Unwelcome wages

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Isaiah 65-66; Psalm 121

TO CHEW ON: "'Behold it is written before Me: I will not keep silent but repay -- even repay into their bosom -- your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together,' says the Lord, 'who have burned incense on the mountains and blasphemed Me on the hills; Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.'" Isaiah 65:6-7
What is it about us humans that we so readily tend toward breaking rules? Wherever there is a posted speed limit, for example, you can guarantee that more people will be driving over than under it (at least where I live). When my husband was on the council of our townhouse strata, we became more aware than ever of owners parking in visitor spots (something our rules forbid)--an awareness that was uncomfortable because, as a council member, he had some responsibility to see that those rules were enforced.

Our penchant to break rules is not lessened when it comes to God's rules. Our reading today is God's response to Isaiah's sermon-prayer of Isaiah 63:7-64:12. God answers Isaiah's impassioned questions about why Israel is in the state she's in (Isaiah 64:10-12) by detailing what He sees.

There is worship in unauthorized places (Isaiah 65:3). The people are spending time in the company of and sating their hunger with things God calls an abomination (Isaiah 65:4). And they are proud of it (Isaiah 65:5). So, God says, they are getting their just wages (Isaiah 65:6-7, our focus verses for today).

There is a word for breaking God's rules. It is sin. The idea that sin has wages goes through scripture. These wages are not desirable:

- Sinning is called a futile thing, which will be rewarded with futility (Job 15:31).
- The wicked person will be condemned; he will be destroyed by evil (Psalm 34:21).
- Those who make a lifestyle of breaking God's rules are called fools and are "afflicted" (made ill)  by their sins (Psalm 107:17).
- Their "revenue" (income) is trouble (Proverbs 15:6).
- The sinner spends his life amassing wealth "that he may give to him who is good before God" (Ecclesiastes 2:26).
- Sinners bring evil upon themselves (Isaiah 3:9).
- Evil deeds are repaid in kind (Isaiah 59:18).
- Sinning leads to bitter consequences (Jeremiah 8:14).
- It also leads to a harvest of uselessness and irritation (Jeremiah 12:13).
- It results in calamity (evil, disaster, doom) (Jeremiah 44:23).
- Every transgression and disobedience receives a just reward (Hebrews 2:2).
- Its wages are death (Romans 6:23).

This uncomfortable list of sin's consequences makes one ask: what exactly is the attractiveness of sin again?

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me remember, when tempted to sin, that there are consequences. And thank You for the gospel, which counteracts these wages with Your gift of forgiveness and life. Amen.


PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 121


MORE: "Sin's Wages and God's Gift"
J. Gresham Machen (1991-1937) was a Professor of New Testament at Princeton Seminary and Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. His excellent short essay "Sin's Wages and God's Gift" -- first published in God Transcendent (1949)-- begins:

Some time ago I heard a sermon on this text by a preacher who has now retired. The sermon was not one that I agreed with altogether, but the beginning of it, I thought, was interesting. The preacher said that during the preceding summer he had met in a chance sort of way, on one of the steamers of the Great Lakes, a gentleman who turned out to be a man of large affairs, but a man who had little to do with the church. Incidentally the conversation turned to religious matters, and the man of business gave to the preacher the benefit of a little criticism. The criticism was perhaps not unworthy of attention. "You preachers," the outsider said, "don't preach hell enough."

Read the whole thing and you will not only be impressed with the dreadfulness of sin's wages, but reminded of the wonderful good news of the second part of Romans 6:23: "...the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord."

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
 

Scars

Image: Pixabay

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Genesis 41, 42


TO CHEW ON: "Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: 'For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father's house.'" Genesis 41:51 


Overnight Joseph's fortunes turned around completely. He went from wearing prison rags to fine linen and pure gold. He went from being a prisoner to a powerful vizier, and from responsibility for a few in prison to administering the entire land. He went from having the reputation of a would-be rapist and liar to someone who was wise and trustworthy. In the days, weeks, and years that followed, He went from being alone to having a family.

But the thirteen or so unpleasant years in Egypt left their scars. They are seen in the names he gives his sons. He calls the first Manasseh which literally means "Making Forgetful." It signifies how he can now put behind him not only his time in Pharaoh's prison but his painful family memories: "For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father's house" - Genesis 41:51.

He names his second son Ephraim which means "Fruitfulness": "For God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction" - Genesis 41:52.

It all looks so good for you, Joseph. But beware. For inevitably God will cycle around what you haven't yet dealt with. Is there still infection festering under those scars? How will you react when God ushers those brothers back into your life? Will you be bitter and vengeful, or forgiving?

For this is what God often does — re-introduces the old unfinished business to test our growth, show us our own real selves and where we're spiritually immature, and point out to us where we still have some growing to do.


PRAYER: Dear God, I too have scars left from experiences in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Help me to deal with old issues so there is no residue of bitterness or unforgiveness in my life. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 13

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Sinister entry

"Judas returns the money" - James Tissot

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Luke 22:1-23

TO CHEW ON: “Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve. So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains how he might betray Him to them." Luke 22:3-4

How chilling those words, “Then Satan entered Judas…” How sobering their continuation, “… (Judas) Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.” If a member of Jesus’ closest circle was not immune to Satan’s entrance how all the more must we be vigilant against it.

The tendency is to think of Satan’s entering and controlling someone as a bizarre paranormal thing, evidenced by spooky behaviors  or a cursed, sickly life (Luke 8:26-33, 1-3). But I believe it can be a lot subtler than that.

We need only think of our “besetting sin.” Do we struggle with anger, or find ourselves often covering our tracks with deceit, or letting bitterness cloud our outlook? There is a section in Ephesians which mentions specific sins Holy Spirit-controlled followers of Jesus are to “put away.”

These are common, run-of-the-mill sins that we all have no doubt been caught in at some time or other: lying, anger, stealing, corrupt talk, bitterness, wrath, clamor, evil speaking with malice. Right in the middle of that list (immediately after the reference to anger) are these words: “nor give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:24-32). Doesn’t this warning imply that we are at risk of giving Satan entrance when we cultivate these behaviors and attitudes?

How tiny it starts as the devil squeezes into that sliver-thin crack of our dissatisfaction, takes more territory as we augment our complaints with imaginings, then cements them in us when we voice them to others (compounding our sin as we influence them to join us on this destructive path). How big it eventually ends. In Judas’s case he betrayed his best friend. It earned him the very woe of Jesus (Luke 22:22).

We do well to follow Peter’s warning: "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

PRAYER: Dear God, I want no one but You in my life. Please sensitize my “spiritual antennae” to the presence of anything that would give Satan opportunity or entrance into my life. Amen.

MORE: What happened in Judas’ mind and heart to make him regret what he’d done (Matthew 27:3-10)? Once the betrayal was accomplished, did the devil’s strong influence leave him? Or had he rationalized that his action would force Jesus’ hand to reveal Himself as king and when that didn’t happen, he realized the immensity and gravity of what he’d done? What do you think?

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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.

Diagnosis: bitter and bound

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Acts 8:4-24

TO CHEW ON: “But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished the people of Samaria, claiming that he was someone great….And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, “Give me this power…” Acts 8:9, 18-19.

When the Samaritan sorcerer became a believer, the Samaritan Christians may have celebrated–as Christians often do when celebrities come to the Lord. The local papers may have been a tad more cynical: “Wizard Converts – what new trick is up his sleeve?” In his case, such skepticism would have been warranted. For as we read the whole story, we discover that all is not right with Simon’s attitude. He has an ulterior motive for following Jesus.

Though he is genuinely impressed with the signs and wonders the disciples perform and wants to be on the side of such power, he still has the mindset that this new religion is going to work wonders for business. Because when he sees the Holy Spirit coming on people in response to Peter and John laying hands on them, he comes with money and says, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Of course Peter will have none of that. With a word of knowledge he names the wellspring of Simon’s request: bitterness and the bondage to sin, and admonishes him to repent.

Sometimes I think we’re not that different from Simon. He was trying to manipulate God to achieve his own purposes. Don’t we often do the same? We ask for help in our work–not so He gets the glory, but so we do. Our prayers are full of requests designed to further our comfort, ease and well-being.

How can we know if our attitudes are wrong? And how can we deal with the roots of them? We need an outside perspective on our own heart-condition. Like the Holy Spirit revealed things about Simon to Peter, He can enlighten us by His word to our own poisons and bondages (Hebrews 4:12).

PRAYER: Dear God, please show me inner attitudes and motivations that displease You. Help me understand their origins so I can deal with them at their roots. Amen.

MORE: Peter pronounces Simon “bound by iniquity.”
“For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and a bond forged by iniquity to fetter souls” Acts 8:23 AMP

What is this ‘iniquity’?
[Iniquity: adikia – ad-ee-kee-ah: “Misdeeds, injustice, moral wrongdoing, unjust acts, unrighteousness, iniquity.”* (That sounds pretty bad!). “It is the opposite of truthfulness, faithfulness and rightness.” (Oh oh – that brings it closer to home; you mean even a little sneakiness, a shade of untruth can begin to forge a bondage?)
*From “Word Wealth” – The New Spirit Filled Life Bible.]

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)