Hold On
It was a full-plate kind of day today, Father, but we got through it! Now at the close of it, may I hear Your voice loud and clear as we come together. Amen.
Luke 9:59-62 (<<click to read the passage)
A couple of times this week, as I have been delivering lunches, I’ve seen an Amish gentleman plowing his fields with a team of draft horses. This picture only shows three but the gentleman I saw had a few more – maybe six? I didn’t drive right past him, so it was a little hard to tell.
Any person plowing with horses or even a tractor has to pay attention to what they are doing. The goal is to plow a straight line to make the most use of the acreage being farmed. Even with the development of GPS (Global Positioning System) driven tractors, the goal is the same, it is just done remotely. (They really do exist! Check out this story on The John Deere Journal)
In this passage, after several had made seemingly legitimate excuses for not following Him right then, Jesus told his disciples
“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back [to the things left behind] is fit for the kingdom of God.” v62 (AMP)
If we are truly going to follow Jesus, and if it is going to truly impact the world around us like it can, we must follow him unswervingly. To be used to the utmost for His Kingdom we can’t look back to what we’ve left behind if we are going to plow a straight line, making the most of the “acreage” in which we’re working.
When I was in college, I loved a spiritual that we had the privilege of singing with the college choir. Its title? Hold On (Keep Your Hand on the Plow). Here are the lyrics as sung by Mahalia Jackson on her 1955 album, The World’s Greatest Gospel Singer. It’s all about keeping our focus on our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Hold on
Hold on
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on
Hold on
Hold on
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on
Heard the voice of Jesus say
Come unto me, I am the way.
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.
When my way gets dark as night,
I know the Lord will be my light,
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.
Hold on
Hold on
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on
You can talk about me much as you please
The more you talk, gonna stay on my knees.
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.
When I get to heaven, gonna sing and shout
Be nobody there to put me out.
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.
I know my robe’s gonna fit me well,
I tried it on at the gates of Hell.
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.
Hold on
Hold on
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on
May 7th, 2020, Thurs, 8:26 pm
Foxes Have Dens
A quiet day of work and rest, Father. Thank You for enabling me to make some good progress on Sunday’s sermon. There is great comfort in Your presence.
Luke 9:57-58 (<<click to read the passage)
Reading these few verses immediately brought a couple of things to mind. First, for some time I have been wanting to share my fox sightings and it also brought to mind one of my favorite Christmas hymns. I know…a strange combination, but what can I say?
The first time I remember seeing a fox in the wild was a few years back while sitting in my home office. I get a nice view of the back of our lot from there. I happened to glance up from my desk and there, much to my surprise was a fox! It was standing on a little rise in front of a small grove of trees. It was winter, so the bare trees and leaves on the ground provided its background. I was spellbound -it was beautiful! It stood in the “open” for a bit then darted back into the cover of the trees.
I have sighted foxes a couple of times on my bus route, too. One time I was coming up on a house of one of my elementary girls and along a property line of bushes, I saw another one before it took off along the line of bushes. The family has a couple of outdoor dogs, but I don’t think they had caught wind of it.
They are beautiful creatures, but I realize that they are a problem for many farmers in that they prey on chickens and whatnot.
The Christmas hymn, of which I spoke, is entitled Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne and actually it ties in with today’s text very well.
As Jesus and His disciples passed the unwelcoming village…
“…someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” (NLT)
In other words, we desire to follow Jesus but there are no guarantees of what that might mean. Hebrews 13:14 (NLT) says,
For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.
Here are the lyrics of Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne:
Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown
When Thou camest to earth for me;
But in Bethlehem’s home there was found no room
For Thy holy nativity.
Refrain
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus;
There is room in my heart for Thee.
Heaven’s arches rang when the angels sang,
Proclaiming Thy royal degree;
But of lowly birth didst Thou come to earth,
And in great humility.
Refrain
The foxes found rest, and the birds their nest
In the shade of the forest tree;
But Thy couch was the sod, O Thou Son of God,
In the deserts of Galilee.
Refrain
Thou camest, O Lord, with the living word,
That should set Thy people free;
But with mocking scorn and with crown of thorn,
They bore Thee to Calvary.
Refrain
When the heavens shall ring, and her choir shall sing,
At Thy coming to victory,
Let Thy voice call me home, saying, “Yet there is room,
There is room at My side for thee!”
My heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus,
When Thou comest and callest for me.
By Emily E. S. Elliott, 1864
The common animals of the field find comfort in their “homes” but Jesus? He willingly gave up what was rightfully His due, that we might be redeemed.
I highlighted a few phrases in the hymn. If you haven’t already, read them through once more. Remember, Jesus gave up everything, His very life included, so that we could find our forever home…with Him.
Apr 6th, 2020, Wed, 6:02 pm
How Is Your Patellar Reflex?
Father, after our blood donations yesterday, we both seem to be dragging. It’s to be expected but I would ask that You spur me on, that I might be attentive to You in our time together. Amen.
Luke 9:52-56 (<<click to read the passage)
So, how is your patellar reflex? I’d say mine is fine…and yours probably is, too. At some point in time, we’ve probably all had it tested. Your doctor has you sit on the edge of the bed and taps right below your kneecap. MedicineNet describes it this way.
The normal knee-jerk…reflex is elicited when the knee is tapped below the kneecap (patella). Sensors that detect stretching of the tendon of this area send electrical impulses back to the spinal cord. The spinal cord automatically sends a signal back along a nerve to muscles of the front of the thigh. These muscles are then activated to contract, causing a kick. The brain is never involved in the reflex.
I read that definition and literally laughed out loud at the last sentence! The brain is never involved in the reflex. The Cambridge Dictionary defines a knee-jerk reaction as a quick reaction that does not allow you time to consider something carefully. In other words, the brain is never involved!
A few days back I referred to the incident in today’s passage. Jesus and His disciples were coming up on a Samaritan village and Jesus sent messengers ahead to…prepare for His arrival. The villagers were less than hospitable and when James and John saw this, they said to Jesus, “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up [as Elijah did]?”
(A quick little side note, the phrase “as Elijah did” does not appear in all the original texts that Bible translators use when translating this passage. An additional portion that bridges verses 55 and 56 is the same way. But I must say it makes a strong point and strengthens Jesus’ response.)
James and John’s reply was no sooner out of their mouths when Jesus turned and rebuked them. And then this is the added portion,
And he said, “You don’t realize what your hearts are like. For the Son of Man has not come to destroy people’s lives, but to save them.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges has an interesting commentary of this passage. In essence, the author said that eventually, the disciples learned that the spirit of Jesus was the spirit of the dove; and that there is a difference between Carmel and Hermon.
The analogy is cool, and I don’t want to leave you hanging as to what it means. I’ll try and make it short. Mt. Carmel is the location of one of the great stories of the Old Testament. The “prophets” of the false god Baal basically had a duel with God’s prophet Elijah. They had called all day for their so-called god, to consume their ritual sacrifice. Of course, nothing happened; except that Elijah laughed and made fun of them. This was in the middle of years of drought and when Elijah’s turn came up, he had his sacrifice doused in water three times so that everything was thoroughly soaked through and even the trench around the altar was full of water. He prayed one short prayer and fire fell from heaven consuming the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and even the water in the trench! (Read the whole story here, it’s awesome! >> 1 Kings 18:16-45)
That’s where James and John got the fire idea, but Jesus realized that they had absolutely no idea – yet – what He was all about.
Now, what is Hermon? Tradition holds that that’s where Jesus’ transfiguration took place and remember James and John, just a short time ago, were there with Jesus.
When Jesus said, “You don’t realize what your hearts are like.” the commentator says in today’s language, that their hearts were more like Elijah’s and not nearly enough like that of Jesus.
So, what does this all have to do with us? Would you not agree that if there was ever a knee-jerk society, it is the one in which we live? How often do we respond (retaliate is more like it!) and our brain is never involved! Our mouths are engaged long before our brains! As we strive to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, may we also strive to not destroy people’s lives, but to save them”!
May 5th, 2020, Tues, 6:19 pm
Can I Get a Do-Over?
A long but very productive day, Father. Thank You for watching over us as we went to make a very special donation and ran to pick up some needed items, as well.
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
With the times in which we find ourselves, I have seen several times on social media where people have posted a version of this meme asking, “I think you need to reinstall 2020. There’s a virus!” It may work for computers but in life, we just have to tough it out.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could just get do-overs every so often in life?
We used to do it as kids! We’d try something new, maybe a game or learning some activity and we’d royally mess it up. We wouldn’t quite grasp the nuances of the game and instead, we’d crash and burn. “Do over!” I remember as a kid trying to do a handstand in a pool and not being able to pull it off or not being able to hold my breath long enough to get upright in the water and after coming up gasping for breath yelling, “Do over!”
As adults, how often do we find ourselves in situations where we have done something or said something that we would like to just backup, erase, and restart from the beginning? At work, in relationships, sometimes just life in general, it would be great to have do-overs!
But as we all know, that’s just not how life works…
Sometimes we have hurt people over and over so many times that “I’m sorry” just doesn’t cut it anymore. The only thing that will heal those kinds of things is time and lots and lots of love. Patience helps, too. And where would we be without forgiveness?
On second thought, another option would be to stop doing the things that hurt them – what a novel idea! In this life, we really can’t start over, but we can always start fresh!
And that is where God factors in – big time! He is all about new beginnings! Every day brings with it new opportunities – opportunities to change, to be different, to improve who we are. Our goal in all of this should be to be more and more like Jesus in all we say and do.
In the Old Testament God spoke to the nation of Israel through the prophet Isaiah. He said, in regards to the past,
“…forget all that—
….it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.
For I am about to do something new.
….See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
….I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19 (NLT)
With God all things are possible!
Help me Lord to be pliable in Your hands to change where I need to change. I am not perfect, but I can change…with You by my side. May I heed Your direction. May my desires for “do-overs” turn into “start freshes”! Amen!
May 4th, 2020, Mon, 8:23 pm
Resolutely
A blessed time of worship this morning, some quality time with my sweetie, some burgers on the grill for supper, and a nice walk at the park – a beautiful day from beginning to end from Your generous hand, Father! “Praise God from whom all blessings flow!”
Luke 9:51 (<<click to read the passage)
Two things that I struggle with every year are taxes and year-end reports for my churches. I despise both of them! I realize that they are things I am required to do but that does not make them any more palatable. I have shared with our District Administrative Assistant in the past that year-end reports come very close to giving me panic attacks! There are probably many who are reading this who think I’ve got a few screws loose. How can things so mundane be so detrimental to my frame of mind? In reality, they are not difficult. Yes, they are both time consuming but not crazily so. But…they drive me looney!
You would think that knowing how they affect me that I would get a head start on them, just to get them out of the way. But, nope, I put them off until I have absolutely no choice but to do them. I don’t know if I’ve ever had all of my church reports in by the deadline. I usually have my taxes in on time but not until like the week they are due. (I haven’t even started this year’s yet!) It makes no sense, but I guess that is just one of my many idiosyncrasies (much to my wife’s chagrin!)
Now that the disciples have been made aware of Jesus’ true mission on earth (though in reality it still hasn’t registered with them), the trajectory of His life is now squarely aimed at Jerusalem and His inevitable passion, death, and resurrection.
Today’s passage clearly states that the time was drawing near for Jesus’ ascension to heaven. And of course, that would come after He had gone through everything else. Yes, Jesus is wholly God – this is entirely God, and that is wholly not holy, though He was most definitely that, too – but He was also, wholly man. He knew what setting out for Jerusalem would ultimately mean. It would mean pain, suffering, humiliation, loneliness, being deserted, and being totally cut off from those He loved and with whom He interacted. His followers, His closest friends…His mom. He knew that His very life would be forfeit. It was the only way.
That had been the plan before day one even. He and the Father saw what was coming before the first man ever took his first breath. Before “Let there be light” had been proclaimed, Jesus knew this was the path He would walk.
Remember my life verse,
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. Ephesians 1:4 (NLT)
And the only way for Him to chose us, the only way for us to be holy, the only way for us to be without fault in his eyes, was for Him set out for Jerusalem and all that that would set into motion.
Did He hesitate? Did His humanity withdraw from all that His divinity knew was ahead? Without a doubt, it weighed heavily upon his heart and mind, but today’s verse does not read, Jesus reluctantly set out for Jerusalem, but it does say, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
Lord Jesus, knowing what You knew did not change what You knew You needed to do. You didn’t put off the inevitable. You experienced no near panic attacks. You just did what had to be done. May I follow you resolutely in every aspect of my life. Amen.
May 3rd, 2020, Sun, 7:40 pm