Obedience

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As children of God we are called to obedience. In our hearts we wish to be obedient because we know His will for our lives is for the best. As an all-seeing, all-knowing God we know He has the capacity to ‘wish good for us and not ill’ We want to obey but that can be as far a we get.

I remember at the age of six, my aunt saying’ After school, I’ll meet you at the corner of the field near the letter-box and we will go black-berrying.’ I didn’t listen properly and waited at the wrong place. Only as an adult do i now realise how frantic she must have been. I was missing, was I safe?

Decades later I don’t think I’ve learned to listen properly. God’s guidance and instructions are all around me. Guidance in the Bible, through church sermons pointing the correct way and by the leading of the Holy Spirit. But so often i don’t stop to listen. What pitfalls I could avoid, what wrong turnings would I miss by just listening to His voice.

Lord, give me Samuel’s ear and David’s yearnings. Stop, look and listen are not just traffic instructions, but lessons for life. May I stop and wait patiently for the Lord, my I look to the places of guidance and may I listen to God’s leading.

Wise Men from the East

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In their search for the king foretold by the star they were following, the magi would have had many days absence from their own homes and pursuits. They didn’t know how far they would have to travel. Their journey was uncharted and their destination unknown. It would have been the culmination of years of study, no sacrifice was too great.

The gifts they were bearing were expensive, making the journey a dangerous one, thieves abounded. Would they be safe as they travelled? Journeying through different countries brought further difficulties. Day after day, night after night they faithfully followed that star until they took a wrong turning and ended up in Herod’s palace. Fortunately they were still wise enough to listen to their dreams and return home a different way.

What difference would the journey have made to their lives? No doubt it was something they would never forget. They had actually been able to worship at the manger of the King of Kings, though He was just a helpless babe. It is likely that they would have known nothing of His future life, His teaching, crucifixion and resurrection. Their task was only to worship Him as a babe. Because of them the significance of gold, frankincense and myrrh is still noted today.

Religious Leaders

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What about the religious leaders in the time of Herod. Part of their brief would have been to know about a new star in the sky and what it meant. It was left to foreign magi to study and observe the new star and discover it’s meaning. They had all the required knowledge, their life had been spent studying, yet they didn’t know about this star and what it portrayed. What were they about? What had distracted them? Did their lives revolve round how important they were and their position or were they just not interested? They obviously weren’t doing their job because they had missed the significance of this particular star. They had missed the point.

Are we like this in our religious life? Are we distracted by our own importance? Do we take our our eye off the star and the direction God is leading us? The only way to keep focused is to look to Him.

Herod

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Just imagine what fear and alarm there would be if there was a threat to replace the President of the United States or the Prime Minister in my country. Sadly we have seen this in many African countries and around the world. These threats have caused coups, uprisings and much loss of life. It was the same in Herod’s day when the Magi were seeking for Jesus.

Herod’s power was tenuous, he didn’t need anyone to threaten his position.Then along came the magi from a foreign country far away, seeking a new king. Who was this so-called king, what danger was he to Herod’s power, was his whole position in jeopardy? Having discovered a few facts, he decided that infanticide was the only answer. Killing all the baby boys under the age of two would surely solve the problem.He had no regard for the terrible heartbreak he was causing, he had to be secure in his position, but had he been successful? For the rest of his days he would never be sure if he were safe. Every little disturbance or uprising would cause him to ask, is this it? Is this the end?

It is said ‘uneasy lies the head that wears the crown,’ no head would have been more uneasy than Herod’s.

Thrilling Stories

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We don’t need to go to the library or a bookshop to read thrilling stories. The most stunning stories and ones true to life are found in the Bible. I turned to 2 Kings 5 again and read of Naaman, a commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great and highly regarded soldier but his situation was summed up in three words ‘he had leprosy.’ The story then switches to a young girl captured from Israel who was a servant of Naaman’s wife. She had the boldness to speak ‘If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy.’

When Naaman heard this he went to the king of Aram and requested a letter from his king to the king of Israel. At this stage I’m reminded of the three wise men going to Herod when they were seeking for Jesus. They and Naaman had got it wrong. We’re told that the king of Israel tore his robes, he couldn’t cure leprosy! Was the king of Aram trying to pick a fight? When Elisha heard the story he requested the leper to come to him.

Naaman arrived full of pomp and circumstance, after all he was an important man. ‘Go, wash yourself seven times in the jordan and you will be healed’ This wouldn’t do, he had better rivers in his own city of Damascus. The servant of Naaman enters the story saying if you had been asked to do a great thing you would have done it. He did listen, went to the Jordan, dipped himself in it seven times and was cleansed. End of story? Not a bit of it.

Naaman wanted to give Elisha gifts but the man of God would have none of it, the praise went to God alone. So the man and his gifts commenced the journey home. After the cleansed man had travelled some distance, he was followed by Gehazi, Elisha’s servant saying Elisha had changed his mind and would accept some of the gifts. On getting back home, Elisha challenged Gehazi about his greed and as punishment, the leprosy was passed on to Gehazi

I must declare that I believe the Bible is the sacred word of God and it is all true, but whatever one believes, it must be confessed that there are many lessons to be learned in this tale – pride, obedience to God’s commands, greed and punishment.

Faith Without Works

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We read in James 2:26 ‘Faith without works is dead.’ Verse 1 of this chapter further tells us ‘If a man claims to have faith but has no deeds…. what good is it, my brothers.’ He goes on to explain that when we see someone in need our faith compels us to act. He explains that Abraham was considered righteous for what he did.

It was these thoughts that prompted many Christian pioneers in the past. Dr Barnardo was deeply moved by the poverty he saw among the youngsters in the East End of London. Knowing he had the means to help he established many orphanages up and down the country. A number of these people went on to achieve successful lives all round the world. ‘Barnardo Boys’ had a claim of honour. At one time the ball boys at the Wimbledon tennis tournaments were lads who had been brought up in the homes. I know because for a period I had the privilege of working at their headquarters at Stepney.

I read that the Cadbury brothers, founders of the great chocolate brand (who incidentally have just lost their Royal Warrant), took extra care of their workers, even building them a special village known by the name of Bournville.

These are only a couple of men who believed that faith without works is dead, and followed the example of Jesus by caring for the needy.

Big Boots

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I read recently ‘you don’t wear big boots if you want to win a race.’ Donning my evangelical hat I realised this could mean that as a Christian you can’t suffer from pride; we need humility. We have nothing to boast about, we are all sinners in the sight of God. What grounds have we to ‘wear big boots’? Why are we programmed to be so self-centred, I wonder? Often we want to talk about ourselves and what we’ve been up to. Our highest achievement is but dust.In a conversation we can have a tendency to dominate. We live in a ‘me, me, me world,’ but we don’t have to go that way.

The world doesn’t centre round us, it centres round God. Our thoughts should be of Him and not ourselves. Other people matter to Him and should matter to us. I believe that by thinking about others above ourselve, we will have a better life. I have a friend who died a few months ago, sadly she only thought about herself, everything had to revolve round her. She had no interest in anyone else. Her inward look at life didn’t bring her any happiness. She felt the world always owed her. Dying too young, she never found happiness.

Our complete model of humility is Jesus. In spite of being the creator of the whole world, He didn’t have a special birth, or riches or comforts or even a home of His own. His love for us sent Him to die for us, though so unworthy we may be.

Tuo Yaw

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I remember the day quite well although I was only about five or six years old. I was just learning to read and was excited by all the words around me. There were words, and more words everywhere. To set the scene I was sitting in a cafe with my family in the countryside. It obviously wasn’t warm enough to sit outside, but the cafe door was open to let in some air. My family had just bought a car and I could feel the excitement of journeys out.

Every Saturday when my father wasn’t working, out we would go for a cafe visit for a cup of tea. Maybe I had juice. I was sitting at the table probably bored, having read the words ‘salt’, ‘pepper’ and ‘menu’. Suddenly I spied a new word.’ ‘Dad, what does ‘Tuo Yaw’ mean’ He was puzzled until he saw the cafe door was standing open and I was reading the words from the inside. When closed, the sign said ‘Way Out.’

I’m sure we do this with God. We read His signs back to front. We look into a future we cannot see. God sees the future from the other side. We see the past that is gone and done. He sees it as relevant to now and the future. As Paul says, ‘Now we see through a glass darkly but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part but then I shall know fully, even as I am known.’ 1 Corinthians 13:12. No wonder we worry and are anxious We don’t see the whole picture. On this earth we can never see things as God sees them. . Though we don’t fully see, we can trust. in Him who sees it all.

The Watchful Sister

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She was only young and insignificant but she had been tasked with the care of her baby brother. He was floating in a papyrus basket on the River Nile. His discovery could mean instant death. How was she feeling as he was discovered by the daughter of Pharaoh and her ladies? She didn’t panic but noticed how these ladies were intrigued by this little bundle of humanity.

Miriam was wise beyond her years. She knew that none of these aristocrats could cope with what at times would be a smelly, noisy baby boy. With God-given wisdom she revealed herself and asked if they would like a Hebrew woman to look after the baby. Was this Miriam’s mother’s idea or did she think of it herself. Either way it was a bit of a risk but the plan worked. It was certainly God’s plan.

That baby would grow up in Pharaoh’s palace and eventually lead the enslaved Hebrews to freedom and then towards the Promised Land. The baby was chosen to be one of the greatest leaders of the Israelite nation. It would have been so easy for this daughter to take the baby to her father, where he would be killed and that would have been the end of that, but nothing would stop God from His plans. And nothing will stop God’s pans for our lives either.

Pass It On

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My friend, Alice, had a very infectious cold and was not able to join me on a particular Saturday when I went to an interesting inspiring meeting about a missionary society we both support. As I left the meeting I was buzzing and couldn’t wait to tell her abut it and share my exciting day. At the end of my phone call to her she said ‘Thank you so much for sharing your day with me. It’s made me feel a lot better.’

I later leaned that she had phoned another friend who was looking after her mother with dementia. The call Alice had made was a great encouragement to her own friend. The mother-caring-friend was encouraged and uplifted for a while from her very difficult situation.

We have many opportunities to share with others our good news and the Good News. By doing so we are sharing the love of God. Their lives could be blessed for an afternoon or for eternity. Sadly our Good News news is not always welcome to others. We need to ask God for opportunities to speak to others. I think of another friend whose life is crippled by anxiety and of another whose life is in the grip of drug addiction. The news of salvation is too good to keep to ourselves. We need to shout it from the rooftops and tell the whole world. Maybe, I could just start with my new neighbour. We ask God to prepare the hearts of our listeners.