Strength for Today

"...distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality" (Rom. 12:13). What a difference in the lives of people those three words "given to hospitality" can make! Last week my daughter Amanda and I (and two of her daughters) found ourselves left "high and dry" when an uscrupulous motel owner did not hold our "reservations." A quick call to friends, who were actually out of state, remedied the situation. The keys to their home were hidden under a ceramic angel and so we had a very nice home in to stay the night. Better than any motel! Yesterday my wife and I were in central Nebraska to lay to rest a very dear friend who, for years and years, has been "Mrs. Hospitality" to us and hundreds of other weary travelers. In my remarks I said that a big blue sign with a white "H" should have been placed on the road leading to their house (just like the Hospital signs on the highways point people to a nearby hospital), because she was known far and wide for her loving Christian hospitality. She was literally given to hospitality! The apostle Peter would not have had to admonish her, as he did others, "Be hospitable to one another without grumbling" (1 Pet. 4:9). The same is true with our friends who, appropriately, keep their key under a ceramic angel! How fitting! I hope all of us will give ourselves to hospitality!

God has established three institutions: the home, the nation, and the church. The home was first on His agenda (see Genesis 2:20-24). When the home is right, there is no happier place on earth. Several years ago a Christian man, Walt Fagen, handed me the following list. I have abbreviated it here for space. It is called "Formula for a Happy Home."

1. Never both be angry at once.
2. Never taunt the other with a past mistake.
3. Never forget the hours of first love.
4. Never meet without a loving welcome.
5. Never yell at each other unless the house is on fire.
6. Never let the sun go down upon any anger or grievance.
7. Never allow a reasonable request to have to be made a second time.
8. Never make a remark in public at the expense of each other. It may seem funny, but sometimes it hurts.
9. Never sigh for what might have been, but make the best of what is.
10. Let self-denial be the daily aim and practice of each.

Some Bible passages for your consideration: Gen. 2:18, 24; Prov. 31; Matt. 19:5-6; 1 Cor. 13; Eph. 5:25-30, 33; Col. 3:18-19; 1 Pet. 2:18-23; 3:7; 1 Tim. 3:2, 4-5, 12.

The six most important words: I admit I made a mistake.
The five most important words: You did a good job.
The four most important words: What is your opinion?
The three most important words: If you please.
The two most important words: Thank you.
The least important word: I

Try these words today and see the difference in your own life as well as the lives of others!

This week while I was visiting friends in Colorado, I went to a baseball game between the host Colorado Rockies and the visiting Cincinnati Reds. I have always loved the game of baseball and have now been in 19 different major league ballparks (someone once called them "green cathedrals"). Indeed, there are several spiritual analogies between baseball and the Christian life. A relief pitcher comes in and records a "save," A batter will some times "sacrifice" himself by laying down a bunt to advance a runner to the next base. In the game I attended, the Reds jumped off to a 5-0 lead. But then the Rockies stormed back and tied in up in the 8th inning. Giambi walked and a player from the bench was sent in to run for the slower Giambi. The "substitute" (there is yet another biblical analogy) soon found himself perched on 3rd base, just 90 feet from home. He was a rookie, just called up from Triple A, and had never stolen a base in his life. Undaunted, the young man thrilled the crowd when he promptly stole home to give the Rockies a 6-5 lead, a lead which they never relinquished. I wish you could have heard the amazing roar of the crowd when the umpire signaled "Safe!" Houston Street came in and struck out the side to seal the win and record the save. 

Now for your "Strength for Today." Don't get picked off 3rd. You may be closer to "home" (Heaven) than you think. Just imagine the roar of the crowd when you are called "Safe at home!" by the Great Arbitrator some day! "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses ..." (Heb. 12:1), let us do our best until we are "safe in arms of Jesus!"

Keep your mind on the Lord,
Fix your heart on His love,
    On His goodness,
    On His mercy,
    On His faithfulness and grace.

Keep your faith in His Word,
Trust in all that He says,
    In His promise,
    In His pledge,
    To redeem His faithful ones.

Lift your voice in His praise,
Honor Him with your life,
    In your words,
    In your deeds,
    In your innermost desires.

Be at peace in your soul,
Rest in hope for the day
    When He comes,
    As He said,
    To receive you to Himself.

We often see "Men at Work" signs as we drive down the road, but in Genesis we see signs of "God at Work" all over the place, especially the work of Creation. "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done" (Gen. 2:2, 3 NIV). It took God six days to create the heavens and the earth and everything in them. What a work that was! G.K. Chesterton said, "God must have made some parts of the creation for sheer fun -- how else would you account for the kangaroo?" The very principle of labor (work) was instituted when God made the world. God placed Adam in the beautiful garden to work the ground and take care of it (Gen. 2:8, 15). God set the example of labor. Man is to follow suit. Welfare is no substitute for honest labor. Dorothy L. Sayers said, "Work is not primarily a thing one does to live, but the thing one lives to do. It is, or should be, the full expression of the worker's faculties, the thing in which he finds spiritual, mental, and bodily satisfaction, and the medium in which he offers himself to God." Thank God for the opportunity and privilege of work!

Yesterday I took a friend to lunch. When I asked for the check, the waitress replied, "The people at the next table picked up your tab." Wasn't that a nice thing to do? We both knew the people sitting next to us and so of course we both went over and thanked them for this act of kindness. They were Christians too. That's what Christians do from time to time. A Christian is a follower of Christ and He is the one who set the great example in paying for debts not incurred by Himself. At Calvary He paid the debt we all owed. "But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Yesterday I had the money to pay for our meal, but someone else picked up the tab. But when I was a sinner I had no means to pay for my sins. Then Jesus, who had no sin ~ who knew no sin ~ paid it all. Why should He love me so? Because His great heart wanted to. Because that was His ultimate mission in life. "...the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life -- a ransom for many" (Matt. 20:28). I believe we should think about that when we are at another table, the Lord's Table, this Sunday. Someone picked up your tab. Someone paid your bill. Someone actually gave His life for you that you might live forever. Make sure your breathe a prayer of thanks when you partake of the broken bread and drink the crimson cup. "Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow" (Elvina M. Hall).

"Yet He knows the way I have taken; when He has tested me, I will emerge as pure gold" (Job 23:10 CSB). If anyone knew anything about being refined as gold it was the ancient sufferer Job. He knew that gold is not refined on the mountain tops of joy but in the valley of suffering. It is the fire of trials and testing that brings forth the gold of godliness. Proverbs 17:3 says, "A crucible for silver and a smelter for gold, but the LORD is the tester of hearts." That's good for us to remember when God is reducing us to a pure state. His testing is to free us from moral imperfections, to burn the dross out of our life, to bring forth the gold of godliness. Why does God expose us to difficult situations? So that we might learn to endure hardship and be refined as pure gold. The white hot flame of the induction furnace does that. Peter wrote to Christians in the first century who were going through fiery trials. He reminded them, "You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to be distressed by various trials so that the genuineness of your faith -- more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire -- may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Christ" (1 Pet. 1:6, 7). The word "crucible" comes from the same root word for "cross." Christ's suffering and death on the cross was not forever and it produced salvation for lost mankind. Your "short time" in the crucible will not be forever either, and it will bring great gain for you and those whom your life touches.

[Since I posted this, a friend commented: "Asking God to bring a quick end to a trial can sometimes be out of order. No one would ask the refiner of gold to remove it from the fire until it is purified, and the work is done." I like that thought.]

Susanna Wesley (1669-1742) said, "There are two things to do about the gospel -- believe it and behave it." She did her best to instill this thought in her children (she and Samuel Wesley had 19 children; 10 died in infancy). Two of her sons became devout leaders in the Methodist movement: John and Charles. Both of them were exemplary in "behaving the gospel." What does it mean to "behave the gospel?" There is a section in Paul's letter to the Church in Rome that seems to express it best. Some Bibles title this section "The Christian's Behavior" or "Christian Ethics." The passage is Romans 12:9-13 and here follows the inspired list of practical instructions for "behaving the gospel."

1. Love with sincerity.
2. Hate what is evil.
3. Cling to what is good.
4. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.
5. Honor one another above yourselves.
6. Never be lacking in zeal.
7. Keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
8. Be joyful in hope.
9. Be patient in affliction.
10. Be faithful in prayer.
11. Share with God's people who are in need.
12. Practice hospitality.

Make this list your "daily dozen" exercises for "behaving the gospel." We all believe the gospel. Now let us behave it.