Why We Need the Hope of Christmas

On December 8, 2022December 8, 2022 By Jason SmithIn Devotional1 Comment

One of the sure signs that the Christmas season is upon us is all the twinkling lights that suddenly adorn nearby homes and businesses. The tradition of putting up lights during the Advent season can be traced back to the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther. On a late-night hike in December, he was struck by the way the starlight beautifully danced on the boughs of a fir tree. Luther said he felt as if the hand of God had touched his soul. It was so moving, he set out to create a similar experience for his family in the home. Luther attached candle holders to the branches of their tree, and his family and friends were dazzled by the spectacle of a well-lit Christmas tree. Thus began a longstanding tradition, today replicated with the far safer set of electric lights you string around your Christmas tree.

From the beginning, light has symbolized the Christmas hope.

The World in Darkness

The first Christmas came at a time when the world felt very dark. Interestingly, the historian Luke begins his Gospel narrative by focusing not on Mary and Joseph, but on another couple that was far older, Zechariah and Elizabeth.

Zechariah is a priest chosen by lot to present the incense offering before the Lord at the altar in the Jerusalem temple. As a Jew, this was an incredible honor for Zechariah. Most priests only dreamed of being the one who got to burn the incense on the altar of God. Since a priest could only win the lottery one time, this was quite literally a once in a lifetime opportunity for Zechariah.

But as he stood in this place of great honor, Zechariah struggled to feel blessed. For one thing, he and Elizabeth had failed to conceive in a culture where children were a sign of God’s blessing. Over the years, many of Elizabeth’s peers may have looked at her with an arched eyebrow as they hurried along with their train of youngsters.

On top of their personal pain, as a nation Israel felt oppressed by the Roman Empire. Rome’s overbearing rule and hefty taxes had become a weighty burden for an already beleaguered nation. Long gone were the glory days of King David and King Solomon and the First Temple. Long gone, even, were the courageous Maccabees to lead a revolution against all the foreign oppressors.

Many wondered, Where is the Deliverer God promised through the prophets? Why has God abandoned us to become pawns in the hands of pagans? In short, it was a bleak time for Israel.

From Zechariah’s perspective, it didn’t look like God and His people were winning. The forces of darkness seemed to be having their way and showed no sign of weakening.

Hero of God

It’s in this context that old Zechariah is at the altar when an unexpected visitor shows up: the angel Gabriel. Gabriel – whose name means “hero of God” – had visited the prophet Daniel hundreds of years earlier to foretell a yet future arrival of a Messiah who would “put an end to sin” and “bring in everlasting righteousness” (Daniel 9:24). In a sense, Gabriel’s message hadn’t changed. But he now told Zechariah that he would father this Messiah’s forerunner. This son, whose name would be John (the Baptist), would prepare the nation and “turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God” (Luke 1:16).

Zechariah’s initial response is to doubt. Like many skeptics today who treat the Christmas story as an outmoded myth, Zechariah’s problem was spiritual, not intellectual, in nature. After all, a glorious angel of the living God was standing before his eyes. His unbelief was not caused by a lack of evidence. You see, doubt had probably infected his heart long before Gabriel showed up.

Luke tells us Zechariah and Elizabeth had lived upright and moral lives, but Zechariah had probably struggled to trust God for some time. Why? Today, we would say he lived with the anguish of unanswered prayers. Perhaps when he was younger his prayer for a child was fervent, but in his old age, he had almost certainly given up on such a request. Like the psalmist, he had probably pleaded with God to not forget His people, to break through the heavens, come down, and set things right.[1] But time after time, the Romans had reminded him and his fellow Jews that they were the ones in charge. In his head, he knew that the God of Israel ruled over all, but most days it felt like Caesar reigned supreme.

Heaven’s Perspective

Rather than coddling Zechariah, the angel challenges his unbelief: “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time” (Luke 1:19-20, ESV). It’s as if Gabriel is saying, “Zechariah, things may look dark from where you are standing, but I stand in the presence of the Almighty God Himself. And there is no darkness in Him.”

Zechariah had seen all of life’s circumstances from one angle, and to him, it looked like tragedy upon tragedy. It looked like the light of hope had all but burned out. But Gabriel brought heaven’s perspective, a perspective that is easy to lose in this broken world of suffering and death, but greatly needed.

Many think of Christianity as a nice fairytale for those who simply cannot deal with all of life’s agony, as if faith was an anesthetic that numbs us to the pain of reality. But Christianity never tries to downplay the truth of suffering. Christians have long called this world “fallen” because it no longer displays the ideal of what life was supposed to look like. Cancer, war, oppression, hunger, poverty, and death were not part of God’s original design. But Christianity announces that all this misery is ultimately rooted in humanity’s rebellion against its Maker, and our only hope is to be reconciled back to Him.

Indeed, for one to say that something is wrong implies that there is a way things ought to be. When someone gets away with murder, we don’t say, “Personally, I find murder objectionable. But who am I to judge?” No, we say, “This is evil!” That’s because deep down we recognize that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Atheism’s Problem of Suffering

People may claim that the world’s suffering shows that a good God does not exist, but the Bible says the real reason we deny God’s existence is that we don’t like being held accountable for the ways we have fallen short.[2]

If you resort to atheism, you still have to deal with the problem of suffering, but now you have a problem with no resolution. Many young atheists claim to be “scientifically minded,” as if science stood in opposition to belief in God. But when you turn to science for answers to life’s most perplexing problems (like death and our desire for lasting happiness), it doesn’t offer much help. Consider atheist Bertrand Russell’s perspective:

“Such, in outline, but even more purposeless, more void of meaning, is the world which Science presents for our belief… That Man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve an individual life beyond the grave; that all the labors of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and that the whole temple of Man’s achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins… Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built.”[3]

And that was poor Russell on a good day. But isn’t Russell giving an honest appraisal that without God, we are left with “the firm foundation of unyielding despair”?

Without heaven’s perspective, the picture grows ever more hopeless and dull. But one reason we can know atheism isn’t true is that it is totally unlivable. No one can live as if there is no objective moral standard. Atheists cry out for justice when they get hit by porch pirates, too! And no one can live as if there is no meaning and purpose to life. It’s the most barren worldview imaginable, and it leaves us only in despair.

The Good News of Christmas

This world is in desperate need of hope, and Gabriel had come to announce good news. That’s why he began by telling Zechariah that his prayer was not ignored or forgotten, but had been answered. He would have a son and great joy would accompany his birth.

Later in the same chapter, Gabriel shows up again, this time with an announcement for a very young woman. The virgin Mary is told that she is highly favored and will bear a Son, Jesus. Gabriel says, “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:31-32). The angels would later tell the shepherds, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10).

The very Messiah Gabriel had foretold to Daniel was now arriving. And once John was born, Zechariah understood the significance of his role. Holding up his newborn boy, he said, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins” (Luke 1:76-77).

Zechariah no longer doubted God’s goodness. Now, he saw afresh that God’s timing is always perfect, that He hadn’t forgotten His people, but rather that He had sent them a Redeemer. This Messiah would not only deliver them from all enemies (v. 71), but would “give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” (v. 79).

Science and technology have given us many good gifts, but they could never solve our greatest problems of sin and death. God sent His own Son, the divine Messiah, to bring the light of hope where human effort only leaves us in darkness.

Martin Luther told his children the same thing I tell my boys. The lights on the house and the Christmas tree and the lit candles of the Advent wreath all signify the same truth: Jesus, the Light of the world, has come. And because of His coming, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, we now have hope. The good news of Christmas is that a Savior has come to defeat humanity’s greatest enemies and grant forgiveness and new life to all who throw themselves on His mercy, by trusting in the risen Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross.

Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!

[1] Psalm 144.

[2] See Psalm 10:13; 94:7; Isaiah 29:15; Job 22:13-15.

[3] Bertrand Russell quoted in Timothy Keller, Hidden Christmas, 9.

No Ultimate Accidents

On November 30, 2022November 30, 2022 By Jason SmithIn Devotional, Theology for Life2 Comments

Here’s a fun thought experiment. Think through all the things in your life that had to occur just so in order for you to be where you are today, including where you live and who is nearest and dearest to you. Films and novels have captured this fact that every event in our lives is but one link in a long chain (or network) of causes and effects that stretches back to the beginning of the world.

In my own life, I can think through the long series of notable events that had to take place in the precise order and time that they did for me to end up at the church college group where I met my wife, Whitney. If any one of these events had occurred even slightly differently, there is little reason to think I would have met her when I did.

If you are a Christian, the same thought experiment can be done for considering how you came to faith in Christ. Whether you consider the home in which you grew up, the time in history in which you were born, or the church where you ended up, there is a convergence of events that had to take place for you to even hear the gospel. We like to use the word “fortunate” when we think about all this, but we need to understand that according to the Bible, all these necessary events took place according to God’s design, not mere happenstance.

God Determines the When and the Where

When Paul preached to the Athenian philosophers, he said that there is one sovereign Lord and Creator who is responsible for all we have—including the very breath in our lungs. Paul then says God “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him” (Acts 17:26-27a).

What a profound statement! God determined the when and where of every nation. But what is true of nations is also true of individuals. After all, He is a personal God who deals not merely with nations in general, but with individuals in particular.

Consider how personally God deals with King David’s life:

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb... Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” (Psalm 139:13, 16, ESV)

Nothing about our lives—not even the when or the where—is accidental. God can tell Jeremiah the prophet that even before He formed him in his mother’s womb, the Lord had already set him apart for his life’s task (Jeremiah 1:5). Is this only true of Jeremiah? Or does God form each of us in the womb having already planned what our life would look like? Job speaks of everyone born of woman when he says, “A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed” (Job 14:5, NLT).

None of this teaching on God’s providential planning of every human life nullifies the truth that we make real choices as image bearers of God. We are not just mechanistic cogs in a grand machine, but precious individuals with loves and fears, who are responsible for our actions.

J. I. Packer uses the word “antinomy” to describe this apparent incongruity between God’s absolute sovereignty and the genuine choices of His creatures.[1] While we tend to pit God’s sovereignty against human responsibility, the Bible never does. Both truths are taught in Scripture, so the Christian must accept both. Whatever cannot be reconciled in our finite minds can and is reconciled in the mind of God (Isaiah 55:8-9; Romans 11:33-36).

If God is absolutely sovereign, there can be no accidents. Nothing about your life can be chalked up to mere happenstance or dumb luck.

“Forbidden by the Holy Spirit to Speak”

In the book of Acts, we read the story of Paul’s first journey to the city of Philippi. It’s fascinating to see all the events God used to providentially bring His Apostle to these people.

It all starts with Paul, Silas, and Timothy setting out to reach the people of Asia (the northwestern region of modern Turkey) with the gospel. They know God has called them to proclaim this message of grace, but they aren’t exactly sure where yet. Consider how the Holy Spirit sovereignly directs their steps:

“And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” (Acts 16:6-10, NIV)

It can seem kind of strange at first when we read that they were “forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia” (v. 6). We might think, Why wouldn’t God want Paul to preach the gospel there? And then we find out that they wanted to go to Bithynia, but again “the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them” (v. 7). We wonder, What’s the deal? Doesn’t God want those people to hear the gospel and be saved, too? Elsewhere, we read that God does not wish “that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, ESV).

But we can forget at this point that God in His perfect grace is also sovereign. He is King over all, and He never acts arbitrarily or on a whim. And while we don’t understand all the reasons, what we need to see is that God had a sovereign appointment for Paul. It wasn’t in Asia, and it wasn’t in Bithynia. But it was in Macedonia, and Philippi was smack dab in the middle of Macedonia. This reminds us that ultimately the salvation of the lost is not up to us; it is up to God. He is the One who does the sovereign work of salvation, and He’s working out His perfect plan according to His timetable.

We aren’t called to debate with God about what is best. He alone is God. Scripture tells us that He is the Potter; we are the clay.[2] We don’t get to tell God what to do. He is the One in charge of this whole show, and the more we get on board with His plan, the better things will go for us in the long run.

It’s intriguing to me that God gets Paul’s attention here by appealing to his compassion. In Paul’s dream, he sees a man from Macedonia pleading with Paul, “Please, Paul. Come here and help us!” We know this is primarily about meeting their need for salvation, because verse 10 says that Paul immediately concludes God called them “to preach the gospel” to those Macedonians. So this man in the vision is saying, “Paul, we’re lost and without hope! We are doomed if you don’t come tell us about the risen Lord.”

All by Grace

When they come to Philippi, things initially go very well. Paul and his buddies find a group of women just outside the city meeting together by the river. And Paul begins to open the Word of God to these women, telling them the good news that forgiveness of sins is freely offered to them through the Lord Jesus. Wherever Paul goes in the book of Acts, he calls people to repent of their sin and trust in Jesus as their sin-bearing Lord and Savior. He nearly always gets a mixed response from people when he preaches the gospel.

But for whatever reason, the author Luke zeroes in on one particular individual, a woman named Lydia and her response. “One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul” (Acts 16:14). Isn’t that beautiful? “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what” Paul said.

As Christians, we can wonder, Why does God have me where I’m at right now? Why this job? Or maybe, Why can’t I find a job? Why this neighborhood? Why this health issue? Why this hardship? But what if God has you exactly where He wants you right now? It may not be where you’ll be forever or for very long, but what if God has a purpose in putting you in the situations you face every day? What if God wants to use you where you are right now in a way that He couldn’t use you otherwise?

If we see nothing else from Lydia’s conversion, we need to see this: God is sovereignly orchestrating His plan in every person’s life. No one comes to Christ by accident. God is working out His plan. When you take a step back, it’s amazing to see how this all worked out. Remember, Paul wanted to go to Asia. God said no. Paul wanted to go to Bithynia. God said no. Finally, God gives Paul a vision to bring his band of merry men to Macedonia, and finally to Philippi.

And when they get to Philippi, it just so happens that they find a group of women meeting by the river outside the city. What a coincidence, right? What good luck! And it just so happens that God was preparing the heart of a woman in that group named Lydia who was about to receive the gospel. Amazing, isn’t it? All along, God was setting Paul up. He says, “I’m going to use you to bring My gospel to Lydia, Paul. And Lydia’s going to believe. Lydia’s Mine.”

There are no ultimate accidents. There are no coincidences in God’s mind. He is working out His perfect plan for the good of His people and the glory of His name. We serve a sovereign God, a God far more powerful and good and merciful than we could possibly imagine.

If you are a Christian today, it is because God worked out all the details for you to encounter the gospel of the crucified and risen Lord. He brought the light of truth into your heart, where before there was only spiritual blindness (2 Corinthians 4:4-6). If someone led you to Christ, it wasn’t sheer luck that you happened to know that person. God is in the business of rescuing people from their sin according to His perfect and sovereign plan. In evangelism, we have an essential part to play, but we didn’t write the script.

And when we share the gospel, we are simply jumping on board with His plan that is already in motion. We’re not the master engineers here. He’s the One who wrote the blueprint for His plan of redemption. So what does that mean? That means all the glory goes to Him for saving us. We don’t even get a smidgen of the credit. Because it’s all by His grace.

J. I. Packer points out that this is actually good news. When we share the gospel with others, we are participating in a mission that cannot fail. And the fact that we pray for the lost to be converted is proof that we really do believe He is sovereign in salvation. Packer writes:

“When you pray for unconverted people, you do so on the assumption that it is in God’s power to bring them to faith. You entreat Him to do that very thing, and your confidence in asking rests on the certainty that He is able to do what you ask. And so indeed He is: this conviction, which animates your intercessions, is God’s own truth, written on your heart by the Holy Spirit.”[3]

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5, NLT). You have been saved by grace! Not human effort.

Have you repented and trusted in the Lord Jesus for salvation? If not, I urge you to do that today. If you have, have you thanked God for your conversion?

Soli Deo Gloria.

Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!

[1] J. I. Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, 23-24. As Packer explains, an antinomy is something in theology that has “an appearance of contradiction,” but “is not a real contradiction.”

[2] See Jeremiah 18:5-6; Romans 9:19-21.

[3] Packer, 19.

Why Thanksgiving Matters

On November 23, 2022November 23, 2022 By Jason SmithIn Devotional, Theology for Life, Why I Believe1 Comment

One might expect that when a nation is deeply divided, few blessings can emerge. Strongly held conflicting views spill over on social media and in the news media. It seems that some Americans have contempt for one another. Many more feel overwhelmed by rising costs, unsure how they will pay all the bills as the year draws to an end. Those with health problems feel that burden most acutely. Still others feel burdened by all the ways they’ve been mistreated, overlooked, and undermined in the recent past. But this week our nation celebrates a holiday called “Thanksgiving.”

The First Thanksgiving

When we think of the historical roots of Thanksgiving, we most often think back to our forebears who came across the Atlantic to create a life in the “New World” in 1620. Many who stepped off the Mayflower were seeking a new start. Some, known as Separatists, wanted to freely worship God according to their understanding of Scripture. Others, with an adventurous spirit, had high hopes of making a fortune in this land of opportunity. The Pilgrims suffered from hunger, scurvy, and other diseases. Only 50 of the original 102 Pilgrims survived the first winter. It was a trying time, and things could have ended very badly.

In November 1621, Governor William Bradford organized a feast for these early settlers, and they invited the local Wampanoag tribe, along with their chief Massasoit. The Pilgrims had overcome the odds with a bountiful harvest of crops, largely thanks to Squanto, a Native American who taught them how to catch fish and plant corn. In 1609, the young Squanto had been captured by Europeans and sold into slavery – much like the Joseph of the Bible. Although Squanto’s enslavement was a clear violation of Scripture (Exodus 21:16; 1 Timothy 1:10), he ended up in the care of a kind Spanish monk in Europe, who taught him the Christian faith. Later, Squanto was allowed to return to North America, only to find his tribe had been wiped out by an epidemic. Squanto later saw his role was to help these struggling Europeans establish themselves in his homeland. Because of his invaluable assistance, Governor Bradford called Squanto “a special instrument of God for their good.”[1]

Bradford understood that ultimately “every good and perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17), so he wanted to celebrate God’s provision with a meal. A meal was a beautiful idea, because food has a way of bringing people together, even if such people are quite different. Historian Robert McKenzie observes that these Separatists would never have dreamed they were starting a holiday, or “holy day.” But on the other hand, since nothing is ultimately secular in the Christian worldview, Bradford did see the importance of honoring God on this festal occasion.[2] This iconic meal, with the Pilgrims and Native Americans gathering together to feast in peace, is what we usually imagine at the first Thanksgiving.

Obviously, the sentimentality tends to wear off when we recall that the European and Native American relationship was rarely so sweet and inspiring as this time. However rare it may be, historians have noted how the settlers’ harmonious relationship with the Wampanoag lasted a precious 50 years. Another important reminder is that the Pilgrims continued struggling to survive for the next two years after 1621. Indeed, during that time “it was typical for the colonists to go to bed at night not knowing where the next day’s nourishment would come from.”[3] But something about that first feast gives us a picture of what can happen in the sweet providence of God, even among those who hold conflicting worldviews.[4]

Something else often glossed over is that while the Pilgrims credited divine providence for that first Thanksgiving harvest, they said the famines of the next two years also came from God’s hand. “This was not the caprice of nature, but the handiwork of the Creator who worked ‘all things according to the counsel of His will’ (Ephesians 1:11).”[5] They recognized that sometimes God sends trials to stretch our faith and grow us. As Job asked, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (Job 2:10). It might seem strange to us that these Pilgrims saw that first harvest as a time to honor God with thanks, given that they had buried around half of their family and friends in the last year. But they rested on God’s promise, that God “causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation

Interestingly, Thanksgiving was not recognized as a national holiday until Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation in 1863, when he declared:

“I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”[6]

Once again, this was a time of great trial and conflict for the nation. America was so deeply divided that it was smack dab in the middle of the Civil War, “a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity” in Lincoln’s words. Lincoln saw this as a time to also humbly repent of “national perverseness and disobedience” and to implore God “to heal the wounds of the nation.” [7]

In that address, Lincoln reminded Americans that even in the midst of great difficulty, we must remember the blessings of God.

“To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come… which are so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of God.”[8]

Lincoln’s point is that we must never take anything for granted. If nothing else, we can thank God for our most recent meal, for clean water, and for fresh air. All of these come from His generous and loving hand.

Gratitude for Divine Providence

Some people look around this world full of suffering and say there is no evidence for a good God. In some ways, I see their point. This world is riddled with wars, crime, disease, and death. But way back in the first century, when Paul proclaimed the gospel to a pagan crowd, he brought a different perspective.

“In past generations He allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Yet He did not leave Himself without witness, for He did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” (Acts 14:16-17)

Weather and crop success is not subject to the meaningless whims of Mother Nature, but rather is under the providential direction of Father God. As the Pilgrims recognized, God “sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Mathew 5:45, ESV). When we’re not in survival mode, as those Pilgrims were, we can tend to forget how good and gracious God is to provide us with food and drink each day. Paul said the fact that we have these basic provisions in life is silent testimony that God is good.

Later, when writing to the Thessalonian church, Paul urged his fellow believers to seek to live in peace even when they are often afflicted by persecutors.

“See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.” (1 Thessalonians 5:15-19, ESV)

Paul understood that for a community of Christ-followers to thrive, there must be an overwhelming sense of God’s goodness. No matter what your circumstances might be right now, Scripture says that there is cause for giving thanks. Why? Because this world is not run by the purposeless forces of blind nature, but by the providential hand of a good and wise God. Nothing happens apart from Him who does all things according to His good pleasure (Psalm 115:3; 135:6).

So because of that, Christians always have reason to delight in God’s goodness and should rejoice in His saving grace. After all, God did not have to send His Son into the world to save us from our sins, but in astounding mercy, He did. The fact that Jesus didn’t abandon us as the lost sheep that we were is reason enough for great thanksgiving and praise.

The Lord wants His people to have a calm confidence in His good sovereignty. This a supernatural peace that comes by the Spirit who indwells us. When Christians fail to “give thanks in all circumstances,” they are quenching the work of the Spirit, who wants to give us joy, love, and peace – even in the midst of heartbreak and affliction.

Both the Pilgrims of 1621 and the Americans of 1863 found reason to honor God with thanksgiving, even while facing the harsh realities of life in a broken world. Contemporary Christians need to recapture this strong confidence in the providence of God. What would it look like if Christians were known more for their gratitude and praise of God in all circumstances than for their finger-wagging and complaining?

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6, ESV)

Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!

[1] Robert Tracy McKenzie, The First Thanksgiving: What the Real Story Tells Us about Loving God and Learning from History, Kindle edition.

[2] Ibid. McKenzie writes, “[H]istorians generally agree that what we now remember as the First Thanksgiving was not a Thanksgiving holiday at all in the Pilgrims’ estimation, but rather a kind of autumn harvest festival. That contemporary Americans are disposed to see this as a distinction without a difference says a lot about our values, not the Pilgrims’.”

[3] Ibid.

[4] While the Pilgrims worshiped the God of the Bible, the Wampanoag were an animistic tribe, attributing parts of nature with having a soul.

[5] McKenzie, The First Thanksgiving.

[6] Abraham Lincoln, The Gettysburg Address and Other Works, 383.

[7] Ibid, 382-3.

[8] Ibid, 382.

The Hope of a New Beginning

On November 16, 2022November 30, 2022 By Jason SmithIn Devotional1 Comment

You cannot change the past. This is a hard truth for many who can still feel the sting from past blunders, embarrassments, and betrayals. But though we cannot undo what has been done, we can begin again. That’s the great hope of Christianity. And when we begin again, we no longer have to be controlled by our past. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ, we can break free from regret, guilt, and resentment.

Many people say things like, “I’m trying to reinvent myself.” They are tired of being criticized or scrutinized, marked by the decisions they once made. Like a tattoo that can’t be removed, many feel like their past has left a mark that can never be erased. They wonder, “Is this how I will always be seen?” Or even, “Will I always see myself as a reflection of my past?”

Maybe there are times you’ve wished you could relive certain moments in your life. You’ve thought, If only I had handled that differently. If only I hadn’t spoken so foolishly. If only I had shown more courage or humility in that moment.

If only… How many have this phrase etched across their hearts?

In his 2022 memoir, Matthew Perry, who played the witty Chandler Bing in the hit series Friends, had his own regrets to share. Throughout his career, Perry slept with many women, desperately wanting to be loved but never being willing to commit. He writes of the “if only” moment when he almost proposed to the love of his life but changed his mind at the last second, afraid she would eventually reject him.

“I had missed the moment. Maybe she’d been expecting it, who knows. I’d been seconds away; seconds, and a lifetime. I often think if I’d asked, now we’d have two kids and a house… Instead, I’m some schmuck who’s alone in his house at fifty-three, looking down at an unquiet ocean.”[1]

You might not be a celebrity, but maybe you can relate to Perry’s deep sense of regret. You wonder what life would entail had you popped the question, applied for the job, or taken the leap of faith. But the past remains where it always is. We cannot jump into our DeLorean, fire up the flux capacitor, and travel back through time.

Moving Forward

Some of us have committed greater sins than others. Some of us have been sinned against greatly. In some sense, we all have baggage. But it’s so important to know that you are not alone in your pain. It may seem like you are the only one going through the deep anguish of regret, but let me assure you that you’re not. God is ready to help you like a devoted shepherd with an injured lamb. The Lord is a healer; He can reach the deepest parts of our soul. When we open ourselves to Him honestly and confess the pain of the past, we can know His cleansing power as never before.[2]

While it’s important to get honest about what has happened, Scripture also urges us not to dwell on the past. You can visit old memories to make peace and learn from them, but it’s not a place to stay. The only way to move on is to move forward.

The Apostle Paul had his own share of regrets. We may know him today as Saint Paul, but his past was stained with blood as a persecutor of the church. And yet he wrote:

“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13b-14, NIV)

Paul understood that in order to move forward, you have to have a goal, something to reach for and cling to. Despite his regrets and checkered past, Paul chose to dwell on his Savior “who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Have you discovered the new beginning you can have in Christ? Do you know the ocean of love God has for you in Christ? Saying “God loves you” is not just a quaint cliché we like to say to gin up good feelings. It is an objective fact we can know because Jesus was sacrificed on a Roman cross outside Jerusalem nearly 2,000 years ago.

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8, NASB)

The cross proves God’s love for us, because all our regrets and shameful failures were piled up on Christ when He “bore our sins in His own body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24).

No More Condemnation

Through faith in Christ, we are no longer condemned enemies of God, but justified children of God.

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)

It’s so important that we come back to this truth over and over. No condemnation in Christ. That needs to be the chorus playing on repeat that never gets old and always quiets our hearts. We never outgrow our need to hear it. In Christ, you are not condemned.

Whatever our mind focuses on shapes our identity. When we feast on the truth, we can embrace this new identity with every sunrise. Trusting in Christ and what He did on the cross for the forgiveness of sins is where it all begins. Unfortunately, there are many so-called Christian authors that are actually proclaiming a gospel of self-love, that the way to move forward is to fall more in love with yourself rather than to embrace God’s love and forgiveness for you in Christ.[3]

Knowing that our guilt was really and truly taken away at the cross is what truly changes everything. And it’s the truth we must continually apply to our hearts, which so often want to condemn us (1 John 3:20).

But what about this terrible thing I’ve done? There’s no condemnation in Christ.

But I can’t seem to move past what’s happened. There’s no condemnation in Christ.

It’s not that sin doesn’t matter to our holy God; it’s that He fully condemned our sin in Christ already.

“He condemned sin in the flesh by sending His own Son in flesh like ours under sin’s domain, and as a sin offering, in order that the law’s requirement would be accomplished in us.” (Romans 8:3b-4a, HCSB)

The condemnation that was owing to us fell on Christ, God’s own Son. In an act of astounding love, the Lord Jesus bore the judgment for our sins.

“But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5, NIV)

But why? Why the brutality of crucifixion? Why would God do this to His dearly beloved Son — the very One who worked with Him in the creation of the universe, the One who was daily His delight? As one young man put it, “Why not just forgive us without that bloody mess of a cross?”

It’s a good question that gets to the heart of the gospel. The only way to truly understand the meaning of the cross is to first see that God is holy—inexpressibly, unfathomably holy. His eyes are so blazingly pure that He cannot bear to look at sin. We could not dwell with God while covered in sin. That is why our sin had to be judged at the cross if we were to ever have a new beginning. Until that burden was lifted, our past would continue to condemn us—even if we stuffed it down into our subconscious.

No wonder Christians throughout the last 2,000 years have seen the cross as a symbol of hope, forgiveness, and cleansing. The cross assures us that God has not abandoned us in our shame and regret. Because of His astounding love for us, we don’t have to live under the burden of shame and guilt. This is why Christians are always singing about the cross. Without it, we have no hope of a new beginning.

If God Is for You

Our enemy despises the cross. The Bible calls Satan “the accuser of our brothers and sisters… who accuses them before our God day and night” (Revelation 12:10, NLT). The devil would have us fixate on our past regrets rather than strive toward a new beginning.

Thankfully, the cross of Christ speaks a better word over us.

“If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” (Romans 8:31-34, ESV)

I love this series of questions because it underscores the power of the gospel. If the sovereign God of the universe is for you, why would you ever be afraid? If God declares you are justified, welcomed, and forever made clean, how could you ever feel abandoned? If God gave up His very greatest treasure—His own Son—how could He possibly hold back something less? If God has given you His beloved Son, well, then He will surely give you everything!

When we are not letting our mind marinate in the truth of God’s Word, we will hear the enemy’s word instead. The devil continually prods us with, “Look what you’ve done!” or “Look what’s been done to you!” The Holy Spirit whispers, “Look what Christ has done for you!”

Instead of fixating on the past, let’s fix our eyes on Jesus “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). In love, He will see us through to the end. In Him, you can have a new beginning as a beloved child of God.

Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!

[1] Matthew Perry, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, 176.

[2] Psalm 32:5; 1 John 1:9.

[3] For example, see Rachel Hollis, Girl, Wash Your Face. This book is reviewed by Alisa Childers here: Girl, Wash Your Face? What Rachel Hollis Gets Right and Wrong (thegospelcoalition.org)

True Manliness

On November 10, 2022November 11, 2022 By Jason SmithIn Devotional, Theology for Life2 Comments

Have you heard of Moto-X freestyle motocross? It’s the sport where guys jump motorcycles over buildings and hang from the handlebars with their feet as they somersault their bikes 50 feet in the air. It’s incredible to watch some of the videos of these daredevils. Brian Deegan is the most decorated champion of Freestyle Motocross in X-Games history. But the most important thing about Deegan is that he is a follower of Christ.

In 1997, Deegan formed the Metal Mulisha, a freestyle Motocross team, which over the next 8 years became known for their wild success in jumping competitions, and also for their violent and rebellious spirits. Their focus seemed to be on motorcycles, alcohol, drugs, sex, and fighting. Then three things happened that forever changed Deegan’s life.

First, his girlfriend became pregnant and wanted to keep the baby. Second was a botched high-speed midair backflip in the 2006 X-Games that nearly killed Deegan and led to months of physical rehab. And third, Deegan finally agreed to go to church with his girlfriend. To his surprise, he didn’t hate it. In fact, before long, he came to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. After this, he married his girlfriend and began to make some major changes in his life, like quitting drinking and drugs.

Beyond this, he even started a Bible study with the Metal Mulisha bikers. Before long, many in this rough and wild group were coming to faith in Christ. One of his buddies put it like this: “[Deegan] kept telling us how much the Bible changed his life… I felt like I had to listen.”[1]

The cool thing is that out of all this, Deegan has come to see the need to be the man that God has called him to be. In his words, “I had kids and I have to be a role model to represent to my kids… I had to grow up, had to be a man, had to be a father, and so I did it, dude.”

The gospel of Jesus Christ is a powerful thing, the very “power of God for salvation” according to the Bible (Romans 1:16). It can transform a foul-mouthed, alcohol-abusing drug user into a man who wants to be all that God has created him to be.

That brings up an important question for today. What is it that God calls men to be?

God’s Blueprint for Masculinity

I have a real passion for men’s ministry and encouraging men in their walk with Christ. My prayer is that the men of my generation would step up to be the men God has created them to be. I firmly believe that much of the chaos and corruption we see in our society today in the 21^st century can be traced back to men failing to act like men.

There are many half-baked ideas out there about what true manliness looks like. Some guys think manliness is defined by how many pounds you can bench press or how many guns you own or how many mountains you’ve climbed or how many women you’ve slept with. When we think of manliness, Hollywood faces like John Wayne, Bruce Willis, and Harrison Ford come to mind.

In one John Wayne movie, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, the Duke portrays the rough n’ tough Captain Brittles. One line he repeats is, “Never apologize! It’s a sign of weakness.” Based on images like that, we could think that manliness is about never saying sorry.

But we as men need to come back to our Creator’s intent and design for manhood. Here’s something I know. As a man, you have a craving for significance. God put that desire in you. You know that as a man you have certain responsibilities that no one else can do for you. For many of us, that means being the husband that our wives need us to be.

Men are called to break free of those lousy stereotypes that our culture paints of men as irresponsible dopes who are incapable and incompetent.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)

What are some things you notice about God’s creation of man here?

Men today need an identity, and that identity comes from God alone. We were made in God’s image, made to relate to Him, to know Him, and to lovingly lead and provide for others. From the very beginning, men have had a purpose: to bear the image of God, relate to God, and to rule over His creation. What so many men miss today is that apart from a relationship with God as Father, we will never know our true purpose.

Working and Keeping

“The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” (Genesis 2:15)

What do you notice about man here? He has a calling to “work” and “keep”—or “protect” the garden. In other words, we as men are to work hard and cultivate the good. And remember, this is before the woman has even been created yet. So this is a charge specifically for the man. I’m not saying that women can’t garden. That’s not the point. This is about the responsibility God has given to men first and foremost.

Let’s examine those words. When you hear the word “work,” think of a gardener building up trellises, cultivating the soil, and planting seeds. That’s the picture here. The man is called to build up and develop the places God calls him to. That’s why you take so much satisfaction in seeing a project through to completion. That’s how God wired you. He designed men to be planters, builders, and growers. Whether it be at work, in the home, or in our relationships, God calls us as men to take the initiative to build up the places and people in our lives.

For starters, this means that we are not to be lazy. Wherever we are at in life, God calls us to excel. Christian men, of all people, should be the best employees. We shouldn’t be content with partial jobs. We should give our best effort day after day, and we should own it when we’ve messed up.

But this idea of working the garden extends to our relationships. In a marriage, it is the man’s responsibility to cultivate his relationship with his wife. In Ephesians 5, we see that the husband is called “the head of the wife” (Eph. 5:23), which simply means men are called to step up and be humble leaders in the home. The sad truth is that many men have been passive about their role in the home. But men are called to step up, take the hits when they come, and lead their wives and families.

I want to be the best husband to my wife and best dad to my boys I can possibly be. God is honored when we aim high and give our all, especially in these key relationships. Too many men have low expectations for themselves, and this should not be.

Humble Headship

Here’s what being the head of the home does not mean. It does not mean men get to be the ones who sit in the easy chair and bark orders like an insecure dictator. Instead, it looks more like the captain sacrificially leading the charge into battle. God calls husbands to love their wives even “as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25). Leading doesn’t mean men have to have all the ideas. It can often sound like this, “Okay, here’s what I had in mind. What do you think?” Being the head of the home means that you are called to initiate times of prayer, crucial discussions, and encouragement for your family.

If you’re married, this means taking care to spend quality time with your wife, looking for opportunities to pursue her romantically even in your marriage. This doesn’t mean being open to the idea of spending time with your wife; it means making time for your wife! She needs to know that she is a top priority in your life. God calls men to purity and faithfulness.

“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” (Hebrews 13:4)

Let me say something you already know: women are a mystery. They are a wonderful, confusing mystery to us! Just when you think you have your wife figured out, she will do something totally unexpected. That’s part of the joy of marriage.

We are constantly trying to understand them, and they will continue to baffle us for the rest of our lives. But men, this is a relationship we cannot afford to neglect. We have to work at our marriage. This will involve love and sacrifice on your part. How willing are you to make sacrifices for your wife and family and others you love?

It also involves encouraging her with your words. If you are married, you have more ability to build up your wife than anyone. Your encouragements and compliments carry a lot of weight. I heard a story about a couple sitting at a wedding reception. As the music swelled, a woman’s hopelessly romantic husband put his arm around her, leaned in, and softly said, “You are more beautiful than half the women here.” Yeah, maybe don’t use that line. You might end up on the couch after that one. Use the right words to build up your wife.

We are called to cultivate other relationships, too. Men, in particular, play an essential role as fathers and father figures. I say “father figures” because sometimes children don’t have a biological father in the picture. So, there are times, when other men who love Jesus are called to the role of nurturing and encouraging like a father would for that child. But children need fathers. Studies continue to bear this out—when children grow up deprived of a father, it leaves a massive hole inside. Even if they don’t realize it, they continue to ache for the love that only a father can give.

And remember, we aren’t just called to “work” but to “keep” the gardens of our lives. That means we are called to be the protectors. We are to care for our loved ones and watch out when physical or spiritual danger is near.

Genesis 3 records the story of the fall when the serpent approached Eve. But you know something tragic? What we often miss is that Genesis 3:6 says that after Eve ate the fruit “she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” Did you catch that? Adam was right there “with her” when the tempter came.

Adam was failing in his God-given duty to step up and protect Eve. He was failing to be the head of the home and lead. He just passively watched everything unfold even though it was Adam that God had directly told not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He was told that “in the day you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). Look, I’m not excusing Eve, because she knew what God said, too. But how tragic that Adam failed to be the man God designed him to be in that moment.

What are some other ways we “keep” or “protect”? We aren’t to let weeds grow in the gardens of our lives. We are to pull out the weeds of sin, lust, and anger. If you don’t actively work to protect your garden, weeds of all kinds will spring up.

So, to summarize: A man’s purpose is to live in relationship with God, to rule over creation under the rule of God, and that ruling involves working and keeping every area and relationship that God assigns us.

But here’s where we need to see something. Because we all know, none of us has been perfect in the areas of work, relationships, marriage, and parenting.

Restored Manliness

Before concluding, we need to consider Jesus Christ, because He is the Ultimate Man. Maybe you’ve never thought of Jesus as manly. You might have seen one of those old paintings where Jesus has a soft glow around his head, His eyes are sort of glazed over, and He almost looks like a little kid with a beard. But that’s not the Jesus of history. That’s not the real Jesus who is alive today. Jesus was and is the manliest Man you’ll ever meet. So because of that, we need to look to Jesus for our definition of manhood.

Jesus didn’t fail in the work God assigned Him. Not only did He show love to others and care for the sick and the needy, He did the ultimate work of going to the cross for us. Jesus loved us so much, He went through with the ultimate sacrifice of dying so that you could be forgiven. When you consider all the ways you’ve failed to live as the man God created you to be, you need to see that God never gave up on you.

As He hung on the cross, Christ willingly took all our failures and sins on Himself. He died to pay the debt we owed to God. And you know what Christ said in His final breath from the cross? “It is finished” (John 19:30). In other words, the work of salvation was finished. And because Jesus completed that work, we can be forgiven of our failures and made new creations in God’s sight. This is why it all begins with surrendering your life to Jesus.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

When men don’t get their identity from God, they will look in all the wrong places. They will find their identity in sports, career, or sexual encounters. But when we get our identity from Christ, we let Him define true manliness for us.

The world might say that manliness is about how many fights you’ve won, how reckless you are, and how much you can drink. That’s what Brian Deegan once thought. But now he understands that true manliness is about living a life yielded to Christ, taking your identity from Him.

True manliness isn’t about never apologizing to anyone. It’s about loving others, taking an interest in others, and making sacrifices for others. When we do that, we are pointing others to Jesus Christ. This is God’s calling for men.

Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!

[1] This story is given in Richard Phillips, The Masculine Mandate.

Why Should I Be Baptized?

On October 25, 2022July 29, 2025 By Jason SmithIn Devotional, Theology for Life2 Comments

With the sun beating down on his head, a bronze-skinned man steps out onto the river bank. His lower half is still drenched and dripping with the Jordan River. He’s wrapped in a tunic made of camel’s hair. Hair and beard look unkempt. He seems to lack all sense of social convention. He is a portrait of a desert wanderer. The surrounding crowd on the shoreline cannot help but stare and listen to his brazen call to repent of wickedness. Having just emerged from the water, some are still soaked from head to toe.

He picks up his staff in one hand and raises the other toward the crowd. A knobby finger points like a dagger at a group of men in long clean robes: the Pharisees and Sadducees.

“Brood of vipers!” The desert man’s voice echoes off the stony river bank. All eyes are now staring at the religious leaders, who grimace with distaste.

“Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come!” the man bellows. While some are shocked, others recognize his boldness to confront sin is a clear sign of his prophetic calling of God. If John is a prophet, then he’s merely God’s mouthpiece. What he has to say truly comes from the Almighty. And yet, here he was confronting the religious aristocracy, the paragons of purity.

In one sense, these Pharisees and Sadducees carried an air of power and respectability wherever they went. The people noted their stringent piety and rigorous law-keeping. Nevertheless, the people so admired John the Baptist that these holy men looked like tongue-tied schoolchildren in his presence. They come only to observe, not to be baptized in the filthy river.

“Show fruit consistent with repentance!” John continued, eyes blazing like fire.

John’s Ministry of Baptism

Apparently, John didn’t have a public relations consultant. Why did he call these highly esteemed religious leaders a “brood of vipers”? Because they ignored the warnings of the wrath to come and led others to destruction. And, as John says, they didn’t bear fruit, showing they had not truly given their lives to the Lord.

This was John the Baptist’s entire ministry. He called people to repent of sin, return to faith in the one true God, and be baptized in the Jordan River.

John said, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry” (Matthew 3:11).

This One “coming” was the Lord of the cosmos Himself. John the Baptist was always pointing others to look to Christ, not himself, for hope. He humbly confesses he’s not worthy to even carry the sandals of Jesus. But it’s not just humility; it’s a right view of how supremely worthy Jesus is.

Then he says of Jesus: “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire…”

It’s important to realize that even though John says that he baptizes with water and Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire, this doesn’t mean that water baptism is no longer necessary today. At the end of Matthew, Jesus Himself gives the command: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” (Matthew 28:19).

Though Christians don’t always agree on the purpose of baptism, Jesus seemed to present baptism as the inaugural event marking a new disciple of Christ.

Why Be Baptized?

It is important to understand that baptism does not save you. We are saved by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). Though Christians are called to good works, no good work—not even baptism—could save us from the tyranny of sin. Paul made the point that he was not sent with the primary objective of baptizing others, but of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1:17).

The thief on the cross had no opportunity to be baptized before he died, yet the Lord assured him of his place in Paradise with Him that very day (Luke 23:43). It is only repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ that reconciles us to God. Having said that, followers of Christ are commanded by God to be baptized. The Bible never treats it as an optional “extra.” Local churches are called to baptize new believers after the pattern of the New Testament (Acts 2:38-41; 10:47; 16:14-15).

Baptism pictures our need for cleansing and restoration. But it also pictures our identification with Christ. Going down into the waters, we are identifying ourselves publicly with Christ’s death and our own death to sin. Coming out of the waters portrays both Christ’s resurrection and our resurrection with Him to new life (Romans 6:3-4). As we are baptized individually and as we see others baptized, we are reminded that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was for us personally.

And, as John says here, when we trust in Christ personally, we receive the Holy Spirit.[1]

The Winnowing Fork of Judgment

Why are repentance and baptism so important? John says of Jesus: “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor and gather His wheat into the barn, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12).

In ancient Israel, there was a practice called winnowing which allowed the farmer to separate the grain (or seeds) from the chaff, which were the husks that cover the seeds. When the farmer tossed the grain and the chaff into the air with the winnowing fork, the Middle Eastern wind would carry the lighter chaff to the side and the heavier grain would fall to the ground. He would gather the grain together to keep, and the chaff he would sweep together and toss into a fire.[2]

John is giving us a vivid picture of judgment. On the coming day of judgment, Jesus will gather the grain—those who are His own—to Himself. And the rest, He will cast into what He calls “the unquenchable fire.” This is a sobering and serious reminder that a judgment is coming, and if we don’t belong to Jesus, we are destined for eternal damnation (Matthew 10:28; Mark 9:43). John is making it clear that it is eternal by saying it is a fire that never goes out.

I want you to understand that the idea of eternal judgment was no more popular in Jesus’s day, 2,000 years ago, than it is today. While some may say that it is unloving to tell people about hell, John recognized that what would be truly unloving is not to warn people that a judgment is coming.[3]

God Himself pled with unrepentant Israel to return to Him and avoid judgment:

“As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11, ESV)

This life is infinitesimally short in light of eternity. God says in His Word that your life is nothing more than a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes (James 4:14). But eternity—that lasts forever! So where we spend eternity matters immensely.

This is why I, too, want to warn others. If Scripture is right that there is a coming judgment and that our own conscience testifies to this truth, then for me not to speak about hell would be unloving. I make a point to speak about it because I, too, am a sinner and have been rescued from judgment—Jesus has saved me. And so, I want to point to my Savior and say this offer of salvation is for all. No matter what you have done or where you have been in life, this free gift of salvation is offered to you!

Why Was Jesus Baptized?

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. (Matthew 3:13-15)

So, if water baptism represents cleansing from sin, why in the world is Jesus coming to the Jordan River be baptized here? After all, Jesus is the sinless Son of God in human flesh. Scripture always affirms that Jesus was and is “without sin” (Heb. 4:15). So why did He submit to baptism?

I think we see a clue as to why Jesus did this way back in the prophecy found in Isaiah 53:10. There we read that the sinless sufferer was “numbered with the transgressors.” Or, it could be translated as “[He] was counted among the rebels.”

Even though Jesus was perfect and sinless, He willingly chose, out of love, to identify with sinful mankind. Beginning with His coming at Christmas, to His baptism, and all the way to the cross, Jesus was humbly and lovingly saying, “I have come to identify with the very people who have rebelled against Me.” He came to die for the very rebels who were cursing Him, mocking Him, and crucifying Him. From the cross, He said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). In the context, He was speaking of the Jews and Romans that had Him killed. But in reality, He says that of all of us. We all have committed treason against the God who made us. We all deserve death. But Jesus was perfect. He willingly died in our place so that we could be forgiven and spared from all judgment.

In humbly consenting to water baptism, Jesus marked out a pattern for all His disciples to follow. In this way, He is not asking of us anything that He Himself did not willingly do.

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17, ESV)

Scripture teaches that the one true God is three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And here we see all Three in view. Jesus submitting to baptism, the Spirit descending upon Him to empower Him for ministry, and the Father’s voice from heaven saying: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

If Jesus had never been baptized, this moment would have been missed. Now all who have repented and trusted in the Lord Jesus are reconciled to God, made new by the Holy Spirit, and are loved in the Beloved—even as Christ is loved by the Father (John 17:26). And if that’s you, friend, you are called to be baptized.

Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!

[1] “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13, ESV). Also see Romans 8:9-11.

[2] Thanks to David Platt for his explanation of this process in his commentary Exalting Jesus in Matthew.

[3] See Ezekiel 33, where the Lord says that the watchman who sees the sword of judgment coming but fails to warn others will have their blood on his hands.

The Complex Emotion of Anger

On October 18, 2022October 19, 2022 By Jason SmithIn Devotional1 Comment

Uh-oh. There’s that feeling again. It’s like a deep tremor welling up inside. A volcano with growing subterranean pressure. We all know what it’s like to experience the heat of anger. At times, it’s directed at a situation, but more often anger is directed at a person, usually someone you know well. At other times, you are on the receiving end—the volcano is erupting on you!

Anger can wreck friendships and send marriages spiraling into a tailspin. At its worst, it can lead to abuse and tragedy. If left unchecked, anger can be the most destructive human emotion. The Bible gives clear warnings about anger:

“Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.” (Psalm 37:8, NIV)

Nearly everywhere you look, you can find areas where anger is harming our society. Just consider the problem of road rage. According to a recent study, “More than 1,000 people in the U.S. die each year in road rage incidents.”[1] In their book Anger Kills, authors Redford and Virginia Williams found that those who are prone to angry outbursts are more likely to have coronary heart disease.[2] No wonder the Bible says, “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense” (Proverbs 19:11, ESV).

So how do we rightly deal with this volatile emotion?

Admit You Are Angry

If we are going to make any progress in dealing with our anger, we have to be willing to first admit when we are angry. People like to say, “I gave her a piece of my mind” or “I guess I lost my cool there.” But what they really mean is “I was angry.” Maybe you’ve heard the remark: “I don’t get mad, but I do get even.”

Most often, we Christians struggle to admit we are angry because we have been taught that anger is a sin. And certainly, there are more than a few warnings about anger in the Bible. “An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression” (Proverbs 29:22, BSB). But I would argue that passages like this speak of misdirected and uncontrolled anger. The Bible says, “In your anger, do not sin” (Ephesians 4:26, NIV).

Anger is not a monochrome emotion that we can so easily file away in the “sin” category. As David Powlison said, anger “is a complex human response to a complex world.”[3] After all, God expresses anger at sin.[4] Throughout Scripture, we read of God’s wrath or righteous indignation in response to injustice, idolatry, and sinful distortions of His good design for humanity.

Jesus Christ, known for His meekness and gentleness, expressed anger many times in the Gospels too – usually in response to self-righteous hypocrisy.[5]

On one occasion, the religious elite demonstrated more concern for catching Jesus in their legalistic trap than for the plight of a man with a withered hand. Their cold-hearted callousness toward real suffering made Jesus hot with righteous anger. He “looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart” (Mark 3:5, ESV).

Anger is the natural human response to evil and injustice. It is the heart crying out, This is wrong. So we should not be reticent to admit when we feel angry. Owning our anger will allow us to rightly deal with it.

Restrain Your Immediate Response

While anger can be the natural human response to wrongdoing, that doesn’t mean it’s always expressed in a good way. In fact, because of our sin nature, our tendency is to express anger in an ungodly or self-centered way, rather than in a godly way like Jesus. The Book of James reminds us about the importance of hitting the brakes to “slow down” when we feel that first surge of anger.

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19-20, ESV)

Consider this scenario. A teenager “borrows” his dad’s Ford Mustang without asking in order to impress a girl and brings it back with an ugly scrape across the door. When his father discovers what happened, what’s his initial response? He’s angry. Very likely, this man will want to fly into a rage, lashing out at his son for his reckless and irresponsible behavior. What his son did was wrong. So to feel anger is only natural, but James would warn this man to hit the brakes. Because a knee-jerk response in anger is almost always destructive.

“People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness.” (Proverbs 14:29, NLT)

You may be thinking, Sure, controlling my anger is a great idea. Easier said than done. It’s true that stopping yourself in the moment might not be easy. Ultimately, patience, gentleness, and self-control are produced by the Holy Spirit, not something we can achieve through mere human effort.

However, with God’s help we can learn to respond in the moment in a way that honors Him. Practically speaking, this might mean stepping away temporarily when you start to feel your blood boil. Marriage expert Gary Chapman recommends a husband and wife learn to “call timeout” when emotions begin to surge.[6] This means giving each other space for a brief time, so that both can come back to discuss the matter calmly without having said or done something they regret. Sometimes a walk around the block is enough time to cool the temperatures so that feelings aren’t hurt and a peaceful compromise is reached.

Identify the Cause of Your Anger

We’ve all heard stories of school shootings or homicides that didn’t seem to add up. People say things like “He seemed like such a nice guy” and “I never saw it coming.” No doubt this is in large part because people are good at wearing “nice” on the outside even while unaddressed anger is quietly brewing inside.

While such examples may sound extreme, they simply demonstrate what can happen when anger is not confronted. I’ve talked to several people who have admitted that mistreatment, neglect, or a lack of love in their home growing up planted deep seeds of anger. The long-term effect may even be ignored or downplayed for a time. But because the hurt is still there, they are sometimes shocked by their own angry and emotional outbursts.

For others, it is the deep wounds of a past relationship that planted those seeds of anger. They know it’s there, but they can’t help grieving over the pain of the past. And sometimes that grief mingles into bitterness and hatred.

Neil T. Anderson, who has helped countless people deal with deep-seated anger, said, “Whenever we are asked to help someone who has a root of bitterness, the source of the problem has always been unforgiveness.”[7]

It’s no surprise that right after Paul tells the Ephesians, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger,” he says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:31-32, NIV).

The reality is that we all experience anger. I am certainly not exempt from this emotion. We may say, “I’m just strong-willed,” but that might mean we have a fear of being proven wrong. Or we may say, “I just care deeply about the truth,” but oftentimes there’s some insecurity just below the surface.

We are all broken people. But God is in the business of putting broken people back together. By His Spirit and His grace, we can find fresh joy in the Lord. We can experience the peace that He alone gives. But if we don’t deal with the roots of our anger, anger will continue to get the better of us.

Through the Spirit, Paul told the Ephesians, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27, ESV). In other words, anger is not always sinful. However, it does no good to dwell on your anger. Or, better said, to let anger dwell in you.

Surrender Your Anger to God

Once we have admitted we feel angry, the first and most important thing to do is surrender it to God. Put that rage, animosity, and ill-feelings toward someone else in God’s hands. It’s a burden He can handle, and He wants to take it off your shoulders.

Again, we often have good reasons for feeling angry. That’s not what is sinful. But harboring and nursing anger leads to a warfare mindset rather than a peace-making mindset. And what we really want is to see the wrongs made right. So who better to entrust your anger to than the God of righteousness and justice?

Remember, God cares more about the wrongs done against you than you do.

“The LORD is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.” (Psalm 145:17, NIV)

The Lord is more passionate about justice than you or me. So let’s put our case in His hands. He will do what is right, but with perfect authority and timing.

That’s what Jesus did. “When He was reviled, He did not revile in return” (1 Peter 2:23, ESV). When He was mocked, beaten, and mistreated in the most appalling and shameful ways imaginable, Jesus “continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23, ESV).

Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss, but Jesus called him His “friend.”[8] His own disciples scattered when Jesus was arrested and killed. But after His resurrection, the Lord graciously approached those same guys who had abandoned Him. He even embraced the one who had previously denied ever knowing Him.

Jesus had every right to be furious for the way He, the spotless Lamb, was being treated, but He surrendered all His righteous anger to His Father in Heaven. And ultimately that’s what you and I are called to do in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!

[1] “Boiling Point” presented at the Mental Health Action Week, 2008, Mental Health Organization.

[2] Redford and Virginia Williams, Anger Kills.

[3] David Powlison, Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness, Kindle edition.

[4] Psalm 7:11.

[5] For example, see Matthew 23.

[6] Gary Chapman, Anger: Handling a Powerful Emotion in a Healthy Way.

[7] Neil T. Anderson and Rich Miller, Managing Your Anger, 152.

[8] Matthew 27:50.

The Transformed Life that Pleases God

On September 27, 2022September 29, 2022 By Jason SmithIn Devotional2 Comments

How exactly do good works fit in with the life of a Christian? Many have wrestled with this concept, oftentimes setting faith and works at odds, as if the two are somehow in opposition. Unfortunately, I’ve heard some pastors imply that, because we are saved by grace through faith, no effort is required for living the Christian life. We have only to “let go and let God.”[1]

The 19^th century Anglican bishop J. C. Ryle can help us here:

“Is it wise to proclaim in so bald, naked, and unqualified a way as many do, that the holiness of converted people is by faith only, and not at all by personal exertion? Is it according to the proportion of God’s Word? I doubt it. That faith in Christ is the root of all holiness… no well-instructed Christian will ever think of denying. But surely the Scriptures teach us that in following holiness the true Christian needs personal exertion and work as well as faith.”[2]

When we read Scripture, we find Paul making statements like, “I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10). But how does this work out practically? Elsewhere, Paul discusses living out the faith with the Philippians.

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12-13)

The Philippians were a faithful group of Jesus-followers. Paul didn’t have much correction for them, as he did with other churches. But he tells them to keep working out their salvation, and to do so with “fear and trembling” – as if there was a profound gravity to how we live our lives.

People today understand the importance of working out. If you want to be fit, you join a gym. If you want to excel as an athlete, you have to put time into working out your muscles. But what does it mean “to work out your salvation”? Isn’t the whole message of Christianity that we are saved by grace, not works? Isn’t the righteousness we need a gift of God’s grace through Christ, not our own righteousness? Yes, that’s all true.

Saved for Good Works

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Contrary to what every other religion teaches, the Bible says that salvation is not attained by our moral effort or achievement. It’s something that comes to us by sheer grace, as a free gift.

However, we often stop there without reading the next verse: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (v. 10). In other words, we are not saved by our good works, but we are saved for good works. This is what many people miss when it comes to the Christian life. While salvation is a free and unearned gift, God both expects and empowers us to live a new transformed life of obedience.

This is Paul’s point when he tells the Philippians to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (vv. 12b-13). The basis for all our good works and new living is our identity as new creations in Christ.

If you have come to Christ, God is doing a mighty work in you through the Holy Spirit, and your responsibility is to live that out. You do work, but what you work out is the inner renewal that God “works in you” (v. 13). To work out your salvation is to pursue the holiness for which God has saved you.

Pursuing Holiness in God’s Power

Paul’s basic idea is this: You have been set apart for Christ, so now live like it by His power. You weren’t saved so you could go back to living like the world. Christians are to live together as a transformed community. We are not called to mirror the world. We are called to be distinct from the world.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2, ESV)

Not only are we called to holiness, but the world around us needs Christians to live like new creations. The great Christian abolitionist, William Wilberforce, took a stand against the British enslaving their fellow human beings, not because he wanted to look like the decadent culture around him, but because he wanted the voice of God to be heard in England. God had already said that all human beings are made in God’s image, and thus have sacred value.

The problem with so many Christians today is that they think the way to win the world to Christ is to look like the world in every way imaginable – that is, except for believing the gospel. But here’s why that doesn’t work. The message of the gospel is a message designed to transform every aspect of our lives. When we reject conformity with the world and choose to live in the newness of the Spirit, the gospel will actually be compelling!

If we forget that the strength to live in holiness comes from God, we won’t depend on Him in prayer or seek the wisdom found in His Word. But when we know God is the one who empowers this new life, it will be our joy to actively pursue it.

Lights Piercing the Darkness

When the Susan B. Anthony coin was first introduced to American currency as an alternative to the dollar, there was tremendous resistance to it. The reason? The coin was so close in shape and size to the quarter that people often got it confused. In other words, at first glance, it lacked enough distinction from the quarter, and so it became more of a nuisance than a convenience. In the same way, when Christians become indistinguishable from the world, we will not make the impact that God intends for us.

This is why Paul is earnest to say, “Work out all that God has worked in you.” Don’t settle for drifting along with the world, thinking the same way as the world. No! Live out Christ before your neighbor. Show the greatness of His love, shine the light of truth, and make it clear that you’re committed to live for Jesus rather than the paltry acceptance of the world.

As a child of God, you are to live “without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15). When the shroud of deception and corruption closes in, those who live for Jesus will shine like bright stars piercing the darkness of night.

Pleasing God

It is at those precise points where worldviews collide that Christians have the most to offer the world. If we remain true to our convictions, we will give others a reason to reconsider Jesus. And notice how verse 13 ends: “For it is God who works in you, both to will and work for His good pleasure.”

When you live a transformed life, God is pleased. He’s pleased because you’re now yielding to His greater plan for your life – a life beyond merely following the status quo. The status quo is for those who just want to remain safely unnoticed. It is for those whose lives are “conformed to the pattern of this world” (Romans 12:2).

But who really wants to spend their whole life living in the fear of man? The reason Paul can say that he’s more than happy to pour out his life for the faith of others is that he knows that God is the ultimate source of joy (Philippians 2:17; 4:4). When our lives are spent lifting up Christ, others will grow in their faith, and God will be pleased. And what could possibly matter more for the Christian than pleasing God?

Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!

[1] See Jared C. Wilson, “The Devilishness of ‘Let Go and Let God Theology.” https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/devilishness-let-go-let-god-theology/. If the phrase “Let go and let God” is meant to suggest one must surrender control of one’s life to God, then I’m in hearty agreement. However, this phrase is often used to suggest that no effort is required in living as a Christian but rather that our only duty is to trust God, which leads to a host of other problems, such as passivity, as Wilson’s article helpfully articulates. Also, how can someone live by this phrase, when it conflicts with many biblical passages such as: “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14, NIV).

[2] J. C. Ryle, Holiness (1952 edition, London: James Clarke & Co.), viii.

The Quest for Happiness

On September 13, 2022September 14, 2022 By Jason SmithIn Devotional, Theology for Life, Why I Believe2 Comments

There are some pretty funny TV commercials out there. I’m sometimes amazed by the creativity of those marketing gurus. In one Kia car commercial from several years ago, a couple leaving a hotel is greeted by Morpheus from The Matrix at the valet desk. Morpheus tells them, “The world of luxury has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.” He then offers them a choice. Take the blue keys, and they can go back to their delusion of luxury. Or, take the red keys and experience greater luxury than they ever imagined. Of course, they choose the red keys. The commercial ends with them astonished by their Kia experience, complete with surrounding explosions and Morpheus singing opera. The final tagline reads: “Challenge the luxury you know.”

This memorable commercial captures the essence of nearly every commercial out there. The message is simple: “There is greater satisfaction out there, if only you try our product.” The message remains the same because it speaks to the longing of our hearts. We are all on a quest for happiness.

Here’s how the famous French philosopher Blaise Pascal explained it:

“All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they use, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both – to be happy. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.”[1]

We all want to be happy. Pascal says this is the driving motive behind our every action. With a little reflection, you can see this desire behind every pursuit in life – earning a living, finding a spouse, raising good kids, having fun, keeping fit. All of it is because we want to be happy.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon says he chased after happiness, too. And he went about it every way he could. He says, “I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven… to find out what is good” (Ecclesiastes 1:13, 2:1, ESV).

Like a lion going after his prey, he was on the hunt for true satisfaction in life. He then takes us through some of his endeavors to discover true happiness.

And he starts by giving us the summary of his findings: “I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14, ESV). Solomon says, “Wherever you have searched for satisfaction in this life, I promise you I’ve already tried it. It’s all just a striving after wind.”

Happiness through Knowledge?

Solomon started at the university. He went there like a sponge ready to soak up every ounce of knowledge he could. He wanted to know everything about everything. He went to all the greatest minds of his time and learned what he could learn from them. Today, if you want to become an expert in a field, it’s truly amazing how much you can learn about science, history, math, the legal system, sports, crafts, cooking, and nature. God’s world is filled with fascinating bits of knowledge. Augustine said, “All truth is God’s truth.”

But the questions is, How far can such knowledge take us? Does it help us overcome death? Does it lead to everlasting life?

People can become brilliant scholars in any and all fields of knowledge, but Solomon concludes that this can’t give you true and lasting satisfaction. No matter how much you know, none of it ultimately matters apart from knowing Christ. We need God’s wisdom, found in His Book.

At the end of Ecclesiastes, he even warns us: “Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body” (12:12). And to that, every college and high school student says, “Amen!” “For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief” (v. 18).

All that hitting the books never brought the satisfaction that Solomon longed for. The more he knew, the more miserable life seemed. Knowledge alone could never satisfy. That reminds me of the teacher who wrote on the boy’s report card: “If ignorance is bliss, then this student is going to be the happiest person in the world.”

Leonard Woolf, a man known for his countless scholarly achievements, had this to say after a lifetime’s pursuit of academic study:

“I see clearly that I have achieved practically nothing. The world today and the history of the human anthill during the past five to seven years would be exactly the same as it is if I had played Ping-Pong instead of sitting on committees and writing books and memoranda. I have therefore to make a rather ignominious confession that I must have, in a long life, ground through between 150,000 and 200,000 hours of perfectly useless work.”[2]

This is a shocking admission. Woolf was known for his brilliant commentary on economics, education, and politics. He wrote stacks and stacks of books and articles on many different subjects. And yet his own assessment of his life’s achievement was that it amounted to “practically nothing” – a chasing after the wind.

Happiness through Pleasure and Success?

Next, Solomon tries pursuing pleasure. He leaves the university and heads out on the town for some entertainment. He buys tickets to the greatest comedians, buys drinks for himself and everyone around him, and does his best to have a good time. He indulges in every form of entertainment you can imagine, getting drunk night after night with the finest of wines.

He is like “The Wanderer” in the song based on Ecclesiastes that U2 wrote, featuring Johnny Cash as lead vocals:

“I went out there/ In search of experience/ To taste and to touch and to feel as much / As a man can before he repents.”

Solomon says:

“I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees… I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines. I had everything a man could desire!” (Ecclesiastes 2:5-6, 8, NLT)

He plants spectacular gardens and parks, then invites all the A-list celebrities over to his house for one pool party after another. He orders the most delicious foods imaginable. He hires Grammy-winning bands to come play music. And, of course, many beautiful women are there. Like Hugh Hefner, he lives the playboy lifestyle and denies himself nothing. He looks for pleasure wherever it may be found, leaving no stone unturned.

But once again, he sees where this pursuit of pleasure comes up short.

I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” (Ecclesiastes 2:2-3, ESV)

Have you ever read the biography of a comedian? They often live the loneliest and saddest of lives. Solomon discovered that no matter what entertainment or pleasure he indulged in, it always left a gaping hole in his heart. He realized that it was really just a distraction from the pain and brevity of life.

In the end, even the most enjoyable earthly pleasures will leave us empty apart from God.

In our secular culture, it’s becoming more and more common to view human beings as merely material creatures. If Darwin was right and we’re just the product of unguided nature, then we are all just bags of molecules. And if you think we have no spiritual side to us – no immortal soul – but are instead just material creatures, then you’ll conclude that only material things could satisfy us.

But I think we all know deep down that there’s more to us than meets the eye. When you think about the choices you make every day — what to wear, what to eat, and what to do — that’s not just neural circuitry in your brain. That’s the freedom of choice coming from your inner self. When you think about a mother pouring out her blood, sweat, and tears to raise her children well, or a husband sacrificing career aspirations to care for his bedridden wife, that’s not just chemical reactions in the brain. That’s love.

The Big Tease

And since we are more than matter, material solutions will never fully satisfy. Happiness isn’t found where we so often look.

"The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. Then I said in my heart, 'What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?' And I said in my heart that this also is vanity." (Ecclesiastes 2:14-15, ESV)

No matter how much fame, fortune, or fun he had, Solomon recognized that none of it lasts forever. It doesn’t matter how brilliant you are, the same event happens to us all. We all have an appointment with death.

"How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind." (Ecclesiastes 2:17, ESV)

Solomon feels cheated. It’s like life is one big tease promising him the happiness he craves, but never fulfilling that desire. Why? Because life is still cut short by death. He says, “How pointless to work hard and have so much when eventually I’ll be gone and it will be left to someone else!”

It’s because of death that many have wondered, Can we really say that life has meaning?

Even atheists long for meaning in life. They too have been made in God’s image so they can’t escape this hunger for significance. They just talk about creating their own meaning. And in a sense, that’s what Solomon set out to do: create his own meaning under the sun.

But when we leave God out of the picture, we’re left with a pretty bleak picture of ourselves. The search for meaning and happiness becomes a chasing after the wind. Biology professor William Provine once bluntly stated: “Let me summarize my views… There are no gods… There is no ultimate foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning in life.”[3]

That’s what Solomon is trying to show us: Life minus God is meaningless. That’s because apart from God, we cannot have lasting happiness (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25). When you receive all the joys of this life as gifts from our Maker, you can actually enjoy them more because you’re not seeking them as ends in themselves. They are meant to lead you to God Himself.

Joy Complete

Is it possible that we overlook the simple pleasures of life, like the beauty of a sunset or a delicious meal because we aren’t seeing them as gifts from our Father’s hand?

When Jesus came, He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” and “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love… I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” (John 11:25; 15:10-11, NIV).

For those who belong to Jesus, death is not the end of all joy. When we surrender our lives to Him, death becomes the door to the greatest of all joys: the glory of God’s presence in Heaven for all eternity.

We search for happiness in this life, but Jesus tells us, “In Me, you will have joy everlasting.”

Where is your search for happiness taking you? Are you ready to find it in Jesus?

Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!

[1] Blaise Pascal, Pensees (Loc. 2049).

[2] Leonard Woolf, quoted in Wireless Age (September/November 1998).

[3] Phillip Johnson & William Provine, “Darwinism: Science or Naturalistic Philosophy? Philip Johnson vs William Provine,” IDquest, debate, 41:10, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7dG9U1vQ_U , emphasis added.

The Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart

On August 30, 2022August 30, 2022 By Jason SmithIn Devotional, Theology for Life2 Comments

God clearly cares about our hearts. Throughout the Bible, we read about the significance of the heart. The heart is the seat of all human thought, emotion, and activity (Proverbs 4:23). God knows us so well, because His gaze pierces all the way through to our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7). The heart is often portrayed as the secret inner storehouse or the deep well of a person’s soul (Proverbs 20:5; Matthew 12:35; 1 Corinthians 14:26; Hebrews 4:12).

The words on our lips are usually good indicators of what’s brewing within. Jesus wisely said, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34).

King Solomon urges us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5, ESV).

A heart that is right with God is a heart that gladly leans on Him as a child leans on her father’s chest. It is not too proud to trust in His grace.

Pharaoh’s Hard Heart

The Bible records God telling Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go” (Exodus 4:22, ESV).

This is the first time Pharaoh’s hard heart is mentioned. The Hebrew word chazaq literally means “to strengthen,” as in God strengthened Pharaoh’s heart in his rebellion. In 11 cases, chazaq is used to speak of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart (4:21; 9:2; 10:20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8) or more generally that Pharaoh’s heart “was hardened” (7:13, 22; 8:19; 9:35).

However, another word is also used to speak of Pharaoh’s hard heart – the Hebrew word kabad’, which literally means “to make heavy.” Three times, this word is used to speak of Pharaoh hardening his own heart (8:15, 32; 9:34), once with the general phrase “was hardened” (9:7), and twice to speak of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart (10:1; 14:4). It is a similar word to chazaq, but it has a special nuance worth noting.

Ancient Egyptians believed that in the afterlife a special ceremony took place called The Weighing of the Heart (pictured above). In this ceremony, overseen by the god Anubis, the heart of the deceased was placed on one side of a great scale and was weighed against the feather of truth. If someone had committed many sins, their heart would be weighed down, and they would be condemned to eternal restlessness. However, if they’d lived a virtuous life, one’s heart would be lighter than the feather. In this case, they would be granted safe passage to the Egyptian paradise, the fields of Aaru.

Because of this belief about one’s heart determining one’s eternal destiny, Egyptians would remove all the organs except the heart when burying their dead. Moses may be alluding to this ancient belief when he writes that Pharaoh’s heart was “made heavy” (Exodus 8:15, 32; 9:7, 34; 10:1; 14:4).

This is a reminder that in nearly every age and culture, people have been religious. God has given humanity a universal sense of right and wrong, and because of this, we all know we are supposed to be good. And we all sense the scales of justice by which our lives will be weighed.

Our Hard Hearts

It is interesting how often Scripture connects salvation to the state of one’s heart. The Bible says that we need to be saved from sin, and Jesus said that all sin ultimately springs from a defiled heart (Matthew 15:18-20). When He saw the prideful religiosity of the Pharisees, Jesus asked them, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?” (9:4). Mark tells us He was “grieved at their hardness of heart” (Mark 5:3). Sometimes, even His disciples didn’t understand because “their hearts were hardened” (6:52). But Jesus also said the greatest commandment was, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).

It’s popular today for people to say, “Just follow your heart.” It’s cliché and catchy. But in the Bible, that sounds like generally bad advice, like something the devil would urge you to do. Instead, we are warned about the inherent dangers of following one’s heart, which is so prone to self-deception. A heart that is not directed toward God is foolish and darkened (Genesis 3:1-6; Ephesians 4:22; Romans 1:21). The prophet Jeremiah quoted God on the matter:

“The heart is deceitful above all things
    and beyond cure.
    Who can understand it?
I the Lord search the heart
    and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
    according to what their deeds deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10, NIV)

It’s good to know that God is just and will reward people according to what they deserve, but what hope of reward do we have? The Bible also says, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God” (Romans 3:10-11, NIV). This sounds pretty bleak. Thankfully, this isn’t Scripture’s last word on the matter.

The New Heart We All Need

The prophet Ezekiel records a divine promise about those who would receive a new heart:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness.” (Ezekiel 36:26-29, NIV)

This means there is hope for those who have hard hearts like Pharaoh. But it’s not a matter of having a new commitment to live a good life; it’s a matter of becoming a new creation in Christ. This can only happen through faith in His finished work on the cross and subsequent resurrection. Speaking of that time when Jesus was on the cross, the prophet Isaiah says, “he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5, NIV).

Jesus took all that defiles our hearts onto Himself so that we could be redeemed from the sin that had enslaved us. Salvation is about God cleansing our hearts by grace through faith (see Acts 15:9; Hebrews 10:22; 13:9). A new heart is a forgiven heart, a liberated heart.

Through faith in Christ, the burden of guilt is lifted, and our hearts become lighter than a feather. Jesus comforted His disciples when He was about to die for them, saying, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me” (John 14:1). A heart cleansed by the shed blood of Jesus is a heart reconciled to God. “For with the heart one believes and is justified” (Romans 10:10, ESV).

A new heart is soft and fleshy (Ezekiel 36:26). It wants more of God, not less. It desires His name to be famous, not our own. It craves to be filled with His love and His Spirit, not the fleeting pleasures of sin. It seeks His leading and direction, rather than wanting its own way. Though the battle of opposing desires still rages today (Romans 7:15-25), only the fruit produced in the new heart will last into eternity (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)).

And finally, Paul’s prayers for the church were continually about the state of their hearts, showing that the heart is a subject we should not neglect.

“May the Lord direct your hearts to God’s love and Christ’s endurance.” (2 Thessalonians 3:5, HCSB)

That is my prayer for you as well.

Father of mercies, my heart is so prone to wander after worthless pursuits that seem so urgent or attractive today. Give me fresh desires from Your heart of love, that I might live the life You’ve called me to. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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