A Fresh Start

It's not easy to rest. Many of us fill our plates with more activity than we can accomplish well. And too often our cups overflow because we keep pouring more and more into them. Our TO DO lists seem to never quite get completed. And so we carry over from one day to the next what we didn't get done the day before.

Consequently, we tend to carry an ever-increasing load of projects and responsibilities. Worse still, we continue to add to our burdens with ever-decreasing hopes of achieving our goals. Sooner or later, much of our time is consumed with juggling what is urgent, while we drop what is essential and vital.

If we're going to manage our lives, our time, and our energy effectively, we must do two things:

1. Eliminate what is insignificant.

2. Elevate what is important.

That may not be new to some people, but many of us need to be reminded of those truths. We need to remember that we must maintain our balance. We do that by setting boundaries, sticking to our priorities, and resting before we are exhausted.

When we make rest a priority, we'll have the energy we need to accomplish what God wants us to do, rather than struggling to do what we think we must do. And we'll have the strength to say no when we are tempted to say yes and add one more item to our too-busy schedules. That will give us a fresh start—every day.

In the Greek

Sometimes words in the Bible don't mean what they did when they were written. We don't understand them. They're not relevant. Sometimes, because our world is so different from life in the first century A.D., we miss a deeper, richer meaning.

Baptism is such a word. For most of us, baptism means getting wet one way or another, at one time or another, as an act of our faith. But not many people associate the word with some of the origins and customs of that day.

The Greek noun, baptisma, conveys a process rather than a single act. Although the root word means "to dip," the concept is one of immersion, submersion, and emergence. In Bible times the verb form, baptizo, often signified the dyeing of cloth.

That action creates bonds at the molecular level as the color permeates the fibers. The noun describes the afflictions and judgments that Jesus voluntarily endured on the cross when he "became sin." The verb indicates the relationship between a servant and master. The one who voluntarily surrenders becomes so closely bound to the other as to be identified with that person as his son or daughter.

Therefore, the act of being baptized results in a transformation that begins where no one can see and continues until we look nothing like we once did.

Baptism doesn't save us, but through the process God surely rescues us from ourselves.

Dirty Hands, Pure Hearts

We are called to be holy. We should be obedient. We should not be like the world. But, we are not to remove ourselves from the world. We are to be in it.

The latter is not my problem. The boy is in the world. I just don’t always manage to get the world out of the boy.

The trick then is to be in the world, but not of it. To be so engulfed, so immersed, that some people won’t be able to tell the difference between us and those that God would have us reach and rescue.

My concern and caution then is that we shouldn’t confuse or misunderstand the verse that says we should come out from among them. What is unclean shouldn’t be fondled. But what is unclean?

The most unclean thing that a Jew can come into contact with is a dead body, a carcass or corpse. That doesn’t refer to those who are dead in their sins. But the thought does make me wonder about those whose faith is sometimes dead. Because sometimes that describes me.

Such faith is devoid of works. It doesn’t resemble the vibrant life that it once produced.

Our faith can become like that—lifeless, impotent—especially when it isn’t exercised. That’s when faith atrophies and can die. Then it’s incapable of regenerating life.

Today, perhaps more than ever, we need to be full of life. Now is not the time for spiritual tourniquets. Amputating ourselves from the world, even under the guise of spending more time with God, will not make us more like Jesus.

Sanctification is vital. But that’s a work of God, not the work of man. Our task is to stay connected to him, the source of all life. But God works on the inside. And because his work is internal, not external, it’s eternal.

Jesus showed us that time and again and pleaded for us to be like him. Jesus said: follow me, do what I do, go where I go, learn the unforced rhythms of grace. If we do, we’ll be known as he was--a friend of sinners. When we do, we’ll become saints with dirty hands, but pure hearts.

Failing To Succeed

Okay, I admit it. I’m not much of a reader and that’s odd for someone who professes to love words. But I’d rather see a good story. So when you consider the unlikely, unexpected places we find Jesus, think about films.

I find truth in so many places. Overt? No, not usually. But nevertheless, truth. For example in Seabiscuit there are several haunting moments and memorable lines. My favorite is when the wealthy Charles Howard meets the wandering Tom Smith. They exchange a few comments and Howard asks about a horse that Smith rescued. After Smith confesses that the horse will never race again, Howard inquires why Smith bothered to save the animal. Speaking of himself as well as the horse, Smith says, “You don’t throw a whole life away just ‘cause it’s banged up a little.” Later in the story Howard reprises those words back to Smith. And with them Howard confirms Smith’s worth, and ours.

That truth—that an entire life shouldn’t be discarded because a person fails—reminds me of Is. 42:3, in the NLT. Speaking prophetically of Jesus the prophet says, “He will not crush those who are weak or quench the smallest hope.”

Maybe, like me, you’ve attempted to do something. Something good, something useful. Maybe something for God. Maybe something for people in general. But you failed. Perhaps your dreams exceeded your abilities. Maybe you were in the wrong place or tried at the wrong time or simply didn’t know how to accomplish your heart’s desire. Perhaps you quit one day too soon. But whether you try again to do whatever it was that you once failed to accomplish or you attempt something else completely different, you need to understand one simple truth. Failing doesn’t make you a failure.

Some might suggest that such truth, such good news, can’t be found in anything from Hollywood. But I suggest that those who seek grace find it, sometimes in the most unexpected places.

God doesn’t hide himself. And he will use all means necessary to reach those who need to lose their way so they may find his. Whether such people are sitting in a theater or a church makes no difference to God. What’s important is not where God finds you, but where you go after he does.