Chinese Handcuffs

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16:24-26, NKJ)

A few weeks ago, my family and I attended a birthday party. When we left, the kids were given generous goody-bags filled with all kinds of toys. There was one toy that the kids were most intrigued by, the Chinese Handcuffs (aka Chinese Finger Trap). The longer they studied the toy, the less they understood it. If you have kids you know that studying a toy is not sufficient, eventually they had to put their fingers in it. The toy suddenly became a source of frustrations. They couldn't understand why, if they wanted to pull their fingers out, would they push them in?

As I watched my children, I realized life is the same way sometimes. We find our selves doing what we can to "take control" of our lives, and end up no better off than my children in the finger trap - frustrated, confused, and quickly reaching their limits. We may even laugh at the folly of others and then fall into the same trap.

Yet, Jesus offers us a solution - lose your life for Him, and you will truly find it. And like my kids, I don't think we can really believe this until we actually do it and see that it works. So... what's stopping you?

Delight in the Law

Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands. (Psalm 112:1)

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. (Romans 7:21-23, NIV)

There are a lot of things I delight in - a new achievement, the love of my spouse, a compliment from a friend, seeing my children make a good decision - but I can't say I've often found myself delighting in a law or command. Over the last two years we've seen about a half dozen major regulatory changes in the lending industry. Each one met with a groan, and the a question of how the ideals of government would meet the practicality of the workplace. Then, almost begrudgingly, we trudge through... because we must, and for no other reason.

Yet the psalmist knew that the person who finds delight in God's commands would be blessed. Why?

First of all, the commands God gives us are for our own protection. God tells us to not lie, steal, covet, etc because He wants to lift our burdens. He knows there are earthly consequences to our actions. We clearly understand consequences: if you murder, you will go to jail. Anyone want to object? Yet, many times we fool ourselves into believing there will be no consequences if I ___ (lie? cheat? covet? ignore that person in need?).

Secondly, God doesn't want us living life thinking about all the things we can't do. He wants us to celebrate the life He has given us and rejoice in the love He has shown us. He wants to be our focus, not the sin we are trying to avoid (because, after all, if you're focusing on a sin - even if you're not doing it - you're not avoiding it... duh!).

With these ideas in mind, re-read a portion of the Old Testament. Does it seem a little different? Now, go about your life, and make it different too.

A Price I Couldn't Pay

I recently made a mistake that cost almost $2,000. Not one of my finest hours, but it was truly a mistake - something I didn't plan on and would have avoided if at all possible. Accidents happen, but I felt horrible and apologized to the person who was shorted that money. I told him I'd repay him if I could, but it wasn't possible right now, and I wanted to find a way. His response was unexpected and such a relief - he forgave me and expected nothing more from me. My debt had been forgiven.

His kindness was a reminder of my greater debt that was settled:

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

Thank you, Jesus, for paying a debt that I couldn't pay.

Equipment vs Equipping

It's not every day that I get to say God revealed something new to me. After having been raised in a Christian home, attending a Christian college, and working at my church for several years I am fortunate to have been exposed to a lot of different aspects of my faith. Thank God! And while I know I don't know everything - I'll even be the first to admit I don't even know most of it - it's not very often that I have a brand new thought I have never heard before. But, that is just what happened to me a short while ago.

Our church was having their annual ladies' retreat. On the first night, before I went to sleep, I opened my Bible to Colossians 1:9-14 and read:

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Wow, that's a powerful prayer! What I realized is that all these years I have been praying for the wrong thing. Look again at what he is asking for. The list includes a lot of verbs (you remember, ACTION words). He didn't ask God to give them fruit, he asked that they bear fruit. He didn't ask that they be imparted with wisdom, but rather that they grow in knowledge. He didn't ask for miraculous strength, but that they be strengthened. And why? So they may have endurance, patience, and be able to joyfully giving thanks to God.

I know that God appreciates our prayers and He understands our intentions despite what we're saying, in much the same way that I enjoy talking to my two young sons. I love when they ask me for help or share a thought with me. But isn't there something more? Absolutely! One of the best parts of parenting is developing a deeper relationship with your kids and this includes communication. When Josiah first started to talk he couldn't say more than a few words and they were often wrong (well intentioned, but wrong). There were a few months when he called me Daddy. I was just so glad he called me anything that it didn't matter. If he still called me Daddy today, it might not be as cute. So what's my point?

God loves to hear from His children, but I think He's desiring deeper conversation. If we model our prayer after what we read in Colossians 1 we will shift from asking for equipment to asking for equipping. What's the distinction? A runner might need new equipment from time to time (shoes, water bottle, pants) but if they are not equipped to run the race it is useless.

Dear God, forgive me for all the times I asked for the stuff that I thought would make me a better Christian. Please help me to grow close to You so that I am prepared to handle what comes my way in life.

Giving up...

If you give up when trouble comes, it shows that you are weak. (Proverb 24:10, NCV)

I can honestly say for the first time since Lent started I honestly feel like giving up - and with just 9 days until Easter there is only one word for this: stupid. Why can I only get so far in my efforts? It always seems that self-defeat sneaks in right at the worst time. Perhaps this is my weakness.

Maybe this is nothing more than the reason why we have sayings like, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." I need to get going.

But practically, how do we actually do it? How does victory become a reality? If I can't succeed at something as foolish as not going on Facebook, then how do I expect to succeed at anything that is actually important in my life?

...To keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7b-10, NLT)