Enoch: Walking With God

By faith, Enoch was taken from this life so that he did not experience death:  “He could not be found because God had taken him away.”  For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.  And without faith it is impossible to please God, for anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Heb 11:5-6)

So, here is that key passage about needing faith to please God.  And it even gives us more on the nature of that faith: believing that God exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. It’s not enough to acknowledge that, “Yeah, there must be a God”.  As Paul reminds us, even the demons know there is a God.  We must seek him, desire to know him, with the expectation that this knowledge will be rewarding.  It pleases God that we recognize him as generous – as one who returns blessing to us for our efforts to know him. 

And the example we’re given of this is Enoch, that enigmatic character from the begats in Genesis 5. Enoch was the sixth generation after Adam, but because of the length of life spans in the beginning, his relatively brief life was all while Adam was still alive.  Presumably, he was able to talk to Adam himself, hear the first man’s story about God and the garden and the fall.  Interesting that the words distinguishing Enoch from the other patriarchs are the same words describing the nature of Adam and Eve’s relationship with God in the garden:  they walked with God.

Genesis tells us that Enoch does not die but is simply taken away by God.  Enoch, who “walked with God”.  He was taken away because of his faith, Hebrews tells us – because he believed and hoped in something he had not yet seen.  Perhaps heard of, through Adam, but not yet seen.

I have the advantage over Enoch.  I have seen people who, I believe, were walking with God.  I have observed the difference in their lives; it was what brought me back to the faith when I wandered.  Enoch had nothing but a recounting of Adam’s memory of the experience – yet it was enough to give him faith that such an experience could exist.  And not just to believe it, but to seek it out for himself.  It apparently pleased God that Enoch recognized him as worthy of seeking out.  And Enoch was rewarded for his earnest seeking – with an intimate relationship with God that did not end in death.

Lord, help me believe that You can satisfy more than the petty, worthless things I seek here on earth.

Dirt vs. Clutter

So, tell me if I’m alone here.

In my mind, I make a distinction between “cleaning” and “picking up” – between dirt and clutter.  Dirt is the stuff that needs to be scrubbed, wiped, vacuumed, etc.  Stuff that tends to happen just as a course of living, no matter what you do.  Clutter is different.  Clutter is when someone in the house uses an item and then just puts it down.  Somewhere.  Anywhere other than the place where the item belongs. 

“Cleaning” is removing the dirt that is a natural result of living in a house.  “Picking up” is putting things back where they belong.  The distinction is important in my mind because – right or wrong – I have little problem with cleaning, but I resent the crap out of picking up after everyone.

And one can rarely clean without picking up.  The table needing dusted has dirty ice cream dishes left on it.  The floor needing vacuumed has shoes and socks and jackets and what-all strewn about.  The bathroom counter needing scrubbed has . . . well, I won’t even go there.

When I look at the clutter, I find myself thinking that everyone just assumed that I would pick up after them, like the family maid, and so they left it there.  And thus the tremendous resentment.  I’ve decided, however, that I am probably assuming wrongly.  Most likely, what they were thinking is, “This item doesn’t HAVE to be put away right at this moment – I’ll put it away later.”  (After all, I think that sometimes, too.)  Here’s the problem with that thought process:

1) They usually forget.

2) I usually have to clean that space before they remember, and so I end up putting the item away AGAIN.

It’s not malicious behavior.  They don’t intend to treat me like the maid.  I shouldn’t feel so resentful.  I’m learning to let go of my attitude.  But I still feel a responsibility to ensure that my children are more thoughtful of others than they are being of me – and more responsible for their possessions.

We have a new cleaning schedule for our family which allows us all to share in the joys of the household cleaning duties.  But the picking up . . . I’m not sure what to do about that.  Any plan I come up with to deal with the clutter is one that I know will be met with much groaning and whining and resentful looks and attitudes.  So, either they are resentful or I am.  Wouldn’t it just be easier – and more fair – if we all put things away when we’re done with them?  Hmm?

Just getting it off my chest, people.

The Judge-Not Thing

“Judge not, lest ye be judged.”  Goodness, is there any more frequently quoted scripture in our society these days?  And probably few that are more misconstrued and misused.

Here is the Joe American’s Contemporary Translation of Matthew 7:1:  “Don’t you dare to tell me that something I’m doing is a sin – or is even wrong or incorrect.  You can’t judge me!  You aren’t the ultimate authority on right and wrong!  You just need to keep your opinions to yourself and let me live my life the way I choose to.  Hypocrite!”

If we continue reading in Matthew 7, we hear Jesus say, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Yep, he uses that H-word, too: hypocrite.  Someone who slams on his brother’s sin without dealing with the glaring sins in his own life is a hypocrite.  Jesus tells the hypocrite to clean up his act . . . but then what?  Leave your brother alone?  Hold hands and dance under the rainbows singing Kum-Ba-Yah?  No – he says then help your brother get the speck out of his eye.

As much as Joe Contemporary American may hate to hear it, the Bible has plenty of passages encouraging believers to confront their fellow believers about sin in their life – gently, lovingly, and humbly, but confront nonetheless.

My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.  (James 5:19-20)

Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth.  Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants. (2 Timothy 2:24-25)

Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.  Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.  If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. (Galatians 6:1-3)

Help your brother get the speck out of his eye. So, this idea that the Bible forbids us to ever have the gall to point out someone else’s sin is inaccurate.  We are clearly instructed, in some situations, to point out our brother’s sin.  In fact, I believe every writer of the New Testament was guilty of the “crime” of confronting a fellow believer with their sin.  We shouldn’t obsess about it . . . or harangue them . . . or humiliate them . . . or confront strangers . . . we confront our brothers lovingly, humbly, gently, with compassion and patience and always making it a priority to keep our own sins in line . . . but we are to confront.  I don’t like it either, but part of faith is accepting what is true whether we like it or not -- and courage is acting on the truth even when it's hard.

There was a commercial on TV when I was a kid about talking to your friends about drugs.  A girl stood on a railroad track in the path of an oncoming train; she spoke to the camera explaining that her life was her life and she could live it the way she wanted to, right?  And the train came nearer and nearer with its horn blaring.  The point was obvious: friends do what they can to push a friend off the railroad tracks when they know a train is coming.  That’s not hypocrisy.  It’s LOVE.

Faith Portrait: Abel

So, Hebrews 11 begins by telling us that “faith is being sure of what we hope for, being certain of what is not seen,” and that “this is what the ancients were commended for”.  How were people justified before God before Jesus was born?  By their faith – by their being sure of the truths they were told that were not yet seen but that they hoped for.  ALL the heroes of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11 were from the Old Testament, the scripture of the New Testament writers.  Faith was the requirement for righteousness long before Jesus came around.

And the first person held up to us as a great example of faith was Abel, of the Cain-and-Abel-debacle in Genesis 4. 

By faith, Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain.  By faith, he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offering.  And by faith, he still speaks today, even though he is dead.

I’ve heard many theories on why Abel’s offering of a lamb was accepted and Cain’s offering of produce from his farm was not.  One is that Genesis specifically states that Abel offered the best of his flock; by contrast, Cain’s produce was apparently not the best he had to offer.  Another take is that Abel was offering a blood sacrifice, blood being the means to cover sin, as God instructed Adam’s family; Cain’s vegetables didn’t do the trick.

Whatever the reason for it, Genesis makes it clear that God knew that Cain knew better than to sacrifice what or as he did.  And Cain’s actions after the rejection of his sacrifice make it clear that the condition of his heart was the source of the problem.

Abel’s sacrifice, on the other hand, was given out of faith.  He sacrificed that lamb because he was certain of something he had not yet seen but was hoping for.  Certain of God honoring the sacrifice and covering his sin?  Certain of the ultimate sacrifice coming later that this symbolized?  Certain that God would meet his needs if he gave Him his best?  I’m not sure.  But the heart behind the sacrifice is what made it pleasing to God, and that is how Abel speaks to me today, even though he is dead.

We traditional evangelical folks – especially we women of the breed – have a tendency to lean toward martyrdom.  Oh, the things we suffer for our Lord!  Oh, the trials we bear!  Oh, what I have sacrificed to serve my Savior!  And yes, Christ has called us to take up our cross and follow him, but those sacrifices are only commendable when the heart behind them is right.  Not a heart that says, Look how much I’ve given up for you, God!  Surely you must be impressed and want to bless me now.  But a heart that says, You’ve told me, Father, that you are all I need, and I have faith – I have certainty – that this is true.  These things I sacrifice are nothing compared to what I have in you.

He is El Shaddai:  The All-Sufficient One.  And I only discover that to be true when I believe it and act on it in faith.

Let's Make a Case for Modesty

I saw this on FB last week and haven’t been able to let go of it.  Dick Gregory reportedly has said, “If I’m a woman and I’m walking down the street naked, you still don’t have the right to rape me.”  Alrighty then.  Duly noted, Mr. Gregory.

And if I have a house full of expensive electronic equipment and leave town for a week with the front door standing wide open, you still don’t have the right to rob me.  And if I take $40,000 out of the ATM, spread it on my dashboard and leave the car in the mall parking lot with the windows open, you don’t have the right to take it.  My stupidity does not justify your evil.  However, my stupidity may still be worthy of mention and rebuke.

I understand Mr. Gregory’s point.  To blame a woman for her rape because she dressed or behaved seductively is inexcusable.  The rapist is to blame for the rape – and he should come under the full penalty of the law regardless of how the woman was looking or behaving.  And if the legal system is allowing rapists to get away with their crime because of the behavior of their victims, this should be changed.  No reasonable human being would argue this.

But is it not worth noting that a woman who chooses to dress and behave seductively in an environment where there are likely to be bad men who will have no qualms about taking that bait she’s offering – laid out on the dashboard with the windows open – well, she’s being stupid!  When did the right to “express your sexuality” become the freedom to flaunt your goods to the world and think that you should never have to worry about bad guys trying to take them without permission?  Nobody else has that “freedom”.  We all know there are bad guys out there and we lock up and protect our goods from them.  We drive defensively – we lock our houses – we pocket our billfolds – and we cover up our boobs.

There’s a line here between freedom and responsibility, and I’m seeing too many feminists dance a little too close to it.

GREAT Book

So, people, this book, One God One Message – I love this book.  Really love it.  I always enjoy apologetics, but this book goes a step beyond. 

Author P.D. Bramsen has lived for most of his adult life in Senegal, and he writes this specifically to address the questions and concerns of the Muslims he knows so well.  Included are excerpts from emails he has received from Muslims around the world challenging the beliefs of Christianity.  I have little personal experience with Muslims, so it was fascinating just to hear their take on my faith.

But more fascinating were his responses.  The book is an orderly walk through the basic tenets of the Christian faith and how they hold together and why they hold up, starting from the Creation in Genesis and ending with Paradise in Revelation.  It is complete, cogent, and clear.  As one who has studied the Bible all my life, I still found it insightful and enlightening.  And I was thrilled to see that it has been translated into many languages, including Arabic, Turkish, Farsi, Urdu, Swahili, and more.

Here’s where you can buy this book (and see other stuff by the author).  And you should buy this book. And if you have a Muslim friend, buy another copy to give to them.  This one is most definitely a keeper AND a give-away-er.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookCrash.com book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

 

The Races

Our family went to the car races in Jefferson, SD, last night.  We did this last year, too -- same weekend.  Last year, it was the night we met our eldest's new boyfriend whom she ended up dating her entire sophomore year.  Not quite as momentous occasion this time around.

Anyway, we went to the car races.  We didn't know anybody racing, so to make it interesting, I bought some M&Ms at the snack stand and whoever picked the winning car in each heat got an M&M.  The snack bar also had food half-price (last race of the year -- getting rid of stuff, I imagine) . . . and we stopped for ice cream on the way home.  A rather fattening night, on the whole (although I'm proud to say I resisted food AND ice cream -- but not M&Ms).

So, anyway, we went to the car races.  And two thoughts kept going through my head.  No, three.  No, FOUR.

1) Dang, this is LOUD.

2) I wish we'd remembered to bring in our stadium seats.  My butt hurts.

3) There are a lot of tattoos in these stands.  Seriously, why is that?  There are definitely more large, prominent tattoos here per capita than you would see at, say, the movie theater or the grocery store.  What's the correlation between people who enjoy watching cars race around a dirt track and people who enjoy carving permanent decorations into their skin?  These are the questions that keep me up at night . . .

4) My best friend in high school drove a race car.  Actually, her family is still into racing today, but I was always amazed at the fact that, in high school, she actually drove a race car.  In real car races, like this, at real race tracks.  She always wanted me to come to the races with her and I never did.  Looking back now, I'm thinking I was a pretty lousy friend.  When something's important to someone you love, you make it important to you.  Or at the very least, you make it a point to attend once or twice.  Forgive me, Julie.

And so, as I was saying, we went to the car races.  Last night.  And I expect we'll go again sometime.  Cheap entertainment, good chili cheese fries, and a great excuse to indulge in M&Ms.