Think About It

What if everything that we had worried about had actually happened? We are very good about worrying about things, even things that never come about. In fact, only a small amount of things that create anxiety actually play out. I think we know this logically, but we still invest in worrying to the point of it that it can steal our joy or even paralyze us from taking action. I am not sure why so many of us struggle with anxiety, but we do. We fear the worst and, even when it doesn’t materialize, we don’t seem to lighten up or learn our lesson; rather we just gear up for the next perceived crisis. The other day, I came across a saying that reminds, “There are more men threatened than stricken.”. While this is true of actual threats, it may be even more true of worry. Anxiety isn’t based on fact or logic, but too often our feelings get in our way. After comforting His disciples by reminding them they don’t need to worry, Jesus drives home the point with true logic, “So do not wo...

In yesterday’s thought, we took a look at Jesus’ parable that has often been called “The Good Samaritan”. The basic premise of the story comes from Jesus’ answer to the lawyer who asked Him, “Who is my neighbor?”. The answer that comes from the story is anyone who needs our help is our neighbor. While this is the primary teaching from the parable, I noticed something else interesting this week. This lesson would have been easily taught if the helper was a Jew and the victim was a Samaritan, but does Jesus’ choice of the Samaritan as the hero of the story teach us something more? You see, the Jews looked down on the Samaritans and often treated them with disdain. (The Apostle John explained, “For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” in John 4:9). It would have been a powerful story if a Jew would have helped a Samaritan … but the reverse is also intriguing. By using the Samaritan to demonstrate kindness, does Jesus teach us about our willingness to help everyone – even those...

The biblical story of the Good Samaritan has changed our world. Notice I didn’t say that it had change religion or even Christianity, it has influenced the world. There are very few people who don’t know the moral of Jesus’ parable about the Good Samaritan. In fact, the phrase has become a common description of everyday people doing good to their neighbors. While Jesus’ parable from Luke 10 shares several spiritual lessons, one of the most practical is that good can be done by anyone. You don’t have to be a church official to do good, it is not only possible for each one of us to help, it is required of all of us. If a Samaritan can be good, so can we! After presenting the parable, Jesus asked the man who had originally asked the question about being a good neighbor which character in the story was a good neighbor, “… he said, ‘The one who showed mercy toward him.’” at which point, the discussion from theoretical to personal, “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do the same.’” (Luke...

One of the great stories of the Bible is found in I Samuel 17. David, the young Israelite, answers the challenge of Goliath, the giant Philistine. Here, the young man armed with a slingshot, a few stones and a faith in God, killed the nemesis of his people. While most people are familiar with the David and Goliath story, there is something that is tucked away in I Chronicles 20 that is an interesting inspiration. Sometime after David’s feat, the Scriptures state, “And there was war with the Philistines again, and Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. Again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot; and he also was descended from the giants. When he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him. These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the han...

I am not really sure when “Black Friday” became an unofficial holiday, but it has become such a major sales event that it is no longer confined to one day … we have had the ultimate sales events for several weeks now. I am not going to complain about Black Friday deals because I have taken advantage of a few of them – not just as I begin my holiday shopping, but I have pocketed a few deals for myself. I don’t know that I have saved all that much money, but I have been convinced to do a little extra shopping just because someone told me I was getting a deal. Have you noticed how renaming something can change our perspective on it? It works in retail, but it works in morality as well. We have taken the “sin” out of our vocabulary and replaced it with concepts like “challenges” or “personal choice” and “struggles”. Sure, sin sounds so old-fashioned and judgmental, but unfortunately when we make it sound “soft”, we have a tendency to take it less seriously. By removing the label, we ...

Happy Thanksgiving! This is my favorite holiday of the year – and I recently learned that a good portion of America feels the same way. People like Thanksgiving. While a part of this might be the intersection of food, family and football; but I also believe that we like the idea of giving thanks. It makes us feel good to reflect on the good things that are going on in our lives and to realize there is Someone more powerful than us that makes it happen. We echo the proclamation that was issued in 1864, “Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart the last Thursday in November next as a day which I desire to be observed by all my fellow-citizens, wherever they may then be, as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe.” While Abraham Lincoln may have placed a spotlight on a Thanksgiving holiday, King David captured the spirit years before him when he wrote, “Praise the L...

Have you noticed how easy it is to feel defeated in the world? It is tempting to look at satan and his minions and feel like we are overwhelmed by evil. The world is bad – and it is going to stay that way. We are a moral minority that is stuck with trying to keep the whole world from going up in flames – and failing miserably. While it can be tempting to believe this (and live our lives like this is the truth), one of the best kept secrets in the world today is the power of God. The devil and his disciples want us to feel outmatched and overwhelmed, but God wants us to understand His control over the world and His power in us. When John was trying to uplift Christians in the later part of the 1st Century he wrote, “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” (I John 4:4). What could happen if we really believed this? How would it reshape our thoughts about what could be done in our country today? Ho...