image from biblestoryprintables.com

I’m back home after a great weekend with my volunteer “family.” Despite my late-night packing habit, I wasn’t too much of a zombie, and I had almost everything I needed. I brought along a scaled-down version of my natural medicine cabinet but neglected to include my peppermint essential oil, which was a shame because nearly every member of our party experienced some degree of intestinal discomfort at some point during the trip. I am kicking myself for forgetting the peppermint! I had orange with me, which is helpful for digestive issues, but doesn’t hold much of a candle to the power of peppermint. Lesson learned.

I unpacked last night, got a good sleep, and now I’m ready to get my week started as I continue adjusting to a new schedule. I’m now a long-term sub for the teacher’s assistant at a preschool where I used to work, so I get to spend my Tuesday and Thursday mornings with some 3- and 4-year-old darlings and their sweet teacher. It looks like they may need me until the end of the year, but we’ll see. I’ll just help out until they don’t need me anymore!

This week’s passage is Matthew 4:18-20, and the Seeds song is  “Fishers of Men,” track 10 on “Seeds of Purpose.” The song uses the NIV 1984 translation, but the verse below is from the ESV.

¹⁸ While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

This is such a cool verse. I love the glimpse into the very beginning of the disciples’ relationship with the man whom they would later discover was God’s Messiah. Peter and Andrew were not the coolest, smartest, or most accomplished kids on the block, and they were probably stinky from all the saltwater and fish, but a “rabbi” singled them out to teach them, mentor them, and prepare them to introduce the world to the good news of God’s salvation for all who believe. This verse is also great because it shows an immediate response to Jesus’ call.

I tend to make an obedience connection when I read verse 20, but I’m wondering about that connection as I try to articulate my thoughts on this passage. To look at the passage grammatically, sure: “Follow me” could be considered a command. But looking at the words all together in context, it seems Jesus is giving more of an invitation or an offer. So when the brothers leave immediately, are they obeying… or are they simply accepting the offer and the one who gave it? The more I think about it, the more I think it is the latter.

Obedience is of great importance, and there is plenty of material in the Bible available for study on that subject. But accepting Jesus’ call is the most important thing a person can do when presented with his story. Because Jesus was God in flesh he must have seen and spoken to these young men as no one had before. Something about him must have shown that he knew what they wanted and what they would be capable of if they followed him. It’s such a brief exchange with very little detail as recorded, and I often wonder what was going through the minds of Peter and Andrew, how Jesus spoke, what else they said, etc. etc. But what we have is all that matters; Jesus said, “Follow me,” and the young men dropped what they were doing and followed him “at once,” or “immediately.”

Rather than making this passage about obedience I am going to make it about responding to the call. This can mean one’s initial response to Jesus, aka accepting salvation for the first time, but it can also be a daily response. Am I willing to drop something that I’m doing so I can follow Jesus and participate in “fishing” for people to join his Kingdom? I hope so, but there are many times when I don’t leave my “net” behind in favor of that higher purpose. When I do that, I am missing out and cheating myself, but because I have accepted Jesus’ initial call to salvation, this is where the obedience connection comes in. I have already said I want to follow Jesus, so when he calls me to put down my net, I need to listen and obey… “at once.” To disregard the call at this point is disobedience.

Immediate obedience is a hard thing to do, but this passage encourages me to make it more about knowing the character of Jesus and responding because of who he is. If I’m finding it difficult to respond (obey), I’m seeing that I need to pay more attention and spend more time on discovering Jesus’ love for me. Something in his Spirit knows me, knows that I want to follow, and knows what I am capable of if I will only put down my net. He speaks to my heart as no one else can.

What do you think about this passage? What thoughts or feelings do you experience when you read about Jesus’ call and the brothers’ response?

biblestoryprintables.com

image from biblestoryprintables.com

I’m really enjoying listening to the song for this week’s passage. I had a fun and busy morning at preschool followed by some errands, and the song is mellow, relaxing, and encouraging.

The passage of the week is Romans 8:28 & 31b. The Seeds song is called “If God is For Us,” track 9 on “Seeds of Purpose.”

²⁴ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
^31b If God is for us, who can be against us?

I love Romans 8:28, as do many people, I’m sure. It can be comforting and inspirational and motivational. It is an oft-quoted verse, and not always applied or interpreted correctly. Like last week’s verse, I want to talk about what this verse does not mean before I talk about what it does mean.

This verse does not mean that only good things will happen to those who love God.

It also does not mean that if God works all things together for our good, he must “cause” all of the bad things that happen to us.

Reading Romans 8:28 in the context of the above misconceptions can lead us to think that if things are not working together for good in our lives, then we must not love God enough.

Reading Romans 8:28 in the context of the rest of the chapter gives us the real meaning of the verse. I’m thinking specifically of 8:26 and 8:38-39, but the entire chapter is worth a read in order to gain better understanding. From what I understand, the meaning is that, although we live in a sinful world in which we will certainly see trouble, God will help his children. We have the Spirit to guide us, the Son who saved and intercedes for us, and– as verse 31 points out– the almighty Creator God, who has already won the victory, is “for us.”

This verse encourages me to follow God as closely as I can, through good times and bad. I have seen him work things together for my good time and time again, although not always in ways I would expect, and not always (or ever?) quickly. And not usually in ways that caused me to think, “Oh, so it was actually good when that bad thing happened!” He does not always make my life easier when I struggle, although I’m convinced that on multiple occasions he has done so very graciously. In him I find hope and truth and love, and he allows me to share in his victory, which I celebrate in my heart now and will eventually celebrate in heaven with the rest of the saints.

Well, that was more serious than I thought it would be… as always! But I shared a cute little picture at the top of the post, and wanted to share a link to some really nice teaching resources that go along with these Seeds songs/verses. I would encourage you to visit Bible Story Printables or Totally Tots to find cute and useful visuals for these verses if you are teaching them to your children. From my perspective these resources could be useful for students of any age.

What does this passage mean to you? Have you heard any enlightening teaching on it?

I stayed up late last night with one of my best gals, watching the Oscars and eating yummy food that won’t make us sick. I’d say it was worth sacrificing a little sleep in the name of fellowship. Today is a work-from-home day so I allowed myself a little sleep-in, and am feeling pretty good despite my 1 am bedtime.

This week’s verse is actually just one verse, 1 Corinthians 10:31. The Seeds song is called “Whatever You Do,” track 8 on “Seeds of Purpose.”

²⁴ So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

This verse is brief and succinct, making it an easy one to memorize. It applies to people of different ages and stages of life who are striving to make godly decisions.

I do notice a tendency in our human nature to take words out of context and to a legalistic level, though, and I know that I personally need to be careful about that in certain areas, so I want to look at what this verse does and doesn’t mean. I think this verse is more about balancing freedom with humility rather than about giving us a rule to follow.

When we look at the chapter of 1 Corinthians 10, and more specifically verses 23-33, we can see that verse 31 is instructing the Corinthians in matters of conscience as it relates to food and drink sacrificed to pagan idols. As the early church grew they had to navigate more of these issues of conscience and how to behave as they represented the Way of Christ. Paul’s instructions to the people can be tied to themes of the freedom we have in Christ (v. 23 “all things are lawful”), the unity of believers (v. 24 “let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor”), and obedience to God (v. 31 “do all to the glory of God”). They were free to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols, whether they bought it themselves in the marketplace or they were served such meat at someone’s home, because their hearts were set on God and not on the idols. But in cases where it might bring offense to someone else, or give the appearance of condoning idolatry, believers were to abstain from such food. It is not about the letter of the law here, but about the heart of the believer and the proper representation of Christ.

Today we don’t need to worry about meat that has been sacrificed to idols, but the instructions in 1 Corinthians 10:31 still apply to us. From a simple, out-of-context reading it may seem that the instruction is to make everything in our life churchy, or constantly examine our actions to make sure we are glorifying God out of fear of punishment or failure. Don’t get me wrong; we should examine our actions and follow the Spirit’s guidance. A Christian’s actions should be different because of her/his relationship with Jesus. I can glorify God whether I am walking my dog or going through the checkout line at WalMart or driving my car. If I’m not using my time wisely when I’m by myself or with others, or if I’m acting without regard for others I am not acting in a manner that brings glory to God, and that is a problem. So those things are important, but I think the greater message of this verse is that we should balance our God-given freedom with God-given, Spirit-led self-control and responsibility. The message is to love God (which means obedience) and love our neighbors (which means humility and sacrifice) before we think of and serve ourselves.

I’m looking forward to meditating on this verse (and the verses around it) during the week. I actually started reading some commentary, and wanted to write more, but had to stop because I have other things to do today that are just as important as this… if not more important, because the other things have deadlines. I don’t think I can procrastinate to the glory of God, as hard as my mind tries to justify it. 🙂

I’d love to know: what does “do it all for the glory of God” mean to you?

This week’s passage is a favorite of mine, Psalm 37:4-6. The Seeds song is called “Delight,” track 7 on “Seeds of Purpose.” Again, these songs use the 1984 NIV translation, and the current NIV was pretty different, so I’m pasting the ESV translation here.

⁴ Delight yourself in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him, and he will act.
⁶ He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
    and your justice as the noonday.

I was in college when I discovered Psalm 37:4. At the time it seemed like God would make all of my dreams come true if I would just worship more or read the Bible more or something. I was very excited about the desires of my heart (which was boys, btw!), and not maybe as excited or informed about truly delighting myself in the Lord.

Looking back at the time between then and now, I have learned a few things about this passage (and I hope that I will continue to learn even more). What I see from these words now is that to delight in the Lord is to commit my way to him and trust him. Verse 4 is tricky because on the surface it sounds like God is a wish-granting genie. But looking at the rest of the passage and Bible as a whole, we know this is not true of his character.

God loves to give good gifts to his children, but he gives things that are good for us, that fit into his plan, and that are consistent with his character. So sometimes we will go through hardships, and we will still experience the natural consequences of our actions. On the flipside, sometimes we truly will receive the desires of our hearts, those things that feel like a dream come true. And when any of these things happens– when our dreams come true or when we go through trials– the blessings will be sweeter and the hardships will yield more growth if we will seek God first and foremost as our “delight.”

There are some desires in my heart that are not the most godly. While I do really want my character to reflect more of Christ, I would also like to have fancier clothes or furniture, or more spending money. I have actually received many of those things at different times in my life, but if I’m honest they have not done much for my heart. As I commit my way to the Lord I start to see that the things that grow my heart are what I really want from God. He has shown me that he is trustworthy, and as I have stepped out in faith, I have seen him act. I have also seen him bring forth righteousness and justice in my life as I trust and obey. And when that happens, it’s clear that it is God’s gracious and mighty hand working in spite of myself.

The title of Psalm 37 in the ESV is “He Will Not Forsake His Saints,” and it is full of wisdom and truth. I would encourage you to check it out, and certainly to meditate on verses 4-6 with me this week.

I should add “dragging words around on the screen of your phone” to my list of memorization techniques! I used the Rhonna Designs app to make this image.