Skip to main content

What is the Point?

                “What am I supposed to be doing?”  I get asked that question a lot.  Oddly, it is most often asked by long time, faithful church members.  It seems that we have been good about teaching people what to believe, but not as good about helping them figure out what God wants them to do.  He did not take us home immediately after our baptism, so we must be here for a reason.
What, then, is your job? 
                If someone uses a hammer every day, you could probably guess that he or she is a carpenter.  If they use a stethoscope, they could be a doctor or a nurse.  A calculator is likely used by an accountant and, if your tool is an airplane, you might be a pilot or a flight attendant. 
Therefore, if we look at our spiritual toolbox, we will be able to figure out what we are supposed to be doing too.  So, what do we have for tools?
                One necessity, mentioned several times from the start of the Bible to the end, is that God’s people are to have soft hearts!   In fact, three times in nineteen verses, the inspired writer of Hebrews says, “Do not harden your hearts!” (Hebrews 3:8; 3:15; 4:7). 
Why does God want us to have soft hearts? 
                We need soft hearts because it is our job to love something. 
What are we to love?  
Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and… Love your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). 
                Most find the “love God” part easy enough.  However, from my observation, the church has a struggle with the “have a soft heart toward your neighbour” part. 
Interestingly, in Luke’s gospel, these words are followed by Jesus’ parable about “The Good Samaritan”.  In that story, two people with hearts that are soft toward God, a Priest and Levite, are shown to have hard and uncaring hearts toward the man who was robbed.  By contrast, the hero of the story is the soft-hearted Samaritan who goes out of his way to help.  Jesus ends this passage by saying, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:37).
                When we have a soft heart that responds both to God and to those around us, connections are made, bridges are built, and people find their way home.
                  That is why we are here!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: Twenty-three Descriptions of God (Psalm 145)

  Let’s play a quick game.  Take 10 seconds and list 5 or 6 words to describe God.  Got your words?  Good!   Here comes the game part.  I will list twenty-three ways that David describes God in Psalm 145, and we will see how many of his words match yours.   David says that God is, the king, great, majestic, wonderful, powerful, awesome, abundant in goodness, righteous, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, rich in love, good to all, glorious, mighty, trustworthy, faithful, supporting, generous, providing, near, saving and watching.     How did you do? This is not a useless exercise.  The words we use to describe God not only indicate something about how we see him, but they also influence how we interact with him.  For example, if I know that God is “Gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love” (verse 8), I will not fear him, and I will not assume that he is against me.  When I remember that...
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: What is so Great About Grace?

If you were to drive by our house, you would see that Sara loves plants.  Our yard is full of flowers, and Sara lovingly tends every one of them. Which is why I was so afraid when she left town and put me in charge of keeping things alive. She must have been a little concerned, too, because she sent me two videos with specific instructions on how to water, when to water, and what to do.  Honestly, those first two videos helped, but the third one she sent was the one I liked most.  In that one, she said, “Please do your best. I want the yard to look good for the family reunion in two weeks.  However, if something dies, we will dig it out and pretend that it never existed!” That is what grace looks like!  Try your best, do what you can, but if it goes wrong, it will be ok. Sometimes we talk as though grace and effort are opposites.  That is not true.  They are partners. In one place, scripture asks, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone c...
Post a Comment
Read more