Luke 13:22-24  And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.  Then one said to Him, "Lord, are there few who are saved."  And He said to them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able."

Thursday, January 26, 2017  Another narrow place is the narrow path, with walls on either side, where the Angel of the Lord confronted Balaam while he was riding him mule. (Numbers 22:22-40)  Perhaps one characteristic of the "narrow way" is that we cannot avoid being confronted by the Lord in prayer.  We must be vulnerable, honest and willing to be convicted of sin.  There is no "sneaking by" on a narrow road.  There is if the road is crowded and wide.

Tuesday, January 11, 2017

Luke 12:1-12 (NKJV)

¹  In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

            The word for "hypocrisy" literally means "a reply".  The word indicated an actor-someone playing a role.  It later developed the negative connotation of being false, insincere, acting like someone you're not.  Think of an actor who wears a mask in order to portray a role.  The hypocrite wears a "mask" by being insincere, unreal and untruthful; by acting like they're someone other (usually better) then they really are.  An interesting application of this is in Galatians 2:13 in which the Apostle Paul confronts Peter and other Christians who have separated themselves from other Christians of a Gentile background because they do not keep the proper dietary laws, etc.  Paul knew that Peter and his friends did not, could not, adequately keep those laws so he confronts them for thinking of themselves better than they ought.  Perhaps also because they did not consider these other Christians with a different background and different habits and attitudes as unworthy of fellowship; that they were someone less than who they really are.  Could it be that we are hypocrites not only when we act like we are better, or other than who we really are, but also when we treat others as someone less than who they really are.  Maybe we are hypocrites when we force others to wear a "mask" as well as when we wear a "mask" ourselves?

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

To Fear or Not to Fear

Luke 12:4-7

"And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!  Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

In this challenging passage Jesus gives what appears to be impossible advice:  Do not fear those who can kill the body.  I, for one, find the thought of confronting people willing to kill my body pretty frightening, so I move on to the next verse, which I believe tells me how one overcomes a fear of murder.  It is the fear of God.  The word for "fear" also can mean "awe" or "reverence" and I tend to lean more toward that connotation because for the follower of Jesus, God is our Father.  We are invited to approach Him boldly.  Jesus clearly depicts the Father as God who loves us most dearly.

Yet, the word "fear" as in "do not fear therefore; you are more value than many sparrows" is the same word for "fear" that we find in "fear Him...who has power to cast into hell".  So we are to fear and yet not fear, and I think there is a balance in this somewhere.  There is hell.  There is damnation, and a person trifles with God at their own risk.  Perhaps, while still holding on the understanding of God as our loving Father in Christ, we should dare to pray for a vision of God as Judge of justice and wrath.  Perhaps those people who have a clear understanding of that side of God find that is the reason they have in themselves the resolve to choose death rather than to face Him in such circumstances.  I am not suggesting that we back away from the understanding of God is our loving Father, but perhaps just a little bit of trembling in the midst of our awe and reverence wouldn't be such a bad thing after all.