Everything Beautiful
O LORD, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures.
Psalm 104:24
Our summer skies used to be filled with multicolored b.u.t.terflies. They flitted and flirted with soft-winged abandon. But now many of them are in danger of becoming extinct. What a shame! Our grandchildren may never chase them as we did. Some things are being irretrievably lost from our world, never again to grace the sky. And whoas to blame? aMagnificent man,a who failed to be what he and woman were created to be: amasters over all lifea (Gen. 1:26).
The mandate was clear. G.o.d delegated the oversight of his bewildering and beautiful creation to humans and told us to abe masters over the fish and birds and all the animalsa (Gen. 1:28). Perhaps we thought being masters meant being tyrants and exercising brute force. And maybe we misconstrued the mandate to amultiply and fill the earth and subdue ita (Gen. 1:28) as giving us a free rein to pursue our own purposes without thought to the well-being of G.o.das handiwork. Not so!
But all is not lost. There is still time for us to look again with wonder on the fish, the birds, and the animals; to study them as our first father who named them did (Gen. 2:19-20); and then to see them as the psalmist did: aO Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creaturesa (Ps. 104:24). The oceans teem with life; the forests are full of his creatures; pastures and mountains are the habitations for his handiwork. Storks among the firs, badgers among the rocks, young lions in the bush, and goats in the mountains (104:17-22)a"all these things silently testify to the wonders of G.o.das creative mind, the glory of his wondrous skills, and the beauty of all that he has made.
Seeing this, man should learn to worship (104:33), joining with creation in acknowledging the one from whom we come and through whom awe live and move and exista (Acts 17:28). This att.i.tude will not only lead to the preservation of that which was entrusted to our care but will also contribute to our adoration of G.o.d as we exercise our G.o.d-given ability to see something of the wonder of him who is hidden from the natural eyes but who shines forth for the eyes of faith in the things he has made.
Each time the man of faith sees a b.u.t.terfly flutter by, he should see a revelation of G.o.das wonder and raise his aPraise the Lord!a (104:35).
November 27
TO READ: Isaiah 53:2-12
G.o.das Plan and Suffering
But it was the Lordas good plan to crush him and fill him with grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have a mult.i.tude of children, many heirs. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lordas plan will prosper in his hands.
Isaiah 53:10
When tragedy strikes and people suffer, the inevitable question is Why? Pain and suffering are so contrary to our wishes that when they arrive we are surprised and even affronted that such things could happen to us. But happen they do, and happen they will. Often the why question will not be answered to our satisfaction. Are we then to a.s.sume that suffering is meaningless? Should we conclude that we live in a ludicrous world that lacks rhyme or reason and scream our resentment or adopt stoicism with a stiff upper lip?
Scripture, while not giving all the answers we would like, certainly gives enough to a.s.sure us that suffering is neither meaningless nor without value. The greatest example of the deepest suffering is found in Isaiahas account of the Suffering Servant (52:13a"53:12). In the midst of this catalogue of the servantas agony we are told, aIt was the Lordas good plan to crush him and fill him with griefa (53:10). The sheer brutality and obscenity of the servantas suffering makes us shudder, but the thought that it was athe Lordas good plana certainly raises the question Why! Fortunately, we are not left to speculate. His life was aan offering for sina (53:10). There was a reason for the suffering of the servant: to take care of the problem of sin.
While sin is often pa.s.sed off as unimportant, Scripture shows that sin is an affront to G.o.d, meriting death and eternal separation from him. No human being could suffer the consequences of sina"eternal deatha"and survive to be introduced to fellowship with G.o.d. So it was necessary for a sinless subst.i.tute to bear the penalty in order that sinful man might be forgiven and reconciled to G.o.d. That is what the servant, the Lord Jesus Christ, accomplished when he died on the cross to take away our sin. It was agony producing atonement. And the benefits have flowed to all the redeemed and will continue to flow until time is no more.
No suffering of ours will ever procure redemption for another (see Ps. 49:7-9, NIV); no pain we endure will ever cleanse another sin-stained life. But if G.o.d intended the suffering of the servant, perhaps we can perceive the possibility that G.o.d will bring good that we would not otherwise have experienced out of our suffering (see Rom. 8:28). This should drive us deeper into dependence on G.o.d and stimulate in us a deeper compa.s.sion for those who are suffering.
November 28
TO READ: Isaiah 55:1-13
Food for the Soul
Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen, and I will tell you where to get food that is good for the soul!
Isaiah 55:2
There is food, and there is junk food. There is food that builds the bones and muscles, and there is food that clogs the arteries. There is food that provides energy, and there is food that adds fat. In short, there is good food and bad food. Why would people spend good money on bad food? Presumably they like the flavor and discount the consequences.
G.o.d asked a similar question twenty-seven hundred years ago about how his people were feeding their soul. They seem to have been more interested in tickling their palate than in eating a healthy spiritual diet. So G.o.d asked them, aWhy spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen, and I will tell you where to get food that is good for the soul!a (55:2).
But where specifically is this afood that is good for the soula to be found? In the word of G.o.d! Where G.o.das word is taken seriouslya"where G.o.das people turn to it constantly, hungrily feed on it, inwardly digest it, and allow it to generate its life-transforming energy in their livesa"it will prosper, and so will they (55:10-13). When we come to the Lord eagerly, unreservedly, expectantly, repentantly, and trustingly, we can partake of the rich food of his word. The food is not cheapa"it is free! Someone else paid for it. Access to G.o.d and his provision has been provided and paid for, and the valued benefits are available to alla"free of charge!
The delicious menu includes an everlasting covenant, mercies, and unfailing love (55:3), the promise of a fruitful life (55:10-12), and a agloriousa experience (55:5). But to benefit from this rich fare, we must abstain from the junk food of wrong thinking, from athe very thought of doing wronga (55:7). It is in the womb of the thoughts that sin is conceived. So, aLet the people turn from their wicked deedsa (55:7). We must embrace a new regimen of turning to the Lord and discovering his thoughts and desires. The change in diet will quickly generate fresh nourishment, new energy, and vitality.
When the arteries of the soul are clogged through a bad spiritual diet, cardiac arrest of the spirit happens. Instead of beating regularly and powerfully with love for G.o.d, the heart becomes cold and heavy, the flow of energy becomes lethargic, and spiritual activity stops. Thereas a better way, through a healthy diet of divinely provided afood that is good for the soul.a So think clearly, and eat wisely.
November 29
TO READ: Jeremiah 1:4-19
When I Run, I Feel His Pleasure
I knew you before I formed you in your motheras womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world.
Jeremiah 1:5
Eric Liddell was one of the greatest athletes Scotland ever produced. An international rugby player, Olympic champion, and world-record-holding sprinter, he was also a man of profound spiritual conviction. He attributed his speed to the fact that G.o.d had made him fast, and he knew that G.o.d was smiling upon his athletic prowess and success. He said, aWhen I run, I feel his pleasure.a Eric Liddell was a born athlete.
Jeremiah was a born prophet (1:5). Jeremiah won no races and wore no victoras crown. No smiles of victory wreathed his face. Instead, tears of anguish coursed his cheeks. Yet he, too, felt G.o.das pleasure when he did what he was born to do. Even in the darkest days he basked in the a.s.surance that athe unfailing love of the Lord never ends,a and that athe Lord is my inheritancea (Lam. 3:22-24).
Without this deep sense of divine purpose, it is unlikely that Jeremiah would have ever embarked on his life work, let alone completed it. Jeremiahas work of announcing G.o.das judgment inevitably produced more cold shoulders than warm embraces. No one relishes unpopularity; everyone prefers acceptance to ostracism. But Jeremiah knew that he had been appointed for the task.
Jeremiahas calling was one thing; his equipping was another. The Lord touched his mouth, gave him words to speak, strengthened his resolve, granted him immunity from the attacks he would face, and above all promised to stand by him to take care of him (Jer. 1:9-10, 18-19). Armed with such a.s.surances, Jeremiah faced the foe and ran his race.
G.o.d calls and equips. Never the one without the other. No one would expect G.o.d to call a man to be an Olympic sprint champion while omitting to make him fast. Neither would G.o.d call a man to be a prophet without giving him words and will, courage and constancy.
Not many of us are born athletic champions, and even fewer of us are called to be prophets of doom. But we were all born for something. We are to believe, discover, and embrace it, whatever it is. Should we initially find the calling not to our liking, we should remember that the one who calls is the one who creates. In his providence G.o.d made us just right for what he had in mind. For us to be and do something else would not be right. Running the race set before us means knowing where weare going. And we feel his pleasure.
November 30
TO READ: Jeremiah 3:6-25
Wayward Heart Disease
aMy wayward children,a says the LORD, acome back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts.a aYes, we will come,a the people reply, afor you are the LORD our G.o.d.a Jeremiah 3:22
Untreated, heart disease can prove fatal. Symptoms of the disease are not always apparent. Superb athletes, apparently fine specimens of health and vigor, have been known to collapse and expire in the midst of the stadium. Tanned and well muscled, highly trained and conditioned, they had given every indication of being in the best of health. But they were unaware of the silent killera"undiagnosed, untreated heart disease.
There is another killer heart disease that can go undetected. Only G.o.d, the great physician, can unerringly diagnose the condition, as he did in ancient Judah. They suffered from awayward hearta disorder (3:22). Judah gave every outward indication of being in good spiritual health. Like their sister Israel, Judah had been unfaithful to the Lord, but they had professed to return to him in repentance. Yet they had aonly pretended to be sorrya (3:10).
The northern kingdom, Israel, was much more blatant about her behavior. She was utterly faithless and made no secret of it; it was obvious she was sick. But Judah was like a tanned, well-conditioned athlete with a sick hearta"outwardly in great shape, inwardly at risk. G.o.das concern was evident when he compared the two and said, aEven faithless Israel is less guilty than treacherous Judaha (3:11).
Fortunately, there is hope for those who are sick from a wayward heart, because G.o.d not only diagnoses the condition, he offers healing. aCome back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts,a he promises (3:22). For Judah to do this required a great degree of honestya"they had to admit that they had only been pretending allegiance to the Lord. By contrast, the northern kingdom simply had to confess their obvious waywardness and turn from their wicked ways.
The healing of a wayward heart can only be done by the Lord, and only when men and women crave his healing touch. The Great Physician stands willing and able to heal, but the patient must be ready and willing to present himself for surgerya"to respond to the Lordas invitation, aCome back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts.a So whether our symptoms are overt or hidden, we need to search our heart for signs of waywardness. We need to stop pretending and offer ourselves to his healing touch. The surgery may be unpleasant, the recovery painful. But the healing is deep and profound, and robust spiritual health is the result.
December 1
TO READ: Jeremiah 10:1-16
Confusion
LORD, there is no one like you! For you are great, and your name is full of power.