A Withered Vine and a Dying Cowboy

Do you remember the old western movies where a cowboy who was wounded by an Indian arrow is found by a group of settlers?  The cowboy is at the edge of death and later we see him bandaged and lying in a bed with a woman sitting next to him holding a spoon full of mush.  She touches it to his lips and urges him, "You MUST eat to regain your strength."  A while later we see the cowboy healed and heading off into the sunset.  Hold that thought.

A thunderstorm hits and the winds howl.  A few days later you walk out into your garden to see your prized climbing rose with a number of broken and bent stems and branches.  There are branches on the ground that are dead, dried, and shriveled.  There are others that are bent and look withered but are still alive.

The dictionary defines "wither" as:

- to shrivel or dry up as part of the process of dying, or making something, especially a plant or part of a plant

- fade away; to fade or lose freshness or vitality

Jesus gave us a number of images that help us to see how much we need to be in communion with him.  He called himself the bread of life and living water and reminded his followers that if they remained in him they would never die.  He gave them a parable about the vine and the branches and warned that those branches that didn't remain attached to the vine and thus failed to produce fruit would be thrown into the fire.

I don't know about you but when I go off on my own for a while and fail to remain in the Word, fall away from my prayer time with God, and fail to stay in CLOSE fellowship with like-minded, bible believing brothers and sisters in Christ, I begin to wither.  I lose a little of my spiritual strength.  I struggle with sin.  I fail to produce good fruit.  It can feel a little like being a cowboy crawling through the desert with an arrow in your backside.

If you feel a little weak in your spiritual life or if you are sensing a little more distance between you and the Father then I urge you to eat of the bread of life and to examine your spot of attachment to the vine.  I know it's easier to say than to do but start by asking the Father for help.  Tell him you don't want to be apart from him.  He will draw you near.  Feed on the Word.  Pray, Pray, Pray.   Don't forsake gathering for worship and don't be afraid to tell a brother or sister how you feel.  Their prayers and encouragement are so valuable.

Take it from someone who goes through seasons of spiritual drought.  There are times of refreshing that will follow if you stay the course.  God has used those times to humble me but also to grow me.  He has reminded me of my utter dependence on Christ.  Feel free to contact us if you need some prayer or encouragement.

Peace,

David

Justice, Mercy, and Humility

Last Thursday I went to my son’s elementary school dedication.  It’s a brand new school and on the outside wall of the building is a verse of scripture that seems like a motto for life.  It comes from the book of Micah Chapter 6:

And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Seems simple enough but I think, as I really reflect on the verse, it is not quite that easy.  Let’s look at the three requirements with a little more light.

1)   To act justly

         The definition of “just” is:


         Based on or behaving according to what is morally right and fair

        The definition of “Justice” is:


       Just behavior or treatment, the quality of being fair and reasonable, the administration    of the law

“Behaving” – that’s hard enough right from the start! Behaving morally right and fair presumes that there is a standard to which we are to adhere.  Who defines morals?  Man?  Society? If that is the case, the standards are always moving and quite frankly the standards keep falling to a lower level.  The Bible is clear that God alone is the moral lawgiver and the only standard by which are to measure ourselves.  To act justly requires us to know the standard and to see that, if we are totally honest, we fall woefully short much of the time.  That leads to repentance but also leads us to be able to better fulfill the next requirement of the verse we are examining:

2)   To love mercy


            The definition of mercy is:

Compassion or forgiveness show toward someone who it is within one’s power to punish or harm

An event to be grateful for

Performed out of a desire to relieve suffering; motivated by compassion

God is asking us not just to display mercy but also to “love” it!  We aren’t to say, “Oh, alright, I forgive you, if I must.”  We are to be like, “Of course I forgive you.  Who am I to withhold forgiveness from you when I have been forgiven SO much?” We are to be grateful and to lend compassion to those who are suffering.  Sounds easy but I think we need to examine our hearts and see if we are withholding mercy from anyone or if we are seeking our own desires at the expense of another.  Our spouse?  A friend?  A co-worker? An enemy?  Jesus said it’s easy to love those who love us but we are to love our enemies.  UGH!  OK, Micah didn’t say the Lord suggests.  He said the Lord requires.

3)   To walk humbly with your God

This implies that we are walking with God in the first place.  To walk with him requires us to be made right before him and the only way to be made right before him is to have been born again through faith in the One who gave his life for us.  The ultimate act of justice was God pouring his wrath out on Jesus for the sins of those who deserved death for their sin.  Justice demanded punishment (death) and in order for God to maintain his justice someone had to pay the penalty.  We deserved it but he took it.  So, it was also the ultimate act of mercy.  What an awesome example of fulfilling the Micah verse.  So we begin our walk with God by trusting in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus but there is an adjective in this verse - “Humbly” How hard it is to be humble?  How easy to say, “Look at what a good person I am.” Or “See how much better I am than the guy next door.”  Paul said, “what a wretch I am.” And, called himself “the worst of all sinners”.  Jesus, the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, washed the feet of his disciples.

As we live our lives let’s try really hard to keep this verse close to our hearts and seek to do what the Lord requires.  We can’t do this on our own but “with God, all things are possible.”

Peace Friend,

David