4 Minute Devotions: Shaky Ground

Religulous the movie paints a picture of Christians being weak minded and simple. Bible stories often excite us as children, but when we become adults we realize that there’s more to the story than meets the eye. The wise man who built his house upon the rock deserves a second look.

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Matthew 7:24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

It was one of the first kids’ choruses that I ever learned as a child: The wise man built his house upon the rock. I can remember learning all of the actions and eagerly anticipating the end when all of the Sunday school kids were allowed to make an almighty noise as the foolish man’s house came tumbling down. It was a great way to teach one of Christ’s most popular stories and I still occasionally teach it to the children in our church.

I thought I knew the story really well, but when I looked at the passage as an adult, I realized there was more to meet the eye. Jesus is talking about obedience, not faith. He is not talking about believing in Him, He’s telling people to do what He says. That’s a big difference and it’s something that a lot of people have difficulty with.

In these turbulent days, when the institutionalized church is trying to become more culturally acceptable and universally palatable, our denominations are losing their foundations. Instead of following Christ and fulfilling His words, we are more into pursuing the world and validating our own opinions. We seek to be liked by the world, instead of being faithful to Christ. We diminish our beliefs in order to be accepted. We no longer have a sure foundation; we’re standing on shaky ground and will end up collapsing in a heap of our own undoing.

The parable, which we tend to set aside as a good children’s story, is one of those “in your face” moments that Jesus often uses to challenge us. The message is quite clear: we either walk His talk or we can say goodbye to God’s Kingdom. I don’t know about you, but rather than listen to the voices of modern, multi-cultural, progressive, one world universalists, I would rather hear the clear and truthful voice of Christ across the centuries. It might seem outdated and paltry to some people, but it’s eternal and priceless to me.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, when the world says, “Jump!” Christians don’t ask “how high?” When You say, “Follow Me,” we reply “Yes, Lord.” Keep us from capitulating and casting aside our allegiance to You. Help us to accept and apply Your words, even although it may cost us popularity, privileges, and profits. In Your Holy Name, we earnestly pray. Amen.

4 Minute Devotions: Dough Boy

Christ's parable of the woman putting yeast in the dough reminds me of my mother patiently baking steak pies when I was a boy. God has fully prepared our salvation. Are we ready to take that opportunity?

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My mom used to make great steak pies. I loved to watch her make up the dough for the crust and pound upon it until the pastry was ready to be rolled. She would then get out the rolling pin with some flour on it and patiently flatten the dough until it was the right texture for the pie.

It was like watching an artist at work. She rolled the dough smoothly and mixed in the flour at just the right time to stop it from sticking to the table or rolling pin. When she was ready, she would carefully lay the pastry over the pie and then pinch the sides with her fingers. Lastly, she would cut a small hole in the center of the pastry to stop the pie from bursting open in the oven. At this point in the process, Mom would usually be humming as she slid the pie into the pre-heated oven.

For the next hour, the aroma in the kitchen was wonderful - a beautiful mixture of meat cooking and pastry baking. At the dinner table we would all gather round with our eyes fixed upon the pie in the middle, anxiously and ravenously waiting for mom to cut the pie. She never disappointed us. The flavor was always delicious and even although it’s almost forty years since I had one of her steak pies, I can still feel the delicacy of the crust in my mouth, along with the tasty meat on my tongue.

It took a lot of time, skill, and preparation to bake the steak pie, but they were always worth it. This has also become a precious memory to me because it reminds of those rare moments when my mother was healthy and sane.

Matthew 13:33 He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough."

When Jesus speaks about the Kingdom of heaven being like a woman using yeast in the making of some bread, He reminds me of the time, expertise, and preparation that God puts into saving the entire world. God didn’t wake up one morning and decide to save us from our sins. He worked across the centuries to bring His plan of salvation to its completion in Jesus Christ, His Holy Son. And because God took so much time to do this, we are the beneficiaries of that divine planning. We feel the true love of God in our hearts and we taste the fruits of Christ’s success in our lives.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You came into the world at the right place and right time. You were given to us by God to draw all nations towards You, so that the opportunity of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life might be ours. Thank You for Your patience and dedication, Your focus and determination in fulfilling this beautiful plan. Encourage us to share this feast of faithfulness and promise of forgiveness to all whom we love and know. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Erin Church Devotions: Keeping It All for God

Do we have to share everything with others? Aren't there some things we should keep for ourselves and God?

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Matthew 25:9 "'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'

It’s strange, but you would think that in this situation, the girls with oil in their lamps would share it with the others. After all, it’s a Christian story, and isn’t Christianity all about sharing our resources with other people? Jesus usually criticized selfish people and urged his followers to give what they could to the needy. So why doesn’t He end this story with: ‘and the five selfish maids were not invited to the bridegroom’s party for not sharing their oil.’ After all, that’s the way the world would end it, right?

This means, as usual, that there must be something deeper going on. The parable is not about sharing, it’s about being prepared and showing respect. The five clever maidens were ready for any inconvenience. They wanted to make sure that they could honor and escort the bridegroom when he eventually arrived. They weren’t thinking about themselves. They were concentrating on what the groom needed to make his wedding party a great success. The five wise girls had already committed their resources to him; if they shared their precious oil with the foolish maidens, then the bridegroom would have been dishonored by all. By keeping the oil to themselves, they were at least ensuring that fifty percent of the bridal party would properly honor the groom.

I guess we all feel sorry for the five foolish maidens because we identify so readily with them. Most of us are last minute shoppers at Christmas and get by each day by doing just enough. It always amazes me on Sunday mornings when a lot of people arrive just a couple of minutes before the worship is due to start. One minute the sanctuary looks half empty; the very next it is three quarters full.

The point Jesus was making with this story is something that we all should seriously consider: leaving our faith commitment to the last minute may be fatal to our souls. Our lives are meant to be used for enjoying God and worshiping His Son. If we take them for granted, then we may unexpectedly run out of time one day, with no earthly chance of making things right with God.

That’s why making and taking time to read the Bible, reading or listening to these devotions, and to ponder about what God is telling us is so important. We can get sidetracked too easily. We can leave holy things to the last minute much too often, that we unintentionally end up disregarding, dishonoring, and disrespecting God.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we are often too busy for our own good and end up sapping our resources and energy on things that are unimportant, trivial, and meaningless. Help us to reset our ways and enable us to honor You with our love, devotion, and faith. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee.