Now please, before the hair on the back of your necks, starts on fire, please continue reading. I am trying to make a point and I am sure it will surface within this devotion. Over 58 years of life, I have heard my share of complaints. In fact, I've had a lot of complaints and temper tantrums myself. For twenty-five years I was in the Insurance Industry and then I was a Regional Sales Manager for a car rental company so I have heard, what seems to me to be "every possible" complaint and even more than two sides, from time to time.
We in America, live in a "lush" continually producing country. Granted, we have our share of problems but consider the alternatives. Each of us could have been born in a "3rd World" country and not privileged to the things and opportunities that we currently have. Now those of you thinking from a political point of view, take a deep breath and clear your mind of what is happening in the world today because it has nothing to do with what I want to discuss (maybe some of the people but none of the current events).
Take myself for example. After all, if I cannot laugh at myself, why would I be allowed to laugh at you. Some time back, my wife listed and sold for me a perfectly good laptop computer on eBay and the reason she did was because I saw one with more "bells and whistles" than that one so I needed, quickly to get rid of it and purchase the one I am currently typing on (by the way, "It Is Awesome"). But I had the other one for almost a year and it was becoming "less than new" and less of a novelty for me so I wanted this new one, and I wanted it NOW! Well, I have it and honestly, it does the exact same things the older one did, perhaps a little faster and with the ability to store a little bit more stuff, but for the most part, it is the same thing.
In the world, we are like this very much of the time. "The soup is too cold", "the pizza is too hot", "I wasn't thinking the job would be this hard"...etc. We are a world of complainers. "I hurt over here and just yesterday a guy in the store stepped on my foot right where I already have a sore and I just cannot get it to stop throbbing"! I don't know if we have enough food for the rest of the week, I'm not sure but I think we have more month left than money, if only God would let me have this thing or that thing I truly believe the entire family would be much more happy. The doctor said it was "cancer" and I believe I could have handled it better if I just new what was going to happen to me now. How do I tell my wife I lost my job today? Especially when that guy in the next cubical has been a screw-off for years and he is still working there. Why did that car have to stop so quickly in front of me? Get the picture? I'm sure I don't need to go any further. We have it all, but we want more of "it"! So, getting the "jest" of the kind of complainers we really are, why would we believe that Heaven IS good enough?
Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 15:13,14 "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be rooted up. Let them alone (speaking of the Pharisees); they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit." (my point here is these complaints are ones NOT planted by God but created in our own minds). I think that I actually fall into this category sometimes, like "the blind leading the blind". I have a complaint for every category. In fact, I am good at creating "spreadsheets" in Microsoft Excel. I should create one to keep track of all the times I complain and then all the times I fail to recognize that I have been blessed by God.
Check out this passage of scripture in John 8:12-19 which says "Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying. "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life." ("the light of the life"...just take a moment to think of that issue alone). The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "you are bearing witness of Yourself; (your mind seems to be fix on yourself; what about the rest of us. Your only thinking of yourself). Your witness is not true." Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true; for I know where I came from, and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from, or where I am going. You people judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and He who sent Me. Even in your law it has been written, that the testimony of two men is true. I am He who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of me." (so we not only create all of our own complaints but we also look for others to help back up our complaints). And so they were saying to Him, "Where is Your Father?" and Jesus answered, "You know neither Me, nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also." BINGO!!! But I DO know the Father, so what is my complaint?
You don't know Me so why do you complain about me? For three years these Pharisees walked around complaining about Jesus and continually tried to find something to "pin" on Him so they could have Him put to death. They new the law; they were in charge and "they" had all the answers to eternity, so why would this heaven that Jesus spoke of be better than what they had in mind?
Sometimes I get a little "deep" in my thinking so slow me down when you need to. I'm just trying to say that, just like the Pharisees, we gripe and complain, sometimes about the smallest things (one laptop over another - I should probably be glad I have one...not everybody does), when there is so much more and so much "better" in store for us as children of the King. The Pharisees were working toward a kingdom of mankind. Jesus was securing our very souls.
Every since being diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, I feel like I have been fairly "upbeat" about the prospects of a shorter life here on good old planet earth but I still really have my share of complaints.
Let me remind everyone of what Paul said. We all know about Paul and some of the discomforts he experienced. In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 he said, "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." I've got a feeling that the Pharisees could only see the "temporal" and had a real problem with the "eternal"! (BTW, it's sometimes a pain typing as slow as I do). Oops, there I go again.
Well heaven may not have been good enough for some of these guys in the Bible, but it sure is good enough for a guy like me who's only act toward earning entrance was accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Thanks for enduring this one. Hope it made sense to you.
Dave
We in America, live in a "lush" continually producing country. Granted, we have our share of problems but consider the alternatives. Each of us could have been born in a "3rd World" country and not privileged to the things and opportunities that we currently have. Now those of you thinking from a political point of view, take a deep breath and clear your mind of what is happening in the world today because it has nothing to do with what I want to discuss (maybe some of the people but none of the current events).
Take myself for example. After all, if I cannot laugh at myself, why would I be allowed to laugh at you. Some time back, my wife listed and sold for me a perfectly good laptop computer on eBay and the reason she did was because I saw one with more "bells and whistles" than that one so I needed, quickly to get rid of it and purchase the one I am currently typing on (by the way, "It Is Awesome"). But I had the other one for almost a year and it was becoming "less than new" and less of a novelty for me so I wanted this new one, and I wanted it NOW! Well, I have it and honestly, it does the exact same things the older one did, perhaps a little faster and with the ability to store a little bit more stuff, but for the most part, it is the same thing.
In the world, we are like this very much of the time. "The soup is too cold", "the pizza is too hot", "I wasn't thinking the job would be this hard"...etc. We are a world of complainers. "I hurt over here and just yesterday a guy in the store stepped on my foot right where I already have a sore and I just cannot get it to stop throbbing"! I don't know if we have enough food for the rest of the week, I'm not sure but I think we have more month left than money, if only God would let me have this thing or that thing I truly believe the entire family would be much more happy. The doctor said it was "cancer" and I believe I could have handled it better if I just new what was going to happen to me now. How do I tell my wife I lost my job today? Especially when that guy in the next cubical has been a screw-off for years and he is still working there. Why did that car have to stop so quickly in front of me? Get the picture? I'm sure I don't need to go any further. We have it all, but we want more of "it"! So, getting the "jest" of the kind of complainers we really are, why would we believe that Heaven IS good enough?
Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 15:13,14 "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be rooted up. Let them alone (speaking of the Pharisees); they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit." (my point here is these complaints are ones NOT planted by God but created in our own minds). I think that I actually fall into this category sometimes, like "the blind leading the blind". I have a complaint for every category. In fact, I am good at creating "spreadsheets" in Microsoft Excel. I should create one to keep track of all the times I complain and then all the times I fail to recognize that I have been blessed by God.
Check out this passage of scripture in John 8:12-19 which says "Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying. "I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life." ("the light of the life"...just take a moment to think of that issue alone). The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "you are bearing witness of Yourself; (your mind seems to be fix on yourself; what about the rest of us. Your only thinking of yourself). Your witness is not true." Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true; for I know where I came from, and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from, or where I am going. You people judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and He who sent Me. Even in your law it has been written, that the testimony of two men is true. I am He who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of me." (so we not only create all of our own complaints but we also look for others to help back up our complaints). And so they were saying to Him, "Where is Your Father?" and Jesus answered, "You know neither Me, nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also." BINGO!!! But I DO know the Father, so what is my complaint?
You don't know Me so why do you complain about me? For three years these Pharisees walked around complaining about Jesus and continually tried to find something to "pin" on Him so they could have Him put to death. They new the law; they were in charge and "they" had all the answers to eternity, so why would this heaven that Jesus spoke of be better than what they had in mind?
Sometimes I get a little "deep" in my thinking so slow me down when you need to. I'm just trying to say that, just like the Pharisees, we gripe and complain, sometimes about the smallest things (one laptop over another - I should probably be glad I have one...not everybody does), when there is so much more and so much "better" in store for us as children of the King. The Pharisees were working toward a kingdom of mankind. Jesus was securing our very souls.
Every since being diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, I feel like I have been fairly "upbeat" about the prospects of a shorter life here on good old planet earth but I still really have my share of complaints.
Let me remind everyone of what Paul said. We all know about Paul and some of the discomforts he experienced. In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 he said, "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." I've got a feeling that the Pharisees could only see the "temporal" and had a real problem with the "eternal"! (BTW, it's sometimes a pain typing as slow as I do). Oops, there I go again.
Well heaven may not have been good enough for some of these guys in the Bible, but it sure is good enough for a guy like me who's only act toward earning entrance was accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Thanks for enduring this one. Hope it made sense to you.
Dave
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