A lady was almost ready to convert to Christianity after an outreach service. She asked if becoming a Christian meant giving up her existing faith. The answer was ‘yes’. This stopped her in her tracks and her conversion was delayed. When she did become a Christian her testimony was clear. She cited the first commandment (You shall have no other gods besides me) and has never looked back or looked elsewhere.
God calls people to love him. All else flows from that. Our services of worship, our acts of obedience and our giving of time, talent and treasure are all expressions of that underlying love. The call to love God was powerfully stated well before Jesus and also by him (eg Dt 6:4-5; Mrk 12:28-30).
Note, however, that it is not enough just to love God. He wants us to love him with all of all that we are.
We are to love God with all that we are. Thus Deuteronomy speaks of loving God with heart, soul and strength. Jesus adds ‘mind’, thus clarifying the meaning to people with a Greek background. The point here is that the whole person is involved in love of God. It is not just an inward matter to love God (heart, soul, mind) nor a purely outward matter (strength). God made us as whole and unified people and every aspect of our being is called to love him.
Further, we are to love God with all of all that we are. All our heart, soul, mind and strength is to be devoted to God. And this is why God insists that we have no other gods before or even besides him (Ex 20:3). In this sense, a choice for the Lord becomes a choice against every other deity, whether the gods of other faiths or the secular gods of family, possessions, pleasure, ambition and such like.
Of course we all have other loves besides the Lord. Family is an obvious one. However, the point is that these other loves are to be within and subordinate to our love for the Lord. If he is not loved before all else, he is not loved at all.
Those who are not yet believers need to be like the lady mentioned above. The Lord is not to be loved alongside other gods but in place of them. Those of us who are believers need to regularly examine ourselves to ensure that no other loves threaten our devotion to the Lord.
Finally, note that loving the Lord with all of all we are, is nothing more than a response to his great love (Ex 20:2; 1 Jn 4:10). Our love to him is but an echo of his love for us in the Lord Jesus.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Fast Food
Fast food surrounds us in the form of instant mee, curry puffs, kaya toast, pau and such like. It gives a quick ‘fix’ but it rarely satisfies and much of it is nutritional junk. When we rearrange the letters ‘fast’ food becomes ‘fats’ food!
There’s another fast food and it is good for us. That’s the fast where we don’t eat at all. It’s a deliberate choice to do without something for spiritual purposes.
Fasting is an established devotional practice in many religions and certainly in Christianity. We may fast for a fixed period of time (eg, for the whole day before our birthday) or on a periodic basis (eg, skipping one meal every week.)
Before Jesus, fasting was prescribed on certain occasions (eg Lev 16:29-31; Zech 8:18). It was done voluntarily at other times (eg Jon 3:5-8). Jesus assumes that his followers will fast as routinely as we also pray and give charitably (eg Mat 6:1-18). He gives a twist to fasting in his own example of choosing to miss lunch in order to do God’s work (Jn 4:32-34). Can we skip a meal sometimes to talk with someone in God’s name, help a needy person, or immerse ourselves in preparations to serve?
Christians have fasted through the centuries in order to dedicate themselves to seeking God’s presence, guidance or provision for their needs. Fasting is often accompanied by intense prayer, meditation and Bible reading. It is a way of detaching from the temporal and material to attach the spiritual and eternal.
Fasting has its dangers. We may fast in a way that draws attention to ourselves with a smug attitude of superiority. Jesus counters this by saying that our fast is to be kept between us and the Lord and deliberately concealed from others (Mat 6:16-18). Another danger is to think that the act of fasting alone pleases God. Isaiah points out that fasting must be matched with a life that pleases God (Is 58:2-10). Fasting is not a means to become God’s people or to gain his favour. Rather it is a response to being his people and receiving his favour. Thus John Calvin speaks of how our whole life should be a fast.
There is a godly pleasure in enjoying the food that we eat (Ps 104:14-15; 1 Tim 4:1-5). We need no encouragement to this in Singapore! However, can we consider fasting as a complement to this pleasure? It’s a way of reminding ourselves that life is more that what we eat and it’s a way of showing God that we treasure the ‘food’ of his word, will and presence.
Let’s enjoy eating the food that comes from God. Let’s also enjoy the fast food that takes us to him.
There’s another fast food and it is good for us. That’s the fast where we don’t eat at all. It’s a deliberate choice to do without something for spiritual purposes.
Fasting is an established devotional practice in many religions and certainly in Christianity. We may fast for a fixed period of time (eg, for the whole day before our birthday) or on a periodic basis (eg, skipping one meal every week.)
Before Jesus, fasting was prescribed on certain occasions (eg Lev 16:29-31; Zech 8:18). It was done voluntarily at other times (eg Jon 3:5-8). Jesus assumes that his followers will fast as routinely as we also pray and give charitably (eg Mat 6:1-18). He gives a twist to fasting in his own example of choosing to miss lunch in order to do God’s work (Jn 4:32-34). Can we skip a meal sometimes to talk with someone in God’s name, help a needy person, or immerse ourselves in preparations to serve?
Christians have fasted through the centuries in order to dedicate themselves to seeking God’s presence, guidance or provision for their needs. Fasting is often accompanied by intense prayer, meditation and Bible reading. It is a way of detaching from the temporal and material to attach the spiritual and eternal.
Fasting has its dangers. We may fast in a way that draws attention to ourselves with a smug attitude of superiority. Jesus counters this by saying that our fast is to be kept between us and the Lord and deliberately concealed from others (Mat 6:16-18). Another danger is to think that the act of fasting alone pleases God. Isaiah points out that fasting must be matched with a life that pleases God (Is 58:2-10). Fasting is not a means to become God’s people or to gain his favour. Rather it is a response to being his people and receiving his favour. Thus John Calvin speaks of how our whole life should be a fast.
There is a godly pleasure in enjoying the food that we eat (Ps 104:14-15; 1 Tim 4:1-5). We need no encouragement to this in Singapore! However, can we consider fasting as a complement to this pleasure? It’s a way of reminding ourselves that life is more that what we eat and it’s a way of showing God that we treasure the ‘food’ of his word, will and presence.
Let’s enjoy eating the food that comes from God. Let’s also enjoy the fast food that takes us to him.
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