Category: Theology for Life

What Does It Mean to Walk with God?

On By Jason SmithIn Devotional, Theology for Life3 Comments
Saddle Mountain, Oregon. Photo Courtesy of Ben McBee

One of the best ways to get to know someone is to go hiking together. I mean, really, what better way to bond than trekking through the Oregon wilderness together? When you go for a hike, you aren’t just taking a quick stroll. You’re on an adventure! You’re crossing brooks, stepping over fallen logs, snapping pictures of stunning sights, gaining elevation.

That last one is important. My wife Whitney recently took our boys for a “hike” with some other moms and kids, but the boys later told me, “That was a walk, not a hike.” The event had been dubbed a “nature hike,” but there was no elevation gained. I must agree with my boys.

The best hikes always have as their final reward a grand vista where you can look out and see the wonders of nature—a lush valley, a snowy mountain range, or the Pacific Ocean glimmering in the sunlight. Throughout the journey, there is time to get to know your fellow travelers and discuss subjects that can’t be explored in brief, ordinary conversations. All the while, you are experiencing the beauty of creation together; shared experiences are nearly always exponentially better than solo experiences (that’s why watching a movie is far better with a friend, despite the fact that all you are doing is sitting and staring at a screen).

The Bible often uses the metaphor of someone “walking with God.” From the very beginning, it is implied that God often walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8). We are told that the antediluvian[1] Enoch—a guy who avoided death through his own private rapture into Heaven— “walked with God” (Genesis 5:24). “Noah walked with God” (6:9). God called Abraham to “Walk before Me and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). On numerous occasions, God even tells all the people of Israel, “I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people” (Leviticus 26:12). The idea of walking with someone implies intimacy. It’s not me running ahead of God or me fighting to keep up with God, but me walking with God.

And if you’re walking with God, you’re not running away from Him (like Adam and Eve in the Garden after they sinned), but seeking to be with Him continually. Rather than trying to push thoughts of Him away from your mind, you’re seeking to “practice the presence of God”[2] by regularly reminding yourself that all of life is meant to be lived before His face.

“If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:6-7, ESV)

The blood of Jesus cleanses us and through trusting in that blood, we begin a new journey of walking with Him by the light of His Word and filled with the energy of His Holy Spirit.

I am no Hebrew scholar, but from what I gather, there isn’t exactly a word for “hike,” in contrast to “walk” in ancient Hebrew. One word would basically be used for both. So, while the word “hike” is not in the Bible, when I think about “walking with God,” I like to think about this in terms of hiking. Maybe it’s my personal bias; I love hiking. But a hike suggests a journey, one that will be marked by both challenges and delights. I also like how hiking gives us a picture of an upward goal we are progressing toward. Paul says, “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).

A long and arduous journey shared by companions with a common goal serves as the backdrop for many literary classics, including Lord of the Rings and Pilgrim’s Progress. Our walk with God is a lifelong journey, one in which we don’t always know what is ahead, but we are comforted by the fact that our Guide knows about every step along the way. In fact, He’s marked out the trail for us.

Like a challenging hike, our walk with God won’t always be easy. There will be moments of testing, new difficulties to overcome, and times when exhaustion will set in and the temptation to turn back will be very strong. From a distance, it may look like we are wandering in the proverbial forest, lost and confused. Others may question our motives and criticize the path we’ve chosen, maybe even claiming they have found a more “practical” or wider trail with fewer bumps along the way. But if we faithfully follow our Guide and stay on the trail, He will lead us to new vistas of His glory and His grace that we never dreamed possible when we first began the journey.

Our walk with God is not a brief stroll, but it is a shared experience. To use an old-fashioned (but good) word, life is meant to be lived in communion with God: He continually shows us more of His heart even as we open more of ours to Him. When we do wander off the trail, we quickly get tangled in those painful blackberry bushes of sin that tend to leave a mark, reminding us how foolish it was to try to carve a new path on our own. Thankfully, He’s always willing to wash us off when we come back to the Way. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, ESV).

To walk with God is to daily surrender yourself to Him, letting Him teach you how life is meant to be lived. Jesus said that if you want to save your life, you first need to lose it so that it can be truly found in Him (Matthew 16:25). We were made for Him, so life will always be hollow until it is filled by His life. Whereas before God’s purity, goodness, holiness, and love were abstract ideas, as we walk with God, we begin to experience more of God Himself.

The psalmist cries out, “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!” (Psalm 34:8). It’s one thing to believe your friend who tells you of a new dish that is to-die-for delicious, but it’s something else entirely to actually taste it for yourself. Similarly, while sound doctrinal statements about God are vital and give us a necessary map for our journey, they can never replace the intimacy of actually knowing God and experiencing the warmth of His love flooding your soul.

As we are drawn into the life of God, we sometimes pause in our walk and think about how far we’ve come together. We briefly wonder, Where would I be if it weren’t for God? But only briefly. Because our eyes are on the goal ahead. We are traveling together with a destination in mind.

This alone is what can satisfy our hearts—tasting the Lord’s goodness and seeing His glory.

The church father Augustine had this to say:

“So what should we do in sharing the love of God, whose full enjoyment constitutes the happy life? It is God from whom all those who love Him derive both their existence and their love; it is God who frees us from any fear that He can fail to satisfy anyone to whom He becomes known; it is God who wants Himself to be loved, not in order to gain any reward for Himself but to give to those who love Him an eternal reward—namely Himself.”

Have you begun your journey with God? Walk with Him and enjoy the endless fruit of delight in knowing His love for you.

I pray this encourages you. If you have any thoughts or questions about this, I would love to hear from you!

[1] That’s an old school word for “pre-Flood” or “before the biblical Flood.”

[2] Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God.

Praying Like Elijah

On By Jason SmithIn Devotional, Theology for Life3 Comments 
“For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20, CSB)

Prayer is powerful. I don’t say that to be cliché; I say that because Jesus taught us this. Time and time again, He called us to pray boldly and passionately in His Name.

I also cannot deny the ways my wife Whitney and I have been wowed by God’s grace and perfect timing in answering our prayers in incredibly specific ways. There are too many to count but let me just give a few examples.

Before we met, my wife Whitney prayed for the wisdom to find the right man to marry and that this fellow would arrive at her church’s college group with several others so that she wouldn’t know immediately who that man would be. A short time later, I visited that college group with a handful of others, because I was invited by the pastor who led that group while I was working at Applebee’s. The rest, as they say, is history.

Another time, I was in a Bible study, and one man shared that his very young grandson had a brain tumor the size of a golf ball. For several weeks in a row, we prayed for healing each time we met. One morning, he came to our study with amazing news. The tumor had not only shrunk—it was completely gone. Not a trace of it. In fact, I know of numerous cases where someone plagued with life-threatening cancer has been totally healed. Just yesterday, I heard of another answer to prayer of a dear woman who received the glorious news that the latest scan revealed she is cancer free.

I can think of another time when Whitney and I were raising money for a short-term mission trip to Guatemala, and we were a little short on the green stuff. We prayed passionately and specifically that God would supply the money we needed for the trip in whatever way He saw fit. He came through in various ways to provide us with exactly what we needed. I remember my heart swelling with joy as I thought about how God had so lovingly answered our sincere requests so that we could go on this mission trip together as a young married couple before we had any kids.

These are just the tip of the iceberg. I really could go on and on with examples of how God has provided answers to prayers—often in ways we never saw coming.

As these come to mind, I sometimes wonder why I don’t pray more often or more passionately. It’s not as though God has ignored me in the past. Lately, He’s been really challenging me to lead from deep, heartfelt prayer, as opposed to only praying with passion when something goes wrong. The Lord wants me to admit my shortcomings and acknowledge my great need for His power in every aspect of my life.

Jonathan Edwards said that when we ignore prayer, we “live like atheists or like brute creatures,” and “live as if there were no God.” Why would we ignore our direct line to the One who reigns over all?

If anything is worth doing, it must come by God’s power, not my own strength. Therefore, I need to be drawing power from the Lord in everything I do if I want to have an eternal impact. The Bible reminds us, “The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16, ESV). Our prayers have “great power” because they are directed to a God who is known for doing what is humanly impossible (Luke 1:37).

I’m reminded of the story of Elijah. He prayed fervently for God to send the rain when Israel was enduring a drought while the wicked King Ahab was on the throne. In 1 Kings 18, we read:

And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again,” seven times. And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.’” (1 Kings 18:42-44, ESV)

Elijah didn’t just pray once, see there was nothing, and then give up. No, the text emphasizes how he prayed fervently seven more times for the rainclouds to show up. He understood that God wants us to pray with passion, expectancy, and repetition. At the very first tiny sign that God had answered his prayers (after all, a hand-sized cloud seems like a bit of a letdown), Elijah confidently sent word to Ahab, “Get in your buggy and go, because the rain is a-comin’!” God answered his prayers in such a way that no one in Israel could chalk up the sudden change in weather to mere happenstance.

Imagine an Israelite saying, “Finally! We’re getting rain after three-and-a-half years. How lucky are we!”

Elijah’s prayers made the difference.

Through this prophet’s prayers, God turned the rain off and then back on 42 months later, raised a widow’s son to life, and shot down fire to engulf a thrice-soaked altar to vindicate Elijah’s claims about Yahweh, not Baal, being the one true God of the world. Clearly, we’re meant to see that Elijah’s prayers were powerful. God can change the weather conditions whenever and however He wants. He’s sovereign over this world. But, as in our lives, He chose to change the circumstances in response to the prayer of one of His faithful followers.

When we read about Elijah’s ministry, we are rightly in awe of how the Lord worked through him. However, before we lionize Elijah as a biblical superhero and assume we could never pray like him or see God work wonders before our eyes, we should consider what James says about this.

“Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” (James 5:17-18, ESV)

James is reminding us that the situation is not so different for us today. At the end of the day, Elijah was just a man; he had a nature like ours. And God Himself hasn’t changed, because He never changes (Malachi 3:6). If Elijah prayed to the same God we pray to today, why should we expect our prayers to be less effective? The whole reason James brings up Elijah as an example is to say, “You too can pray with power.”

So go to the Lord today and pray with passion, boldness, and expectancy like Elijah did. There is no telling what massive changes God will bring about through your prayers. After all, “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.”

I pray this encourages you. If you have any thoughts or questions about this, I would love to hear from you!

The Bible’s Enduring Authority and Our Perennial Questions

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

Picture the scene. A seasoned fisherman has labored all night, but he and his team have come up empty. Out of the blue, an itinerant rabbi tells this blue-collar worker that he will catch some fish if he lets down his nets one more time. The fisherman, named Simon, doubted this rabbi knows what He is talking about. After all, Simon is the experienced, no-nonsense fisherman. But the man is a rabbi, so it’s probably best to comply out of respect, even if it’s a pointless exercise.

And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” (Luke 5:5, ESV)

Then, the impossible happened. They caught so many fish that the nets began to break. Simon quickly realized his boat simply couldn’t handle this much weight. He called his partners over to help him out. It was the greatest fishing story of Simon’s life.

In that moment, Simon recognized that he was in the presence of pure holiness.

But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (Luke 5:8, ESV)

Self-assurance was replaced by awe. Reluctant compliance was replaced by humble trust. After this, Peter left everything to follow Jesus. How could he turn Jesus down now? And Peter would continue to learn just how much he didn’t know.

“The Word of Our God Endures Forever”

If you study the Bible long enough, you will always have questions. Sometimes a passage just doesn’t seem to make sense. We may even wonder aloud, “Why would God do it that way?” Sometimes our cultural distance from the events in the Bible make it hard for us to grasp what was really going on. At other times, we understand the context well enough, but God’s plan or design for human life just seems weird or confusing—maybe even flawed.

Sometimes, people invoke the ancient cultural situation of the Bible’s human authors when they want to relativize Scripture’s teaching on things like generosity, self-control, and sexual ethics. “That was then,” people often say. “But things are different now. This is the 21st century after all.”

The fallacy of that argument is that when God speaks clearly on a matter, He speaks for all times.

“The entirety of Your word is truth, and all Your righteous judgments endure forever.” (Psalm 119:160, BSB)

Unlike your smartphone, the Bible never needs updates.

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” (Isaiah 40:8, NIV)[1]

The Bible is the only flawless thing on earth.[2] When God speaks, He doesn’t stutter or fumble for words. God gave Scripture through men for our encouragement and edification.[3] While their historical and cultural situation matters, God is not limited by human cultures to say what He wants to say. Without the Bible, we are spiritually lost, like a submarine without a navigation system.

The French intellectual Voltaire is reputed to have quipped, “One hundred years from my day, there will not be a Bible on earth except one that is looked upon by an antiquarian curiosity-seeker.” The ironic twist of Providence is that Voltaire’s own house in Geneva, Switzerland, later became a storehouse for Bibles by the Evangelical Society of Geneva (pictured above).[4] Those who try to mock the Bible end up making a mockery of themselves.

The Apostle Paul clearly believed the whole Bible was still relevant and authoritative when he wrote:

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, ESV)

He said that to Timothy, even though much of the Scripture available at that time (the Old Testament) was written some 1,400 years earlier and in a different culture.

“Come Let Us Reason Together”

It’s never a good idea to think you know better than God. At the same time, God is not opposed to questions. The psalms and prophets are filled with God’s people asking Him why certain things must be so. God even welcomes our frustrated pleas for understanding and our laments over why the world is in the sordid mess that it is.

“Come let us reason together,” God invites us (Isaiah 1:18). Questions are good; they indicate thoughtfulness and engagement with what God has said. But questions should always be tinged with humility. Those who want to sit in judgment on God’s Word are following the plan of the serpent, who asked, “Did God really say?”[5]

We need to remember that God is infinitely holy and majestic. We are finite human beings with a three-pound brain who have only been around for about two seconds compared to the eternal God. To assume we know better than God is the height of arrogance. We should admit that we know almost nothing next to our all-knowing God.

Whenever I come across a passage that confuses me or seems to paint God in a negative light, I should start with the assumption that I am missing something significant.

For instance, many people might ask, “How could God kill everyone on earth in the Genesis flood? That seems so extreme!” or “How can God command Joshua to utterly destroy those Canaanites?”

But God is holy, and His ways are perfectly just. What people often forget is that, as our Creator, He is in a category all by Himself.

“The Beginning of Knowledge”

As we grow in our understanding of God’s holiness, we begin to see things with a better perspective. When people say, “I would never do it that way!” I would agree and add, “That’s because you and I are not God. He alone is the holy and good Ruler of all.”

As the Lord and King of this world, God has every right to judge sinful people who rebel against Him and blaspheme His Name. The real question the Bible pushes us to ask is not “How can God judge?” but “How can God be so incredibly merciful to those who persist in atrocious deeds against their fellow man and moral rebellion against His perfect will?” Solomon reminds us:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
    fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7, ESV)

Notice what this verse says. We can’t even begin to have a true knowledge of God, ourselves, and the world we inhabit until we develop a right fear of the Lord. Jesus reminded us that while we often fear corrupt men, we should be fearing the incorruptible God who can send people to an eternity in hell.

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28, ESV)

When we lack a healthy fear of God as the all-powerful Judge that He is, we begin to think that we get to put God in the dock and accuse Him of wrong. And those who slander God tend to slander their fellow man who has been made in His image.

The Lord says:

“These things you have done, and I have been silent;
    you thought that I was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.
Mark this, then, you who forget God,
    lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!” (Psalm 50:21-22, ESV)

When we have a low view of God, we will misinterpret His actions. If we want to honor God and be blessed by Him, we should consider that God blesses those who revere His Word.

“But this is the one to whom I will look:
    he who is humble and contrite in spirit
    and trembles at my word.” (Isaiah 66:2, ESV)

Every time we open the Bible, we should ask God for a humble attitude that is ready to learn and an open heart ready to be transformed more and more into His likeness.

Once we recognize where we have arrogantly flouted God’s Word (we all have), we need to come back to Him in humble repentance, falling on our knees as Simon Peter did before the Lord Jesus (Luke 5:8). When we do that, we get to experience His forgiving mercy and grace.

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5, ESV)

I pray this encourages you. If you have any thoughts or questions about any of this, I would love to hear from you!

[1] Also see Psalm 111:7-8; 119:89.

[2] Proverbs 30:5; Psalm 12:6; 18:30; 2 Samuel 22:31.

[3] 2 Peter 1:21.

[4] https://bellatorchristi.com/2019/03/18/voltaires-prediction-home-and-the-bible-society-truth-or-myth/

[5] Genesis 3:1

Suicide and the Serious Business of Heaven

On By Jason SmithIn Theology for Life, Why I Believe3 Comments 
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11, ESV)

Jesus wants us to experience joy. The Bible is all about finding joy from the true Fountain of Joy. It’s not about faking a smile so that everyone thinks you’re okay. The Bible emphasizes the kind of joy that wells up from deep within, because we have found the reason for our existence.

God did not make us to live as bored and miserable creatures. Every one of us longs to experience a meaningful life. Deep down, we know that we were not made for a dreary, barren existence. We were made for a bigger joy than anything this world can give us. Our hearts are deeper than we know. Only God Himself is big enough to fill them with lasting joy.

C. S. Lewis said, “Joy is the serious business of Heaven.”[1] Where you find joy says everything about you. In fact, I think it’s one of the clearest ways to know if you are a genuine follower of Jesus. Because if you are, then you have the Holy Spirit living inside you, and the Holy Spirit changes everything He touches. He brings warmth and life to what is otherwise cold and dead. He is the Source of true joy. Just like a branch draws sap from the trunk, we receive life-giving joy from the Spirit who dwells inside us.

Just think about this. Does it make sense to have the Fountain of everlasting joy live inside you, yet always be gloomy and miserable? Certainly, Christians get sad, too. But the true Christian still has the wellspring of everlasting joy living within, and that will buoy them when nothing else can.

Running on Empty

Our society today demonstrates that material possessions and economic wealth cannot make us happy. In the United States, we are one of the wealthiest countries in the world—not only today, but in all of history—and yet we are also one of the most anxious and depressed nations in the world. Advertisements today promise us happiness through purchasing a certain product, such as a car, or taking a vacation. And we have bought the lies that leave us empty.

Sociologists tell us that suicidal ideation is at an all-time high today—even higher than during the Great Depression of the 1930s. In the next hour, more than five Americans will take their own life. By the end of the day, that number will reach roughly 130 people. In the course of 2024, an estimated 47,000 people will have committed suicide. These numbers should astonish us, but it’s impossible to calculate the amount of pain caused by even a single suicide.

Many people today pay little attention to the Bible. Frankly, they don’t care what a bunch of Jews wrote two thousand years ago. And yet, this book claims to offer the joy that our world is desperately craving.

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11, ESV)

The same Holy Spirit that indwelled Jesus and indwelled the Apostles indwells His followers today. The Holy Spirit closes the gap so that everything in our Bibles is relevant to us today, because the deep truths they talked about 2,000 years ago remain true for us today. Jesus is just as relevant.

People were sinners in need of a Savior back then, and people are sinners in need of a Savior today. People were hurting, miserable, and lacking joy back then, and people today are hurting, miserable, and lost.

Why Do People Commit Suicide?

Dr. Matthew Sleeth is a medical doctor who saw countless patients in the emergency room who had attempted to take their own life. Dr. Sleeth is now a follower of Jesus, but for most of his medical career, he was an atheist. During that time, he observed the protective effect of belief in a personal God when it comes to suicide.

In his book Hope Always, Dr. Sleeth notes how suicide doesn’t really fit with the theory of evolution, a theory that teaches all of life owes its existence to the principle of survival of the fittest. In fact, in study after study, it’s been shown that suicide is unknown in the animal kingdom. So, the question is: Why do we commit suicide?

Dr. Sleeth writes:

“…for most of my medical career, I was an atheist. Nonetheless, in the course of seeing some thirty thousand patients, I couldn’t help but notice the positive role faith played in my patients’ ability to cope and recover from both mental and physical illness. In fact, faith seemed to be the crucial factor in most of those who successfully recovered from long-term addictions.”[2]

If we were made for God and joy really is the serious business of Heaven, then it makes sense that a wholesale rejection of God—as we are seeing in our culture today—will lead to tragic increases in anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation.

He adds, “God helps when it comes to suicide. It’s a fact. Yet the current sixty-one-page report published by the CDC on suicide expunges God and faith from the discussion of suicide and depression.”[3]

 Jesus alone can give you the joy your soul is craving.

His joy can be in you today, in 2024, because Jesus is alive today. That’s what the story of Easter is all about. He defeated all our enemies—sin, death, and the devil—so that we can be restored to union with Him that we were made for.

In other words, you can’t be united to Jesus by faith and not have joy. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). That doesn’t mean every day is easy and filled with laughter for the follower of Christ. But it does mean that from the bottom of your soul, you can know that friendship with Jesus is the only way to true joy. And it means you can have the confidence that Jesus is greater and more satisfying than anything this world has to offer.

No career will give you this kind of joy. No house or car will give you this joy. No relationship or marriage—no matter how amazing it might be—can possibly give you what Jesus can give you. That’s because He offers a supernatural joy. Again, this was Jesus’ promise for His disciples, and that includes us today:

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11, ESV)

The Extraordinary Life of Following Jesus

As our friend, Jesus is giving us another motivation to follow Him. The life of discipleship is the context for the above statement. He is saying we’ll know deep joy if we abide (or make our home) in Him. This is not how the world thinks. The world thinks that if we turn from what the Bible calls “sin” and start following Christ, then our life will seem so dull and restrictive. But the truth is the very opposite: Living as Christ’s disciple is liberating and invigorating. I get to walk hand-in-hand with the Creator of the stars! He wants to talk with me from His Word, guide me by His ever-present Spirit, and hear from me. He treasures me more than the birds of the sky or the flowers of the field. And I am His. What could possibly be better than this?

“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
You have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness.” (Psalm 30:11, ESV)

Living in sin might be pleasurable for a season, but it will actually choke out all sense of joy. In the end, sin is always a joy-killer, not a joy-giver. Because sin always disrupts good and right fellowship with our Lord. And He is the One that can fill us with joy.

I can say I used to think like the world about this. When I was in high school, I simply thought of obeying Jesus as “the right thing to do” and there were even times I resented the fact that, as a Christian, I didn’t get to have all the so-called “fun” that other teenagers were having. And though I wouldn’t have said it, I sometimes even felt a little deprived. But today I see things far better. I recognize how nothing can compete with the joy of knowing Jesus.

It’s not what you’d expect, but there is deep and profound joy in surrendering every part of your life to Christ.

Because when you consciously give yourself to Jesus, you experience more of His love, His goodness. There’s freedom in knowing your sins are forgiven, and you can gladly say, “Not my will, but Your will be done in my life.”

And what’s the alternative? Do you really want to look to yourself to be the one manufacturing all your joy? Do you really want to carry every burden in life on your own shoulders? How much better to let Jesus lift all your burdens and listen to Him. Because His Word has greater wisdom than this world can offer.

The Joy of Your Salvation

For a time, King David thought he could find joy outside of God. He looked for it in the arms of a beautiful woman named Bathsheba. But though he had pleasure for a night, that adultery led to the sin of lying, which led to the sin of murder. And then even more deception. And as his heart hardened into concrete, all the joy was sapped out of him. In Psalm 51, he talks about how he was a tormented soul; his own guilt was crushing him.

It took a prophet of God to confront him, just like the Word of God confronts us today. And then David, broken as he was, poured out his heart to God:

“Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love.” (Psalm 51:1-2, ESV)

God responded to his repentance by lifting his weight of guilt. And then David could pray:

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.” (Psalm 51:12, ESV)

Forgiveness was no longer an abstract idea for David. He had experienced it on a level he never knew possible. He was washed completely clean, and then he once again knew the sheer joy of being loved and known and cherished by God. What a gift! He didn’t deserve it. But God is abundantly merciful and loves to extend forgiveness to all who cry out to Him just like David did.

It took a humble surrender on David’s part before he experienced the “joy of salvation.” Such is always the case.

You want to know what can steal your joy? Thinking too highly of yourself (see Romans 12:3). Thinking everyone owes you. That you’re always in the right and that everyone else is in the wrong.

Some of the most miserable people in this world are those who have either forgotten or maybe never known how precious it is to walk in true humility. True humility means having no sense of entitlement, no sense of God owing you, but instead having an overwhelming sense of gratitude that God has given you so many extraordinary gifts you simply don’t deserve. True humility comes from learning to delight in God Himself.

Think often of how gracious God has been to you. God has loved you while knowing everything about you. And He loves you more than anyone else ever could or would.

Abiding in Jesus comes from humbly recognizing just how much we need Him in every part of our lives. It’s admitting that if we are in the driver’s seat of our lives, the car always ends up in the ditch. Life is far better when the true King and Captain of your soul is behind the wheel. Because He can give you fullness of joy.

If you have any questions or thoughts about any of this, I would love to hear from you!

[1] C. S. Lewis, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer, 93.

[2] Dr. Matthew Sleeth, Hope Always, 44.

[3] Ibid, 45.

The Danger of Delayed Discipleship

On By Jason SmithIn Devotional, Theology for Life1 Comment

Throughout my life, I can think of several dates when the plans for my day were totally upended. The death of a relative. An unexpected phone call. 9/11. A co-worker tragedy. In most of these examples, when the plan for the day was totally canceled, someone died. Death has a way of intruding into our life, changing plans, and unexpectedly causing shock and grief.

In ancient Israel—as is true for many Jewish people today—the first thing the faithful do is recite the Shema, the confession found in the Torah: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, ESV). The one exception that put all prayers on hold is when your parent died. In that case, burying your father or mother takes precedence over everything, out of reverence for the one who raised you.

This helps us understand a passage in the Gospel of Matthew when a man pledges to follow Jesus after he first buries his father. We expect Jesus to say, “Of course, you must first give your father a proper burial. But then come follow Me!” Instead, Jesus gives this jarring response: “Follow Me, and leave the dead to bury the dead.”[1]

For those who have derived their image of Jesus from the culture, this statement is always puzzling. They picture Jesus as a nice guy who walks around with a lamb on His shoulders and a nice smile, hugging everyone He meets simply because He is so full of niceness (trust me, that’s a word).

Now, don’t get me wrong. Jesus was and is the most loving person to ever grace the planet. But quite often Jesus showed tough love—which is the kind of love that says things we don’t think we need to hear, but desperately do. In the words of 1 Corinthians 13:6, it’s a love that “rejoices in the truth.”

Jesus didn’t always say what sounds “nice” and affirming, but He did always tell us what we need to hear. And in this instance, He was teaching about the danger of delayed discipleship. His point was that no matter what else we may think is urgent and essential, nothing can take priority over following Him. In light of the Bible’s strong emphasis on caring for one’s family, Jesus’ statement here is all the more surprising.

Jesus knows that sometimes people will look for excuses for why they can’t follow Him today. Sometimes, people will use family as an excuse.

To such people, Jesus says:

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”[2]

Stop and consider for a moment how insanely self-centered this would sound on the lips of anyone else. Do you still think Jesus was merely a good teacher of moral ideals?

Offensive? Maybe. But necessary for each of us to hear.

At another time, Jesus gave a parable (which is a story meant to illustrate the kingdom of God) about a man who decided to host a great banquet at his house. He sent out invitations to all his close family and friends. “But they all alike began to make excuses.”[3]

Some claimed they were too busy. They had purchased fields or oxen that demanded their care and attention. Another said, “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.”[4] Each person seemed to have a good and reasonable excuse. It’s not as though they were all at home playing video games or binge watching Netflix. But they were excuses nonetheless.

Jesus said the master of the house became angry when people rejected his generous offer. After all, he was providing a sumptuous feast, free of charge. Because those who were supposedly closest to him rejected his offer, the master sent his servant to go and “bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.”[5] After all, those who had less in life would recognize the generosity of this invitation.

After his dining hall is filled with everyone from “the highways and hedges” far and wide, the great banquet can finally begin. Then, somewhat disdainfully, the master of the house says of those who turned down his invitation, “I tell you, not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.”[6]

The message is pretty clear. Those who put off Jesus and His invitation into life in the kingdom of God are missing out on the joy He is offering.

To say it again: Nothing is more urgent or important in your life right now than discipleship to Jesus.

We might imagine that while we can’t follow Jesus today, we will certainly square things up with Him later. We might even think it’s better to live for ourselves today so that we will better appreciate grace later. But here’s where people need to take care. Sin has a way of hardening the heart that puts Jesus off. How do you know you aren’t hardening your heart against Jesus today? If you don’t have time for Jesus today, what makes you think you will suddenly have time later in life?

The spiritual sage J. C. Ryle offered this warning:

“Habits of good or evil are daily strengthening in your heart. Every day you are either getting nearer to God, or further off. Every year that you continue unrepentant, the wall of division between you and heaven becomes higher and thicker, and the gulf to be crossed deeper and broader. Oh, dread the hardening effect of constant lingering sin! Now is the accepted time. See that your decision not be put off until the winter of your days.”[7]

In reality, no matter what excuse we might come up with for why we are delaying discipleship to Jesus, that very excuse might be the roadblock that keeps us from ever coming to the party. Beware of excuses in your own heart. Take warning from Jesus’ parable. What a tragedy it would be to miss out on the very thing that gives our lives meaning not only for this life, but for all eternity.

In the words of Jesus, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”[8]

If you have any questions about any of this, I would love to hear from you!

[1] Matthew 8:22, ESV

[2] Matthew 10:37, ESV

[3] Luke 14:18, ESV

[4] V. 20

[5] V. 21

[6] V. 24

[7] J. C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, 16.

[8] Matthew 16:26, ESV

God Invented Romance

On By Jason SmithIn Devotional, Theology for Life2 Comments

Marriage is central to the storyline of the Bible. From its earliest chapters, we see that God created the man and the woman for each other and told them to “Be fruitful and multiply.” The marital union of two becoming one flesh has been there from the beginning, and it has a special purpose in God’s world.

The story of the Bible both begins and ends with wedding imagery (Genesis 2:22-25; Revelation 21:1-5). Marriage is God’s living illustration for His covenantal union with His people, which will one day be fully realized in a restored creation when Heaven and Earth unite.

So, no matter what pops into your mind when you hear the word “marriage,” the first thing to know is that God invented it.

“Then the Lord God made a woman... and he brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2:22, NIV)

This has some important implications. If marriage is God’s idea, then that means romantic love is His idea, too.

Every Good Gift

That first spark of interest a boy has for the cute girl that sits across the classroom. The feeling you get when your song comes on the radio. The dinner by candlelight in that perfect setting. The couple that has been married for 50 years taking a walk, hand in hand. The electricity of a first kiss. The love note that a wife puts in her husband’s lunchbox. All of that is part of God’s grand design. God is a romantic. If you doubt me, I encourage you to take up and read the biblical book Song of Solomon.

You may be thinking, “Okay, Jason. It seems like you’ve got rose-tinted glasses on. Don’t forget marriage can also be pretty hard.”

True. But it’s important to begin here when we think about romance, because all that is good about marriage, romantic affection, and sexual intimacy comes first and foremost from God.

Many today bemoan God’s restrictions on sex and marriage laid out in the Bible. But what they don’t realize is that everything that makes those romantic moments in life beautiful, good, and right comes from God.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 
(James 1:17, NIV)

Without God, all the joy and excitement of romance is reduced to random neurochemical reactions. Modern progressives like to claim that monogamy is drab and boring. Don’t buy that lie! You know what really takes the magic out of romance? Imagining there is no God behind it all.

Fit for One Another

If we’re going to get marriage right, we need to go back to the beginning when God first created man and woman.

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” 
(Genesis 2:18, ESV)

Don’t think that this term “helper” is meant to be demeaning. This is not code for “man’s servant for cooking and cleaning.” The point here is that the man needs help. He can’t take care of God’s world without her. More than anyone else, this very word “helper” is used of God in Scripture. But the Bible says God created woman with the intention of finding the right fit for man.

In God’s design for marriage, one man and one woman complement each other perfectly. Men and women are equally valuable, but different. There is a fittedness between a man and a woman that you can’t find in any other combination.

After God parades all the animals before Adam, Adam recognizes nobody here is a good fit. Not that kangaroo. Not that horse. Definitely not that hippo! Nothing from the animal kingdom matches and complements him perfectly.

No matter how many times you’ve read this passage before, I encourage you to ponder what is said here:

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.

Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
    because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. 
(Genesis 2:21-25, ESV)

Before there was any sin in the world, this is what marriage looked like. The perfect combination of trust, vulnerability, and intimacy. This was God’s design and intention. So, no matter what you think of marriage, you can’t fault the design. You cannot improve on God’s design.

Be Intoxicated with Her Love

So, when you think of God, think of Him as the One who invented the beauty of marriage and designed our bodies with the special fit of a man for a woman. The joy of a wedding ceremony is just a slice of the great joy God has over marriage itself.

Because marriage is something God thought up, we don’t get to change it. And because it is from Him, we can know it is an intrinsically good institution.

In our bizarro world, people (especially young people) often assume that getting married will take all the romance out of the relationship. As if, committing to one another in a one-flesh covenantal union will kill the embers of love. But in God’s economy, it is in marriage that the fire of romance should finally be stoked.

May your fountain be blessed,
    and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
A loving doe, a graceful deer—
    may her breasts satisfy you always,
    may you ever be intoxicated with her love. 
(Proverbs 5:18-19, NIV)

According to the Bible, marriage is a covenant not merely between husband and wife, but one that includes God, too (Proverbs 2:17). It is God that joins the two together, and thus God blesses the marriage union. As if he was making a toast at a wedding, the author Solomon says to his son, “May you ever be intoxicated with her love.”

However—and this is important—only those who honor this covenant get to experience its greatest blessings. When people dishonor marriage, let me assure you, it will eventually come back around to bite them.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of heeding these loving warnings from God:

“Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
    Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?
For your ways are in full view of the Lord,
    and he examines all your paths.
The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;
    the cords of their sins hold them fast.
For lack of discipline they will die,
    led astray by their own great folly.” 
(Proverbs 5:20-23, NIV)

When people toy with their marriage vows, it is like taking a pile of burning wood on to your lap or walking across hot coals, hoping not to be burned (Proverbs 6:27).

People may say things like, “The Bible is an outmoded text. Marriage can be a relationship for any two people who truly love each other and are committed to one another.”

But why say only two people? And what about if those two people are already in the same family? And why say they must love each other? What if they have other reasons for getting married? And why does it matter that they are committed exclusively to one another?

As it turns out, everyone has restrictions on what they think marriage should be. Elton John jokingly drew the line at goats when someone pressed him.[1]

Honoring Your Spouse Is Honoring Marriage

Unless you get your definition of marriage from Genesis, marriage becomes this elastic thing that you can shape any way you want. And when we shake off God’s definition and trade it in for our own man-made definition, we cheapen and dishonor marriage. It is no longer the sacred thing God intended it to be.

Even secular psychologists understand marriage is worth protecting.

Marriage expert John Gottman writes, “One of the saddest reasons a marriage dies is that neither spouse recognizes its value until it is too late.”[2]

Gottman goes on to tell us all the incredible psychological and health benefits that come from taking your marriage seriously. And one of the most important ways to protect your marriage is to pursue your spouse romantically (husbands, I’m especially talking to you here).

Pay attention to her (or his) needs. Listen well. Make time for date night. Look for activities you can share together. Go out of your way to make sure your spouse feels valued simply for who she (or he) is.

You may have been told that Christians are just as likely to get divorced as non-Christians. However, that hasty conclusion was based on flawed research, because it was based on people just taking the label “Christian,” without any inquiry into whether subjects actually lived a life committed to Jesus Christ. New research done by Brad Wilcox found something very different. Wilcox discovered that committed Christian couples—which he defined as those who regularly attend worship together and read their Bibles regularly—are much less likely to get divorced.

Not only are committed Christians more likely to stay married, but they report greater satisfaction in their marriages. Wilcox concluded, “It turns out that the happiest of all wives in America are religious conservatives… Fully 73 percent of wives who hold conservative gender values and attend religious services regularly with their husbands have high-quality marriages.” Another study found that “When it comes to relationship quality in heterosexual relationships, highly religious couples enjoy higher-quality relationships and more sexual satisfaction, compared to less/mixed religious couples and secular couples.”[3]

Nancy Pearcey adds, “Churchgoing men are also less likely to cheat on their wives. Research has consistently shown that religious attendance is the most important predictor of marital stability.”

In other words, even sociological research shows that when men love Jesus, love the Bible, and take their families to church, the marriage tends to do better. And when marriages are stronger, families are stronger, children have better well-being, society flourishes, nations are stabilized, and God is honored.

So, no matter how you may feel on any given day about marriage, I encourage you to see the value of upholding the sacred beauty of the marriage covenant and of loving your spouse as the sacred image bearer he or she is.

Thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!

[1] In context, Elton John said, “There’s nothing wrong with going to bed with somebody of your own sex. Who cares! I just think people should be very free with sex… They should draw the line at goats.” Rolling Stone magazine ran this interview with Elton John as its cover story on October 7, 1976.

[2] John Gottman, 7 Principles for Making Your Marriage Work, 5.

[3] Brad Wilcox, Jason Carroll, and Laurie DeRose, “Religious Men Can Be Devoted Dads, Too,” New York Times, May 18, 2018; Jeffrey Dew and Brian Willoughby, “Are Religious Faith and Sexual Satisfaction Mutually Exclusive–or Surprisingly Mutual?,” Institute for Family Studies, May 16, 2019.

Speaking the Truth in Love about Abortion

On By Jason SmithIn Devotional, Theology for Life, Why I Believe3 Comments 
“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” (Ephesians 4:15, NIV)

It’s not easy to talk about abortion. In our culture, merely expressing pro-life convictions can earn you the label “bigot,” “misogynist,” or “ignorant.” When I joined some college students for a prayer vigil outside a Planned Parenthood in Salem, Oregon, several years ago, one middle-aged woman pulled her car over just so she could scream, “How can you be so stupid and hateful!” Ironically, the only one showing hostility was her.

Thankfully, no one in our group responded in kind. Instead, the young woman next to me said, “We love you! We don’t hate you!” Still livid, the woman got back in her car and sped away. After she left, a middle-aged Christian woman participating in the prayer vigil turned to me and said, “That makes me sad.” She said it sincerely, without a hint of contempt. “I used to think like her. I had an abortion a long time ago, and the only reason I’m here today is because of Jesus.”

This dear woman was not there to express hatred and condemnation. She wanted to express the love of Jesus to the women pulling into the parking lot about to make an immensely important decision. She wasn’t there to name-call or retaliate with anger. But the one thing she couldn’t do was remain silent. Even by telling me her story, she was speaking the truth in love.

We Bear a Message of Life

My pro-life convictions rest on the basic recognition that every human life is a gift from God. Each one of us came into existence at a specific point in time in our mother’s womb. Scientists have learned that at the moment of conception, there is a flash of light in the womb.[1] Human beings have only recently discovered this, but our Creator has seen every time one of His image bearers came to life.

Take God and His Word out of the equation, and I really don’t have much to say on the issue. And I definitely wouldn’t be able to say anything in love. If you leave God and His gospel out of the conversation, someone can always make some kind of utilitarian argument for why abortion is a good idea in certain cases. It is because of the gospel of Jesus Christ, first and foremost, that Christians are called to speak the truth in love regarding the sanctity of every human life. It makes no sense to claim to follow the One who is Life and not be pro-life.

Many people, including pastors, would love to leave the topic of abortion alone. They point out that any time the word “abortion” is mentioned, sparks fly, and emotions run hot. In the minds of many Christians, we should just vote accordingly and otherwise avoid the subject altogether. But the gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of life, hope, and forgiveness. If we cannot speak about the hundreds of thousands of human lives taken every year by abortion,[2] then either our gospel is impotent (Paul calls the gospel “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,” Romans 1:16) or our belief in the gospel is.

If you are a Christian tempted to think that there is no real value in speaking the truth in love about abortion, I want to challenge your thinking. I say that not because I enjoy walking into a hornet’s nest, but simply because God calls us to represent Jesus, no matter what the circumstance.

In Scripture, there is the repeated theme that those who belong to God must speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. The Jewish Queen Esther even risked her own life by speaking up for her own people when their lives were in danger of being snuffed out.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
    for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly;
    defend the rights of the poor and needy. (Proverbs 31:8-9, NIV)

Who is more needy and vulnerable than the baby in her mother’s womb? Like Esther, we must accept the risk and speak up for those whose right to life is being trampled.

On the other hand, you may be a passionate pro-life advocate ready to defend the cause at the drop of a hat, but your tone tends to be derogatory, inflammatory, and harsh. In that case, I don’t want to quench your passion, but I do want to urge you to temper your language with gentleness and love. Jesus urged us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. When you love God rightly, you will love your neighbor well. Scripture calls us to speak the truth about the crucial issues of life—even if they are controversial—but to do so out of love for others.

“A Patient Is a Person, No Matter How Small”

Dr. Bill Lile is a pro-life doctor who models speaking the truth with love and grace powerfully.[3] Borrowing from Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who, Dr. Lile’s trademark statement is, “A patient is a person, no matter how small. And patients have rights.”

I first heard Dr. Lile speak at the Options Pregnancy Resource Centers annual banquet in 2022. I was impressed with the way he confidently, yet graciously, shared some encouraging news about advances in fetal surgery. He even described an open-heart surgery at Cleveland Clinic for a baby at 27 weeks gestation. The surgeon successfully removed a teratoma—a rare type of tumor—that was on her heart. He pointed out that during the surgery both mom and baby needed their own anesthesiologist. He then showed a digital illustration of how this astonishing surgery took place.[4]

Dr. Lile told the captive audience, “If you can do open-heart surgery and have a separate pediatric anesthesiologist for the baby in the womb, is that a patient? Yeah, a patient is a person, no matter how small. And patients have rights.”

As an obstetrician who has even delivered quadruplets, Dr. Lile could speak with clarity and confidence about the humanity of the preborn baby. But he did so with kindness and humility, rather than sounding like someone with an axe to grind. Most importantly, he connected the issue of saving preborn babies to the message of ultimate salvation and forgiveness found in Christ.

Fear of Man Is a Snare

As Christians, we need to know how to address abortion because, whether we like it or not, it exists as a real issue that people in America face every day. We need to face it squarely, guided by the lens of Scripture and the character of Christ. Yes, we need to be careful how we speak about sensitive topics, and we need to be sure we are listening well to those that are hurting. But this doesn’t mean we need to permanently zip our lips.

Too often, I think Christians have avoided talking about abortion out of fear of being labeled “judgmental” or “too political.” It’s in those times of fear that we should recall what Jesus said:

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”  (Matthew 10:28, ESV)

In the same way, do not fear those who try to kill your reputation or unfairly criticize you. Don’t fear those whose opinions will evaporate on the day of judgment. Fear the One whose opinion eternally matters. “The fear of man is a snare,” the Bible reminds us (Proverbs 29:25). May you and I avoid this snare!

At the same time, in principle, we should not relish controversy. In fact, if you love to just stir the pot whenever you get the chance, that’s not a great sign. There is a kind of fleshly craving to say things that will upset others. But we are called to be ambassadors for Christ and speak about real issues of life that confront us.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor who stood up to Hitler and the Third Reich. He spoke out against their horrible treatment of Jews. Nazi ideology held that the Jewish people were subhuman. At the time, Bonhoeffer was warned by many of his fellow pastors to keep silent about what the Nazis were doing if he wanted to avoid trouble. Bonhoeffer responded, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” In other words, there is no neutral approach when innocent lives are being taken. To be cowed into silence was to swear loyalty to Hitler. And that was something Bonhoeffer could not do.

God has given Christians guidance on how we are to live and speak in a world where lies and deception meet us at every turn.

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” (Ephesians 4:15, NIV)

Christians are followers of the risen King, and we have been appointed to speak the truth about His kingdom in love. Notice the conjunction here. We’re not merely to smash people with the hammer of truth and let God clean up the mess. We are to speak the truth in love.

Balance Grace and Truth

It’s not easy to balance truth and love. Early on in our dating relationship, my wife Whitney took me horseback riding. If you have ever ridden a horse, you know how important balance is. If you start to fall one way, you can’t overcompensate, or you’ll fall off the other side!

In a similar way, it’s very challenging, but we must try to balance truth and love. This is how the church grows into maturity. We build one another up with love and truth. Christians have often fallen off the horse on one side or the other, but we need both!

When we communicate truth to a lost world, we need to be careful that we are speaking from a place of love and understanding. It does no good to interrupt, tear down, and scream. We already have enough of that today.

Engage with Questions

That means we need to listen well to those with whom we strongly disagree. James 1:19-20 says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”

This is why perhaps the most effective way to begin a productive conversation with someone in favor of abortion is to pose some important questions. Ask them with the goal of understanding them, not so that you can pummel them or make them look foolish. The goal should be helping them see the error in their thinking with a spirit of gentleness.

Christian apologist Scott Klusendorf suggests the following questions when you are engaged in an abortion conversation:

“Do you believe that every innocent human life should be protected?”

“What is the unborn (preborn)?”

“What is your understanding of what happens in an abortion?”

“What’s wrong with a law that says you can’t kill innocent human beings and, if you do, there will be consequences?”

“Why is it legally okay for Laci Peterson to kill her unborn child, but if Scott does it, he’s convicted of murder?”

“When you say the Bible is silent, do you mean the word abortion is never mentioned or that we can’t draw any inferences from what’s taught there?”

If someone was to say, “The unborn are human, but they are not persons” some follow-up questions might include:

“What’s the difference? Do you mean there’s a group of humans whom we can set aside to be killed while others can’t be?”

“Have you considered what your view does to the concept of human equality?”

Become a student of the other side. Seek to understand them. Ask questions with gentleness and grace, always aspiring to leave the impression that Christ is loving this person through you. You don’t want to beat anyone up, but you do want to bring light into clouded thinking and help people see the truth of what is at stake.

But don’t be cowed into silence. Speak the truth in love as a faithful ambassador of our Lord.

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

*If you are interested, I encourage you to check out Options Pregnancy Resource Centers in Albany, OR at their website here: https://www.optionsprcfamily.org/ You can find out how to support this important organization and hear testimonies of women who found love and support when they walked through their doors.

[1] https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-just-captured-the-actual-flash-of-light-that-sparks-when-sperm-meets-an-egg

[2] According to the Guttmacher Institute, there were 930,160 abortions in the US alone in 2020. See: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/01/11/what-the-data-says-about-abortion-in-the-u-s-2/

[3] You can learn more about Dr. Lile’s ministry at his website: https://www.prolifedoc.org/

[4] I strongly encourage you watch the video here where the details for the surgery are given: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5UAOI5M4ow

Why Does the Virgin Conception Matter?

On By Jason SmithIn Theology for Life, Why I Believe2 Comments

I always want to encourage my fellow Christians that theology is not a stuffy subject reserved for uptight scholars to study in their ivory towers. Theology literally means “the study of God.” It is our extraordinary privilege to investigate the God-breathed text of the Bible and discover the truth about God and what He calls us to be. And if the goal is the knowledge and worship of God, there’s hardly anything more life-giving and thrilling to the soul than theology. On that note, I want to share four big reasons why the virgin conception matters for you today, and why there is no Christmas without it.

 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34, NIV)

Why the Virgin Conception Matters:

1. The virgin conception shows that the coming of Jesus Christ is the sovereign work of God alone.

With every other birth that has taken place, both a mother and a father were needed to create new life in the mother’s womb. One modern embryology textbook explains:

“Human development begins at fertilization when a sperm fuses with an oocyte to from a single cell, the zygote. This highly specialized, totipotent cell (capable of giving rise to any cell type) marks the beginning of each of us as a unique individual.”[1]

This is the natural process that God has designed from the beginning. One of the reasons God created marriage to be for one man and one woman is that in God’s design, a baby can only be conceived through the sexual union of a man and a woman. But here in this one unique case, we see a baby growing in the womb of a woman who has never been with a man.

This proves that God is the One who sovereignly sent Jesus into this world. The fact that no human father was needed demonstrates that God didn’t need our help to bring Jesus into this world. He did it supernaturally to show that salvation could only be accomplished by Him.

Also, note that God didn’t come down and start asking several Jewish women who would be willing to carry His Son. He simply chose Mary for this task. He didn’t ask Mary whether she was willing or have her sign any papers. God sovereignly chose her alone to have this extraordinary responsibility of carrying and giving birth to His Son.

2. The virgin conception proves that Jesus has always been the eternal God.

If Jesus was merely a man, then there would be no need for a virgin conception. But because the Son of God existed from all eternity, it only makes sense for Him to be born apart from human means.

In the virgin conception, we have the most astonishing miracle in all of human history. This is God Himself coming to earth, becoming one of us.

There have been numerous heresies throughout history that have gotten Jesus wrong, and it all comes down to His nature. Was He truly God in human flesh? Some early heretics tried to say that Jesus was such a remarkable human being that God adopted Him as His Son and gave Him a godlike status. Others have tried to argue that Jesus was the first and greatest creation of God the Father. But Scripture is clear. Christmas is about God Himself becoming one of us.

Speaking of Jesus, John 1:1 says:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1, ESV)
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14, ESV)

This “becoming flesh” is what happened in Mary’s womb. This is not something we can analyze, dissect, or figure out scientifically. Satan loves it when people worship at the altar of scientific materialism. Those religiously devoted to scientific materialism have adopted a belief system that rules out God and miracles from the start. I can almost hear the devil cackling when I hear people say, “I only accept what science tells me.” Such an absolute statement exposes a deeply religious conviction and idolatrous form of worship, akin to saying, “I only accept what the priests of Baal tell me.”

The virgin conception is a supernatural work of God, meant to draw our attention to the truth about Jesus. Jesus has been divine from all eternity, and yet he took on a human nature that He inherited from His mother, Mary. So in Jesus, we have the only one in history who is somehow both fully God and fully man.

3. The virgin conception means that Jesus understands us completely.

Of course, as God, Jesus already had perfect knowledge about what it means to be human. He made us, after all. But because of Christmas, Jesus now knows experientially what it means to be human. He can relate to us and personally identify with all the struggles, temptations, and miseries that come with being human in a fallen world.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15, ESV)

Think of this. Right now, in Heaven, at the Father’s right hand, you have an advocate, a high priest who knows exactly what it is like to be human. Have you lost your temper recently with someone in your family? Jesus understands. Have you been tempted to lust or to want to control everything? Jesus understands.

He understands you completely, and yet He is totally free of sin. Jesus knows what it means to live as a full-fledged human in this world.

4. The virgin conception ensures that Jesus would be the perfect and sinless sacrifice we need.

We all came into this world through a mom and a dad. And we inherited from them both their genetic traits that make us who we are and the corruption of original sin.[2] We all arrive stained with the corruption of Adam. So for Jesus to come as that perfect atoning sacrifice who could bear our sin and endure the penalty we deserved, He needed to come in a supernatural way.

“Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews 2:17, ESV)

That word “propitiation” is a very important word. Some translations render this verse to say “atonement” instead of “propitiation.” But propitiation has a very specific meaning: “a sacrifice that removes or satisfies wrath.” By dying in the place of sinners, the sinless Jesus absorbed the wrath of God that we deserved. By trusting in Jesus, we are trusting in His sacrifice in our place. The Bible teaches that we are naturally enemies of God and that the most urgent need for every man, woman, and child is to trust in the saving blood of Jesus Christ.

“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” (Romans 5:9, ESV)

Baptist pastor Adrian Rogers summed it up:

“All Christianity is described in three sentences. 1) I deserve hell. 2) Jesus took my hell. 3) There’s nothing left for me but His heaven.”

Only through being born of a virgin could He be human in every way and yet utterly sinless, too. He never once failed His Father. Because of that, He could be our atoning sacrifice and represent us so that we could be reconciled to God.

The famous Heidelberg Catechism teaches the importance of Jesus being both truly divine and truly human:

Q.17. Why must he also be true God?

A. So that, by the power of his divinity, he might bear in his humanity the weight of God’s wrath, and earn for us and restore to us righteousness and life.

The virgin conception matters because we can’t understand the purpose of Christmas without it. The whole purpose of Christmas is that Jesus is the God-man who was born to live, die, and rise again to save us from the wrath of God and reconcile us to Himself.

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

[1] Keith L. Moore, T. V. N. Persaud, and Mark G. Torchia, The Developing Human: Clincially Oriented Embryology, 11th ed. (Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier, 2020), 11.

[2] https://lampandlightdevotionals.com/2021/11/16/is-original-sin-a-biblical-idea/

Should We Teach Our Kids about Santa?

On By Jason SmithIn Devotional, Theology for Life1 Comment

Santa Claus is coming to town. He’s back in the shopping malls and showing up at various holiday events. The jolly old, white-bearded guy in a red suit certainly is popular in our American culture. What’s not to love about a guy who lives at the North Pole, employs elves, magically soars through the sky with flying reindeer, and delivers Christmas gifts to children all around the world each Christmas Eve?

The question many thoughtful Christian parents have is: “Should we teach our kids about Santa?”

The Purpose of Advent

Let me begin by asking another question: “What is the purpose of the Advent season?” Most Christians would agree this season is about the birth of Jesus.

That first Christmas, the angel proclaimed to the shepherds, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11, ESV). What made it “good news of great joy” is that the message was about Jesus. If you want your Christmas season to be filled with “great joy,” you will want Jesus to be at the center of all your family’s traditions and festivities. Without Jesus, all the parties and presents are ultimately meaningless and empty.

“Christmas” literally means “Christ’s mass.” From the beginning, Christmas has been a time to especially contemplate the wonder of God’s love for a lost world, that the Son of God would come as a baby. Of course, the goal of Christ’s coming was primarily so that He would one day die as a substitute for sinners and rise again.

The angel told Jesus’ adoptive father Joseph, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21, ESV). Jesus came as the true Light of the world, and His primary mission was to save those who were lost in sin.

If Jesus and the salvation He brings is the reason we celebrate Christmas, then as parents, doesn’t it make sense to do all we can to put the focus on Him, not lesser distractions?

Harmless Myth?

As you look around our home during the Christmas season, you won’t find much of Santa Claus among our decorations. That’s not because we are anti-Christmas or even anti-Santa, but because we are very pro-Christmas and pro-Jesus. And my wife and I want our three boys to know that nothing compares with the gift God has given us in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Many parents might say, “But there’s nothing wrong with encouraging kids to believe in a magical myth while they are young.” But is that true? I think it’s a wonderful thing to read fiction to your kids. It fuels their imaginations, can teach deep lessons, and helps them grasp the real world in new and powerful ways. But that’s not the same thing as encouraging your kids to believe the fictional world is true.

Colossians 3:9 says, “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices.” Is it possible to encourage belief in a myth while not lying? I don’t think it is. And if you are teaching your kids about both Santa and Jesus, yet not distinguishing which is myth and which is true, can you see why this could lead to problems later? They may struggle to believe other things their parents have taught them, because they have a clear example of myth being presented as reality.

Old Man in the Skies?

Santa is often described in ways that remind many people of God. He’s seemingly all-knowing: “He sees you when you’re sleeping; he knows when you’re awake.” He fits the image some have of God as an old, white-bearded guy in the skies. And then he rewards good behavior: “He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.”

But on closer examination, Santa is lightyears from the true God. God is infinite and all-knowing, and Santa is a chubby old man who needs elves and reindeer to help him do his job. The caricature of God as an old man in the sky is both false and dishonoring. God is eternal and all of creation depends on His sustaining power moment by moment. And unlike Santa, God is gracious and forgiving. Rather than merely rewarding the nice and leaving the naughty with a lump of coal, the one true God has given His beloved Son to die for His enemies.

While the mythical Santa can bring toys and trinkets that cannot last, the true and risen Jesus can give eternal life and the hope of an inheritance that is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” (1 Peter 1:4). Rather than giving Santa and Jesus equal attention this Christmas season, why not teach your kids about the true and living Jesus as the One who is always present for them (not just once a year!) and will meet their every need?

So why in the world would we focus on the myth of Santa, when we can teach our kids the glorious, joy-giving truth about Jesus? There’s simply no comparison!

The Real Saint Nicholas

Lastly, one thing we have done is teach our boys about the true Saint Nicholas from history, because he’s a great example of one who boldly stood for Jesus Christ and suffered for his faith.

Soon after ascending the throne in AD 284, the wicked Roman emperor, Diocletian, began a full-scale persecution dedicated to wiping Christianity from the face of the earth. Diocletian had copies of Scripture burned and imprisoned many bishops, including Nicholas of Myra. Many years later, Constantine became the Roman emperor, and he ordered the release of all bishops.

Around the time that Christianity was gaining more influence, a heretic named Arius began to deny Jesus was fully God. Arius gained quite the following and his teachings caused a lot of division in the church. So, in the year 325, Constantine called on 300 bishops across the Roman Empire to meet in Nicaea and come to unity on the question of Jesus. As Arius stood up before the assembly and began to pontificate, many of the bishops grew angry.

Many of these bishops at the council still had scars and maimed limbs from suffering brutal persecution for their faith in Jesus. Now they had to listen to this snobbish academic spout blasphemous ideas about their Lord. One man strode right up to Arius and smacked him across the face. Arius cried foul, and that bishop was restricted from the remainder of the Council. That bishop’s name? You guessed it: Saint Nicholas of Myra, better known today as “jolly old Saint Nick.”

The irony of all the attention going to Santa at Christmastime is that the real Saint Nicholas was passionate about people knowing the truth about Jesus. So, if someone asks you if you believe in Santa, you can say, “You bet I do, and he had a mean left hook!”

Let’s commit to worshiping Jesus and making Him known this season, beginning with our own homes.

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

Leading Well Is Loving Well

On By Jason SmithIn Devotional, Theology for Life1 Comment

As a pastor, I know I need regular reminders to stay faithful to the Lord, to not compromise my convictions, and to love those I lead.

We have all heard stories of politicians who chose political expediency over fulfilling promises made to their constituencies. At times, all leaders can be tempted to sacrifice convictions when it is convenient. When a leader is driven by selfish ambition rather than love for those they lead, they end up treating their fellow image bearers of God as steppingstones for career advancement. But the best leaders don’t treat people as a means to an end. Instead, they love those they lead and invest in their growth.

I often tell men at my church that all men are called to lead in some sphere, beginning first with leading themselves. Self-rule or “self-control” is a quality the Bible holds in high esteem; it’s a necessary ingredient for leading others with patience and integrity.

“Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” (Proverbs 16:32, ESV)

According to the Bible, leading well is not so much about dominating and ruling over others, but about ruling your own spirit so that you can lead others by example.

And the best leaders are those who first faithfully follow their Master, the Lord Jesus. Jesus chose twelve men—called “Apostles”—to be the leaders of His church after His ascension into Heaven. But before that time, He poured into these men with wise instruction and taught them that His kingdom would be marked by loving service, self-denial, and humble faith.

When no one else was willing to do the job of a servant, Jesus showed these guys what true leadership looks like. In a stunning display of humility, Jesus washed their feet. In the Apostles’ minds, this was an act fit for a household slave, not a rabbi. And certainly not a Messiah! Yet Jesus said:

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should just as I have done to you.” (John 13:14-15, ESV)

“As Goes the Man, So Goes the Family”

Family is the first sphere to practice this Christlike kind of servant leadership. A man leads his wife well, not by bossing her around and expecting to be served, but by sacrificing his time and energy to love her well, listening well as she shares her heart, and caring for her needs so that she will flourish (Colossians 3:19). Dads and moms lead their children by teaching them, certainly, but also by changing diapers, preparing meals, and bandaging a skinned knee.

The greatest Leader of all time said it best:

“Whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:43-45, CSB)

All men are called to lead, but they can lead best if they first submit themselves to God and His will for their lives. When men fail to lead with strength and service, everyone suffers.

Pastor Tony Evans put it well:

“As goes the man, so goes the family. As goes the family; so goes the church. As goes the church; so goes the community. As goes the community; so goes the nation. So if you want to change the nation; change the community; if you want to change the community change the church; if you want to change the church; change the family; if you want to change the family, change the man.”

A Case Study in Bad Leadership

The biblical book of 1 Kings provides us with numerous examples of leadership gone awry. One such example is the young Rehoboam. The heading for 1 Kings 12 in my Bible is “Rehoboam’s Folly,” so we know immediately things are about to go sideways for this young king. After ascending the throne in place of his now deceased father, Solomon, Rehoboam encounters a crisis early in his political career.

Another young man named Jeroboam (not to be confused with Rehoboam) acts as a union leader and leads the Israelite labor force in demanding some changes occur now that Rehoboam is king, or else they’ll go on strike.

“Your father [Solomon] made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.” (1 Kings 12:4, ESV)

Rehoboam buys some time to consider his next move. So far, so good. When a leader responds impulsively during a crisis, problems can escalate. A good leader knows when to press pause and reassess the situation before making a decision. Rehoboam then meets with some of the senior members of his advisory board, the very men who helped guide his father Solomon. Again, this is a good move. Solomon himself said, “Without wise leadership, a nation falls; there is safety in having many advisers” (Proverbs 11:4, NLT).

These older men had experience and wisdom that Rehoboam lacked. They knew what it took to lead people over the long haul. Here’s what we read:

“They replied, ‘Today if you will be a servant to this people and serve them, and if you respond to them by speaking kind words to them, they will be your servants forever.’” (1 Kings 12:7, CSB)

In other words, these aged advisers recommended servant leadership. “If you serve them, they will serve you. If you love them, they will love you. If you’re in touch with their needs, they will gladly follow your lead.”

Unfortunately, Rehoboam didn’t care for this advice. He was too headstrong and progressive to recognize the wisdom of their words. He wrote them off as old has-beens who were stuck in the past. He then consulted the young men he had grown up with—his childhood friends and frat buddies, who, like him, were privileged and proud.

Their advice was the exact opposite of the older men:

“This is what you should tell them: ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist! Although my father burdened you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with barbed whips.’” (1 Kings 12:10-11, CSB)

In other words, “These people feel they’re being worked too hard, huh? Why don’t you tell them there’s a new sheriff in town. It’s time you showed them who’s really in charge. You’ve got to lead with an iron fist. Remind them how puny they are and how much you’ll punish their insolence!”

Rehoboam must have smiled maniacally as he heard these words, because he decided to do exactly what these foolish young men said. Today, this would be a bit like ignoring the sound and biblical wisdom of older generations in your family, church, and community, and instead turning to the latest advice from some rising star on TikTok, who is probably prone to thoughtless narcissism and overreaction.

And because he ignored the advice of the older men, Rehoboam lost the people. They now saw him as the cold-hearted tyrant that he was, unwilling and unfit to lead people well. Nearly the entire nation turned on him, and they made Jeroboam, the one viewed as “a man of the people,” their new king.

Not only that, but Scripture says, “And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually” (1 Kings 14:30). That is a painful reminder that tyranny and violence only begets tyranny and violence.

Back in the 1800s, the wise theologian J. C. Ryle made an observation that is just as timely today:

“How common is it to see young men with big heads, high-minded, and not wanting to hear wise counsel! How often they are rude and uncourteous to all around them, thinking they are not valued and honored as they deserve! How often they will not stop to listen to a hint from an older person! They think they know everything. They are full of conceit of their own wisdom. They view elderly people, especially their relations, as stupid, and dull, and slow… And this is all pride.”[1]

Every Leader Is Accountable

There’s an important reminder included in this passage that is easy to miss. The narrator says:

“The king did not listen to the people, because this turn of events came from the Lord to carry out his word.” (1 Kings 12:15, CSB)

In other words, although Rehoboam supposed he was in charge, the reality is that all this came “from the Lord to carry out his word,” because God had already promised in the days of Solomon’s rebellion that the kingdom would be divided. All leaders need to be reminded that ultimately it is the Lord, not man, who truly rules the world. The Book of Revelation tells us that eventually there will be only one Man sitting on the throne, and His name is Jesus.

The lesson for all of us is that good leaders recognize that they are accountable to God for how they lead. Who you are influenced by matters a great deal. And if you lead with domineering and harsh cruelty, you will have to answer for that.

Rather than looking for ways to break the spirit of those we lead, as Rehoboam did, we ought to look for ways to build up others so that they can grow and flourish under the umbrella of our leadership. To lead well we must love well.

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

[1] J. C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, 27.