Jesus showed this in His life. He was intentional and thorough in His time with the disciples, but He spent ample time with the Father.
i’ve been learning a lot about balance in my life, and the lack thereof, recently, and I’ve decided to back up consistent blogging as a hobby this semester. I’m going to form a cartel with you and trust that you won’t presume anything that’s not really there in the blogs. Kind of like when you’re reading the Old Testament and looking for references to Jesus. But, to paraphrase Spurgeon, it would be better to assume it refers to Jesus than assume it doesn’t.
I hate buying white shoes. The reason is quite simple- white shoes dirty more quickly. They don’t stay shiny very long.
It’s kind of like that as we travel in the world. If every person in the world wore a white shirt on the same day, we would be so quick to point out the dirt on another person’s shirt.
Look, an imperfection! How did you get that stain? That’s despicable!
Can’t you see it?
White shirts. White shoes. Doesn’t matter. We like to be spotless. We want to be spotless. We need to be spotless.
The Bible tells us to fight for our “spotlessness.” 1 Peter 1:15-16 (NIV) says “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”
Be holy. Be clean. Be stainless.
The church is the anti-thesis of a clean-cut club. Think about most society organizational clubs that require membership criteria and I am almost certain none of them require you to be a wicked sinner.
Seems like that is a criterion reserved for [true] Christians. We are all part of this club together. It’s like Alcoholics Anonymous, except we shouldn’t be anonymous to each other. People ought to show up to church and expect to be able to sigh relief because they can bear their true selves to others.
I wonder if we’re creating an atmosphere in our so called “worship” where this is actually awkward and difficult.
God is glorified in this and we are able to spur others on to be more like Christ. To not do so is to rob Christ of glory and the church of what it needs: the body needs all of its members to function cooperatively.
My prayer for incoming freshmen this year is that they won’t be afraid to join a church where they can really bear their sinfulness and be knit to others, weaved to them like as a weaved makes carpet.
That’s hard for a people who need to do laundry daily. Sometimes we need to check our pits because our ATTITUDES STINK!
I was thinking of a practical application to be holy. There are many. I will elaborate on one.
I started reading through the Bible once a year since I’ve got to college. I’m in Exodus right now so a week or so ago I was in Exodus 16, shortly after the Red Sea has split, and God begins giving commands to the Israelites on how to live to please Him (more on worship next time). God graciously provides the Israelites with bread (manna) to survive in the desert.
Exodus 16:16 “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer (about 2 liters) for each person you have in your tent.”‘…(v19) “Then Moses said to them, ‘No one is to keep ANY of it until morning.”‘
Shortly after we see the Israelites rebelling and gathering excessive manna.
Exodus 16:20 “However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.”
Later in the chapter God gives more requirements, and the Israelites once again go and try to gather more than they need.
I wonder if we can say that we are people who just “gathered as much as he needed.” We are consumers. We eat excessively. We consume excessively.
What if God sent maggots to consume all the excessive “manna” in our lives? How much stuff do we have that we really need?
There ought to be anti-dumpster diving laws. No one should be forced to sink that low. What if we all had the attitude of “If I just got water instead of coke, that little bit could add up eventually to really mean something for someone.” Remember the widow who gave her two coins-thought it be little, she gave ALL THAT SHE HAD? May we do so.
Remember God? He dumpster dived and walked among filthy scum- sinful men. Consider Psalm 146:7 “He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free.”
If we want to follow this God, we must uphold the cause of the oppressed and feed the hungry. May we be so hungry for Him that we hunger for nothing else (see John 4:34 “‘My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.’”)
1000s of years after the Israelites were fed manna Jesus Christ came. He spoke these words:
“I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.” (John 6:48-51a NIV)
Signing out,
Pinkmeltingpot
