Labor Day Rest

This week we are celebrating Labor Day. It’s a holiday that should be about getting rest, but most fail to take advantage of the opportunity. We know a great deal about working but very little about resting. Some of what we do has the semblance of rest but not the significance. Let me explain by sharing a conversation I had recently with my mother. I called her during the morning hours and she and dad were in the middle of eating breakfast.  She began to explain, “We sleep later some mornings, and sometimes after we wake up we just lie in the bed and rest a while.” She laughed and continued, “It’s something when you are in bed all night and wake up and still have to rest awhile.  That’s what happens when you get old I guess.”  Although humorous there is a message in that story.  Quite often after we have gone through the routine of sleeping we find ourselves still in the need of rest. The reason being we sleep because we have to we rest because we choose to. When we compare this to our spiritual lives we recognize the same principle applies.  We enter into the experience of salvation because we have to, but we rest in the promises and power of Christ because we choose to. This is the message the writer of Hebrews was trying to convey in Chapter four. We can spend long nights laboring in our salvation but satisfaction will only come when we turn to resting in God’s finished work.  Hopefully with age, comes the realization that we need to choose more rest and less labor.

A Dangerous Trust

I came across a very sad article on the internet Sunday morning. The news report read, “A hiker in Alaska’s Denali National Park photographed a grizzly bear for at least eight minutes before the bear mauled and killed him in the first fatal attack in the park's history, officials said Saturday. Investigators have recovered the camera and looked at the photographs, which show the bear grazing and not acting aggressively before the attack. The hiker was backpacking alone along the Toklat River on Friday afternoon when he came within 50 yards of the bear, far closer than the quarter-mile of separation required by park rules, officials said. "They show the bear grazing in the willows, not acting aggressive in any form or manner during that period of time," Anderson said. Prior to receiving a permit to hike in the area, all backpackers in the park receive mandatory bear awareness training that teaches them to stay at least a quarter-mile away from bears, and to slowly back away if they find themselves any closer. Investigators confirmed that the hiker had received that training.”  After reading this I asked myself the question, “What went wrong?” I think the obvious answer is the hiker acted on a dangerous trust. He trusted that in spite of the training given his close proximity to the bear was not a real threat; he trusted that the bear would not harm him and if alarmed he could easily find a way of escape. All of us take far too many risks with our lives. That’s why Paul encouraged us in 1 Thessalonians 5:22 to “Stay away from every kind of evil.” We can never ignore the warning signs God gives. Although the devil may appear harmless, he is vicious and in the words of Peter comparable to a “roaring lion who seeks to devour.” In the flesh we cannot outrun, outsmart, or defend ourselves against him. It is only by God’s grace, power and the following of biblical instructions that we can survive. Everyday our lives are at risk, so avoid at all costs entering into a dangerous trust  

Under His Wings

In Psalmist in 91:4 declares, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty… And under His wings you shall take refuge.”  Here we have revealed the safest place for the child of God to be.  It is in the Father’s shadow and under His wings. In the natural it gives little comfort to think that we are being protected by a shadow. However, in the spiritual realm there could be no safer place.  I read something recently that put this all in perspective. It was an article written several years ago in the National Geographic that provided an interesting picture of God's wings. After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her off springs to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body. The mother had remained steadfast. She had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live. God has given Himself so that we might be protected as we encounter the wiles of life. So there is no reason to be alarmed as long as we entertain His shadow and live under His wings. 

The Thief Needs No Assistance

In John chapter 10 Jesus described the devil as a thief whose primary goal is to “steal, kill and destroy.”  With that being said, we must realize he works with great success and certainly doesn’t need any assistance from us. Let me illustrate my point with an experience my son-in-law had a few days ago. He has a mobile home next to his parents where he keeps some equipment and an old truck. His mother called him and said, “Those boys you sent over here to get your truck broke my water line and I have water going everywhere. You need to get them to fix it.”  He said “do what?”  She said, “Those boys you sent over here to get that truck busted my water line and it needs to be fixed.” He said, “I didn’t send anybody to get a truck.”  She said, “Well I guess I need to go get your dad and tell him to come back to the house, he’s got the tractor down there helping them to load it up.” As it turned out the boys were stealing the truck and his father was helping them.  Of course my son-in-law called the sheriff’s office and they came out and arrested them.  If we are not careful we will find ourselves assisting the very thief who is out to destroy us.  We help him every time we operate with the spirit of unforgiveness.  We help him when we yield to temptation. We help him when we become too preoccupied with the minor things forgetting that which is major; when we parade without praying, we yearn without yielding and tread without trusting. With all of the enemy’s deceptive ability let us be careful to heed the words of scripture and “be wise as serpents but harmless as doves” because the thief needs no assistance.   

Resisting Our Rescue

A few years ago my wife and I left our church offices and headed out to lunch.  We had not driven very far down State Street when Phyllis said, “Darrell there is a kitten in the middle of the road, stop the car and get it.”  I retorted “stop the car, we’re in the street and traffic is moving.”  Well, you know arguments are never won when you are dealing with a head strong woman who happens to be an animal lover.  I stopped the car got out and walked over to the tiny piece of fur.  It was very evident that this little critter was fearful, traumatized, and most of all lost.  No doubt it was saying to itself, “How in the world did I wind up here.”  When I reached down to pick it up suddenly it began to hiss and show its tiny set of claws.  I remembered saying, “I’m trying to save you little rascal, don’t fight me.”  Why would a little kitten resist salvation in the midst of a hopeless situation?  Maybe it was because of its animal instinct--be careful who you trust; the hand that reaches for you may bring hurt instead of help. Or possibly it was because fear had driven it to believe that the future would not be any more favorable than its present circumstances. Better still, we cannot rule out the thought that this small, weak and vulnerable piece of flesh felt if given enough time, it could work itself out of the mess.  This all sounds so familiar when we think about ourselves.  How many times have we faced similar experiences? When it happens we allow our minds to lead us into thinking that somehow God is trying to harm rather than help us and that we are better off left alone.  Things just might improve if we fight back. This little kitten finally acquiesced and yielded to my hand.  Should we not do the same?  From eternity past and present our heavenly Father has always stopped in the midst of sinful traffic endeavoring to save us. You talk about “old things passing away and all things becoming new,” it happened that day in the middle of the street when one tiny cat stopped fighting and allowed itself to be rescued. It came under the care of my wife who gave it a permanent home and continual loving care.  God wishes to do the same for us. Stop resisting! Go ahead and let His hand rescue you!

Defying the Serpent

Several years ago there was a traveler going into the South American Jungles to hunt when he heard the startled cries of a bird fluttering over its nest. In the nest he could see the female bird and several baby birds. The reason for the alarm soon appeared in the form of an extremely poisonous snake. He was slowly moving towards the nest determined to make a meal of this small family. The hunter grabbed his gun and prepared to shoot the culprit but decided to watch and see what would happen. What he saw shocked him. The startled male bird suddenly flew away from the nest as though looking for something. A minute or two later it returned with a small leaf-covered twig which it laid carefully over the nest. Now calmer and quieter than before the male bird perched on one of the upper branches and watched the snake.  It got closer and closer to the nest and prepared to strike the deathblow, when suddenly it drew back its head as if being struck itself. The snake then quickly retreated from the nest. After it was gone the hunter climbed the tree, retrieved the twig and took it to one of the native villages. Being more than curious he asked them about it. He learned from the natives that the twig was from a bush, which is a deadly poison to snakes. The very sight or odor of the bush causes them to flee. The bible is very forthright when introducing the devil.  He is described as a serpent that seeks to steal, kill, and destroy. He is always on the prey. However, we are not defenseless. In the words of Isaiah, Jesus is our tender plant and the branch that drives the serpent away.  He is the poison that allows us to constantly defy our enemy.

The Drawbridge of Grace

Sometimes we get so caught with up with our Christianity that we forget the supreme sacrifice involved in its purchase. I am reminded of a story I read in John Guest’s Commentary on Romans, about a man who operated a giant drawbridge. One day he took his young son with him in order to show him what it was he did every day. He led the young lad down into the cavernous workings of the bridge that they might marvel together over its powerful machinery. While down there the man received a phone call that a train, well ahead of schedule, was speeding toward the bridge. There was just enough time for him to race to the top of the tower and flip the switch to lower it into place. Patiently he instructed his son not to budge from his tight position of safety. The father reached the tower with just enough time to lower the bridge. In that same split second he looked down to find that his son had moved into the jaws of the powerful machinery. He had to decide between the hundreds of lives speeding toward him in the train or the precious life of his only son. In great pain and anguish he flipped the switch. Down came the bridge, grinding the life out of his son. The train rushed by and as it did he could see people sitting there, in the comfort of their dining cars, chatting merrily with one another, totally oblivious to the enormous sacrifice that had just been made for their lives. Beating his fists on the tower window, the man screamed out against the stiff faces streaking past, a people for whom he had made so dear a sacrifice. “Don’t you know that I gave my son for you?” “Don’t you know that you are alive now because he yielded up his life?” “Does anybody care?” John concludes his remarks by saying, "God looks at the indifference of humanity rushing by Him, careless and unconcerned by the enormous cost of their salvation.” We compound His anguish when we fail to remember that He paid the ultimate price for something he offers to humanity free. All of us were runaway trains given the drawbridge of grace that we might have life and that abundantly.