming physically stronger usually takes a lot of sweat and effort. Similarly, we may think that increasing spiritual strength usually involves hard work and the dedicated practice of disciplines such as prayer and fasting.  So if I were to tell you there is a perfectly pleasurable and sweat-free way to increase your spiritual strength you would probably think I was selling something. Yet the Bible tells us that such a source of strength is available to us.
 
The verse quoted above from the Book of Nehemiah makes an amazing statement if we are willing to focus on it and accept it for what it says: “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”  Given what we know of most strength-building exercises, this sounds almost too good to be true, but Nehemiah’s words are not just some pleasant poetic statement. It’s not that he just happened to mention joy and strength in the same sentence – there are actually a good number of biblical passages that link joy and strength directly.

In fact, 1 Chronicles 16:27 tells us that these qualities are linked in the nature of God himself: “Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place.” Once we begin to see the connection between joy and strength in this and numerous other verses, we begin to understand what the connection is.  Joy is a source of strength that can help carry us through the difficulties of life just as much as determination and endurance, and in some ways more so.

It is true that Christians are among those who mourn for the evils of the world (Matthew 5:4) and that we experience pain and sorrow just like other people (John 16:33), but these are temporary reactions to specific situations, not our everyday attitude.  Joy is the great strength-enhancer that shores up patience and enables endurance. It can carry us through pain and difficulties and enable us to focus on others even in difficult circumstances.  Joy can actually enable us to accomplish incredible things beyond what would normally be possible.  Do we believe and focus on that fact? Do we believe and focus on the fact that it helped Jesus himself to make the ultimate sacrifice: “… who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross…” (Hebrews 12:2 ESV, NKJV, etc., emphasis added).

Jesus specifically told his followers “These things I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15:11).  Joy is an unmistakable hallmark of those who follow him closely.  Those who were imprisoned with Dietrich Bonhoeffer before his execution said that he always spread an attitude of happiness and joy, despite his dire circumstances. Those who knew Mother Teresa say that although her work with the poor and the diseased would have depressed and even crushed many people, her attitude as she did her work was always one of joy.
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The kind of joy that gives us this strength is not entirely human made, of course. Galatians 5:22-23 tells us that deep, strengthening joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit of God, but we can help develop that joy by cultivating it in our daily thoughts and actions.  To seek the strength of joy in our lives is not to spend our lives in seeking temporary pleasures, but to find joy in what God gives us each day – whatever the situation, whatever the difficulty.  That is the lesson that those like Bonhoeffer and Mother Teresa had learned. It is a truth that Nehemiah understood thousands of years before our time, that joy and strength go hand in hand, and that the joy of the Lord is our strength. 

Happiness is something we all want, many strive for, but few feel they get.  Could it be that we make finding happiness more difficult than it need be?   For example, when we talk of “keys” of happiness, our minds tend to jump immediately to things like health, perhaps wealth, and other things we feel happiness is dependent upon.

​But psychologists have known for a long time that there are even more basic things than those that might first come to mind – things that actually offer ongoing happiness and contentment. Numerous studies have found that to be lastingly happy we need three things above all else:  someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to. 

The strange thing is, you can tell people that the correlation between these three things and happiness has been repeatedly documented, that there is good science behind these three “keys,” and they will still often ignore them. It’s as if the answer is too easy to take seriously.

Surely, many people think, you could have those three things, but without good health … or without enough money … or without whatever, you wouldn’t really be very happy. But that’s where the studies come in. Psychologists have verified that even without the things we tend to presume are necessary for happiness, we can still find that elusive condition if we do have the three “keys.”

For the Christian this is a particularly interesting fact. When we look closely at the life of Christ himself, we see that despite not having many of the things people usually equate with happiness and in spite of undergoing great suffering, Jesus was still able to seek and find great happiness and joy (Hebrews 12:2). In the same way, the apostle Paul wrote “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Philippians 4:11), and although we may presume this just means being “OK” about how things are, there is no doubt, when we read Paul’s writings, that he lived a life of true contentment despite the hardships he endured.

It is true that happiness – joy – is one of the fruits of the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:22), but the reason Christ and Paul experienced joy in their lives need not be entirely attributed to that reason.  We have only to read the Gospel accounts of the life of Christ and to study the writings of the apostle Paul to see that both of them – and doubtless many others in the early Church – based their lives on the very things we have called the keys of happiness.

Christ calls his disciples to follow in his footsteps in constantly loving God and not just one person, but every person (John 13:34).  Christians are called to a work which is of worldwide scale and in which anyone can find a truly meaningful role (Matthew 28:18-20). Followers of Jesus Christ also have more to look forward to than anyone else – the return of the One they follow and an eternal life in his service (Revelation 20:6-7, 22:12-13).  These opportunities do not just “meet the requirements” of the keys of happiness – they fulfill them incredibly!
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Yet if we take away any one of these keys – if our outgoing love is limited, if we are not truly involved in the great work to which we were called, or if we do not keep the hope of our calling firmly in mind – we will not experience deep and lasting happiness and will always feel some degree of emptiness.  It’s a little like having a safe with three keys – even having two out of three keys still will not open the safe. It is only as we use all three of the keys in our lives that we find happiness that doesn’t need more money or possessions, that doesn’t even require good health, but that is true and lasting happiness nothing can take away.

We all want happiness. We all want joy.  Or, to be more precise, we all want lasting happiness and joy.  As we go through life we realize that some things can bring us a seeming happiness, but when these sources of happiness are not based on the right foundation, they turn into shallow pleasures that do not last (Proverbs 20:17).  
 
So what is the foundation of lasting joy in our lives? The Scriptures give us a strategy for finding that kind of happiness in an unexpected place.  But first, understand a little background.  In the ancient Near Eastern world where the events described in the Bible occurred, the most common symbol of happiness and joy was the grape vine.   We see this fact in the psalmist’s comment regarding “wine that gladdens human hearts” (Psalm 104:15) and in many other scriptures such as this one: “The vine is dried up … Surely the people’s joy is withered away” (Joel 1:12).

Of course, this connection was based on the temporary physical feeling of pleasure obtained from drinking wine, so what does the symbolism of happiness connected with the vine have to do with true, deeper, and lasting happiness?   We find the answer in the words of Jesus himself when he told his disciples “I am the true vine …” (John 15:1).    Of course, these words were spoken in the direct context of our abiding in him like branches staying firmly attached to the vine (John 15:2-8),  but we should not forget that the most common symbolic use of the vine in religious and philosophical teaching of that time was one of its connection with happiness and joy.

When we remember this background fact, the next words of Jesus suddenly become much more alive to us: “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (vs. 11, emphasis added).    When we keep the basic symbolic meaning of the vine in mind it seems more than coincidence that Jesus points to himself as the true vine and then tells us he makes this connection so we may have true happiness or joy.

But Jesus did not just tell us these things as abstract principles – he explained his words in terms of a direct strategy for happiness that we can and should apply in our lives.  Notice that the setting for his statement on our complete happiness gives us that strategy:
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“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:9-12).

Do you see it?  The strategy we are given for happiness is as clear as any strategy given anywhere in the words of Christ – our happiness will be like his if our love is like his.  The profound thing about this strategy is that it is not based on chasing happiness or on trying to achieve joy through things we get or receive – it is based on the degree to which we reverse that process and work in the other direction through outgoing love.  Love, Christ tells us, is not just the fulfilling of the law (Matthew 22:36-40), it is also the cause of happiness – in our lives and in the lives of others.  

In that sense, the “fruit of the vine” Christ commanded us to receive on the last evening of his life is not only symbolic of his shed blood (Matthew 26:28) – which is its primary symbolism in the context of the Lord's Supper, of course – but also, in a smaller yet no less real way, the fruit of the vine is symbolically the “fruit” of living the way Christ lived.  That “fruit” is happiness, and the strategy to produce it is love.

Scripture: "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing"  (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

Something to think about:  We must always remember that building each other up actually consists of two separate and complementary aspects:  the actual lifting or building up and the avoidance of pulling or tearing down. The principle is clearly seen in comparing Paul's instruction in I Thessalonians (above) with what he says in the Book of Ephesians:

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen" (Ephesians 4:29).

The two instructions are  identical in telling us to build each other up, but while Thessalonians stresses encouraging each other to do so, Ephesians stresses not discouraging each other.    It is usually easier to see when we are doing the first rather than the second of these things, but we should certainly do both.  How much time do we spend thinking about how we can build each other up – in encouragement and also in not discouraging?

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“I have experienced many awful things – most of which didn’t happen.”  –  Anonymous

You have doubtless heard the old story about the optimist and pessimist having coffee together. When the optimist told his friend, “You always think the worst will happen and then it usually doesn’t,” his pessimist friend replied “Yes – see how well it works!”

It’s a silly story, but it makes a point. Even people of faith are often guilty of presuming the worst in everyday situations.  Has it never happened to you?  You don’t hear from someone you emailed for several weeks  so you begin to think they are angry with you, don’t like you that much anyway, or whatever – only to finally hear back from them that they have been ill for a while.  Or you find that the person you thought was a parking slob was dealing with a true emergency which denied time for proper parking.

These may be trivial examples, but if we allow it to become a pattern in our lives, presuming the worst can affect our relationships in more serious ways, especially if doing this leads to presuming negative motivation or actions on the part of those who are not guilty of them. 

A classic example of arriving at such wrong conclusions based on presuming the worst can be found in the Book of Job, in the form of Job’s three friends.  These friends doubtless loved Job and were concerned for him, yet they allowed themselves to presume the worst about Job’s character in looking at the limited facts they had available.  It’s unfortunately a human tendency – a part of human nature that can even be manifested in human relations with God Himself.  The Old Testament  gives many  examples of this among the Children of Israel as they encountered various problems before going into the Promised Land:

“You grumbled in your tents and said, ‘The LORD hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us’” (Deuteronomy 1: 27).

Many of these Israelites were obviously hard hearted and full of their own human nature, as the Bible shows; but  their attitude of presuming the worst remains a lesson to us all.  In fact, learning to assume positive intent on the part of those around us – and God Himself – is a vital part of spiritual maturity. Certainly we may be disappointed at times if we develop this attitude,  and we should always be wise in our dealings with others (it’s OK to presume the worst about a person offering to sell you the Eiffel Tower or a bridge in Brooklyn); but we shouldn’t presume the worst without some indication to justify the feeling.  Most of us have no problem in accepting the legal mantra of “innocent until proven guilty,” but sometimes we have to broaden our thinking to include that approach in our everyday lives. 

Presuming the worst can often be just a way of accepting our fears or frustrations without properly dealing with them. The old saying really has some truth in it:  “If you presume the worst of others, you  will all too often assume you are right.” We need to make a conscious decision not to presume the worst and to assume the best whenever possible. 

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? …”  (Isaiah 43:18-19).

Ancient cultures celebrated the beginning of their new year at various points in the annual solar cycle.  The ancient Roman year began in March until Julius Caesar, in correcting the calendar in 46 B.C., made January the first month. And some cultures, like ancient Israel, had more than one new year – a sacred year beginning in the spring, and an administrative or civil year beginning in the fall.  

The Bible  shows certain events in religious history were tied to these two new years. Nisan 1, the beginning of the Hebrew sacred year, was the beginning of the Exodus story (Exodus 12:1-2), and according to Jewish tradition, the tabernacle of God was dedicated on the same first day of the spring cycle New Year; whereas the Temple of Solomon was dedicated at the beginning of the fall cycle New Year (1 Kings 8:1-2). This “civil new year” is also the point from which the years were counted in Israel and, according to Jewish tradition, the day on which the creation of man took place.

So the new years were important in a number of ways in the religion of ancient Israel, as we see in the Old Testament.  But whatever date cultures have chosen to begin a new year, it is often a time of celebration as it seems to be deeply human to desire and to celebrate new beginnings. Sometimes, of course, the celebration part of the picture can get a little carried away. As far as our modern (since Julius Caesar) New Year is concerned, it is interesting that the early Christians accepted it, but cautiously as they were strongly opposed to the pagan extravagance and licentiousness which often accompanied it.  Not much has changed since those times and, as we all know, for some today New Year’s Eve can often be a time of revelry without restraint.  Today’s Christians may still have to beware of that spirit of unrestraint, but we can always rejoice in the concept of renewal. 

As Christians we rejoice in the new lives we begin upon conversion – as the apostle Paul wrote: “… if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17); and in his letter to the Ephesians Paul shows that this is an ongoing renewal: “… put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires … be made new in the attitude of your minds; and … put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). That’s a goal that certainly far exceeds any physical “New Year’s resolution,” but in that sense, every day is like the beginning of a new year for the Christian, and Christians should perhaps strive to be masters of the new beginning.  It’s part of our calling – we are supposed to “raze the old to raise the new” – on an ongoing basis.  So let’s remember the calling we have as this new year begins – not to well-intentioned but short-lived “resolutions,” but to real and lasting renewal.   

A wise man once said that the first things we do in life are to map our world and to want what we don’t have. 

But do those things bring us happiness when we get them? In this season of frantic holiday buying and wanting, many find no real happiness in getting. 

But human beings were clearly made to want things – with desires that are not satisfied by "things."  Our article "What Do You Want?", uploaded today, looks at the story of human wanting and at some of the things that we can want that do bring happiness to ourselves and others.  Read the article here.

Being under the power of sail (whether sailboat, sailboard, iceboat or whatever) can be a lot of fun, but, just like life itself, it can have both exhilarating and  difficult times.

When we have a “following wind” and the going seems effortless – the wind moving us along almost without work, just like those “good days” in life – things seem good indeed.  On the other hand, when we have to fight into the wind – like those other days we all experience – it’s not so easy.  But it still works.  If you have ever been sailing, you know that we can make progress sailing into the wind just as we can with the wind behind us. 

Sailing into a wind, of course, we have to tack the boat – zigzagging back and forth in a way that never seems like we are going in the right direction, yet we get where we are going eventually.  In the Christian life, God takes us on many tacks; although we may often not see where we are going, or understand the point of some of the detours we might seem to have to take,  He sets the course and gets us to our destination (Philippians 1:6).  An encouraging fact about tacking is that no matter whether we make small zigzags (to put it in non-nautical language) or large ones, the actual distance travelled is actually the same; and we still get where we are going.  Sometimes life’s detours can seem to be long ones, but if we have turned over the helm of our life to the One who is the sure Pilot we will get there.

Nevertheless, those times when we are facing the wind or going through stormy waters may seem tough, and we may wish for calm seas, but that’s actually what all sailors fear most when under sail – being becalmed.  Throughout the history of sail when winds dropped and movement stopped, sailors eventually ran out of food and water and became extremely sick or sometimes perished.  When we enter what may seem to be a pleasant, calm stretch of life, we need to remember that being becalmed often leads to a false sense of security, to apathy and eventual loss of close contact with the One who is the bread and the water of life (John 6:35, John 4:14).

We may think sometimes that living under our own control - like ships with engines that do not have to rely on external power – would be great in that we could go anywhere: picking our own directions, making our own moves; but left to our own direction in life we know we really drift aimlessly and no direction has any meaning.  When we are relying on the power of the wind we work with a power beyond our control, and that is how God chooses to propel us in His direction.  Once we understand it, we see that the Christian life, like sailing, is not really giving up our freedom of direction; it’s accepting a freedom to participate in the most challenging, exhilarating and meaningful sailing possible.  It reminds me of the lyrics of the old song made famous by Rod Stewart: “I am Sailing,” which ends:

“We are sailing, we are sailing,
home again 'cross the sea.
We are sailing stormy waters,
to be near you, to be free.
Oh Lord, to be near you, to be free …”

If concern about specific aspects of your future, or the future in general, affects you, there are two statistics you might want to keep in mind.




The First Statistic:  How we see the future is so often a measure of important aspects of who we are – particularly, one would think, a measure of our religious faith or lack thereof.  We would expect people of faith to have less fear of the future – despite medical, economic or social problems.   However, a recent Barna Group survey conducted in the United States revealed an interesting fact:  while 77% of Americans in general were found to be concerned about what the future holds, 82% of Protestant Christians expressed concern for the future. (You can view the Barna infographic with these statistics here.)

While it may be that some Christians felt concern regarding possible “End Time” scenarios shaping up in the world around them, it seems paradoxical that those of religious faith should fear the future more than the average person in society. This is perhaps especially true for Christians when we consider the words of Jesus: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear” (Matthew 6:25).  Jesus went on to give the parable of the birds of the air and the flowers of the field that do not worry about the future, but are provided for, and said that we should not worry about anything: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself” (Matthew 6:24).

The Second Statistic: These words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 6 are not just a positive parable in isolation.  The Barna  survey results are surprising considering another statistic – a biblical one –  that we should consider seriously if we feel apprehensive about the future.  The most frequently repeated command in the Bible is: “Do not fear” or “Do not be afraid.”  When we read each instance of these many scriptures telling us not to fear, we find that they cover almost every aspect of life and its fears – economic, social, and physical safety and well being.  

It is important that we as Christians remember this fact.  The Son of God experienced life just as we do and experienced the same causes of concern and apprehension. Perhaps precisely because of this, and the fact that He clearly overcame the temptation to fear, He urges His disciples continually to do likewise and to refuse to fear the future.  If fear and apprehension about tomorrow are concerns with which you wrestle, see one of our most popular articles: “Facing the Future Without Fear” for practical advice.  Decide now that if the first statistic given in this article applies to you, with God’s help you will make the second statistic apply to you, also.

There is an old story, I am not aware of its origin, that each day as we go into the world we pass through one of three doors.  The first door is the dark way, the door of evil intentions, which leads to harm for ourselves and  others. The second door leads to neither good nor bad intentions, and the third door leads to the good intentions of serving and helping others.  The interesting thing about the story is that it continues by telling  us that most people go out into the world each day by way of  the door of no intentions – intending neither bad nor good -  but when we do so, we invariably return by way of the dark door. 

There is certainly some truth to this simple little story.  How many times have we gone out into the day not intending anything in particular only to sooner or later run into traffic, coworkers, messages or  whatever that rouse us to frustration, anger, fear, doubt, or other negative feelings or actions.  According to the story, it is only as we go out into the day through the light door – the door of intending to do good – that we will return by way of the middle door, or, if our intentions are maintained, through the door of good intentions.

The story has a point, but its weakness is clear. We all know that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions" (as first stated by Bernard of Clairvaux), and that of themselves even the best of intentions usually are not enough.  Simply put, the door of our own good intentions really only leads to a partial solution to the problem of how our lives will really play out. 

But the old story can remind us, of course, of the words of Jesus which carry a much more profound lesson.  The Book of John records His words: “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture”  (John 10:9).  This was part of the parable Jesus told of the sheepfold with the sheep and the door they entered in and out of.  But the words fit our old story well, too.

It is only as we go out into the world through the power of Christ – the true door – that our good intentions will be more fully realized and maintained.  That takes conscious thought and determination, but if we remind ourselves daily of  the door through which we need to walk, we will be much less likely to go out through the door of wrong intentions or that of no intentions at all.  

It’s  hard to think of the concept of meditation without calling to mind mental pictures of  the wise man on the mountain top,  statues of the Buddha meditating,  practitioners of the New Age subculture, or even the  60’s era Beatles and their forays into transcendental meditation at the feet of various yogis and gurus. 

While a great many religions employ some kind of meditation, in modern Christianity meditation is usually viewed as the poor relation of prayer and study and is rarely taken seriously.  But instances of mediation are found in many places in the Bible, and the biblical concept of meditation certainly contrasts strongly with the ethereal ideas of “the pursuit of nothingness” or “becoming one with everything” common in various Eastern religious and philosophical styles of meditation.  

This week’s new article on the site, “Meditation” by Ken  Ryland, is condensed from one of his editorials in The Sabbath Sentinel and focuses on  the largely untapped resource of meditation as a tool of Christian growth and spiritual well-being.  It’s the best treatment of the topic I have seen and one that I think will convince you of the importance of a  part of tactical Christian living  which you may be neglecting.

We all know that in football, if we want to move the ball, we have to think offense.

Sometimes I wonder if we concentrate too much on defensive tactics and strategy in our Christian walk. Defensive thinking is necessary, of course, for any campaign or goal. You don’t climb a mountain (at least I don’t want to!) without anchors and ropes.   But my point is that too often our tactical stress is only on defense. Consider just a couple of examples. 

Generally speaking, how much more time and energy do we put into praying for people (ourselves and others) to be healed than we spend in praying for work being done to wipe out severe and crippling illnesses.  How much time do we spend thinking about  proactive things we can do to help those who suffer get back aspects of their lives they might not otherwise have (see the October 2 article on “Helping the Sick”). 

The economy is bad, but do we respond only defensively, praying for friends who are out of work, or do we pray also for the national and local economic  situation?  (Read Jeremiah 29:7 if you don’t think that’s a topic for prayer).  Focusing on the broader issues as well as the specifics of which we are aware is focusing on offense as well as defense, and the principle can be applied in dozens of areas of our lives if we think it through. 

The main thing is to start to train ourselves to think offensively, or at least to constantly keep that half of the equation in mind. I was reminded of this as I read Psalm 144 recently.  Look carefully at the duality of what the psalmist is saying:  “Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me” (Psalm 144:1-2).  God is likened to a Rock, Shield, Fortress and Stronghold of Refuge (all defensive). He is also said to be a God who figuratively trains us for war, for battle, to subdue enemies.  The active aspect is just as present in these verses as the static aspect. The Offense is as real as the Defense.   We need both, but to win we need to think offense.