Discernment: Interpreting the Times

“He also said to the crowds, ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, A shower is coming.  And so it happens.  And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, There will be scorching heat, and it happens.  You hypocrites!  You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?’”  -Luke 12:54-57 (ESV).

The statement of Jesus in these verses is set in the midst of His discourse on how he came to bring division among men.  Scholars have interpreted this to mean that there will be major disagreement between believers in Jesus Christ, those who seek to follow Him and incorporate His principles and lifestyle into their living and those who do not believe Him.  On some of the major news channels even today there was discussion about differences in what the newscasters call “atheists” (nonbelivers) and Christians.  The calculations were based upon what reporters called “The Pew Report”—those who attend church services regularly in America and those who do not.  How accurate this report is we do not know, or if those who do not attend can be termed “atheists.”  But the statistics from this “Pew Report” show that at least 40% of adult Americans do not express any religious preference or attend an organized church.  Whether these statistics are correct or not, I do not know.  But one thing we can know assuredly is that there will be differences (divisions) between those who follow the Lord Christ and those who don’t. 

Perhaps Christ looked up and saw a cloud rising over the Sea of Galilee.  Or one would come from the direction of the Mediterranean Sea.  Both would indicate rain.  Likewise a wind blowing from the desert area of the south would bring scorching heat.  In those days long before Doppler radar to help forecast the weather, these signs of approaching changes would be noted with interest.  I can remember how my father often predicted the weather by signs he noted.  He would plan his work on the farm accordingly and try to get jobs done before severe weather ensued.  Jesus noted that his hearers were adept at interpreting natural signs for the weather, but the spiritual emptiness of their hypocrisy blinded them from understanding the “signs of the times.”  He followed by giving a parable of the importance of settling disagreements before being dragged into court.  “Why do you not judge for yourselves?” he asked (v. 57).  I think He would urge us today to discern the consequences by the signs of the times.

Discernment does not always come easily but results when we weigh “the signs of the times,” consider the good and the bad and the consequences of both.  We are living in what my parents would term “perilous times.”  The signs are evident on every hand that we have departed from the precepts of righteousness and the covenant relationship with God.  In this period of uniting in prayer for America, we need to be reminded daily of Jesus’ probing words:  “Why do you not judge for yourselves?”  Likewise, we need to heed seriously and sincerely the conditions and promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14:  “If my people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”  We need to hear this strong appeal repeated until we are very much aware of its conditions and can sincerely meet them.  May we be among the faithful with spiritual discernment and determined action to do just that.

Prayer.  Lord, the statistics for America’s faithfulness to You are not good.  May we be among the faithful who turn in repentance and faith.  May we be discerning in our choices for leaders and stalwart in our stand for righteousness.  We pray that You will hear from heaven and heal our land.  Amen.

Proverbs to Live By – Honor the Lord with Your Wealth

“Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.” –Proverbs 3:9-10 (ESV).

Why does God ask us to honor Him with our wealth?  Paul had advice to his son in the ministry, Timothy (and for us as well) about this subject:  “But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.  But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.  It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (I Timothy 6:8-10, ESV). This advice followed Paul’s saying, “Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world” (I Timothy 6:7).  The writer of Proverbs was advising his son to give proper perspective to wealth.  Offer the “firstfruits” of everything to the Lord.  This was in keeping with Jewish law.  To bring firstfruits indicated that the people recognized God’s provision, that the offering to him (firstfruits) was a sacred pledge and all that remained would be sufficient for the family’s needs: “your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will be bursting with wine.”  This promise reiterates what is taught in Malachi 3:10:  “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”  Paul substantiates this teaching about money and giving:  “The point is this:  whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.  As it is written: ‘He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever’” (II Corinthians 9:6-9, citing from Psalm 112:9).

Money and earnings seem a necessary part of our lives.  The Bible has many teachings about our perspective on wealth. In biblical times, barter was often the means of financial survival.  That was practiced somewhat even in the days when I was a child.  We took our eggs and chickens to the country store to exchange them for items we needed on the farm that we could not produce ourselves.  Oftentimes, we even gave our preacher of the “firstfruits” of our crops and the fryers we’d reared in our chicken lot.  And too, sometimes we would ask for money for the chickens and eggs we took to barter so that we could have a tithe to place in the offering plate at church.  I can remember well in my husband’s early ministry, when he had what we called “student pastorates.”  We would leave our church fields on Sunday nights with a live chicken strapped in a box, eggs carefully packed, fresh vegetables shared from a garden, and a gallon or two of milk.  We knew we would eat well the next week as we gratefully took these items, prepared them for eating and stored them in our small refrigerator.  The Bible has much to teach about our regard for money and how we handle it.  It warns us against greed.  Remember Jesus’ parable of the rich man who kept building bigger barns to store the surplus of what he harvested?  The dire warning was, “Thou fool!  This night your soul shall be required of you” (Luke 12:20).  The beauty of this parable to live by is that when we early-on in our Christian experience decide to tithe and to honor God in how we use the remaining nine-tenths of what we earn, we are assured that this promise will be fulfilled in our lives: “I have been young and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.  He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing” (Psalm 37:25-26).  How, then, can we afford not to honor God with the firstfruits of our earnings?  To be a blessing to others as we give according to God’s plan assures that we, in turn, receive the blessings of God.  However, we give because we love the Lord, not to have Him “pay us back” or recompense us.  But in His grace, He provides for those who honor Him.

Where Are Your Treasures Stored?

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” –Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV).

Most of us have some treasures here on earth we hold dear.  Is it the “rat-pack” tendency in some of us (women, it seems, are prone to this characteristic) to accrue possessions with special meaning and value that is perhaps not in their monetary worth at all?  These we call “treasures” because they have deep sentimental value to us, recall a special person who made a gift to us, or a special occasion which we recall by the memento we’ve collected and hold onto.  Again, treasures may be things of monetary worth—perhaps a piece of furniture, a painting, a house and grounds, a car—the list could go on.

Jesus taught that the righteousness of kingdom citizens—Christians—needs to be worked out in perspective of both finite time and eternity.  He urged that we “lay up treasures in heaven.”  The question rightly comes:  How do we follow this admonition of our Lord?  We have a choice between activities that lead to greater earthly reward in the present life and those that store up greater future rewards in heaven.  Jesus gave insight into the meaning of laying up treasures in heaven elsewhere in the gospels.  In Mark 8:34-38 we gain insight into what Jesus meant by following Him and laying up treasures in heaven: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.  For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?  For what can a man give in return for his soul?  For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”  In Luke 12:13-21 Jesus gave a parable of the rich man who kept amassing abundant possessions and decided he would “eat, drink and be merry’ (v. 19).  But death came to the man and his treasures were left.  “So is one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:21).

Is this to say that we are to take no stock in earthly treasures?  Are we not to seek to provide those things that make life more comfortable and livable, like a good house, adequate money to meet needs, food, clothing, even some pleasure?  We have a moral responsibility to care for those in our family, and the necessities of living take effort and time to earn money for the needs of those in our care.  The important choice here is where our priorities are.  Are we greedy and grasping, with the idea of “the more I have the more I want?”  Have we no feeling of responsibility of bringing our tithes into the storehouse of God (the church) on the first day of the week?  Have we no desire to participate in authentic missions both with money, time and prayer? Our choices about possessions and what priority we place on them are directly related to our growth and development as a Christian.  You may have heard it said, “It is not wrong to possess things, but it is wrong for things to possess us.”  Materialism will enslave the mind and heart.  A proper attitude toward earning money through honest work and avoiding covetousness in possessions is Jesus’ way for us.  Laying up treasures in heaven is using all to which we have been entrusted for the glory of God.  We make our choices after deep consideration and prayer.

Beware of Covetousness

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house: you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” -Exodus 20:17 (ESV). “And He said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” –Luke 12:15. (ESV) “But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.” –I Corinthians 12:31 (ESV).

Covetousness arises out of a desire to possess more than we have; it is to long for, to reach after things. To covet was so much a part of human nature that God gave the last of the Ten Commandments to deal with the inordinate desire of wanting that which is not one’s own, whether it be to lust after one who is not legally linked in marriage, to desire possessions, or anything (an all-inclusive term for every thing not one’s own that persons might want). Scholars view the tenth commandment as reaching very deep into our nature because it deals with thought. Covetousness—wanting what is not rightly ours—is inward, heart-felt. Human laws cannot take cognizance of what goes on in the heart. It is true that oftentimes murder (the “thou shalt not kill” commandment) is ruled premeditated, beginning first in the heart. But covetousness is definitely “of the heart” and can motivate persons to commit murder or adultery or stealing.

The context of Jesus’ teaching about covetousness in Luke 12:15 followed after one from the crowd said, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” (Luke 12:14). How many of us have seen covetousness demonstrated following the reading of a will? So often, heirs think they do not get their rightful share, and ill-will, animosity and greediness result. Jesus followed His answer by giving the parable of the rich man whose land yielded plentifully. He built more granaries in which to store his crops and thought he could “eat, drink and be merry.” But God came to the greedy man, telling him that very night his soul would be required of hm. “And then whose will those things be which you have provided? So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”” (Luke 12:20-21). Jesus was firmly teaching that one’s life does not consist of an abundance of possessions. There is a better way than always wanting more for selfish purposes. But earnestly desire the best gifts,” Paul urges, “abd I will show you a more excellent way.” (I Corinthians 12:31). Then he goes immediately into that fine discourse on love recorded in I Corinthians 13. Love is the more excellent way. When genuine love for the Lord is in our heart, there is no room for the dark secrets of covetousness and inordinate desire for that which we should not have. In Luke 12:15, Jesus said that the covetous person will not “be rich toward God.” In Ephesians 5:5 Paul says they who covet are like the idol worshipers, virtually denying faith in God and replacing the love for God on things. How serious an offense to our loving God to covet. It is indeed understandable that He would make one of the Commandments: “Thou shalt not covet."