Today’s reading is Colossians 1:1-2:23.

“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. Tis he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:11-14).

Thank you, God, for putting me to death. Thank you, God, for bringing me to life. But the greatness of this is seen in the verses to come. Because of God’s powerful working through my baptism, I know longer have to submit to the judgments of others who would weigh me down with shoulds and oughts. I simply live for God. I can let Him direct my paths without concern for what others think about how I live. I don’t have to belittle and berate myself. I don’t have to ascetically deprive myself. I don’t have to listen to every Tom, Dick, and Harry who claim to have some kind of spiritual insight or vision. I have been set free from the burdens others would place on me. I only have to live to God.

Boy, that makes today so much easier. Thank you, God.

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

PPS. Here is something that is a little fun. Thanks to Jason Hardin for bringing this to my attention.

Today’s reading is John 11:1-12:50.

Once again, Jesus hits me right in the heart. I’m reminded of the statement I’ve heard: “It’s none of my business what others think of me.”

Here’s how John said it: “Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God” (John 12:42-43).

We look back on these folks with disdain. Yet, do we not sometimes do the same? Perhaps we believe in Jesus but we don’t tell a lost friend because we fear they will reject us. Or perhaps we’ve studied something in the Word that our brethren don’t generally believe and we won’t share it because we are afraid they’ll kick us out of the church or write us up in a paper. The problem with this, of course, is if we are wrong, we don’t get the correction we need until it is usually too late. On the other hand, if we are right, we aren’t actually helping anybody.

But back to the mantra I shared at the beginning. I think many Christians will balk at it. But think, why does it really matter what folks think of you? This statement is not intended to say don’t worry how you live. It doesn’t say it is none of your business what God thinks of you. It’s none of my business what others think of me.

Here’s the point. If I’m doing wrong, I can put on the mask and get you to think that I’m wonderful. I may receive all kinds of glory from you. That won’t change that I’m not going to receive glory from God. However, if I’m doing what is right, you may despise me. I may never receive glory from you. You may be judging me in your heart as an awful person. However, that won’t change that I’m right with God and will receive glory from Him. So, in the end, it really doesn’t matter what you think of me. What matters is what God thinks of me. Why then should I let worry about your like or dislike of me cause me to get into an unhealthy obsession about our relationship or about impressing you? Instead, I should simply strive to please God in our relationship and let your thoughts of me be between you and God.

Does this mean I don’t have to be nice to you or considerate? Of course not. But why am I nice and considerate? Is it because I want to impress you so you’ll like me? No. It is because God has said I should be compassionate, tender-hearted, kind, and forgiving (Ephesians 4:32). This is the right thing to do, not to get you to like me but to please God. If I focus on pleasing God, I’ll live toward you as I ought. If, however, I focus on pleasing you, I will probably not live toward God as I ought.

For some of us, this is a real struggle. It’s not that we don’t care about God, it’s just that somewhere along the way we picked up an unhealthy habit of needing approval. Thus, we filter all our decisions through what will this decision make so and so think of me. I’m not exactly sure how to overcome this unhealthy obsession with what others think of us. But I think it begins with remembering no matter what anyone else thinks of us, God loves us. As we read earlier in John’s gospel, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” When we are seeking man’s approval, we are looking for true love in all the wrong places. Rest in God’s love. Only then can you really love others and accept what love they are willing to offer or survive despite the love they withhold.

Remember today, it’s none of your business what everyone else thinks of you.

***Question: How do you focus on pleasing God instead of man?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is 1 Thessalonians 1:1-2:19.

Yesterday I learned about being willing to test my own heart to see if I’m in the faith. Today, I think it is interesting that Paul wrote, “For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity of any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts” (1 Thessalonians 2:3-4).

I’m certainly no Greek scholar and I rarely try to make any arguments or points from the original language for that matter, because I think it is so easy to make mistakes in that way. However, I can’t help but notice the parallels between this verse and the one that stood out to me yesterday. In 2 Corinthians 3:5, the statement was to test ourselves to see if we are in the faith. In this one, Paul says God tested them and found them trustworthy. The words for test are similar. The words for “the faith” and “entrusted” are similar. I’m not saying these verse go together. I’m really just explaining why the verse jumped out at me today.

Yesterday, I learned I should be willing to test myself. This one talks about God’s testing. Interestingly, the root Greek word translated “approved” and “tests” in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 is the same as the root word for the word “search” found in Psalm 139:23, “Search me, O God, and know my heart!”

Anyway, all of that is just interesting background to Paul’s point that really impacted me today.

Why do I speak? To please men or to please God? This can easily be a problem for me. Sometimes I spend more time trying to impress men than just doing the right thing with my preaching. No doubt, this can be a gray area because I also think it is important to the very best I can do in order to glorify God by honoring Him through my effort. However, when I’m truly honest, I have to say that sometimes my motivation is not, “I have to work really hard on the presentation because that shows honor to God.” Sometimes my motivation is, “I have to work really hard on this because I want people to think I’m an awesome preacher.”

Where this becomes really dangerous is when the desire to please men shifts from just trying to do an outstanding job of presentation, to actually changing God’s message because I fear people might not like it. I think it is just as wrong to preach the truth from a motivation of trying to impress men, but I commit two wrongs when my desire to impress men also causes me to change God’s message.

What does Paul remind me today? God is the one who is searching my heart. The grievous ways in my heart are defined by God’s will, not by what is pleasing to man. I need to ask Him to search my heart and remove every grievous way because I want to please Him, not in order to impress men with my spirituality or my ability.

So, I got the double whammy two days in a row. I need to be willing to test myself and I need to remember that it is God who tests me. He is working to approve me and help me grow. I need to recognize the hardships, the refining fires (however they come) are not simply meant to see if I have a bad motivation but to highlight any improper motivation and help me remove that.

My prayer, “God, please keep the refining fires coming. Left to myself, I will strive to impress and please men. Please, search my heart and see what grievous ways are there. Bring them to the top so they may be easily removed. Thank you for testing me.”

***Question: How do you thank God for His tests?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC