There is a new blog starting, which looks like it may be pretty good.  It is by two biblical theologians seeking to work their way through Romans and then Galatians.  Definately bookmark it and check it often.  I know I will!

http://crosstalking.blogspot.com/

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: ² a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, ³ a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. ⁹ What does the worker gain from his toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on men. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. ¹³ That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil-- this is the gift of God. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. ¹⁵ Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account (NIV).

Tension is a wonderful word used to describe much of the theology in the Bible.  For example, there is tension between Jesus being human and God.  There is tension between God being sovereign and humans having responsibility for their actions.  Another tension is found in Ecclesiastes 3:1-15.  Our teacher begins this section emphasizing the constraint of time on humans.  There is a time for every action, and the wise person knows which action is appropriate for the designated time.  But this is not the tension.  The teacher introduces the tension in verse 11.  He writes, “He [God] has also set eternity in the hearts of men…” (NIV).  Here is the tension!  Humans are constricted by time, but God has placed in us a sense of eternity.  Our lot as humans is to live within time and crave eternity.

 

How do we live with this tension?  First, be reconciled to the God who controls our eternity.  This life is a shadow, and how we live today echoes into eternity.  Will you live eternally with God as your delight, or will you be eternally under the wrath of God?  All people will exist forever after physical death.  Therefore, be reconciled! 

 

Second, follow Paul’s command and “make the most of every opportunity…” (Ephesians 5:16).  In the spirit of this passage Jonathan Edwards, pastor in the eighteenth century and one of America’s finest theologians, wrote, “Resolved: Never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can.” 

 

An exercise:

Make a detailed account of your time for one week.  Record how much time you spend sleeping, playing, working, praying, watching television, etc.  Then consider how you spend your time.  Do you redeem it, as Paul commands?  How can you continue to improve your use of time?  Do you approach each day seeking to make the most of your time on earth?  What would your calendar look like, if you redeemed the time?  What would you increase?  What would you decrease?

 

Passages for Further Reflection:

James 4:13-17

Carolina Tarheels blast past N. C. State.  The Wolfpack was domesticated!

 ¹⁷ So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. ¹⁸ I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. ¹⁹ And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the work into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun. This too is meaningless. ²⁰ So my heart began to despair over all my toilsome labor under the sun. ²¹ For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. ²² What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? ²³ All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. ²⁴ A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, ²⁵ for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? ²⁶ To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind (NIV).

Much could and should be said today about the virtue of diligent working, for each generation must be reminded that laziness is a sin (Proverbs 10:26; 12:24; 12:27; 13:4; 15:19; 19:15; 19:24; 20:4).  But there is another sense of “work ethic” to which today’s passage speaks: one’s motivation for work.  In other words, our motivation for work is a moral issue.

 

Ecclesiastes 2:17-26 causes us to wrestle with our perspectives on work.  Do we work so that one day we will have enough to get more?  Or do we work so that we please God?

 

Verses 24-26 give some motivation indicators.  What does the one who pleases God receive from God’s hand?  What is the lot of the one who does not please God?  Into which category do you fall?  Are you able to eat, drink, and enjoy your work?  Or are you vexed at night by fears and anxieties about what will happen with your wealth and how to get more of it, so that you may have more stuff?  How you answer these questions may indicate your motivation for work.

 

Some other questions concerning motivation:

·         Do you work quickly and efficiently, so that you represent God well in your workplace?

·         Are you dependable (e.g., Are you on-time for the start of the day and appointments?), so that you represent well God who is trustworthy?

·         How do you talk about your job in the presence of your children?  That is, do your children see your job as a necessary evil or as a calling from God?

·         How do your children approach their chores or job?  Have you taught them to do their work to please God or simply to receive an allowance or a paycheck?

 

Passages for Further Reflection:

Matthew 6:19-34; Luke 16:19-31

 

 ²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-- he will be blessed in what he does. ²⁶ If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless (NIV).

 James states that the one who only hears the word is deceived (James 1:22).  Notice that variations of the word “deceive” are used two other times in James 1.  In verses 16-18 James does not want believers to think that God tempts people.  What reasons does James give, so that we do not think God tempts people to sin?  How could one be deceived into thinking that God does tempt people to sin?  How does “doing the word” help us avoid being deceived into thinking God tempts people to sin?

 

 

In verses 26-27 James protects against another deception: thinking I am religious, while having a loose tongue.  Consider what other comments James makes about “taming the tongue” in 3:1-12.  Why do you think taming one’s tongue is such an important issue?  Consider with your answer what Jesus says concerning the connection between the heart and what the tongue speaks in Matthew 12:33-37.  How does “doing the word” help us avoid being deceived into thinking we are religious, while we do not control our speech?

 

 

What is your language like?  Is it vulgar or clean?  Does you tongue wag like the tail of an excited dog or is it controlled?  Are you quick to speak and slow to listen?  Do you speak truth or lies? 

 

How do your children speak?  What is their language like?  What steps can you take to help your children “do the word” and control their speech (See resource below for some ideas)?

 

 

Related Biblical Passages for Further Reflection:

Proverbs 6:16-17; 10:19-20; 11:12; 12:18; 15:2; 15:4; 17:20; 18:21; 21:23; 26:28; 28:33.

 

Further Reading on Related Themes:

Hughes, R. Kent.  Disciplines of a Godly Man.  Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1991.  See specifically chapter 11 titled “Discipline of Tongue.”

 

Priolo, Lou.  Teach Them Diligently: How to Use the Scriptures in Child Training.  Woodruff, SC: Timeless Texts, 2000.

 

Every now and again, I will post some little devotionals that I have written on certain passages of the Bible.  These devotionals were first written for Faith Community to accompany the weekly sermons.  Today's devotional is on 1 Thessalonians 3:1-6 and concerns questions regarding suffering and the Christian. 

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Is there a time when you saw God deliver someone from suffering?  How did the deliverance influence your faith in God’s goodness?  Did it build your confidence in God’s ability to care for you? 

 

Paul found that intense pressures and suffering caused him to depend more on God (2 Corinthians 1:9).  How do intense pressures in your life affect you?  Do you find courage in God or despair?  Do you try to make it on your own or trust in God who raises the dead?  What does (or would) trust in God look like under intense pressure?  That is, what are some steps you can take to trust more in God than in your own power, while you are in the midst of suffering or intense pressure?

 

 

Realistically, what do you expect the Christian life to be like?  In other words, do you see suffering as an anomaly or oddity in life?  Read 1 Thessalonians 3:1-6. 

So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. ² We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, ³ so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them. ⁴ In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know.       ⁵ For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless. ⁶ But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you (NIV).

Paul says in verse 4 that Christians are destined.  For what are Christians destined? 

 

In these same verses Paul describes his concern for the Thessalonians.  What is it that gave him most concern?  What do you think is the link between suffering and wavering faith?  How can reflecting on God’s faithfulness to Abraham, Joshua, David, Daniel, Paul, Peter, and ultimately Jesus sustain our faith in the midst of suffering?

 

Related Biblical Passages for Further Reflection:

Psalm 4, 27, 62, and 121.

Hebrews 11-12

 

Further Reading on Related Themes:

Bridges, Jerry.  Trusting God.  Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1988.

Carson, D. A.  How Long, O Lord: Reflections on Suffering and Evil.  Grand Rapids: Baker, 1990.

Schreiner, Thomas R, and Ardel B. Caneday.  The Race Set before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance and Assurance.  Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2001.