Lilies of the Field

When I was a child, my mom taught us how to make a sliding board way more fun! If one took a sheet of wax paper and ran it up and down the metal sliding board a few times, it was possible to fly rather than just slide down that board. We never left the house for the playground without reminding my mom we needed the waxed paper. (I am not sure anyone makes metal slides any longer. Was that thing hot in the heat of the day!) It was not dangerous if you could see where you were going and were ready to plant your feet the moment they hit the ground. With that added element of fun, we could amuse ourselves with a sliding board for hours. The same concept works with a large flattened cardboard box and a steep hill—but I digress.   When you were a child, did you ever try to go down a slippery sliding board backwards? I remember my children trying to accomplish this feat on several occasions. I did not teach them to try this; it seemed to come naturally to their inquisitive make-up. I ...

A casual internet search for a dictionary definition of the word repentance is “the action of repenting; sincere regret or remorse.” Used in a sentence, it is explained in this way: “each person who turns to God in genuine repentance and faith will be saved.” At first glance, this sounds right. Reading that, without any proper biblical insight, I would have an idea, from a natural viewpoint, of what that word means. However, that definition is lacking.   Wikipedia says this is a biblical definition of repentance: “The doctrine of repentance as taught in the Bible is a call to persons to make a radical turn from one way of life to another. The repentance (metanoia) called for through the Bible is a summons to a personal, absolute, and ultimate unconditional surrender to God as Sovereign.” This definition is better, but still misses a key element if one has no idea the meaning of metanoia . An unconditional surrender to God as Sovereign is going to entail a knowledge of who God...

With our twisted, modern-day definition of ‘love’, not many would bat an eye toward the couple who once were married, get remarried several different times to other partners, then eventually turn back to re-marry the first spouse. In fact, most would look upon this as a ‘love story’ that was meant to be. How do I know that this is a well-accepted notion? Taken a step further, living together ‘to ensure compatibility’ has become the norm. It may take a multitude of partners to find ‘the one’. This is even worse than the divorced woman. What is at the heart of this problem? Treating a marriage covenant trivially.   God says, “If a husband divorces his wife and she goes from him and belongs to another man, will he still return to her? Will not that land be completely polluted? But you are a harlot with many lovers; yet you turn to Me,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 3:1)   The answer to God’s question is: No! He would not return to her. The Mosaic Law allowed for divorce...

How does the sin of idolatry relate to sexual immorality? It is highly possible that people in our world today have become so desensitized to sexual immorality, that the lines of a clear biblical definition have become blurred in the minds of those who believe they are following Christ, but who have attempted to compartmentalize their sin from their “spiritual life”. As we’ve been looking at the book of Jeremiah, we’ve seen the many scripture references of sexual expression used as a metaphor for idolatry. In places like Ezekiel 16, God rebukes Judah for turning from God to have a love affair with idols. He calls her a harlot describing her idolatry as fornication, adultery, and whoredom. But the real issue was Judah’s heart problem. Ezekiel 14:3— “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity. Should I be consulted by them at all?” In verse 5, God says that the hearts of Judah had been estrang...

“ I believe I’m a good person, or at least I try to be .” “ I raised my hand in response to an ‘invitation’ years ago .” “ My parents were saved and raised me in the church .” “ I’ve been saved all my life .” What do all these responses have in common? There is no mention of turning from sin. People sitting in churches everywhere today do not know who God is and do not know who they are or any of these claims would fly with a holy God. Probably my all-time favorite response to a Q & A was spoken by R.C. Sproul. The question: Since God is slow to anger and patient, then why when man first sinned was His wrath and punishment so severe and long lasting? You could see it in R.C.’s face. After answering the question with his own set of questions, R.C. Sproul turned to his audience and queried, “ What’s wrong with you people ?” The audience nervously began to laugh. His voice loomed larger when he said, “I’m serious! The question is: ‘Why wasn’t it infinitely more severe if we have any...

Love doesn’t just happen; love is hard work. That seems like a strange statement in our day. We are used to phrases like, “falling in (and out of) love”. The world has romanticized love which is fixated on feelings, attraction, and what one can get from a relationship rather than what one can give. Because love has been redefined by a culture that loves sin, anything that qualifies as love from the heart based on emotions and feelings is viewed as beautiful and good. The definition of “to sweep someone off their feet” is to dazzle and amaze someone, to cause someone to fall quickly in love with you. But, ladies, what do we association with sweeping? Dirt! You rarely hear someone list as the passion of their lives to clean, brush, or clear the floor of dirt, dust, and debris. “Head over heels in love” is literally describing somersaults, and I am no gymnast! Most women who have been married for any length of time remember the first days of love when it did ‘feel’ as though life was ridi...