“You are to labor six days but you must rest on the seventh day; you must even rest during plowing and harvesting times.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
The other day, some folks in my church were having a conversation before Bible study about the wonder of modern conveniences and the changes they have brought to our lives. Many of the things we consider among the most basic conveniences were introduced as ways to automate mundane tasks and give us more time for leisure. Instead, not knowing what to do with all our extra time, we filled it with either mindless banalities or else even more work. Rest and genuine, fulfilling recreation have seemed to escape us. And yet, one of the commands God came back to again and again with Israel was a call to rest regularly. And in their rest, they were to learn to trust. Let’s talk again about Sabbath and realizing there’s more to the world than just ourselves.
God is in the business of growing His kingdom. The primary way He does that is through the faithful labors of the people who have committed their lives to Him in Christ in small (and large) communities all over the world that we call churches. God is growing His kingdom through the ministries of First Baptist Oakboro, and we are on the cusp of taking a big step of faith as we follow Him in pursuit of even more. For the next month, I want to share with you a vision for how to experience more of God’s kingdom-growing work in your own life, as well as to invite you into a journey of experiencing that work alongside of us. The first thing experiencing this incredible work takes is a willingness to say no to the things that might prevent it. That is, it takes a commitment to sacrificial living. Let’s talk about it.
Giving God Something Worthwhile
Do you know what it takes to become a world class athlete? Or a world class woodworker? Or a world class singer? Or a world class anything? It takes just two things. I know that sounds a little crazy to say, but it’s true. It takes only two things. If you have these two things, you can be a world class ____________. The first thing it takes is some level of natural talent for whatever it is. Some people are just naturally good at playing the piano, for instance. Some are naturally good artists. I had a friend in high school who could draw anything. He didn’t really do anything to become that good, he just had a natural ability to take what was in his mind and translate it to a page. Some people have a natural talent for doing math. Different people are good at different things. If you don’t have any talent for something at all, you can probably develop an affinity for it, but there’s always going to be a difference between what you can accomplish with regard to that thing, and what someone who does can.
This week we wrap up our series, Who Do You Want to Be, by talking one more time about the kind of lifestyle we need to live if we are going to be ready for Jesus’ return and the transition of this world to the next. Because that kingdom is defined by the character of our God, reflecting His character is going to be key to our living in it. And one of the things that is absolutely central to God’s character is His constantly putting others first. Living ready for His kingdom means doing the same in our own lives. One of the best calls to this kind of a lifestyle came in a conversation Jesus had with the disciples. Let’s explore this together.
Putting Others First
One of my favorite cartoons from my high school days was Disney’s Recess. It ran for an impressive 10 seasons and even had a couple of feature-length movies to its name. The thing that made Recess so magical was how it captured the innocence, optimism, hope, and wonder of that special time in every elementary kid’s life. It may have only lasted for 20 minutes out of an entire day, but it was pretty unfailingly…well…magical. Do you remember playing on the playground at school when you were growing up? I think what I remember most about that time was playing kickball. All the boys would gather in the corner of the playground with a ball, split up into teams, and then argue for the next 15 minutes about the rules before we finally got a little bit of playtime in.
This week we are taking another step forward in our journey through understanding more fully the kind of people we want to be if Jesus really is coming back one day. We’ve talked about being better for the world. This week we are turning things around a bit to talk about being better for God’s kingdom. If we really are citizens first of the kingdom of God as follower of Jesus, then the priorities of that kingdom need to define how we pursue life in our present kingdoms. Not only is this right on its face, it brings some added benefits that are pretty handy. Let’s talk about how all of this works and why in part four of Who Do You Want to Be.
Getting Priorities in Order
One of my favorite observations about how much time we have in our lives is also one of the most challenging and uncomfortable I’ve ever heard. Are you ready for this? Are you sure? You might want to tuck your toes in just in case. Here goes: You have time to do everything you most want to do. Whenever you hear someone complain about how little time they have to do this or that, if you really want to get under their skin, gently offer this observation back to them. Then take a step back because they might take a swing at you. Better yet, the next time you start to complain about how little time you have to do this or that, bring this observation to mind. Trust me: You won’t like it. But that doesn’t make it any less true.
We’ve talked a lot about the church lately. Part of the reason for this is that I am convinced that one of the biggest reasons followers of Jesus don’t live fully up to the glorious calling we have in Him is because we don’t fully understand what the church is and has been called to be in Christ. I want to fix that. This week and next we are talking about God’s purpose for the church and how we as a church can be a part of fulfilling it. You may not be a part of this church, but if you are part of the church, there’s something here for you to know. And if you’re not a part of any church, this is a good primer on the calling you are missing out on by your absence. Let’s look at what God’s plans have always been and how we can be a part of them.
Dwelling Place
I had the opportunity to talk to someone recently who is at the beginning of their journey into engaging with the Scriptures in pursuit of a deeper, fuller, richer, more robust relationship with Jesus. This young person has also made the choice to engage with the Scriptures from the standpoint of faith, assuming that they are true and that God will make answers available to tough questions at some point in the future. These are both really good things that are to be encouraged in every single person who starts down this path. But one of the things this individual observed to me is how crazy it seems that Israel slaughtered all of those Canaanite people at God’s command when they were moving into the Promised Land. Well, this led us into a conversation about all of the different factors we have to keep in mind when engaging with a story like this if we are going to be able to make any kind of positive sense out of it. These include things like God’s character as revealed by the rest of the Scriptures, the nature of God’s commands in the first place, how Israel and other ancient peoples received and processed commands like we find here, the nature of the culture of the ancient world, how God has always worked with and revealed Himself to us, and so on and so forth. The bigger point here, though, is one we should not miss and to which you may or may not have given much in the way of critical thought before: Understanding the ways God is revealed in the Old Testament narrative through the lens of the New Testament can be tricky.
The Nexus 