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Is There a Little Bit of Moses in You?

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dogeatAfter hearing a robust young man give a lame excuse for being lazy, I was reminded of a couple of quotes:

  • H.V. Adolt said: We are all manufacturers. Making good, making trouble, or making excuses. 
  • Ben Franklin said: He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.

How often do you act like Moses and try to shirk your responsibilities by giving God an excuse?  Never tell God that:

  • Something is impossible because “all things are possible with Him (Luke 18:27).
  • A job is too hard because you “can do all things through Christ” who has promised to strengthen you (Phil. 4:13).
  • You can’t make sense of things because God is committed to “direct your steps” and lead you through the maze of life  (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Whenever you find yourself struggling with the uncertainties of life, remember that God has not given you a spirit of fear.  “You see, God did not give us a cowardly spirit but a powerful, loving, and disciplined spirit (2 Timothy 1:7 ~Voice).”

The list in the verse about can be divided into two categories:

  1. What God did not give you: “a cowardly spirit.”
  2. What God did give you: “a powerful, loving, and disciplined spirit.”

Which one of the two categories defines the life you are living and the excuses you are making?

Goodness and Mercy

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There has probably been some time in your life when you felt like you were living under a cloud of despair.  Regardless of what you did,  there seemed to be a trail of worries and problems that followed you where ever you went.

A stark contrast to this kind of situation is found in the words of David in Psalm 23:6:  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.  

I think it is important to note that David did not say that every waking moment of a person’s life will be filled with good moments and happy days.  He did say, however, that the goodness of God and His mercy can be experienced each day of our lives.

Unless a person has given some consideration to the meaning of mercy and its close cousin, grace, he may think that the words have the same meaning.  Let me distinguish one from the other:

  • Grace is when God gives you something you do not deserve.  Salvation is a good example of this.  I do not know of anyone who really deserves it.
  • Mercy is when God does not give a person what he deserves.  When a righteous God judges sinful man, He can either punish him or extend His goodness and mercy.

I have heard people say:  I just want what I deserve and what I have coming to me.  Not me, I want the mercy of God.

David said the mercy of God is a given, and we see this in the word surely.  It isn’t a hope so or maybe so proposition, it is a guarantee from God.  In the Lamentations of Jeremiah, the prophet said:  It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed; they are new every morning.  Great is His faithfulness!

In the shepherd/sheep analogy of Psalm 23, we have the Good Shepherd who leads us, and guarding the back of the flock are His two sheep dogs.   One is named Goodness and the other is called Mercy.

Remember the promise of this verse:  Surely goodness and mercy will follow one all the days of my life.  Think about it, Goodness and Mercy are the lap-dogs who are just a whistle away.

Riddles and Such

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I spent many childhood hours in the tiny town of Sallyards.  My grandparents were some of the last people to live in this almost forgotten spot in the oil patch.

One of my vivid memories is of a black cocker spaniel.  Hardly a Summer went by that he wasn’t snake bit, and every time I visited he entertained me with the perplexing habit of chasing his tail.  I never figured out why he did it, but I never tried to get him to stop it because I laughed every time I watched him do it.

At the time, I had no idea who Winston Churchill was, but a quote of his defined the tail-chasing display.  Churchill said:  It’s a riddle, wrapped up in a mystery, inside an enigma.

As I’ve wandered through life, I’ve come to wonder about several things:

  • Why can you put 2 socks in the dryer, but only 1 comes out?
  • How can a black cow eat green grass and give white milk?
  • Does eating natural foods cause you to die a natural death?
  • If an illiterate person eats alphabet soup, does he know what he is eating?

Even Solomon, the wise sage of the Old Testament, found life to be perplexing:  Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless!  Everything is meaningless. I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind (Ecclesiastes 1:2, 14).

The same gold and silver that garnished Solomon’s life tarnished his wisdom and life became meaningless.  His worldly affection was somewhat of a genetic infection. In a like father like son scenario, he nearly succumbed to the seductive power of the world.  His father David wrote:  But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.  For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked (Psalm 73).

After much thought and consideration, Solomon realized there is no lasting happiness apart from the living God.  He ended Ecclesiastes with these words:  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:  Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil (Eccl. 12).

Here’s a thought to keep you thinking:  If you spend your life running in circles, you’ll travel a familiar path, but you won’t get far.  You may end up like Solomon–dizzy and disoriented.