A Great Time to Serve God

Last week while preparing my sermon on 2 Timothy 1, I pulled off my bookshelf a commentary I've had for years.  On the inside cover it read, "To Matthew, God bless you!  We're proud of you.  In Christ, Pastor Wayne and family."  It was a short note, but I'll never forget the occasion.  It was my high school graduation, and Pastor Wayne knew that I had been called to preach.

It's been 25 years since my high school graduation, which was one of the last times I last saw Pastor Wayne.  But I knew the name of his church and where he was pastoring, so I looked him up and sent him an e-mail that included a copy of the note, to which I added the following comments:

It's hard to believe I've been in full-time pastoral ministry for 20+ years....  You had given me this commentary as a gift at my high school graduation...!  I just thought that you'd want to know that it's being put to good use!  May the Lord keep us faithful to Himself and the work He has commissioned us to do in Jesus' name.

A few days later I received the following reply:

Dear Matt, 

Thank you so much for writing!  It is a joy to hear from you.  I am so thankful that you are continuing faithful in the ministry.  This is a great day to serve the Lord!  Keep in touch....

How cool was it to reconnect, however briefly, for just a few moments through e-mail.  Pastor Wayne was encouraged by hearing from a former student he hadn't seen in 25 years.  No doubt he had forgotten about that gift he had given me long ago and certainly had no idea that little investment of his was still paying off today.

Of course I was pleased to get a note of reply from my former pastor.  One thing he said has been mulling over my mind ever since yesterday when I read his e-mail.  It was his remark, "This is a great day to serve the Lord!"

Isn't that the truth?  When I think of where we are in redemptive history (see 1 Peter 1:10-12), the technological advances we've made in the last century (even the last decade!) and the global opportunities these give us for sharing the gospel, as well as the opportunities before us right now at Webster Bible Church, I get amped!  I hope that you do, too.

Yesterday's correspondence has left me with two thoughts in terms of personal application:

1. Let others know how they have encouraged you, even folks from years ago.  You'll make their day, and it will give blessing to yours.
2. Amidst the hardships of life and ministry, let us remember that it is indeed "a great day to serve the Lord!"  Let us rejoice in that and give it all we've got -- by God's grace, for His glory!

Emotions May Be Idol Indicators

Not too long ago I was reading Paul David Tripp's book Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands. I came across the following statement that show how our emotions can serve as "tip-offs" to idols in our lives. Tripp writes,

If we want to know what people really want, we have to learn about their emotional life. Happiness is the result of what my heart craves. Discouragement is the emotional response of my heart when the thing I live for moves farther away from me. My heart is filled with fear when I suddenly lose what I am convinced I need. In short, our emotions reflect what we worship.

This dovetails perfectly with the question the Psalmist put to himself: "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?" (Psalm 42:5, 11). That question could also be rephrased when I am elated over something: "Why are you so happy, Matt? Why are you so cheerful inside?" My emotions serve as wonderful indicators of what I worship. Thus the more conscious I am of my disposition, the more I'll be able to readily define and to destroy (with the Lord's help) idols in my life.

Our dispositions serve as "warning signals" for us, enabling us to fight temptation at the heart level and not just the behavioral (or verbal) level. It helps us to get to the root of the problem rather than simply attacking the fruit of the problem.

Brighter and Brighter

This morning I've been meditating on the meaning of Proverbs 4:18: "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until the full day." The image employed by Solomon is universal--one we all can relate to. It begins each morning at dawn. We wake up and see the first light of the sun. As the morning progresses, the sun gets brighter and brighter until it is high noon, or "full day."

Scripture compares this gradual process to the Christian experience. But in what sense? Practically, how does this play out in the believer's life? How does my life get "brighter and brighter" as a believer? As I reflected on this in the light of the context of Proverbs 4 and other correlating Scriptures, I thought of at least four ways in which the believer's life gets "brighter and brighter."

1. Direction of Life. The word "path" denoted a course or direction in which a person or thing is moving. In Scripture, and particularly in Proverbs, the words "path" or "walk" refer to the moral orientation of a person's life. While extolling the value of wisdom to his son in Proverbs 2, Solomon says, "So you will walk in the way of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous." This is in contrast to the "way of the wicked" which is "like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble." The life of the righteous person is marked by firm, sure-footed steps on a well-lit path, whereas the wicked person will stumble through life in total darkness.
2. Depth of Insight. This is really the prerequisite to #1. I listed "direction of life" first because that is the primary sense of Proverbs 4:18, but such a walk is predicated on wisdom. The psalmist testified to the Lord, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Ps. 119:105). At the heart of God's self-revelation to us through Scripture is the gospel of Jesus Christ, "who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (1 Cor. 1:30). The well-known hymn Trust and Obey begins with the affirmation, "When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way!" -- thus making our life's path brighter and brighter.
3. Delight in the Lord. The religious leaders of his day assumed that because they knew the Scriptures well and observed the Law fastidiously, that they were the front-runners on the "path of the righteous." But Jesus rebuked them, saying, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life" (John 5:39-40). The Christian's faith is not in a set of propositions but in a person. Christ himself is our righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30). Jesus declared, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." David knew the Lord was his light and testified so in Psalm 27:1: "The Lord is my light and my salvation." In Psalm 37, we see an even closer connection to the truth stated in Proverbs 4:18. In verses 4-6 of that psalm, we are told, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday." In these verses we see a brightness that goes beyond depth of insight that also includes tremendous joy.
4. Desire for Heaven. The fact that the path of the righteous gets "brighter and brighter" indicates that things aren't as bright today as they one day will be. In this life there will always be a need for more obedience, more wisdom, more joy. But there is coming a day when the process of sanctification will be complete, when it will be "high noon" for the Christian, a day in which the light will never fade, twilight will never come, darkness will be no more. That is the day on which Christ comes "to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed" (2 Thess. 1:10). The apostle John wrote, "Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2). What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see! High noon is coming! "And night will be no more. [We] will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be [our] light, and [we] will reign forever and ever" (Rev. 22:5).

The reality of heaven is rooted in the promise, "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6). The apostle Peter affirms that despite all the trials and testings we endure now, the genuineness of our faith will "be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls (1 Pet. 1:7-9).

May God make your day brighter--and the whole scope of your life--as you meditate on these truths and rejoice in them.