Passing Away

I had an interesting conversation with a few of you at our bowling outing on Monday. The conversation was about “the eighties,” and how dumb some of the styles and music and things that people did back then were. I agreed, but I wondered how you all knew so much since most of you were barely born in the eighties!
Perhaps you’ve noticed as you look at old pictures of your parents how crazy they looked back then. Maybe you harassed your dad for wearing such awful looking clothes or your mom for having such dorky glasses. What may or may not have dawned on you is that they didn’t think they were awful or dorky back then: they thought they were cool (or “groovy” or “rad” or whatever the word was back then)!
Building on that idea, realize this: someday your children will look at pictures of you now and say, “How could you wear such weird clothes?” or “Why did you cut your hair like that?” We have to face the fact: someday, what we think is cool will be very not cool.
All of this illustrates perfectly 1 John 2:17, which says, “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” The “world,” or the system of values that unsaved men hold in opposition to God, will pass away. You may work very hard to look cool, dress in style, or wear your hair just so, but all of that will soon be gone. In twenty or ten (or maybe even five!) years, that will be out of style and have “passed away.”
The only way to do something that really makes a difference is to obey God. The verse says that the one who does God’s will lives forever. All our efforts at trying to mimic the world and walk in step with its desires (lusts) are a waste of time. It is all passing away. I urge you: put your time and efforts into doing something that will last. Make it your goal to obey God.

Now That's Love!

I bet if I went around and asked each one of you what love was, I would get a bunch of different answers. What do you suppose the strongest and most genuine love in all the world is? Perhaps the love of a mother for her baby? Maybe the love between a husband and wife? How about the love a dog for his master? Could it even be our love for our wonderful, great God?
The Bible tells us that all human love pales in comparison to God’s love for us. 1 John 4:10 says, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” John says that the greatest love is not our love for God, but God’s love for us.
What makes God’s love for us so much greater than our love for anybody or anything else? Notice the end of the verse: it gives the reason why God’s love is so great. God’s love was demonstrated by action: he sent his own Son to be our Savior.
God did not just send his Son to earth to be a good teacher or example; he sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross, a death he did not deserve. What’s more, Jesus died in our place, enduring God’s righteous wrath against sin for us. He was our propitiation, completely satisfying the debt we owed for our sin.
What love God displayed by sending his Son! As John said in another very familiar verse, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him, should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
God’s love was displayed by his actions: he gave his Son. Is your professed love demonstrated by your life? If you claim to love God, is your love “fleshed out” in your life? If you are a Christian, you ought to love other Christians. How does your life look? True love always produces loving actions.

Salted Words

Do you like your food plain, or do you like a bit of salt with it? I don’t usually put much if any salt on my food, but I know some people who can’t eat anything unless they throw some salt on it. Some things just need salt or else they are not the least bit palatable. I think of dry green beans: rubbery, squeaky beans. If you throw on a bit of butter and sprinkle a tad of salt, then they start tasting better. The salt makes them much more enjoyable and pleasant.
Did you know that our speech to one another should consist of salted words? Colossians 4:6 says, “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Our words are to be “salted words!”
The first part of the verse explains that our words should always be gracious. They should not be cutting, harsh words; they should not be dirty, vulgar words; they should not be useless, pointless noise; they should be gracious words. This is what it means to be “seasoned with salt.” Instead of being nasty, distasteful, or repulsive, our words should be pleasant, enjoyable, and a blessing to all who hear them.
The result is “that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” In other words, we ought to say the right thing at the right time to others. Sometimes a joke, as funny as it may be, is not the right thing because it’s the wrong time. Unkind or unclean words are never the right thing. Sometimes it is hard to know just what the right thing is to say. Proverbs 25:11 says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” We ought to be working toward saying the right thing at the right time.
Pray regularly that God would guard your mouth and give you wisdom and grace to say things that are pleasing to Him and gracious toward those with whom you have contact.

Inconsistent Words

I saw a funny commercial about identity theft, which showed a picture of a middle-aged man, but you heard the voice of a teenage girl speaking. They were trying to communicate that the teenage girl had stolen the identity of the man.
It was funny because the voice was inconsistent with the picture of the man. What was coming out of his mouth was not consistent with what I would expect from a middle-aged man.
Sometimes Christians use very inconsistent words. We say wonderful things about God when we pray or when we sing hymns of praise at church. At another point, that very same mouth spews out hurtful things towards classmates, sinful words of rebellion toward parents, or dirty jokes to friends. That certainly is the height of inconsistency!
James talks about the inconsistency of the tongue in James 3:9–10, “Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.” It is inconsistent for our mouths to say wonderful things about God and hurtful things toward others.
If you have confessed Jesus Christ as your Lord with your mouth (Rom 10:9), then your mouth belongs to God and should be constantly yielded to obey him (Rom 6:13). As a Christian, your language should be consistent with who you say you are.
What about your mouth? Are you blessing God and cursing others out of both sides of your mouth? If your mouth is glorifying God at some times and then speaking in ways that do not glorify God, I would say, like James did: My brothers, this should not be.