At heart, I suspect we all know that we are stewards of God. We understand that someday, we will have to stand before Him and give account of how we have used the things that He has entrusted to us. And I also suspect that at heart, most of us want to be better at sharing the blessings that we have been given by the Lord.
And yet, times can be tight for many of us. And they can be tight for a number of reasons that are not important for the purposes of our thoughts today; reasons such as bad luck or self-induced financial hardships. But whatever the reason, we often find ourselves stressed over our resources- or lack of resources to be more accurate.
Perhaps we think, “If I can get just a little more, I can do better in giving or helping others.” There are a couple of problems with this kind of thinking.
First, it is often a deceptive belief that we will ever have just a little more. What usually happens as God blesses us is that we spend that blessing plus a little more on ourselves. While we still have good intentions to want to be a blessing to others, we find ourselves in the same situation of needing just a little more and then we’ll be able to help others.
The second problem with this way of thinking is that it doesn’t understand the crux of what God is looking for from us. We are preoccupied with amounts and values. We look at a small amount and think, “How much good can this miniscule amount do for someone?” And we think, when I can get just a little more, then I will be able to make an impact on someone’s life.
Listen to what the One who will judge us as His steward says:
“And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42 ESV).
Jesus is teaching that we might not be able to take care of all of someone’s needs, but if we can do even a small thing to meet a need for someone, we will by no means lose our reward. Shouldn’t this tell us just how important even a small act of giving is in the eyes of Jesus? Can we really tell the Lord, “If You can only wait until I get a little more, I can help someone in need.”
And then Jesus dismantles our plea for just a little more when He shows us this:
“Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” (Luke 21:1-4 ESV).
What do I learn from this? I learn that there is no “Just a little more” in the eyes of Jesus. He doesn’t care about the amount of the gift. He cares about the giving of the gift. Remember, He is the one who will judge us one day on how well we have been His steward.
Do you know someone who struggles to make ends meet? Why not take them out to eat and ease their burden for a day? Do you know someone who is struggling financially and needs school supplies for their children? Why not buy a little extra when you get your children’s supplies so you can share with them? It might not take care of all their needs, but it is a cup of cold water that they need.
There are a number of things we can do, if our heart is set on giving a cup of cold water or sharing our two small copper coins. And when we do, we warm the Savior’s heart. We learn that we never have to wait until we have just a little more in order to be pleasing to Him.
Jesus often says that His truth is spoken for the purpose of blinding some that they might not see. In fact, many claim that Jesus spoke in parables to make His lessons easy to understand, much in the same way that we employ storytelling techniques. But a fair reading of Jesus’ purpose with parables does not fully support this. Consider:
“This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” (Matthew 13:13 ESV).
And after He healed the blind man,
“Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” (John 9:39 ESV).
Reading John 9, which also references Isaiah 6, helps us to understand why Jesus would teach in a way that His truth would remain hidden to some, rendering them blind to it. And it serves as a powerful warning to us today.
In John 9, Jesus speaks to the Pharisees and a man born blind. The same truth and evidence are given to both. To the Pharisees, their heart had already rejected any claim that Jesus was from God. And this rejection in their heart meant that they would not consider anything Jesus did or said. They were blind to His teachings.
But to the man born blind that Jesus healed, when the same signs and word was given to Him, the text says that he worshiped Jesus (John 9:38). The blind man could see spiritually while the Pharisees, seeing, remained blind spiritually.
This has nothing to do with God personally choosing some to see the truth and others to remain blind to it. But the nature of God’s truth is that it lays before people one choice: Jesus is the only way to the Father. Accept Him or reject Him- those are your only two options. You will do one or the other. If you do not choose Him, you are rejecting Him.
So, if we have a heart that rejects Jesus, we will remain blind to His teachings. We will deny the Word and set up something else in our hearts as the truth. There is no other option. His Word is designed to either give sight or to give blindness. That sight or blindness is driven by our heart and what we do with His Word.
If we have accepted Jesus and strive to obey Him, constantly searching His word to live in obedience, then we are living with sight. But once we stop searching His word and start to live our way, according to the way we choose to live, then we shut off our heart to see His teachings and we will be blind.
It is a sorrowful place to find ourselves when we have a heart that stops seeking Jesus and instead, seeks to justify our own way to the Lord. When we do that, we will remain blind to the parables and truth, the only truth that can lead us to the Father through Jesus.
In my daily Bible reading, I am in the book of 1 Kings. The first half talks about King Solomon and the building of the temple of God. Because of God’s blessings, Solomon had become rich and his fame spread across the world because of his wisdom.
In Chapter 10, the Queen of Sheba, who heard of Solomon’s great wisdom and riches, decides to see for herself if what she heard was true. The stories seemed too good to be true. And while she assumed that the stories were exaggerations, there was enough that intrigued her to find out for herself.
So, she traveled to Israel and put Solomon to the test. She tried to stump him with very difficult questions, but his divinely appointed wisdom proved to be greater than even she could imagine. Suffice it to say that this queen was overwhelmed when she witnessed the blessings of wisdom and riches that God had bestowed upon Solomon. And then she made this observation:
“Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom!” (1 Kings 10:8 ESV).
And this made me think, as much as we believe in the grandeur of heaven; as much as we think of the glory witnessed by all of the angels and all the created heavenly beings who are standing before God continually, giving praise, honor and worship to the Creator, I have to believe that we are like the Queen of Sheba.
When we finally get to see heaven in its glory for ourselves, we will have no other thought than to think that the half has not been told. It will be far greater than the stories we hear. When we witness and experience the worship of those in the presence of God, we will be overwhelmed at just how blessed they are to continually stand before God and witness His glory.
And the best thing: We will be among those blessed to be able to stand before the throne of God continually to sing and to praise and to live in the glory of God Almighty forever.
If the Queen of Sheba was overwhelmed when she came into the presence of King Solomon, can you imagine what it will be like when we come into the presence of the Great I AM?
In my daily Bible reading, I just finished the book of 1 Kings. The kingdom has been divided and God approaches Jeroboam and chooses him to be King of the northern tribes. God promises to make his house an enduring dynasty if he obeys the Word of God. But once he has power, Jeroboam forgets God and turns to his own way.
Fearing that the people will return to the southern King of Judah if allowed to travel to Jerusalem to worship, the King of Israel created two idols and set them up to the north and the south of the land and tells the people that this is the god who brought them out of the land of Egypt. He also makes priests of people from tribes other than the tribe of Levi.
Here was a man who was promised it all, yet he decided that he didn’t need God and that he would follow his own path. He had power and money, everything he needed to do all that his heart desired. But the Word of the Lord came to Jeroboam and a reckoning was about to come upon him from the Lord.
“but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back,” (1 Kings 14:9 ESV).
The kingdom was going to be taken away from him. But did you notice what the Lord said to him: “and have cast me behind your back”? This is the crux of Jeroboam’s sins. He did all these evil things because he cast God behind his back. Instead of putting the Lord in the forefront of all he did, like King David had done, Jeroboam cast the Lord behind him and walked in his own way.
Is there a message for us today? Do we cast the Lord behind our back and walk in our own way? Do we know what the Lord wants us to do? Do we understand His will? If so, we are faced with the same choice that Jeroboam was faced with. Do we put the Lord at the forefront of our lives or do we cast Him behind our backs and live in our own way?
Let us be careful before we throw God behind us. If we do, our ultimate end will be the same that Jeroboam faced. There will be a day of reckoning and the God Who we threw behind us will stand before us, face to face, to render judgment.
What does it mean to have a “seat at the table”? In business, it means that your department is represented when important decisions are made and that you get a say in the outcomes that will affect you.
As children of God, do we appreciate the fact that because of Jesus coming to the earth and living as man, He became the perfect High Priest for us and we now have a “seat at the table” before God; someone who will represent our interests to the Father? No other part of God's creation has this amazing blessing.
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:1-2 ESV).
What Jesus does for us even now is amazing.
Before He came to earth, He existed as God Almighty over all of His creation.
Then, because we needed a Savior, He put on the flesh of His creation and lived as one of us.
While living among us, Jesus represented heaven to us on earth. Even when Philip asked Him to show them the Father,
“Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:9 ESV).
But when He ascended into heaven and was seated at the right hand of God, Jesus' work continued.
Having lived the life of a man, the Son of Man began to represent earth to heaven.
“For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.” (Hebrews 9:24 ESV).
How truly blessed we are to have a Savior who first represented heaven to us and now represents us to Heaven.
If you are like me, you read passages that say we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ and give account of every word and every deed that we do, and think, “I am in trouble on that day, because I have done so much to be found guilty.
Consider what Paul says in 2 Corinthians:
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” (2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV).
Now, while I do believe that this is a day that we should never take lightly, as I read this passage, especially in the context of 2 Corinthians, I see that Paul is mentioning this day as something that we can look forward to; a day where vindication will be made on our part.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could look at this day as a day of comfort rather than a day of fear? This is how I see that Paul was looking at it and the way he was presenting this day to us.
His enemies were accusing Paul of being a false apostle and of teaching falsehoods. Much of his time was spent in defending his apostleship and his devotion to God. But he looked forward to the day when nothing would be hidden. No claims against him would stand because on that day, truth would be brought forth and his words and deeds would be testified to and no false claim against him would stand.
And the words and deeds of those who falsely accused him would be laid before everyone on that day as well. Nothing would, could be hidden. To Paul, it would be a day of vindication; to his enemies who were falsely accusing him, the truth would be uncovered as well.
Paul knew he had sinned, even calling himself the chief of sinners. But because he repented and lived to the Lord, those sins had been wiped clean by the blood of the Lamb, and would not be brought against him on that day. But his good words and deeds would be before all, even though many accused him otherwise.
My point is that if we are living a life devoted to serving God, confessing and repenting of our sins, then the Day of Judgment should be a day that we are looking forward to experiencing. Why? Because the Judge will be perfect and righteous; the Judge will be merciful and gracious; and the Judge is seeking to save us and not condemn us.
But there are some who should fear this day. Those who do not live under the Lord’s authority; those who refuse to repent and confess their sins before God; those who accuse and tear down rather than those who edify and build up.
It is on that day when all will be made known. To His faithful servants, have faith in the Lord that He will do all He promised to do for you. Be eager for that day to come, resting in His gracious forgiveness and His ability to see the wonderful secret things you do for Him in your closet. And if people judge your heart harshly without cause, then take comfort that the true righteous Judge will not be duped into believing the evil spoken against you.
While I do not underestimate the stakes on that great day, for me, it is a day I look forward to. I hope that those who are faithful to the Lord can see this as a day of comfort as well.
Sovereignty. God’s purposes being accomplished and nothing can keep what He determines from coming to pass. No matter what man chooses, God’s Will prevails.
Consider Daniel and Samson. God worked through each of them and yet each of them chose through their own free will to serve or not to serve God.
Daniel chose to serve God faithfully and God worked through Him. Not because Daniel was faithful, but because the Lord is sovereign.
Samson chose to sin in regard to his appetites and against his Nazarite vow and God worked through him, in spite of his sinful actions that ended up costing him his life.
God’s sovereignty can be seen in this: Had Daniel acted in a selfish and sinful way, God in His sovereignty would still accomplish His purpose.
Had Samson been as faithful as Daniel, God would have still performed all in His heart and according to His sovereignty.
God’s sovereignty is not dependent on what we do or do not do. And His sovereignty does not limit or take away our free will.
In spite of the free will that God has given us, it cannot change what God has determined in His heart.
That is what makes Him sovereign. That is what gives us comfort in the trust that we can place in Him.
We can choose what we wish, and God is still sovereign and will accomplish His purpose. This is why we must submit to Him in all things. This is why we must choose to obey Him.