Never Full

Some of you can eat an awful lot of food, which is fine, because you're growing boys and girls. Your parents may think you never get enough to eat. It may seem that way, but sooner or later, you get full (although it may take a few pizzas or burritos).
The Bible talks about a few things that are never full. Proverbs 27:20 says, "Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied." This verse is a comparison between two things. Each part personifies an inanimate object, death and our eyes.
The first part of the comparison says that hell and destruction are never full. The grave, or death, never has enough. There is never a time when Death says, "Well, enough people have died." People are always dying. It's one of the certitudes of life. Benjamin Franklin was famous for saying, "'In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
Just as death is never satisfied, so the eyes of man are never satisfied. Obviously, the writer is not talking about our physical eyeballs; rather, the proverb speaks of man's desire to have things. He sees something, he wants it, and he tries to get it. When he finally gets it, he makes a disappointing discovery: it doesn't satisfy. Have you ever been let down after waiting a long time for something? After days or weeks or months of excitement and buildup, when you finally get to do whatever or have that thing, it just can't live up to the anticipation.
What we see that our sinful hearts think will make us happy never satisfies. Some people think that if they can just pleasure themselves, maybe with a vacation, alcohol, food, music, or pornography, they will be happy. But as soon as they get back from vacation or sobered up, they crave something more. It does not satisfy. Some people think that getting a possession or more money will fulfill them. It does not. Others think that if they can get in the right crowd, with cool friends, or some position of power, that will satisfy. All of these people learn the truth of this proverb the hard way. The eyes of man are never satisfied.

Four Small Things

In James 3:1––8, we find four examples of small things that have a big effect. James gives three examples that correspond to the fourth, with which James deals in this chapter. All four seem relatively minor and insignificant, but they can have a tremendous effect, good or disastrous.
In verse three, the example is a bit in a horse's mouth. "Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body." A horse is a huge animal. For example a Clydesdale can be up to six feet tall (not counting its head) and weigh between 1600 and 2400 pounds, or as much as a small car. That's a massive animal!
But this huge animal is controlled, turned, or stopped by a small piece of metal in its mouth: a bit. Compared to the size of the horse, the bit is hardly worth noting; however, that little bit makes a big difference! A little bit of metal controls a huge and powerful horse.
In verse four, the second example is the rudder on a ship. "Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth."
(This is a picture of the rudder of the USS Texas, a battleship from the first half of the twentieth century. This is an awfully big rudder, but the ship is 537 feet long!) A huge ship can be turned and guided by a relatively small piece of metal, the rudder. Compared to the size of the boat, the rudder is not that big, but it has a huge effect.
Now we might be tempted to think that these examples have to do with control: the bit controls the horse, and the rudder controls the ship, and so we should control our tongues. Indeed, James speaks of "bridling" one's entire body in verse two. However, he precludes the possibility of controlling our tongues in verses seven and eight: "For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: but the tongue can no man tame."
The "punch line" is found at the beginning of verse five: "Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things." Just like the bit is small but affects a huge animal, and just like the rudder is small in comparison to a big boat, so the tongue is small and seems insignificant, but it can have a huge effect.
James has one more example: a raging fire. The second half of verse five says, "Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" Out west, massive forest fires destroy thousands of acres. Are these fires started by gigantic fireballs or flamethrowers or huge explosions? Rarely. Usually they begin from a discarded cigarette or a campfire that somebody forgot to put out. That little spark or burning fire seemed small, but it caused an enormous conflagration.
And, as James tells us in verse six, "The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity." Our tongues and the words we say may seem insignificant, but they can have a huge effect. They can destroy people. They can feed the fires of jealousy, greed, and lust. We need to take our tongues seriously. They may be small, but they pack a big punch.

Godly Living: Forgiveness

As we seek to model the characteristics that God commands, we see his example of forgiveness. Oftentimes, our idea of forgiveness is just "not being mad" at somebody anymore. We just kind of "get over it." But our forgiveness should be modeled after God's forgiveness.
First, God's forgiveness demanded a fulfillment of his own justice and holiness. Ephesians 4:32 says, "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you." Notice the last part: God forgave us for Christ's sake. It was because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross that God could forgive us. It was because he took the penalty of sin (death) that we rightfully deserved. Forgiveness isn't just ignoring something bad or "getting over it."
Second, God's forgiveness is far greater than anything we could ever imagine. Remember Jesus' story in Matthew 18:23–35 about the man who was forgiven an enormous debt that he could not pay? He left that meeting and found another man who owed him a very small debt and refused to forgive him. When we read that story, we become indignant. How arrogant and foolish of that man!
In the same way, we have been forgiven of an infinite debt of sin (because we have sinned against an infinite God) because of Jesus Christ's infinite payment of his own life on the cross. How can we, who have been forgiven, refuse to forgive others? We should always stand ready and willing to forgive those who have wronged us, just as God forgave us because of Jesus Christ's sacrifice.

Godly Living: Love

As we began to discuss several weeks ago, we as Christians are to be like God in our lives. Of course, there are many things about God that we cannot imitate, but there are other attributes in which we share to a much more limited degree. We talked about holiness and the fact that we are to be holy— as holy as God.
Anybody could tell you that Christians should be loving. They should put others ahead of themselves. But what does it mean to love others? And how loving should they be? We find the answer in the book of Ephesians. Paul says, "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour" (Eph 5:1–2).
Paul says that we must be imitators ("followers") of God. We ought to be like God by living in a loving way ("walk in love"). An important aspect of godly living is love. The world and many Christians talk a lot about love. They say that love is important and that we should all love each other, but how do we know if we are really loving?
The verse continues with the ultimate example of love: Jesus Christ's sacrifice of himself for us. We ought to live in a loving way, just like Christ loved us and gave himself for us. He died in our place as a sin offering for our sin. He did not deserve to die— we did. He had not sinned— we had. But Jesus loved us and offered himself up as a sacrifice to propitiate God's righteous wrath.
Loving is giving ourselves for others. If Christ loved us and gave Himself for us, how much more we should be giving ourselves for one another! The standard for being loving is Jesus Christ; it is not "I'm more loving than most people" or "I'm loving most of the time" but "I need to be as loving as Jesus Christ."
How does this look in our daily life? We're all familiar with the previous verse to this passage, Ephesians 4:32: "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you." We must be imitators of God, and that means we must be loving one another, forgiving them when they have wronged us, just as God forgave us because of Christ's loving sacrifice.

King and Priest

In Old Testament Israel, the tribe of Judah was the kingly tribe. It was from Judah that David, the quintessential Israelite king sprang. It was to David's descendents that the throne of Israel was promised forever (2 Sam 7:12–16). In that sense, the Northern Kingdom (the ten tribes of Israel whose capital was Samaria) never enjoyed a legitimate kingship.
On the other hand, the tribe of Levi was the priestly tribe, with the priesthood falling to Aaron and his sons (Num 3:5–10). God set up a division between the kingship and the priesthood, one that Saul violated (1 Sam 13:8–14). The Old Testament Law made no allowance for a king of Israel to minister as a priest.
In light of this, the writer of Hebrews, describing the high priestly work of Jesus Christ, goes back to a seemingly obscure narrative about the patriarch Abraham and a shadowy priest named Melchizedek. In Hebrews 5–7, the writer refers repeatedly to the incident of Abraham paying tithes to Melchizedek (cf. Gen 14:17–24), as well as quoting another line about Melchizedek from the Psalms three times (Ps 110:4).
The writer of Hebrews compares Jesus Christ and his high priestly ministry to the ministry of Melchizedek, rather than that of Aaron, the high priest of Israel. The comparison is two-fold.
First, and essential to the main message of the book of Hebrews, faith in Christ is superior to Judaism. In this case, the priesthood of Melchizedek was superior to the priesthood of Aaron, since Levi's great-grandfather (Abraham) paid tithes to and was blessed by Melchizedek. This is just one more argument for the superiority of faith in Jesus Christ over Judaism. Belief in Jesus Christ is setting aside the Mosaic Law, not simply adding to it (Heb 7:18–19). The writer continues to highlight in bold language the futility (and eternal danger) of turning back from faith in Jesus Christ to the Jewish religion of the Old Testament.
Second, this Melchizedek was both a king and the priest of God Most High (Gen 14:18). The writer of Hebrews makes mention of the fact that Melchizedek was the "king of righteousness" (the meaning of his name) and the "king of peace," making a play on the word "Salem" (Heb 7:2). This opens the way for Jesus, a descendant of David and part of the tribe of Judah, to minister as an eternal priest (Heb 7:14). Because of the resurrection and endless life of Jesus Christ, he is the ultimate high priest. In the words of the writer of Hebrews, "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." (Heb 7:25).