A Thought a Day...
Friday, June 18, 2004
"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:12
It seems strange to see this verse here. It's stuck right at the end of a passage on spiritual assertiveness. The verses right before this says that God won't give me stones for bread or eels instead of fish. Bread and fish were the staples for that area. On two occasions, when Christ fed thousands, the cuisine was ... yup... Fish and bread. So why is this statement about the law stuck here? And why is it stated as a conclusion to the passage? It says, "So...." That tells me that this statement is a summary or conclusion to the previous sentences.
Let me look at these verses again. I am to ask God and God will give to me. When I do ask God, then He will give me what is needed and good for me. So... For that reason, I am to treat others like I want to be treated. Why? Because that is how God treats me. It's the original "Pay it Forward".
Applying this is harder than it looks. I went to dinner last night with a friend in downtown San Francisco. From the time we got out of the car until we could walk across the street we were approached by three pan-handlers. What should I do? Am I enabling them in the reasons for not having "bus" money? Or am I helping them buy their next bottle of "Two-Buck Chuck" the local name for Charles Shaw wine? Where does tough love fit in?
I have more questions than answers. This calls for further thought.
Father, I don't have all the answers. And like some of the students that take a class in a technical subject, all I've succeeded in doing is understanding how much I don't know. Make me aware of what my own needs are compared to my wants. Help me to respond appropriately to those around me. More importantly, help me to reflect your love to others today.
Thursday, June 17, 2004
"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:9-11
My brother was in Junior High, I was in High School. We got up early that Christmas morning and hurried into the living room to see what "Santa" had brought us. I honestly don't remember what I got for Christmas that year, although I'm sure it was nice. My parents went to extremes to make sure that they spent the exact same amount of money on each of us. We had opened all our presents that year and my brother Bill was absolutely crestfallen to think that the gift he had been asking for for months was not in the mix of gifts. Being the older and wiser brother, I knew something was up, because his gifts could not have added up to the same amount that mine had... and I was right. After every thing had settled down, Mom and Dad looked at each other and said, "Oh, we forgot one"... (wink, wink)... went to the closet and pulled out a set of golf clubs. Bill was ecstatic, my parents beamed knowing they had made there son happy.
Contrast that same scene with one from a Grade-B movie plot. A family is gathering around the Christmas tree, and the gifts are distributed. The youngest child opens the gift given to them to find a hissing, angry poisonous snake inside it's gift. How horrible! Yet that is what Christ is trying to say here. Why would our heavenly Father do that to us? The answer is simple. He wouldn't
Our Father is a loving father who knows my needs and my desires. These verses are in context with the verses that state that I need to ask for what I want. If I will and do ask, then my Father will give me what is good -- not that which is bad. On that Christmas 40 years ago, my brother might have received a different present from our parents if he had not been willing to ask for it. And if I ask, God is not going to be cruel and give me something harmful. He may have to respond by making a very parental decision... on that says, I'm not going to give you something that is harmful, and there may be a better time for me to get what I'm asking for in my prayer: He won't give me what will hurt me.
Father, thank you for the wonderful gifts you give me every day. Give me the strength and wisdom to live up to and accept your love for me.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7,8
I am still in the San Francisco Bay area, and Marcia has returned home from a wonderful weekend. If you wonder why my posts seem erratic at times, just remember my main reason for starting this blog was to be able to communicate daily devotions with my wife while away from home. So, when we are together, the posts will tend to be a little more erratic.
A lot of my job involves sales or pre-sales involvement. One of the first rules of sales is to ask for the order, and once you've asked a closing question, you shut up until you get an answer. In fact, the rule for speaking after a closing question is "The first one to talk after a closing question, buys it." In training sales people it always amazes me to watch a rookie sales person after asking a customer to buy the product let the customer off the hook because they can't stand the long, uncomfortable silence after the question. I was selling Steinway pianos once, and after asking the customer how they planned to finance the purchase, waited for over 14 minutes while the customer thought it over. Total silence for fourteen minutes... It seemed like forever. But because I didn't speak first, I made the sale.
The principle for me here is, that while we don't have to sell God on anything, we do have to be assertive in asking for what we want. And the second part of that is that we have to be willing to wait quietly for the answer. The verses tell me that I don't have what I want because I don't ask for it. God loves us and God wants to provide for us. How often do I miss out on a blessing just because I don't ask for one? Sure, there are times when I have to get my pride out of the way... But I should. There are times when I don't know how to ask appropriately... But I've already been told that when I don't have the words, He already knows the desires of my heart. Just like a customer knows you are going to ask for an order as a sales person, God knows what I'm going to ask. He's just waiting for me to do it!
Don't get me wrong. God is not just some divine vending machine where you plug in a prayer and get out a blessing. It's about a relationship. Last week, Marcia and I were shopping in San Francisco... Understand that Marcia and I have elevated the act of shopping into a contact sport. We do a lot of shopping, and a lot of looking. During our little trip we saw the most charming bracelet. It was simple, but elegant. I saw her stop and look at it. I asked her if she liked it. She said she loved it. I asked her if she wanted it as a souvenir of her visit to San Francisco. She didn't speak. I asked her if she would want it if we could get it for a certain price... She still didn't speak. But she never took her eyes off the bracelet. Finally, she said she would be willing to talk with the salesperson. It took some negotiating, and after showing the salesperson we were willing to to walk away; then getting the manager involved in making a special deal: Marcia is now the owner of that bracelet. I wanted to get her the bracelet... But she had to be willing to tell me she wanted it. How easily she could have missed out on a blessing. How easily, I could have found a different way to show her that I love her. I could have bought her a bobble-head Barry Bonds doll instead.
Father, this verse is not about material things, alone. It's about a relationship. A relationship where we are so tightly bonded that You and I know what we are thinking without even asking. But through the act of asking we understand each other even more. There are times that I complain that I don't feel close to you... But I don't ask to be drawn closer. There are times that I'm hurting... But I don't ask you to ease the pain. There are times when I don't have the answers, but I don't ask you for wisdom. Father, today give me courage to just share what's on my mind with you, and then to just listen for what you have to say.
