Our Best Life, Step 4: Abundance

Previously (link), we found this working definition of a person’s “Best Life”:

              A long, fulfilling life characterized by health and well-being.

We also discovered that God has given us a clearly-defined path to a life that meets this description.  King Solomon addressed this in the proverbs he wrote for his sons.  These wisdom sayings would lead his children to the “Best Life” they desired, but only if the steps were applied:

Proverbs 3:1-2
My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commands;
for they will bring you many days, a full life, and well-being.

King Solomon’s Best Life teaching involves both Do’s and Don’ts…sometimes within the same teaching, in order to provide contrast.  His first step involved our reputation (link).  His second step looked at how we can make sure our lives are heading in the right direction (link).  His third step was about our health and healing (link).  King Solomon’s fourth step is another topic that is both prevalent in society and sometimes controversial among Christians: having an abundance.

Feels like we’re constantly judged by the stuff we own and how much money we have (or, at least, appear to have), doesn’t it?

Are we to think that if you have money, you’re blessed by God…but if you’re poor, then God must be angry with you?  That might sound reasonable, at least at first.  The problem with that line of thinking is we see both Christians and non-Christians who have a lot of resources, but we also see both Christians and non-Christians who don’t have much money or only have a few possessions. 

King Solomon had wealth.  An abundance of wealth, but also an abundance of wisdom – both given to him by God.  So I find it very interesting that in his “Best Life” proverb-advice section, he talks about having an abundance…but also the right way to get there:

Proverbs 3:9-10
Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest;
then your barns will be completely filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

Before I stress about getting as much stuff and money that I think I need to live my Best Life…I need to look at what I do have.  Am I honoring the Lord with the stuff I already own?  Do I use my home to take care of people, or is it my personal bunker from the world?  I own a truck – so when was the last time I hauled something for someone else?  What about the rest of the things in my home…the books, the small kitchen appliances, the tools…do I look for ways to honor the Lord by their use?  To be honest…I don’t think that way very often.

The second thing King Solomon points out to honor the Lord is with the first produce of your entire harvest.  I would liken this to our modern-day paychecks.  That is your harvest from your labor.  What are we doing with those funds?

Looking at the proverb, the distinction is in the priority given.  Living below your means, especially after giving a portion of your means back to God, honors the Lord and demonstrates that you are capable of managing more resources and blessings.

This proverb serves as a warning of the opposite situation, as well.  You can’t expect God’s blessing on your resources if you’re not taking the proactive steps of recognizing His provision at the first of your budget.  God doesn’t want our left-overs.  We do first-things “first” because we give them the priority.  So, we need to ask ourselves – Are we honoring the Lord with the possessions we have and the first produce of our paycheck harvest? 

If the answer is yes, then we’re living the way God desires us to and we’re in the proper mindset if God decides to increase our paycheck harvest.

If the answer is no, then we shouldn’t expect additional resources to come our way.  We need to get our priorities straight if we’re going to live our Best Life.

Lastly, do keep in mind that the amount of possessions, the size of your harvest, and the size of your barns will be different from other peoples’.  And that’s ok.  God doesn’t promise us the same level or the same kind of abundance that we see in other people’s lives.  Our job is to live rightly before Him, recognizing Him for who He is and what He provides.  There’s a richness and abundance in that mindset that will lead you to your Best Life.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Our Best Life, Step 3: Health and healing

Previously (link), we found this working definition of a person’s “Best Life”:

              A long, fulfilling life characterized by health and well-being.

We also discovered that God has given us a clearly defined path to a life that meets this description.  King Solomon addressed this in the proverbs he wrote for his sons.  These wisdom sayings would lead his children to the “Best Life” they desired, but only if the steps were applied:

Proverbs 3:1-2
My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commands;
for they will bring you many days, a full life, and well-being.

King Solomon’s Best Life teaching involves both Do’s and Don’ts…sometimes within the same teaching, in order to provide contrast.  His first step involved our reputation (link).  His second step looked at how we can make sure our lives are heading in the right direction (link).  Now we’ll look at his third step, and it’s about a topic that is as popular today as it was during King Solomon’s time: our health and healing.

Whether we’re dealing with a specific medical condition or we’re just navigating the changes to our health that comes as we age, it constantly feels like our Best Life is in conflict with the way our body is behaving.  King Solomon’s prescription for healing might not be the first one we think of, though:

Proverbs 3:7-8
Don’t be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
This will be healing for your body and strengthening for your bones.

First off, his statement don’t be wise in your own eyes is one we can all agree on (but we can also all admit to being guilty of).  We don’t have all the answers to our lives – we aren’t capable of having a completely objective assessment of where we are physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.  We’re biased…and tend to lie to ourselves about the deficiencies and troubles we don’t want to deal with. 

However, this is where King Solomon’s advice takes an unexpected twist.  We agree that we shouldn’t be wise in our own eyes…but instead of telling us to go to a doctor or follow the advice of the general community…he gives us a two-part direction: fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

Now, doing both these two parts…this is where many of us get hung up.  We have a tendency to do one well, but ignore the other.  Do you see yourself in either of these descriptions?

We fear the Lord, but we don’t turn away from evil:
We know that God is real and want to take Him seriously, so we go to church and give money and go to Christian concerts and do other Christiany things…but we keep little sins off to the side and all to ourselves.  We give Him our religious actions, but we don’t allow Him into our lives.  We look good from the outside, but deep down…our soul feels dirty, our glossed-over emotions are out of whack, and our mental health is really suffering from keeping up the “almost-perfect” façade.

We turn away from evil, but we don’t fear the Lord:
When we go this route, we try to fool ourselves that it’s all ok if we’re just a good person.  We grit our teeth and pull ourselves up by our bootstraps…we vow to stop doing bad things and try to be nice to everybody.  But we don’t take God’s counsel and direction into consideration, we just assume we can figure out the rest on our own.  This also eats away at us internally, because we know we can’t keep up the “goody-two-shoes” act forever.

Both of these approaches leave us wise in our own eyes.  We get the fear the Lord direction confused with “be scared of the bogeyman-God” instead of what it really means – to have reverent respect for who God is and His authority in our lives.  From this right relationship with God, we are inclined to turn away from evil – not just because “God said ‘No!’” but rather because we understand and trust that He knows what is best for us in each season of our lives.

Fearing the Lord and turning from evil – THIS is what King Solomon says will be healing for your body and strengthening for your bones.  I find it interesting that the phrase healing for your body literally translates to “healing for your navel”.  As humorous as that sounds, we can all agree that when your gut’s off, everything’s off.  When we’re emotionally or mentally twisted in knots, our guts and our body are right there with us – we feel physically terrible when our mind, emotions, or spirit is in anguish. 

We might try to avoid our internal suffering by distracting our minds or indulging our instant-gratification desires…but our body knows the truth, it doesn’t lie to us.  Our gut reacts to the thoughts we think and choices we make.

Health and healing are available, but we need to be in a right relationship with our Creator to get there.  King Solomon isn’t saying that God is a means to an end of having a healthy, whole person…rather he’s saying that the healing for your body and strengthening for your bones is a natural by-product of our relationship with God and our willingness to do what He says, especially when it comes to turning away from evil.

Do you find yourself only going halfway with King Solomon’s advice?  If so, be honest with God about where you are and what you feel.  Say it out loud, no matter how hard it feels to do so.  That’s the first step in the healing you know you need.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Our Best Life, Step 2: Direction

Previously (link), we found this working definition of a person’s “Best Life”:

              A long, fulfilling life characterized by health and well-being.

We also discovered that God has given us a clearly defined path to a life that meets this description.  King Solomon addressed this in the proverbs he wrote for his sons.  These wisdom sayings would lead his children to the “Best Life” they desired, but only if the steps were applied:

Proverbs 3:1-2
My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commands;
for they will bring you many days, a full life, and well-being.

King Solomon’s Best Life teaching involves both Do’s and Don’ts…sometimes within the same teaching, in order to provide contrast.  His first step involved our reputation (link).  His second step looks at how we can make sure our lives are heading in the right direction.

Before we look at the next two verses, we need to remind ourselves of a trap that’s easy to fall into whenever we study God’s Word.  When we read something that is familiar, our immediate tendency is to think, “Oh yeah, that.  I already know this one.”  When this attitude slips in, we block ourselves from learning anything new or we stop ourselves from discovering new ways to apply familiar truths.  So, we need to check ourselves and ask:

Am I ready to hear a word from God and think about the ways it can be applied in my life?

If the answer is “No”, then I appreciate your honesty…but you need to talk your attitude over with God before reading on.  The rest of this blog will mean nothing if you’re stuck in the I-already-know-this-stuff mindset.

If the answer is “Yes”, and you’re open to hearing Step 2 of Solomon’s Best Life teaching, then read these verses, looking for how God says He’ll provide direction in our lives:

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding;
in all your ways know Him, and He will make your paths straight.

This was the first verse my mom had me memorize when I was a kid…and yet, it is exactly what I need to hear and apply in my life right now.  It would be easy to blow by these verses, but the promise at the end of verse six is what grabs my attention: He will make your paths straight. 

The Hebrew word for straight means to be made level, to be laid smoothly out.  With all the chaos and uncertainty in this world, how comforting would it be if your path forward was laid out straight and level before you?  How big of an advantage would you have if you knew, 100%, without-a-doubt that you were on the path that God wanted you to be on? 

Maybe that’s why we struggle with direction for our lives…we’re not fully trusting God with what He’ll say is our life’s direction.  The verse is pretty specific, there’s no wiggle room here: in all your ways know Him.  Not some of your ways.  Not most of your ways.  Not every way except this one hard part of my life.  We are to invite God into all our ways.

What parts of our lives are we keeping to ourselves?  Why do we do that?  Because we’re embarrassed?  Because we think God is too busy?  Or that the impact of our life is “too small” of a matter?

I think we forget that the first descriptive name the prophet Isaiah foretold for Jesus was Wonderful Counselor (Isaiah 9:6).  Do we approach God regularly for His counsel, in all areas of our lives…or do we call out to Him only for the crisis at the moment? 

That’s a tough question, but let’s make it practical: Get specific about the parts of your life you haven’t invited Him in to yet.  Let’s think about this: He’s the expert in all careers.  He’s the one who invented marriage and parenting.  That hobby you enjoy is one He loves, too.  Like working with dogs?  He created them.  Is outer space intriguing to you?  He knows what’s out there.  Have a struggle you can’t solve on your own?  He’s ready to go through it with you.

Know Him in all your ways means you need to know Him in ALL your ways.

Invite Him in.  Ask for His guidance.  Trust Him to give good counsel.  And then walk the straight, level path in the direction He sends you.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Our Best Life, Step 1: Reputation

Previously (link), we found this working definition of a person’s “Best Life”:

              A long, fulfilling life characterized by health and well-being.

We also discovered that God has given us a clearly defined path to a life that meets this description.  King Solomon addressed this in the proverbs he wrote for his sons.  These wisdom sayings would lead his children to the “Best Life” they desired, but only if the steps were applied:

Proverbs 3:1-2
My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commands;
for they will bring you many days, a full life, and well-being.

King Solomon’s Best Life teaching involves both Do’s and Don’ts…sometimes within the same teaching, in order to provide contrast.  His first step involves our reputation.

What feelings emerge when you meet a new person and during introductions, they greet you with the words, “Oh yeah, I’ve heard of you!”  Does panic start to crawl up your spine, your body tense, and your mind race…like a deer caught in headlights? 

Our reputation proceeds us, laying the foundation for future interactions with strangers and future considerations from those who already know us.  Those of us with poor reputations are met by people with their defenses already up, and we can expect that it will take a lot of effort to change their minds or posture toward us.  However, a good reputation has the ability to open doors of opportunity that would be locked for others. 

Having a good reputation goes a long way toward us living our Best Life.  A poor reputation is always followed by additional hardships, headaches, and stress that will sidetrack us from the important relationships and tasks we want to pursue.

So how do we obtain a good reputation?  It’s gotta be more than just being smiley and nice to people, right?  King Solomon pointed out two character traits that we must choose in order to generate a strong, positive reputation:

Proverbs 3:3-4
Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you.
Tie them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you’ll find favor and high regard with God and people.

These two character traits – loyalty and faithfulness – are the fuel for a good reputation.  With these, we’ll find both favor and high regard.  And amazingly, it builds our reputation with both God and people.  That is a huge two-for-one outcome for keeping our word and being reliable in our follow-throughs!

King Solomon considers loyalty and faithfulness so vital that he warns us to never let [them] leave you.  Our active choice to incorporate them is emphasized by the word pictures he uses: tie them around your neck – put them on like the clothes you wear each day, and write them on the tablet of your heart – make them part of who you are.  When loyalty and faithfulness characterize us both inside and out, our reputation will create the opportunities for us to live our Best Life.

So, let’s check ourselves…

Does your reputation among your friends include loyalty and faithfulness?
Does your reputation at work include loyalty and faithfulness?
Does your reputation within your family include loyalty and faithfulness?

If you can confidently say “yes” to any of these, then you can probably also recognize the favor and high regard you’ve experienced.  However, if any of these questions bring a “no” or “not sure” to mind, don’t let this opportunity slip away – ask someone you trust to help you evaluate your reputation.  And then do what you can to improve it.  Your Best Life is waiting for you to do so.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

The recipe for our best life

What are the components of a “good life”?  Or, what conditions would you want to have in place in order for you to live your “best life”?

We can come up with a pretty quick list if we look at what we lament about when we feel like someone didn’t get their “best life” opportunity:

We’re bothered when someone, even a stranger to us, dies “young”.  Something doesn’t feel right if a person doesn’t at least make it into their late sixties…and something feels completely wrong if a person dies before reaching adulthood.

Best life component #1: a long life

We’re also bothered when someone dies before they can fulfill their potential.  We say things like, “Oh, she would have made a great doctor.” Or, “He never did start that business he always dreamed of.” Wasted ability and unused capacity have such a hollow ring to them.  It’s both sad and frustrating to think of “what might have been” with a little more time or a little more effort.

Best life component #2: a fulfilling life

Lastly, we know the world is more than a tick “off”.  The turmoil, the struggle, and the pain all leave us with a feeling of “It’s not supposed to be like this”…and yet, we’re not sure how to address it all.  We want peace – yes, in the world, but even more so in ourselves.  We make both conscious and unconscious decisions in pursuit of our own safety, mental/physical/emotional health, and our well-being.

Best life component #3: a life characterized by health and well-being

Mix all three of those “Best life components” together, and you get this working definition:

A long, fulfilling life characterized by health and well-being.

That sounds pretty good to me, and I’m confident it sounds good to you as well.

But what if I told you that God has already given us a clearly-defined path to living this kind of “Best Life”? 

When Solomon, the wisest man on the planet, wanted to teach his sons about wisdom and right-living, he recorded his proverbs for them to read.  These wisdom-filled probabilities were based on his observations of life, his own learnings, and the knowledge God had given him.  Within his introduction, Solomon had this to say:

Proverbs 3:1-2
My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commands;
for they will bring you many days, a full life, and well-being.

Even back in Solomon’s time – they were searching for the same kind of “Best Life” that we are still looking for today.  However, we must note that Solomon says the “Best Life” doesn’t happen by accident…there are both do’s and don’ts involved:

Don’t:
Don’t forget my teaching – Solomon is dropping wisdom here, and if his sons can’t remember what dad is teaching, then they can’t apply it.  And if they can’t apply it, then their best life is at a serious risk of not happening.   

Do:
Let your heart keep my commands – Each son must individually choose to follow dad’s instructions.  It’s the follow-through of doing that will take them down the best life path.

In the coming weeks, we’re going to take a look at the steps Solomon prescribes for his sons – both the do’s and the don’ts – and we’ll see how they can bring us to

A long, fulfilling life characterized by health and well-being.

But for now, you and I must make the choice to listen, to not forget what we learn, and to do what we learn as we discover the recipe to living out our best life.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

We all want something new

This week is always a weird one.  The world seems to breathe a sigh of relief after the Christmas craziness is done and it won't gear up for the New Years hype for a few more days.  It’s a great time to take a breath, find some rest, and think about bigger questions than we normally have time for, due to the hustle and bustle of our normal rhythms.

Is this life-stage different then you thought it would be? 

That’s a pretty loaded question, isn’t it?  I mean, after all, this is the first time you’ve been the age you are now.  If we’re honest with each other, we’re all just kinda figuring it out as we go along.  So, let’s take a minute and think through this together.

Any time I have thought through where I’m at in life, I am also challenged with thoughts of the things that I would like to be “better” or “newer”.  And I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing – while comparing ourselves to others can lead to jealousy and envy, there is no harm in wanting aspects of our own lives to improve.  When things are better…or better yet…when things are new, there’s opportunity for growth and enjoyment that wasn’t there before.

Living in a fallen world means that everything is tainted by sin and its decaying effects.  The brokenness, the fear, the death…they all are drenched in the feeling of “it’s not supposed to be like this” but we know we can’t fix it either.  The Apostle Paul wrote about this feeling in his letter to the believers in Rome:

Romans 8:22-23
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now.  Not only that, but we ourselves who have the Spirit as the firstfruits – we also groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

We, along with all of creation, long for the day when everything is set right…when the redemption and rescue that only God can bring finally arrives.  Until then, we groan in eager anticipation of that day.

And that day will come.  Jesus promised He would return.  I know it’s been nearly 2,000 years since He made that promise – but time passed doesn’t negate His word to us.  When God gave the Apostle John a glimpse into the future, a vision of what Eternity Future would be, John heard the words that we all long to hear:

Revelation 21:5
Then the One seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.”

Everything.  New.

That sounds so good.

Take advantage of this "different" week.  Do the one thing you've been putting off for so long... take some time and think about where you are in life right now.  What new things can you partner with God to do in 2024, while you look forward to His promised return?

Keep Pressing,
Ken

I don't think God is working

Some days when you’re parenting young children, nothing can prepare you for what you encounter.

I had just reminded my early grade school-aged son that he needed to go take care of his chores, and his face twisted up in anger.  He didn’t want anything to do with the responsibility we had laid on him.  Doing his best to form his rage into words, he spat out at me, “Why don’t YOU do some chores around here?  Why do my brother and I have to clean everything? You don’t do anything around here.  All you do is go to ‘work’ every day.”

If I hadn’t been so irritated by the indignant tone he used to justify his outburst, I might have laughed out loud at his ignorance.  But in that moment, my blood jumped immediately to a boil.  Fortunately, my wife stepped in and sent our son off to do the task he had been given.  I was both dumbfounded and aggravated that he would cast off the efforts of my career as being beneath the “slaving away” he was expected to do by sweeping the floors, or vacuuming the carpet, or cleaning a bathroom.

Since he didn’t hear from me while I was at work, he must’ve imagined “going to work” to be the same as going on a playdate in the park or seeing a movie.  My wife and I agreed that he really had no idea what I did each day after I left the house.  He didn’t understand the responsibilities I shouldered, or the reasons why I made the career choices I had.  In his anger, he also had forgotten all the other things I did take care of around the house: the landscaping, the maintenance, the repairs, and yes, even some cleaning chores.

But man, the gall was real.  He just didn’t see it.  And due to his ignorance, he imagined that the tasks placed on him were unfair and that his situation was amiss.  To top it all off, the one person he knew who could change his circumstances was the very one who put him there in the first place – and that guy obviously had no interest in helping him out of his sorry lot!

Looking back on the Christmas story, I think the Jewish nation probably felt a lot like my son did.  Even though God had brought the nation back from exile, times had not been easy.  Many nations opposed them reforming as a nation and even more so when they rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem.  The Greeks came in and conquered the land, which then led to many revolt attempts, political turmoil, and ultimately the Romans came in as their new occupiers.

They knew the Messiah was coming…but they weren’t seeing any signs of it actually happening.  It had been 400 years since God sent a prophet to the nation, and since that time – complete radio silence.  Not one word from God.  No encouragement or prophecy to rally the nation.  And the last thing they heard generations ago from that last prophet went like this:

Malachi 4:4-6
Remember the instruction of Moses my servant, the statues and ordinances I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.  Look, I am going to send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.  And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.  Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.

The last thing God told them was to keep doing what He had already told them to do…and then God said nothing.  After 400 years of silence, it would have been easy for them to yell at God: “Why don’t you do something about the state of the world?  Why are we the ones left trying to clean it all up?  You’re not doing anything of value, God.  Your ‘work’ isn’t helping us at all!”

But as we look back at the first century, God was working, even if it was in a way the Jews couldn’t see or couldn’t understand as they went about their daily lives.  The wars and the political upheaval brought about several changes to the world that helped rapidly spread Christianity in the first century.  The Greeks brought a common language to the known world.  The Roman rulership brought a relatively consistent peace in the land, as well as roads and civilization developments.  Just these three changes meant that the news about the life, death, and resurrection of an obscure Jewish teacher could quickly spread throughout the known world as believers could safely move along the well-traveled roads from different regions and connect with new people through their shared language. 

If I’m honest, the same thoughts can take hold in my mind when I don’t see God “working” in my life the way I think He should.  It’s hard to remember that God is looking at things from a much higher vantage point than we are.  Just like my son, it’s easy to get tunnel-visioned on our tasks and assume that we unfairly have to handle the brunt of everything.

In a few days, it’ll be Christmas.  We celebrate together and remember the birth of Jesus, and the Apostle Paul describe the event this way:

Galatians 4:4
When the time came to completion, God sent His Son…

The timing of Jesus’ arrival wasn’t random or on accident.  God sent Him at just the right time, when all His prep work had finally come to completion.  He does the same for our lives, as well.  Perhaps you think God isn’t moving fast enough…well, maybe he’s got some other work to do first.  Fortunately, God handles our frustration-filled outbursts better than I did with my son.  When we begin to feel that anxious anger because God hasn’t done what we wanted Him to do, we can cool down a bit as we remember how Christmas is the best example of God’s timing being the “best timing” and God’s work being the “best work” for us. 

Keep Pressing,
Ken

It was just a simple wave

We don’t have a fenced-in yard, so for our dog to get his energy out, we need to walk him twice a day.  We don’t mind doing so, because it gets us out of the house and moving, too.  Our neighborhood doesn’t have any sidewalks, but it’s safe enough to walk along the outer edge of the street.  Generally speaking, when cars approach us, they slow down and give us space…but there have been times when people are going too fast and not paying close attention, and I get a little nervous about potentially jumping up into someone’s yard to avoid being hit.

So about a year ago, I came up with a simple step to help the drivers notice us as we walk along the road – as they got close, I’d raise my hand and give a little wave.  Honestly, my initial thought was that the movement would help them see us and give a little extra room, as if my wave was saying “hey…we’re walking here…please don’t hit us!” I typically mouth the words “Thank you” as they pass by, because, well…I appreciate not being hit.

But after a while, something unexpected happened – people started waving back.  And now it’s kinda become a thing.  We smile and wave at the cars that pass by…and I can see a lot of people smiling and waving back, especially kids and passengers.  There’s a pond near our home with a short walking path around it, and there have been times when people in cars would spot us on the pond path and still wave at us, even though we weren’t on the road.  Which means…if you think about it…they’re actively looking for us, and they’re happy to see us.

I don’t think I’m over-stating or embellishing to say that our waving has made an impact for some people.  I can see the look on their faces when they wave at us – maybe we’re the only friendly face they saw today, maybe they find it comforting to know that they always get a smile and wave from us, or maybe they haven’t heard someone tell them “Thank you” in a while. 

While the vast majority of the New Testament was written to believers, telling them how to live in light of their new identity in Christ, many of the authors also addressed how we should act toward those who are not Christians.  Here are just two examples from the Apostle Paul’s writings:

Galatians 6:10
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.

Colossians 4:5-6
Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time.  Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.

Whatever good our neighbors are receiving from us while we walk, we’re happy to keep giving it.  We have met a number of people in our neighborhood simply because of our dog.  He’s super friendly and an easy connection point to help bridge the conversation gap between strangers. 

As we go about the busyness of our day – gotta go to work, gotta run the errands, gotta walk the dog – let’s not get so hyper-focused on our own agenda that we forget to do work for the good of all around us and make the most of our time.  Doing good work doesn’t have to be some massive community project, it can be a simple “Thank you” and a smile.  People are desperate for warmth in this cold world, so let’s be the ones to show them the warmth that comes from the Light of the World that lives inside us.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Fish sauce and faith

My wife is half Filipino – that’s where her dad’s family is from.  And because of this, I, your average American white guy, have been exposed to (and enjoyed!) lots of cultural differences from where I grew up in rural southern Nevada.  One of the biggest differences has been the food.  First off, to say “rice is a staple” is an understatement.  For our entire marriage, we’ve had rice with nearly every dinner meal.  And when we visit her family, there’s rice at every meal.  Every.  Meal.  For example, breakfast is scrambled eggs, a meat, and rice.  That’s just “normal” for Filipinos.

For me growing up, we had rice probably once, every-other week.  So having it every day has been a bit of an adjustment, but overall, I don’t mind.  Other “normal” dietary adjustments have been a little tougher for me, though.  One of them is cooking with a substance called “fish sauce.”  I had never heard of this liquid before, but I was quickly introduced to it – and its pungent smell.  Fish sauce is made from a mixture of fish and salt that is allowed to ferment for up to two years.  Oily fish, like anchovies, are traditionally placed in a barrel with salt and slowly pressed to extract the liquid.  Sounds yummy, doesn’t it?

When cooking with it, the smell intensifies – to the point that our entire kitchen stinks of fish sauce.  At first, I couldn’t stand it.  I’d have to leave the room.  But now, after a couple of decades, I can tolerate the smell – but I still don’t particularly like it.  The dish most commonly cooked in our house that uses this stinky sauce is affectionately called “crunchy meat.”  The recipe calls for cubed pork shoulder steak and its fat cooked in water with a quarter cup of fish sauce – cooked low and slow in an open skillet for a couple of hours.  And you can’t cook it fast, or else it won’t come out right.  You have to go low and slow…but that means smelling the simmering fish sauce for a while.

Why would I even “put up with it” if it smells that bad?  Because I know that the outcome of the dish will be really tasty.  Crunchy meat mixed with rice and steamed broccoli is a fantastic dinner.

I’m not sure that Jesus’ brother James would refer to surviving stinky cooking smells as a “trial,” but I still see a parallel with what he wrote to believers in the first century:

James 1:2-4
Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

When life stinks, it’s easy to forget that there’s more to life beyond the trial of the moment.  As James reminded his readers, the testing of your faith produces endurance – and the only way to develop endurance is to endure hard things.  Learning to have faith and trust God’s promises requires situations we generally don’t want to deal with or choose to go through. 

James isn’t telling us to ignore the difficulties, but rather embrace them for what the outcome will be.  The hard situations that make us strong, mature, and complete are typically “low and slow” processes.  But they are worth going through…and what comes out on the other side is worth looking forward to with great joy.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Clear as mud?

One of my grade school teachers had a habit of asking us this question after she taught a new concept to the class: “Clear as mud?”  And to be honest, none of us knew what she meant.  Finally, one day, after another round of blank stares, she explained that if something was “as clear as mud” then we didn’t understand what she had been teaching.  But if we actually did understand, then she expected our reply to “Clear as mud?” to be “No, clear as water!”

Looking back, it was a little ironic that her question “Clear as mud?” was actually clear-as-mud to us.  We didn’t understand her question that was asking us if we understood her.  We knew all the words she used, but we didn’t grasp the concept she was communicating.  We would never have guessed the response that she was expecting back, either.  It was almost like she was speaking a different language, and she assumed that my classmates and I already knew the lingo.

If we’re honest, we Christians often do the same thing my teacher did.  There is a certain church-y lingo, a bit of Christianese that creeps into our speech.  We throw around phrases like “traveling mercies” or “hedge of protection” or “born again” as if we expect the non-Christians within earshot to understand. 

Just remember to guard your heart when you walk your witness and say your PTLs. 

And if you understood that last sentence, you should also understand what I mean…that someone outside of our church buildings will not get it, but when they hear those foreign phrases, the one thing they will understand is that they are an outsider.  Our words matter, so if we have the opportunity to tell someone about being a Christian, we need to be able to explain it without all the Christianese.  The good news of the gospel can be hard for someone to grasp the first time they hear it, so let’s not burden them with clicky, overused phrases.

We even see an example of this with Jesus, when a Pharisee named Nicodemus came to speak with Him one night.  During their conversation, Jesus tells Nic:

John 3:3
Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Now, you might feel like telling me “See!  Jesus started the “born again” phrase.  Why can’t I use it?”  I’m not advocating that we don’t say born again – our problem comes from our assumption that they will either know exactly what we mean, or that we expect them to feel the weight of these two words “born again” and want to immediately be born-again.

When we look back at Jesus’ question to Nic in John 3:3, we need to recognize that in the verses that follow, Nic doesn’t get it.  He doesn’t understand Jesus’ analogy, even after Jesus provides more explanation.  For Nic, the analogy is clear-as-mud.  So instead of hammering away with the phrase born again, Jesus changes His approach and references an event from Israel’s history, one that Nic would be familiar with:

John 3:15
“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.”

Nic would have caught the reference to the bronze snake that God told Moses to create and mount on a pole (Numbers 21:4-9).  If someone was bitten by a poisonous snake and they looked at the bronze snake, they would recover.  Nic would have recognized that by looking at the elevated bronze snake, the bitten Israelite would have believed that God would heal him.  This was Jesus’ point – those who looked to (or believed in) Him would have eternal life, just like those who looked to the bronze snake for healing received it.  With His next sentence, Jesus gave the most clear-as-water statement about how to become a Christian:

John 3:16
For God loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

That statement is what all the analogies and references were getting at.  When we believe in Jesus for eternal life – He gives it to us.  We don’t have to “ask Jesus into our heart” or “give our life to Christ” or pray certain words in a certain order. 

Let’s keep it as simple as He did: Believe in Jesus for eternal life. 

It’s a free gift, with no strings attached and no muddy phrases.  Instead, let’s be clear as water.

Keep Pressing,
Ken