Morning Musings: 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

“For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.  To the Jews I became as a Jews, in order to win Jews.  To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.  To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.  To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak.  I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.  I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

The lengths to which Paul was willing to go in order to see someone connect with Christ were vast.  If someone had asked him to stand on his head and shout the alphabet backwards and then they would do it, he probably would have done it then and there.  Nothing was as important as this and so everything was worthwhile to do to help advance someone in that direction.   Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Psalm 97:1-5

“The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!  Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.  Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around.  His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles.  The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

We work very hard to make the Lord relatable for people.  We talk about Jesus and how God wants to be our friend.  We delight in His coming near and giving us the gift of His presence.  All of this is right and good and true.

But, we cannot forget along the way that God is also holy.  He is mighty.  He is powerful beyond our imagination.  He is glorious, and not in the loudly-singing-angels kind of way.  He is glorious in the shine-you-out-of-existence kind of way.  His glory is fearsome and terrible.  Were we to behold it we would come to an end.   Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Ecclesiastes 9:11

“Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Thanks to the influence of Eastern religious movements in this country, we have a fairly common phrase for when something unfortunate has happened to someone.  It comes in many forms, but the simplest (and cleanest) statement is this: “That’s Karma.”   Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Ecclesiastes 6:3

“If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

While Solomon seems to promote a kind of “eat and drink for tomorrow we die,” hedonistic fatalism here, I think there’s something more afoot.  As he has surveyed the world around him, he has noticed that there are many who pursue much, but whether they obtain it or not, when the pursuit becomes their god they can no longer enjoy the fruits of their labors whether larger or small.

Better in this life is to seek to find all the enjoyment we can in the things we have, working hard to see them increase, but not to the point that work becomes the end instead of the means.  The best life will always be found in working hard, delighting fully in what we have (and among the chief ways to do that is to use it for the benefit of others), all with faithfulness to the Lord as our guide.