Sombody's watching me

I read from 1 Peter 2 today. A couple things struck me.

There is this theme that people are watching you. Well - they are. I remember in management class being told that the managers, directors, and big heads in the room always have eyes on them. Their employees are looking at them to see how they respond to news (both good and bad). How they respond helps set the tone for the room and how the news is received in general.

I am an extremely passionate extrovert. I blurt out emotions at movies, I explode with rage when there is injustice to my family or friends, I love from the heart, I sing off key and dance without rhythm.

So - Peter starts off with the recommendation to crave spiritual milk. I never thought about this in terms of a baby entering life. They could care less about the riches and passions of this world. All they want is sustaining goodness. Later, Peter reminds us not to chase the riches and passions of this world. He says it wages war inside us. Rather, we should live upright lives so that any accusation brought against us would not stand.

"Live upright lives." What does that mean? Well, that is the trick isn't it. I go back to Galations 5:22-23, which says that against love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control, there is no law.

Therefore, I need to continue to be passionate about the things that demonstrate goodness, but I also need to be more patient and self controlled when someone calls a foul on my kid on the soccer field.

Because, people are watching and they need to know that God is working on me.

K.I.S.S.

Recently our pastor has been talking about many Jewish traditions and symbols. One is the Mezuzah (ma-zoo-za). It is a little canister that you put on the door frame of your house. In it is a scroll with the "Shema" which is a quote from Deuteronomy 6:
"Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

When Jesus comes to Earth we find that he is loving toward the people with heavy burdens, and has difficult words for the scribes and teachers. When one asks him to define the most important law, Jesus comes back to the Mezuzah & Shema in Mark 12:
Jesus responded, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” 

Sometimes I get the feeling that non-christians don't want to be christians because of the burdens of do's and don'ts. The truth is, living as a christian is the way we really want to live. Really - love others as you love yourself. 

Keep it simple.

The potter and the clay

Jeremiah 18

God was showing Jeremiah that Israel could be used for any purpose he wanted. 

Similarlly, 15 years of Youth Ministry may be a thing of the past for me. I wonder if God is reshaping me now.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay;
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still. —Pollard

City of Refuge

If you have been around the Bible a little, you might have asked the question about the war monger God of the Old Testament and the peaceful God of the New Testament and wondered if we are talking about the same God.

The truth is that God had/has a plan all along. Interestingly enough, in the Old Testament we see the nature of God in the Garden of Eden, and even in the law. He even has these places where people can go to be "safe" from a crime they may have committed (Numbers 35).

In other words, judgement does come - make no mistake, but God is preserving a place for us should we want to make peace. There is a city of refuge we can run to. There is a person that wants to forgive us and welcome us. It is the God in the garden, it is the God of the New Testament.

Anyway, he is there.