Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

Archives for February 2010

Give Me Just Enough

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Reading in Proverbs the other day, a couple of verses really stood out to me. You read a passage you’ve read many, many times before and God just sticks His finger in the book and says, “Look, Right there!” I love when that happens. The passage I read was Proverbs 30:7-9:

Two things I ask of You; don’t deny them to me before I die:
Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me.
Give me neither poverty nor wealth; feed me with the food I need.
Otherwise, I might have too much and deny You, saying, “Who is the LORD?”
Or I might have nothing and steal, profaning the name of my God. (HCSB)

I immediately prayed these words for my own life. I want my words to be always measured and truthful. Proverbs tells us, and life confirms, the more you speak the more prone you are to say something that is not true. Let your words be few; speak slowly and let every word count. Never lie or deceive another. We are servants of the king. Jesus said to let our ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and our ‘no’ be ‘no’. (Matthew 5:37) The ninth commandment in the Old Testament tells us not to lie. (Exodus 20:16) There is no wiggle room. God demands honesty. In addition to keeping deceit from my own lips, I also pray that those who would deceive me would stay far away. Flattering lips and scheming individuals tempt us to walk a path Christ would not. I want these types of people as far from me as possible. Don’t keep close company with those who make a habit of lying to you or to others. Surround yourself with those of the highest character or you may be enticed to live in a manner that is against God.

The second thing I prayed was to be neither poor nor wealthy. I have on some small level touched both ends of the spectrum in my own life and can attest to the temptations of each. (As a side note, do you realize if you make in excess of $25,000 per year you are wealthier than 97% of the world? If you make in excess of $50,000 per year, you are wealthier than 99% of the world’s population! I’d wager you are wealthier than you may have previously thought! ) If I have too much excess available to me, I might easily be tempted to spend it selfishly on things I don’t necessarily need. Money and time are finite; are we spending them in a way that is pleasing to God? If I have too little, there is pressure to perhaps take what we did not pay for in order to satisfy our need for food or clothing or perhaps even just our desire to have something we could not otherwise afford. Better to have just enough for the day. This will cause me to faithfully trust Christ every day for His provision of my needs. If I have too much, my response should be to give that excess to those who do not have enough.

It is beautiful and astounding that the words of Proverbs written so long ago are still so relevant today. We are bombarded by advertising that makes us think we need the latest gadget or service. We are encouraged to do whatever it takes to get ahead. There is the concept of a “white lie” that apparently doesn’t count as an actual lie; who thought of this ludicrous idea? Lord, keep all deceit from my lips, and keep those who would deceive me far away. Give me simply just enough to provide for my day and let me fully trust you to take care of tomorrow. Keep my eyes on You and You alone; may I remain ever faithful with all you entrust into my care. Please, give me just enough.

Is Your Life Loud Enough?

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I have a prayer calendar for the persecuted church, positioned in such a way that I see it several times each day. The calendar is put out by The Voice of the Martyrs, and each day has a prayer request for someone in a country that does not allow freedom of religion. Some of the requests are heart breaking, but all remind me of the courage of the believers in these countries. It is often hard to know exactly how to pray for these brave men and women. I am tempted to pray for total freedom of religion in their country. Then I remember that here in America we have religious freedom and the church is withering. The same is true for England, although withering is too kind of a term for what has happened to the church there. Yet in the countries without religious freedom, Christianity is thriving, growing at an incredible pace. How can this be? Christianity has a rich history of persecution. It is always through this persecution that the message of Christ spreads. The way these believers have endured trials you and I can scarcely imagine has spoken volumes to those involved in persecuting them. To pray that these countries would obtain religious liberty is to perhaps doom them to the fate of the Church in the Western world. So I generally pray that the believers there would be strengthened with the power of Christ, that they would be courageous and bold, and above all, that their love would shine so brightly that others would be blinded by it. I pray that the leaders see the positive effect that Christians are having on society and that their message continues to spread. Through it all I am uncomfortably aware of how loud is the love of these faithful believers. They are not allowed to tell others of Christ, yet their lives are lived at such a volume that others cannot help but to experience the love of Christ.

How is your volume? When you walk into the room, do people turn and look because the love of Christ is blaring through your pores? Are they blinded by the light of God that shines through every inch of you? How is it that Christians who are not allowed to gather together in countries that are woefully poor continue to have a larger impact than the wealthy, free church of the West? The difference is they love out loud. They are not passive. They don’t wait for the right moment to serve or until they have enough extra to give. They love out loud and our love is barely a whisper. When we are called to give an account of our lives, will God be able to hear our love and all the ways we demonstrated that love to others? More likely than not, our love will be a barely audible whisper and we‘ll have little to show of its use. The good news is we have the ability to amp up the volume of our love. Every time we reach out to help someone in need, our love gets a little louder. Every time we smile at a stranger or offer an encouraging word, our love gets a little louder. Conversely, every time we hesitate, we turn the volume down a notch. Every time we walk by rather than lending a hand, the volume of our love gets that much quieter.

How loud is your life? Does it blare with the love of Christ or does it whisper the sound of selfishness and busyness? Are you willing to crank it up a notch, willing to start sharing the love of Christ every second of every minute of every hour of every day? We are called to love, period. Do you want to be a follower of Jesus? You must love everyone more than yourself. You’ve got to live out loud. You’ve got to put away everything else you’ve been living for and replace it with love for others. So many are passing away without ever believing in Jesus; it’s time to stem the tide and show them a better way. Put away your selfishness and fear. We have no guarantee of tomorrow. The time is now. Turn up the volume of your life so that others cannot help but see Jesus through you.