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Life is filled with special events and unique experiences. A special Sunday, a special speaker, a touching encounter, an overwhelming sense of commitment. Spiritual high points give us hope and encouragement. Yet the reality of the routines of life is this: the greatest challenge of Christianity is to know God’s presence and power in the daily rhythms of life. Life goes on in normalcy–and too often, God gets lost.
Paul wrote in Romans 6 that we should yield ourselves to God. Perhaps there is a lesson in the traffic sign that says “yield.” The traffic sign says that I can keep going if I do not interfere with the traffic flow of other vehicles, but that others have first preference. So in life–God has first preference. Much of life proceeds in the same way day after day as I walk in the ways of God. But are there ways God wishes to go that are hindered by the sameness of my life?
I remember a Bible professor giving this advice. Do something every day that God wants you to do but that you would rather not do. That reminds us to live yielded lives. When life bogs down in everyday routines, the reminder may be helpful. Do something for God today that you would rather not do.
I can devote myself to the good and never get around to the best. But that is a thought for another day!

The Thanksgiving weekend is past.  Today is “recovery” day.  Most in our nation will return to some version of normalcy.  For some, this Thanksgiving has been another traumatic holiday in a string of downturns and challenges.  Normal is full of trouble.  For others, the holiday was better than normal (or at least better than in recent years)–a sign of economic recovery.

Today, my mind goes back 17 years.  The Monday after that Thanksgiving meant dealing with the untimely deaths of my mother and step-father.  The trip to Kansas, surreal activities, time to consider the nature of life.  Time to think about God and faith and hope; time to question and wonder; time to reflect.

How can one be grateful in difficult days?  It is not easy to give thanks in difficult days.  I have no easy formulas or suggestions.  I can share an observation.  The time to decide that God is God and that God is good is before the difficult days come.  Once the difficulties come, it is easy to blame God–too easy to second-guess God, and self.

The great challenge of faith is deciding about the evidence objectively. Subjective decisions based on dark days and difficulties in life will ever lead to questioning.  (Subjective decisions based on life’s goodness are equally risky!)

God does not do what I think he ought to do, or even what I think he has to do.  God is God.  God’s thoughts and ways and actions are above human activity and comprehension.  God’s eternal view is more than long-term.  God’s view is a forever view.  For that, I am thankful!  Always!

I am thinking about why we Christians do what we do. Why do some who claim to be Christians not do the things generally associated with Christianity? Why are some involved and others inactive?

Such a big question requires more space than I have today. But my thinking led me to consider the following question: Do I act because of who God is or because of what God can do for me? When my worship and my life is a natural outgrowth of having seen God as one worthy of worship and adoration, praise and imitation, that changes everything! Have I seen God? Do I understand God? Do I recognize him in his unique glory, respect him for who he is? Surely such is biblical–worship and life that issues forth from who God is.

The other option is that I act because of what I can receive or because my actions will benefit me. This version of Christianity neglects or rejects God when life sours, when challenges overwhelm, and when expected benefits or results do not come.

The question seems a good one: why do we do what we do? May we be focused on God and not on self, on his glory more than our problems, on his worthiness more than our needs.

I reflected and remembered former days as Ken Short described his childhood experiences—trying to follow his father through the drifted snow, carefully trying to walk in the exact footsteps, but sometimes failing because his legs were too short and his father’s strides were too long.

It is not easy to follow exactly in another’s footsteps. When we lived in Michigan, our sons helped with chores. Sometimes we would go together, and if there had been a deep snow, my boys would ask me to take shorter steps so they could step in the exact place I had walked. Often their request came because the snow was so deep that it would be over the tops of their boots if they could not walk in my steps. In fact, we have some paths that we cleared with a shovel were the snow on each side is higher than the boys were tall. As they got older, we made paths in the snow by dragging our feet—a path to the doghouse, a path to the trash barrel, a path to the mailbox, a path to the woodpile.

In the spiritual life, we need someone to blaze the trail for us, someone to go ahead of us. This concept is used by the writer of Hebrews to describe Jesus (2:10). He is the “pre-cutter”, the trailblazer. A trailblazer leaves us a path and removes the obstacles. Just as my boys needed someone to clear a path in the deep snow so they could get through, we are blessed to have someone who has traveled the path before us so we can get through.

Peter reminds us that Jesus left us a path to follow (2 Pet. 2:21), but we often have difficulty walking in his footsteps. Jesus says, “Follow me.” But it is not easy to follow Jesus, and some days I do not feel like following Jesus. Why follow Jesus?—because only Jesus knows the way to the Father! Only Jesus knows how to get where we are trying to go. Only Jesus has been down the path before.

Jesus wants to establish a relationship with us so he can help us get to the Father. He wants what is best for us, he wants us to grow so we can walk in his steps; he wants us to mature. He wants us to have a relationship of trust and dependence on him, so that we do not question his leading when the way is not clear. He wants us to have faith in him so we will not falter when the way is hard. He left us a path. Discipleship includes following Jesus. Discipleship is learners imitating the master teacher.

I have sung the song for years, “Where he leads I’ll follow….” Easy to sing, difficult to do. Where is God leading you? What does God want from you today? What will we do today that affirms that we are faithful followers?

I remember an illustration I have used since my early preaching years. Paul writes to the Romans that they should yield their bodies as instruments of righteousness and not as instruments of unrighteousness (Romans 6). As a teen, the little word “yield” caught my attention. A traffic sign that says “yield” means nothing if there is no opposing traffic. When God and I are traveling in the same direction, life is a joy and delight. I want what God wants; he wants what I want. Yielding is meaningless. This is surely what Paul meant when he spoke of the “mind of Christ” in Phil. 2:5.

But when my desires and God’s desires conflict, then I have to yield. I have to put his desire above mine. I remember a Bible professor who advised that we do for God each day something that we know would please God but that we would rather not do. My we never forget that we are living “yielded” lives. We are disciples–learning from and following the Master. “Where he leads I’ll follow….” “Sweetly Lord have we heard Thee calling….” The first line of the song says it well. The call of God is sweet and precious when we do not find his control chafing and when yielding is not bitter.

It makes me a bit uncomfortable to admit it, but the idea of walking with Jesus sometimes makes me uncomfortable. His presence in my life can be quite demanding, even overwhelming. It is tempting (and easy) to run from the full implications of his presence. It is tempting to settle for a watered down version of discipleship–less demanding, but also less fulfilling. Still, the idea of depending on him to provide rather than providing for myself and my family flies in the face of what I have thought throughout my life.

The struggle lessens as I age (mature?), but it is still present. It turns out that the tame version of Christianity and the relatively impotent version of Jesus that has been passed down in my religious heritage through the years is quite different that the Jesus I have come to know. I guess we have to package him to sell him, but often the packaged version is not very much fun, very appealing or desirable, or very helpful in life. The packaged version is too impersonal. Jesus is not something you take or leave, purchase or not. Jesus is a person–not to be bought or sold. Relationship with Jesus is demanding–thus my discomfort. He calls on the carpet, he challenges, he reprimands, he disciplines, he comforts, he assures. Look for Jesus in your life today, and make a list of the ways he acts in your life, the things he does. If you look closely, you will have a long list by the end of the day, and your heart will fill with gratitude and wonder at his presence. Quite different is this Jesus who steps out of Scripture to walk through this world at our side.

You have likely heard the question, “What would you do differently if you knew you had a limited time to live?” Various answers have been given. One answer heard fairly frequently is, “Nothing would be different. I would just keep doing what I always do.”

Today is the first official day of my “retirement” from full-time ministry. (In my case, that only means I have traded a weekly preaching appointment in a local congregation for the opportunity to present seminars, workshops, mission work, interim ministry, and to do a lot of guest preaching.) What will I do differently today? Not much. I have already walked. I have an early morning lab appointment. I will hole up in my office and prepare next Sunday’s Bible class. I will work on missions projects and prepare upcoming lessons and sermons. I will translate some materials I have already written from English to Spanish. I will do some Greek reading; I will do some general Bible reading. I plan to drop by the hospital. I will do some website work.

All in all a pretty uneventful day–but a day spent to the glory of God, devoted to advancing the Kingdom Cause around the world. It will not be much different. But….I will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am doing it because I want to and not because I have to.