The story about the golden calf has always intrigued me. You remember it. It’s when the Israelites were waiting for Moses to come down from Mt. Sinai. They grew impatient and turned to Aaron and demanded, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”¹ In other words, they told Aaron: Give us a god who can lead us because Moses is gone and it looks like he is not coming back! 😮 So, the Israelites were ready to abandon Yahweh (the God who had delivered them from slavery with many signs and wonders) for another god. Why would they do that? 😕

     Well . . . the ancient world believed in many gods: the god of wisdom, youth, war, magic, the sun, the moon—and the list goes on and on. There were about 40 gods. People worshipped them according to their needs. Other nations worshipped many gods, but when Yahweh came to Moses and announced, “I am the Lord your God . . . You shall have no other gods before me,”²  he is clearly telling him to abandon all the other gods. So, when the Israelites asked Aaron to call on another god, they were treating God as if he were just another god!

     Therefore, the question for us is this: Is God just another god in our lives? 🤔 If our faith consists of nothing more than spending one morning a week in a church building and perhaps reading about God occasionally, then I venture to say that our faith is just another “thing” in our lives—like being a sports fan and going to a basketball game and reading about the team from time to time. In that regard, our faith is really just a hobby, a “thing” to do and one of our many little gods.

     There are plenty of people who are willing to include Jesus in their lives as one of the many things that they do. But that was never Jesus’ idea of faith. Jesus told his disciples “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”³ Jesus is not asking us to include him in our lives; he is demanding that we give him our lives. And most people are not ready to do that. They prefer a god they can manage—a god that fits into their lifestyle.

     If we are looking for a little god, something to meet a particular need, there are many from which we can choose. The god of sports meets the need to be entertained. The god of work meets the need to have a purpose. The god of money meets the need to acquire things. The god of church meets the need to be a good person. It’s more acceptable to worship many little gods. It always has been.

     But if our needs can be met with these other little gods, why do we need God? Good question. Here’s the answer: Jesus said if we follow him, we will find the meaning for our lives—which is what we are truly looking for. “For whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”⁴   In other words, we find our life when we give our lives to God!

     As far as these other things go—sports and work and money and church—they are all good things. But they are just things. And not to be worshiped! But God, on the other hand, is. To be worshiped. And he is the only God. So, the question remains: Is God the most important thing in our lives or is he just another “thing”? 🤔

¹Exodus 32:1    ²Exodus 20:2-3    ³Matthew 16:24     ⁴Matthew 16:25

Here’s a crazy story.

Once when Jesus went to the country of the Gerasenes, he stepped out of his boat and was immediately met by “a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.”¹

Wow! 😯 That sounds crazy! And that’s not even the crazy part of the story! 🤪What happens next? Jesus speaks with the guy and from what I can tell a bit of an exorcism takes place. And the unclean spirits in the man come out “and they begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.”²  And they “begged him, saying, ‘Send us to the pigs’”³ and they entered a herd of 2,000 pigs who then “rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.”⁴ 

Wow again! 😦 But that’s not the crazy part of the story either! 🤪 What happens next? The pig herdsmen tell the people in the town about it and they come and see the once crazy man “sitting there clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.”⁵   Hmm. 🤔 Afraid of what? Afraid of the sane man? Yes! Afraid of Jesus? It appears so. “And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.”⁶  Jesus just performed an incredible miracle, healed a tormented man, and the townspeople “began to beg” him to leave. It seems they were more comfortable having a crazy man living on the edge of town then a once crazy man living in their midst! Now that’s a little crazy, don’t you think?  🤨 What happens next?

The townspeople want Jesus to leave, so what does he do? Jesus leaves! 😦 And I find that a bit crazy because why would Jesus not want to stay and help these unbelieving people? But you know what? Jesus never stays where he’s not wanted. What happens next? As Jesus was getting into the boat to leave, the once crazy man “who had been possessed with demons begged [Jesus] that he might be with him.”⁷  So what did Jesus do? “He did not permit him.”⁸  Wait! What? 😦 Why not? Why not allow this man who has been truly born again to join his group? The man “begged” Jesus to go with him. But Jesus said No! I find that a bit crazy. 😯 What happens next?

Jesus told the man, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”⁸  Oh. 🙄 Well, then. That makes sense. 🤔

We’ve all seen that guy, you know—the crazy man who lives under the bridge. The dirty homeless guy with a wild look in his eyes, walking nowhere while talking to himself. We cross to the other side of the street to avoid him. And with good reason! He’s unpredictable and dangerous. We all know those people. In Jesus’ day they were labeled people with unclean spirits; today we call them the mentally ill. Those people. 😒

But I think we have more in common with those people then we’d like to admit. We are all slaves to something. Oh, what binds us may be more socially acceptable—like food or work. Or perhaps we are slaves to fear. We may be control freaks. But all of us are chained to some kind of sin in our lives. And sometimes they drive us (and others) crazy! 😏

So . . . what is the point of this crazy story? The obvious answer is that we who are bound by our sin can be set free through the mighty power of Jesus. In this story everyone is afraid and begging Jesus to do something. They are all desperate fearful people in need of Jesus. Kinda’ like us! But here’s the often-overlooked point of the story. The once crazy man begged Jesus to stay. The sane townspeople begged Jesus to leave.

So, who’s crazy now? 😒

¹Mark 5:2-5     ²Mark 5:10    ³Mark 5:12    ⁴Mark 5:13    ⁵Mark 5:15    ⁶Mark 5:17    ⁷Mark 5:18     ⁸Mark 5:19

Jesus said, “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.”¹ And so we ask!

Why, then, does God not “do it”? Let’s be honest—many times, God does not give us what we ask.  So . . . did Jesus really mean what he said? Yes, he did. What is the problem then? Are we not praying properly? Well . . . probably. 😯 Most people mistakenly believe that the purpose of prayer is to tell God what we need, but that’s not it at all. Jesus said, “your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”²  So, if God knows what we need, why bother telling him? Exactly. That’s not the purpose of prayer! Hmm. 🤔

So, what is the purpose of prayer? I think there are several reasons to pray, but one is to find out what God wants for us. We are inclined to ask for what we want, but that may not be what God wants. And so God may answer our prayers with a firm No. It seems to me the key to effective praying is to figure out what to ask for. Paul wrote, “For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”³  That’s why we often get a No from God. The Spirit intercedes for us. And that’s a good thing. Because God knows better than we. He created us and has a very specific plan for our lives and loves us more than anything in the world. Of course, God knows better! 🤨

We just don’t believe it! 🤪That’s why we are constantly telling God what we need and what to do! Then we get upset and frustrated, impatient and angry with God when he does not answer our prayers as we have instructed him to! Perhaps we should pray that God would show us how to pray! But wait a minute, he did!🤓 Jesus modeled it when he prayed to his Father, “Not my will, but yours, be done.”⁴  and then he taught the disciples to pray, “Your will be done.”⁵

So there it is. We should pray for that. But what that means is we are willing to give up what we want. Our prayers should be something like this: Lord, I want this to happen, but what I really want is to want what you want to happen. So, whatever happens, help me to understand that because of your great love for me, it is the best thing to happen.

Telling God what we need is okay, but we should not think that we are telling him something he doesn’t already know. For “God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”⁶ So, if our needs are not being met, perhaps it is because God knows we do not really need that—which means that we probably need to let that need go! 🙃And ask God to change our desires. And he will gladly do that.

When we begin to want what God wants—which, by the way, is the best possible thing to want—here’s what can happen: “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.”⁷

In other words, when we want what God wants, we get what we ask for!🙂

¹John 14:14     ²Matthew 6:8    ³Romans 8:26    ⁴Luke 22:42       ⁵Matthew 6:10       ⁶Philippians 4:19    ⁷Psalm 37:4-5

Moses spent 40 years of his life leading the Israelites through the desert/wilderness headed to the Promised Land. As they sat on the edge of the Jordan River across from Canaan, Moses prayed this prayer: “Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan.”¹ But God said No! 😧 And it was a very firm No! “Enough from you; do not speak to me of this again.”²  Which leads me to believe that Moses had mentioned this to God before . . . and likely more than once.

What was it that made God so angry? Well . . . several things. First, Moses disobeyed God’s command at Meribah. It was there that Moses forfeited his right to enter the Promised Land. When water was needed, God told Moses to speak to the rock and water would flow out. But Moses hit the rock twice instead. His actions indicated he believed God’s method was not sufficient. God called him out for it: “you did not believe in me.”³  And because Moses did not believe in God he did not uphold him “as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel.”³ Moses’ disobedience was an act of defiance, and as the leader of the nation, that was totally unacceptable. So God punished him: “therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”³

What I find interesting is that when Moses asked God for permission to enter the Promised Land, God had already told him he would not be going. And it appears that Moses had prayed this prayer other times as well! So why did he ask God the same thing again? Same problem: Moses “did not believe” God. 🤔 Hmm. Either he did not believe God really meant what he said, or he believed God would change his mind.  

I think most of us believe that there are some people who deserve special treatment from God because they are such good servants!  We assume that God will give godly people whatever they want. Surely God will answer my pastor’s prayer in the way he desires; after all, he is such a godly man. Joshua might have been thinking that surely God would let Moses go into Canaan. And Moses thought so too! Why else would he continue praying that God would let him go? But God does not play favorites. That’s the first lesson.

Here’s another one: We generally do not believe our sin is that bad. Most of us probably think God was being a bit nit-picky about the whole “hitting the rock” incident, right? 😒 I think we become quite casual in our relationship with God and believe God will overlook some minor infractions on our part—because God knows our hearts. And God’s love is everlasting. And his mercies are new every morning. And sometimes we feel like we just need a break, you know! But the fact remains: sin is sin. And God is holy. There is no compromise there.

One final thought. It would save us a lot of time and energy if we would simply believe God when he says No. Often when God says No, we mistakenly interpret his “silence” to mean he is taking our request under consideration, and we might even ramp up the prayers a bit, praying harder and more often! And as time passes, we believe we can talk God into seeing things our way, and we continue to pray the same prayer. Over and over. I think Moses really expected God to change his mind on the subject! He continued to pray the same prayer until finally God said, “Enough from you; do not speak to me of this again.”²  😦

So . . .  Did God really just tell Moses to stop praying about this? Yes, he did! 🤨 Hmm. Perhaps we are the ones whose mind needs to change. Hmm. 🤔

So . . . what prayer do you need to stop praying?

¹Deuteronomy 3:25    ²Deuteronomy 3:26    ³Numbers 20:12

Moses sat on the edge of the Jordan River directly across from Canaan. He and the grumpy Israelites had been traveling together for 40 years, waiting for this moment in time. They were steps away from the Promised Land. So, Moses prayed to God: “O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.”¹

It was a heartfelt righteous prayer prayed by a faithful servant. Moses shared with the Israelites God’s answer: “But the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again.’”²

God said No! 😯 Emphatically! Why? This seems so wrong to me. Who more than Moses deserved to go into the Promised Land? What did Moses do that angered God so much that he would take that away? Well . . . 🤔 if we look closely at this scripture and then read the actual event that caused God’s anger, perhaps we can figure out why God told Moses No.

First of all, Moses tells the Israelites “the Lord was angry with me because of you.” No. 😒 I don’t think so. Yes, God was angry with the Israelites for doubting him and testing him and grumbling for 40 years during the journey. But God was angry with Moses because of what Moses did—not because of what the Israelites did. So, the first lesson is we cannot blame our sin (or our punishment) on someone else.

Secondly, here’s the short version of what happened that made God so mad. Near the end of their 40-year trek, they camped at Meribah and couldn’t find water. And the Israelites complained. Again. And questioned Moses’ and Aaron’s leadership. Again. And said they wished they had never left Egypt. Again. And I think Moses rolled his eyes 🙄 and heard blah, blah, blah . . .  And who could blame him? So, Moses went to the Lord who gave him specific instructions on how to get water: “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water.”³ What did Moses do? He lost his temper. He yelled at the Israelites and called them rebels! He told them that he and Aaron (not God) would provide them with water. And then he struck the rock with his staff twice. In other words, Moses kinda’ did what God asked him to do. But not really.🙄  

God’s response? He provided the water for the Israelites despite their grumbling and despite Moses’ rash reaction. But then told Moses that he had just forfeited his “right” to enter the Promised Land. Here’s what God said: “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”⁴

Hmm. 🤔 Exactly where did Moses “not believe in” God? By striking the rock (twice), Moses was showing God he did not believe merely speaking to the rock would be enough. Perhaps he thought speaking to a rock would look a little bit crazy. Maybe he remembered when he was in a similar situation where God told him to strike the rock and water gushed out. He might have concluded that God meant to tell him to strike the rock again like before. Or maybe Moses just wasn’t listening carefully . . . heard words like “staff” and “rock” and “water,” and filled in the blanks himself. Or maybe he was just really angry and felt like hitting the rock. Twice! 😠

My imagination envisions God pulling Moses aside and saying sternly, That’s not what I asked you to do! I think Moses assumed it was no big deal—not to listen carefully, not to do exactly as God told him.  

He was wrong. 😦 So God told Moses No.

I think when God told Moses he would not be entering the Promised Land, he was saying, You need to learn to listen to me. 

So, how’s that going with you? 🙄

And by the way, we’re not finished with this little story. 😬

¹Deuteronomy 3:24-25     ²Deuteronomy 3:26     ³Numbers 20:8     ⁴Numbers 20:12

If James were conducting the Gallop Poll, he would not ask the familiar question Do you believe in God? No. That’s a moot point. There is a God, so our opinions are not necessary. I like the question Do you have faith in God? but James would probably take it a bit further. He might ask this question: What proof do you have that you have faith in God? Now that’s a good question! 😉 Why do we need proof? Here’s the answer: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?”1

And this is where we enter into the faith vs. works debate. So, let’s be clear: James is not talking about working for our salvation. We are saved when we acknowledge that we are sinners and need forgiveness and Christ has paid our debt to God; that work has been done for us. The “works” James is talking about is the proof of our faith. For “what good is it” if our faith is not visible? People need to see our faith. They need to have a reason to move from believing there is a god to having faith in God!

Believing there is a god does not affect our lives. But having faith in God—believing he is who he says he is and means what he says—that’s a life changer. And that’s why James asks for proof. People who have faith in God act differently than those who merely believe there is a god. How so? Well, I think it usually comes down to one thing: hope. 🙂

Having faith in God means I have hope on two levels: now and eternally. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”²  That’s the eternal part. Which is huge! 😁 And the now part? Here it is: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, that God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”³ Having faith that God created each of us with a specific purpose in mind is a concept people often overlook.  So we must ask ourselves—we—we who have faith in God—do we truly believe what God says about our lives? 🤔 Along with being the creator of the universe, God also is our creator and he created us with a job in mind. Do we believe that? Is our life reflecting that? Because that would be proof.

Which brings us back to James’ point. Are we doing the “good works” God planned out for us to do? Because doing those works will change our lives. And guide our lives. And give purpose to our lives. And offer proof to our faith. Which is what James says we must do. And living this way—doing those good works—will help us understand what good our faith is accomplishing—which is twofold: 1) “to be conformed to the image of his son,”⁴ and 2) “that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”⁵    This makes our faith good for us and good for others as well! 🙂

So, instead of asking the Gallop question Do you believe in God? ask yourself (and others) James’ question:  What proof do you have that you have faith in God? The answer will determine if you are living with hope. And it will also determine if people are hopeful as they look at you. And it might determine if they end up merely believing God exists or end up actually having faith that he does! 🙂

¹James 2:14    ²John 3:16    ³Ephesians 2:10    ⁴Romans 8:29    ⁵2 Corinthians 5:15

The Gallop Poll question regarding religion is Do you believe in God? The latest poll (2022) indicates that 81% of Americans answered Yes. That might be an encouraging statistic to some and a discouraging one to others who recall that back in 1944, 98% of Americans answered Yes. But not only do I believe these answers not valid, I think the question is irrelevant. What difference does it make, really, believing there is a god? “Even the demons believe—and shudder!”¹ God exists regardless of what we think. 🤪

I think the question the Gallop poll people should be asking is Do you have faith in God? But you know what? Most people would be confused by the question!  What do you mean “faith in God”? They might conclude that it was still the same question: Do you have faith that there is a god? Or Are you connected to a particular faith? And for that answer we can again turn to Dr. Gallop. In 2000, 90% of Americans claimed to be affiliated with some type of faith. In 2019 that had dipped to 77%. But, again, that does not bother me.

So, what’s my point? The point is—the question Do you have faith in God? is perhaps the most relevant question we can ask ourselves (and others). And the answer is complicated. Frankly, if someone were to ask me that question right now, I would have to say, Sometimes. 😦 But that wishy-washy, namby-pamby, weak, vacillating excuse for an answer is a reflection on me, not God. God is faithful. God is trustworthy. God “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.”²

Hmm. 🤨 If this is true (and it is), then why do I not have faith in God all the time?  And that, my friend, is the million-dollar question! Why, indeed? The answer? Well . . . the truth is I don’t agree with God all the time. His timing seems off. His purposes are obscure. His responses are unpredictable. And frankly, a lot of times he seems deaf at my petitions and absent from my problems! But that actually is God’s design!  Wait. What? 😕 Think about it. We need no faith when things go according to our plans! We need faith when we are afraid and discouraged. And if we choose to have faith, we will learn that “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”³ We really can trust God, but having faith is not easy. That’s why many people don’t. 

So why should we? Well . . . what are the alternatives? We could have faith that things will just work out . . . and sometimes they do! We could have faith in other people . . . but that’s a risk. Isaiah warns us: “Don’t put your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath! What good are they?”⁴ 😮 So good luck with that! What about us? Can’t we just trust our own instincts? Well . . . Solomon warns us: “Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool.”⁵ And recommends that you “do not lean on your own understanding.”⁶  So . . . that leaves God. And God? Is he trustworthy? Absolutely. “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.”⁷  And trusting in him is the only way to have peace.  “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”⁸

So, the question Do you have faith in God? is not a one-and-done question. We should ask it daily. And for the rest of our lives.

¹James 1:19    ²Ephesians 3:20   ³Deuteronomy 31:8    ⁴Isaiah 2:22     ⁵Proverbs 28:26     ⁶Proverbs 3:5    ⁷Isaiah 26:4    ⁸Isaiah 26:3

There are many religious people in our world. But take heed! People who act religiously and talk religiously are not necessarily people who follow God. They are simply religious people, or to be politically correct, one might say they are spiritual people. Many of them look Christian and may claim to be so. But, as I said, Beware! 😦 “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools.”¹  

As people search for meaning in their lives, they may stumble upon God, accept some of his truths, but not all of them, and then devise their own version of God. In fact, they “suppress the truth”²   and then “exchange the truth about God for a lie”³   and thereby create their own religious way of living. Their religion is then accepted as another “truth.” It’s a Burger King mentality: Have it your way! 😀 and embraces the individual’s desires that satisfy everyone. It’s very appealing! Sadly, many are deceived by this, and Paul says “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”² 

Wait. What? 😯 God still pours out his wrath? That sounds very “Old Testament-like.” 🤨  This is serious business—suppressing the truth and deceiving others by doing so, for “they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”⁴  But does this deserve God’s wrath, really? 🤨 So, the next question is what does God’s wrath look like? Does he curse the unrighteous and cause them to fail? Does he smite them with disease or disaster? Does he torture them and throw them into hell? No. None of the above. Here is Paul’s picture of God’s wrath: “God gave them up.”⁵   In other words (to borrow Burger King’s phrase), God says: Have it your way!

Hmm. 🤔 That’s interesting. You see, God will never force his way into our lives. Nor will he compromise on the irrefutable fact that he is “the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.”⁶    And we are not—God, that is. In other words, we are not in charge. So, when we act as if we are God and amend his rules (truths), we are in effect saying he is not. And he is!

It’s the never-ending struggle, and it started with Eve questioning what God told her she could and could not do. Instead of listening to God, she listened to Satan who deceived her with his twisted version of truth.

So, here’s what happens when we choose to not listen to God: We get what we want! 🙂 Which sounds good . . . until . . . until we realize that in doing so, we do not get what God wants 😯—which is waayy better! “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”7

C.S. Lewis, in his book The Great Divorce, wrote this: “There are only two kinds of  people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell, choose it.”

Hmm. 😕

¹ Romans 1:21-22    ²Romans 1:18    ³Romans 1:25    ⁴Romans 1:32    ⁵Romans 1:24      ⁶Isaiah 40:28      ⁷Isaiah 55:9

When Pontius Pilate asked Jesus what he had done to warrant his being arrested, Jesus mentioned his kingdom being not of this world. This puzzled Pilate and he asked, “So you are a king?”¹    To which Jesus replied: “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” ¹   To which Pilate responded: “What is truth?”²  Which is a very good question! 🙂 And one still relevant today.

As a matter of fact, everyone should be asking it:  What is truth? It just might be the most important question to ever ask!  Why? Because the answer will become the guide for our lives. The answer will reveal to us the reason we were born. So, we all desperately need to ask the question. And many do.  

The problem is that the world has a number of really good answers for us—the primary answer being that there is more than one truth. The world would have us believe that truth is relative—that it changes with regard to our circumstances, and is subject to various cultures, and is dependent on the era in which we live, and most importantly, always tolerant of other people’s truths. 🤪 I think Pilate may have been a proponent of that belief. Actually, I think he was being sarcastic—even laughing at Jesus when he asked him the question because he does not wait for him to answer. He certainly did not want to hear his truth.

But we need to hear his answer. Jesus told his disciples, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes through the Father except through me.”³    So, two essential things are revealed here. First, what Jesus says is truth; therefore, we can believe he will never deceive us. And secondly, there is only one truth. Okay. So how does believing that Jesus is the truth impact our lives? Well, for one thing it does determine our eternal destination because “whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”⁴   But other than that rather major point, does believing that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life really impact our lives? 🤨 I mean, our daily, here-and-now lives? Not necessarily. 😮

Wait. What? 😲 Well, whether or not Jesus changes our daily lives is totally up to us—and is in direct proportion to how much time we spend wrestling with Pilate’s question: What is truth?

The truth of the matter is that if we do not continually ask that question and discern what is of God and what is not, then our lives will be a mix of Jesus’ truth and other people’s truths. It’s a confusing way to live—not knowing the truth. So, how do we prevent the confusion? Jesus has the answer for this one, too. He said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”⁵

Abiding in God’s word will help us discern the truth from the lies. And trust me on this one, we need God’s help with that because the world’s truths are popular and sensible and ever so enticing. They’re just not true! 😉 As a matter of fact, they are enslaving. Only the truth of Jesus will set us free.  And “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”⁶  

Pilate had the right question for Jesus. Unfortunately, he didn’t stick around to listen to his answer for “after he said this, he went back outside. . .”² 

But the question remains: What is truth? The answer depends on who you listen to. “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”¹

¹ John 18:37     ²John 18:38     ³ John 14:6     ⁴ John 3:16     ⁵ John 8:31-32     ⁶ John 8:36

When God called out to Moses from the burning bush, Moses “was keeping the flock of his father-in-law.”¹  It was here that God told Moses to go back to Egypt and lead the Israelites out of their bondage. But Moses had his doubts about the mission. He answered God with, “Who am I?”² and then proceeded to have a lengthy discussion with God regarding his qualifications. Finally, God asked Moses this very important question: “What is that in your hand?” ³  It probably seemed like an irrelevant question to Moses and perhaps to humor God, “he said, ‘A staff.’”³ And God instructed Moses to throw it on the ground. I imagine Moses might have rolled his eyes 🙄 and perhaps again to humor God “he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it.”⁴  That part makes me laugh! 😁

Moses had been walking with that staff for 40 years. He used it for guiding the sheep, and he used it to keep his feet steady on the rugged terrain. Now, with God’s command, the staff was no longer just a staff! And it scared him. But God told him to reach out and “catch it by the tail—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand.”⁵  But I imagine he did it with fear and trembling! 😯

From that moment on, however, Moses’ staff became a very powerful tool, one which he would use for the next 40 years—not to guide sheep—but to guide the Israelites to the promised land. The original intent of the staff was transformed to achieve something much greater. God had a divine purpose for that staff.

The same is true of us.  God will use whatever is in our hands to perform incredible things for his glory. And so, I think we need to pause here and ask ourselves the question: “What is that in your hand?”

And, oh my!  😯 As I write those words and look at what is in my hand, I can hardly believe what I see: I have a cane . . . an actual cane 😯 . . . that looks very much like a staff! 😲 . . . that I am walking with as a result of a recent car accident! I have incurred significant damage to my knee, and I now require the assistance of a cane to simply get around.  And I must admit that I have been . . . 😒 well . . . let’s just say that I have not been happy with my cane. But here it is. In my hand.

So. I must repeat (primarily for myself) that God gave Moses a staff for a reason. We, therefore, must conclude that what is in our hands is also there for a reason. And at some point in our lives, God might give us the same instructions—to throw it down (at his feet) and then pick it back up again (though trembling) and see what God can do with it. Whatever we find in our hands—whether temporary (as in my case) or familiar (as in Moses’ case), God can use it. Whatever we find in our hands—whether something we cherish (as in Moses’ case) or something we despise (as in my case), God can use it.

Scripture is full of stories where God uses whatever is in the hands of his servants to achieve miraculous things—a trumpet for Gideon, a slingshot for David, a donkey’s jawbone for Samson, five loaves of bread for the disciples. These things all seemed quite ordinary until God declared, Not anymore! 😉

So, the question remains. “What is that in your hand?” 😏

¹Exodus 3:1    ²Exodus 3:11     ³Exodus 4:2    ⁴Exodus 4:3      ⁵Exodus 4:4