The Rich Fool

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

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Preachers hear all kinds of excuses from people. One of my favorites is, “I can’t go to church until I get my life straightened out.” That’s about like saying, “I can’t go to the hospital because I’m too sick.”

Although it really doesn’t make much sense as an excuse, it really doesn’t matter either. If a person fails to put God first in his life, all other things will suffer. When we choose something over God, we push God down. Often the thing that knocks God out of the prime position in our lives is the quest for material things.

Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:10, that the love of money was the root of all evil. He was right. Covetousness is an ongoing problem in our world today. While it is certainly not evil or wrong to have great wealth or possessions, one should be careful that these things do not someday become our gods.

Greed and covetousness have a way of drawing us away from God. Franklin Pierce Reno has the following to say about how this works.

A thousand times God called his name,

A thousand times God touched his hand;

He turned aside for wealth and fame,

And built his house upon the sand.

That, of course, is reference to the teachings of Jesus in Matthew 7:24-27 where He said that a person who hears His words and does not do them is like a man who builds a house on the sand.

Jesus had an opportunity to teach on the dangers of being consumed by riches. In Luke 12:13-21 we find the following parable of the rich fool.

Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Perhaps in an earlier part of his life this man had God in his life. Perhaps he had prayed to God for good weather and thanked him for the rains and the bountiful harvests. But at this point in his life it is all about the man and nothing about God.

Did you notice all of the personal pronouns being used? Sixteen times this man refers to himself. Never does he include God. The love of money and material things will cause a person to become more self-centered, self-reliant, and less God-centered and God-reliant.

Having a great harvest is a blessing. What a great problem to have that you should have more goods and more blessings than you can store?

This man reached the pinnacle of his farming. He finally made it to the point where he could sit back and enjoy life for years to come. As we might say today, he was set for life. But he forgot about God.

How many times in our lives do we see young families that put God aside as they begin a family or start a new career? “When I get my career settled and the kids are in school, then I’ll come to worship.”

Or later in life we see different priorities. “When I get to where I can retire or when the grandkids come to town, then I’ll have the time to come to worship.”

How sad it will be to think that some may reach that goal of a promotion, retirement, a fishing boat, a golf membership or a life of ease and leisure only to realize too late that they left God out of their plans.

Friends, if we are not right with God right now, nothing else holds any real value to us. Put the value on God and heaven first. Jesus said in Matthew 6:24. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

On Our Daily Walk today, may we learn the difference between having money and loving money. May we thank God right now for what we have and pray that we may always use it wisely.

Our thought for the day: “If we command our wealth, we shall be rich and free. If our wealth commands us, we are poor indeed.” Edmund Burke

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.

The Elder Brother

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

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Jealousy is not attractive. But then, neither are stubbornness, anger, outrages, self-centeredness and a lack of love. To find each of these in one person is not a very pleasant image.

One of the truly sad lessons in Luke 15 comes in the latter portion of the parable of the prodigal son. That younger son had made some terrible decisions. He forced an early division of his father’s inheritance. One portion went to himself and a double portion to his older brother.

He decided to leave his family and venture into a strange country. While there he spent, or rather, wasted his inheritance on his lifestyle. Friends were surely in good numbers while the money was there. But then it ran out and his friends ran off.

Finally the younger son was forced to feed swine and was so filled with hunger that he almost ate their food with them. Then he realized that he had made a terrible mistake. With humility and repentance, he returns to his father expecting to be a servant for life. Instead he is greeted warmly and joy fills the house. The lost is found; the dead is alive.

While this is going on the elder brother approaches the house and soon becomes filled with jealousy. His focus is not on the joy of finding his lost brother. Rather his focus is on criticizing the actions of his father’s son.

Here is that account from Luke 15:25-32.

“Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’

“But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’

“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’”

Isn’t it sad to think that some people are unwilling to share the joy with others who return to God? This older brother’s actions soon showed his real focus and that was on himself. But this really wasn’t about the older brother at all. The younger brother’s actions were against the father, not the brother. In fact one might argue that the older brother benefited from his younger brother going off since the inheritance was divided early.

Hopefully the Pharisees saw a little bit, or a great deal, of the older son in themselves. They were totally consumed with their own standing and had little regard for the spiritual welfare of others. When Jesus came to seek and save the lost, they cried “foul” wanting any attention to be paid to the righteous and not the sinners.

God loved the world so much that He gave His Son to die for us. Jesus loved us so much that He willingly laid down His life so that we might have forgiveness of sins. None of us deserved those expressions of love. Yet God offers them and calls upon us to love others as He has loved us.

But the older brother just couldn’t bring himself to share in the joy of others receiving the attention for now being found. Interestingly it was the older brother himself who shut himself out of his father’s house by his own refusal to participate in that joyful celebration.

Isn’t it sad to think that some may still have the older brother complex today? That some would rather cut themselves off from the blessings of the Father rather than to share in the joy of one who comes back from the dead and is found after having been lost?

The arrogant boasts about not having transgressed against his father certainly look out of place when heard from such a self-centered, jealous, angry and stubborn son.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we fight the temptation to think poorly of anyone who turns their life to God. May we determine to make every effort possible to help celebrate their transformation from sin to sanctification.

Our thought for the day: “Jealousy shoots at others and wounds herself.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.

The Lost Son

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

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Mark Twain once said, “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” Youth has many advantages, but total wisdom is not one of them.

Perhaps most of us have some childhood experience where we just knew that our way was the right way and that the “old people’s” way was wrong. But as we grow older and become those older people, we begin to realize the wisdom that comes with experience and age.

That’s not to suggest that simply being older means that we are wiser. That’s not always the case.

Teaching our children about morals, values and decisions is a part of our duty as parents. We impart knowledge to them and teach them not only the “what” but also the “why” concerning things in life. If we succeed, then our children will learn these lessons and hopefully apply them in their lives.

Even if they don’t immediately respond to our teaching, at least we have planted that lesson in their minds and know that we have done what we should have done. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” There is always hope that they will follow that teaching.

In the third parable in Luke 15, Jesus concludes His response to the Pharisees who were challenging Him. They were critical of Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners and their self-centered, pious attitudes were setting them up for a good lesson. This is perhaps one of the most well-known parables of Jesus. We find it in Luke 15:11-24.

Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’

“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.”

This younger son was very headstrong. He was self-centered and wanted to go his own way regardless of the teachings and blessings provided by his father. The father allowed him to leave but never quit looking for his return.

The key to this parable is found in verse 17 when the young man “came to himself,” and discovered what a great mistake he had made. With that point of repentance, he turns his life around and sets out to return to his father.

In the same way today, many people have scorned the teaching and blessings of God the Father and have decided to step out in their own direction. God will not stop them, although He does not want them to leave. He will not force them to come back, but He never stops looking for our return to Him.

Unlike the sheep and the coin which were lost due to the actions or inactions of others, the lost son was lost because of his choice. When we choose to leave God we must realize that God respects our choice. It causes Him pain to see us go, but He is always looking for our decision to return.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we challenge ourselves to make a daily commitment to being faithful to God. And if we should find ourselves apart from God, may we quickly have that precious moment wherein we “come to ourselves” and decide to return to God.

Our thought for the day: “Some troubles come from wanting our own way; others come from being allowed to have it.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.

The Lost Coin

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

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A recent headline came across saying that since copper prices are rising, the actual value of a penny is now worth more than a penny. While that may cause some people to begin gathering their pennies and taking them to the metal buyers, most people won’t bother. After all, it’s just a penny.

I first learned the value of just one penny when I was in my teens. While working for my grandfather at his gas station I found a penny on the parking lot one day. It wasn’t mine, nor was it his. It was just a penny on the pavement.

This all happened back when we actually pumped the gas for customers. I would go out to wait on the customer and I always had a good assortment of currency in my pocket to make change. The relative value of that penny paled in comparison to the dozens of bills in my pocket.

After the customer left I picked up that penny and decided to see how far I could get it to roll on its edge. With great precision I gave it a toss and it rolled almost to the highway. Satisfied, I returned to the inside where my grandfather had been watching me.

He asked me about what I had done and I was quick to tell him that it was only a penny and it belonged to no one. I was just having fun with it.

Then he asked me if I knew what happened to pennies around that station. I replied that I did not.

My grandfather then explained that when the cash register section for pennies became full that he would take out 50 pennies and replace them with 2 quarters. Then he would put the pennies into a roll and put it into a drawer.

About twice a week my grandmother would stop by and would take the rolls of pennies out of this drawer. There were always several rolls there. She would take them down to the bank and put them into the Christmas fund.

Now, my grandfather had my undivided attention. I was finally starting to see how all of these pennies put together were starting to show some worth. Suddenly every penny I saw had a new value attached to it.

The Pharisees were complaining that Jesus was eating with tax collectors and sinners. They didn’t see the value in wasting one’s time with sinners. But these were the very people that needed Jesus. While the religious leaders wanted Jesus to see the value of the assembled righteous of the day, Jesus was busy finding the individuals who were lost and in need of salvation. Jesus knew that each one of them held equal value in the eyes of God.

In Luke 15:8-10 we find this parable of the lost coin.

Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!” Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

This coin may have been part of a decorative headdress that the woman wore. Or it may have been part of her savings, her livelihood or her intended offering. Whatever the case, this woman was very distraught that one of her ten coins was lost.

Maybe it had slipped through her fingers. Or perhaps it had been neglected and was carelessly pushed aside with other items. But now it is out of place. Nine others are where they should be. Now she must find the one that is lost.

She lights up the room, sweeps every area and looks diligently until she finally finds that coin. Nine out of ten is not acceptable. Not until that last coin is found will joy be felt. Likewise, there is great joy over even one sinner who repents.

Every time I find a penny on the ground I’m reminded of how valuable each one of us is in the sight of God. And as I pick up that penny I make it my goal to introduce someone to Jesus that day.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we devote some time to thinking about how valuable each person really is to God. May we use our opportunities today to speak a good word for Jesus and perhaps help find one who has been lost.

Our thought for the day: “What we obtain too cheaply, we esteem too lightly. It is dearness, that gives everything its value.” Thomas Paine

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.

The Lost Sheep

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

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In Luke chapter 15 Jesus is being confronted by the Pharisees. They don’t like the fact that He is spending time with tax collectors and sinners. Their “holier than thou” attitudes are coming through and Jesus speaks three parables to help put them in their place.

The first of these is the parable of the lost sheep. Following that is a short parable on the lost coin. Finally, the parable of the prodigal son or lost son completes the chapter. That last parable is sometimes considered to be two separate lessons as Jesus deals with the lost son and then also with the reaction of the older son.

The purpose of Jesus coming to earth was to seek and save the lost. Luke 19:10. In these parables Jesus demonstrates that even though we are lost by different causes, we are all equally important to be found.

With the lost sheep we become lost due to drifting away, perhaps being weak in our faith, or with a lapse in oversight of those who should be watching out for us. Sheep become lost unintentionally. Often while grazing from one patch of grass to another they will end up separated from the others without even realizing it.

With the lost coin we become lost due to the actions or neglect of others. Carelessness often creates situations where like a coin, people can “fall through the cracks” and become lost.

With the lost son, we become lost because we are determined to follow our own will rather than the will of the Father. Stubborn, self-willed actions lead us away.

In each of these cases Jesus shows that there is great rejoicing when any who were lost are found. Listen now to the first of these three parables. This comes from Luke 15:4-7.

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!” I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

Sheep were very valuable possessions in the time of Jesus. They were used for food to eat, milk to drink, wool for clothing and flesh for sacrifices. To be in charge of keeping the sheep was a very important task. To lose even one would be very devastating.

The Bible contains hundreds of references to sheep and they were very important to the economy of the day. But sheep are not very smart animals. They need constant care and supervision or else they will wander away.

Christians are often compared to sheep and Jesus as a shepherd. While we might at first be offended at the notion that we, as sheep, might not be considered very smart, we would also do well to realize that we know nothing about salvation apart from what we are taught from God. With Jesus as our shepherd, we are being nourished in doctrines and guided in directions that are from God.

The Pharisees couldn’t see the value in rescuing the sinners. To them these sinners were repulsive, godless and without hope of redemption. But to Jesus, they are the lost sheep in need of a caring shepherd to bring them back home.

Notice that the quantity is not of great importance. 99 sheep are all counted as safe. But just one lost sheep is one too many.

Notice also that Jesus didn’t speak of the shepherd staying put and looking for the lost sheep to return. That sheep became lost unintentionally and is incapable of coming back without help. The shepherd goes out to find that sheep and lays it on his shoulders to bring it back to safety. Only then can the real joy be felt.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we each be more keenly aware of those who might “drift away” from their relationship with God. May we like a shepherd help to find these individuals and take their hand as we lead them back to where they belong.

Our thought for the day: “The loss of wealth is much; the loss of health is more; but the loss of Christ is such a loss that no man can restore.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.

Jesus, Friend Of Sinners

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

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“What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.” So opens the very popular and wonderful hymn that reminds us of the marvelous blessing we have in Jesus as our friend.

Often we think of Jesus as our Savior and as our friend and example as we live a Christian life. But Jesus isn’t just a friend when times are good. He’s also a friend when times are bad and especially when we feel that there are no other friends to be found.

SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1What a friend we have in Jesus. Joseph Scriven, the author of that song lost his fiancée as she drowned on the eve of their wedding. Years later his mother was distressed and he penned these words to comfort her. Again he found a prospective wife but she died of tuberculosis before they could marry. This poem found its way to a songwriter and was in use as a hymn for 10 years before Joseph Scriven ever knew that anyone but his mother had read it.

Out of the adversity of one man’s life came these wonderful and encouraging lyrics. Jesus wants to be a friend to all. He said in John 15:12-14, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.”

In Luke 15:1-2, we find Jesus once again being confronted by the Pharisees. They are very critical of Jesus and they seem to never cease looking for things with which to accuse Him. Here is that passage. “Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.’”

What they did not want to accept was that it was the purpose of Jesus to reach out to the entire world, not just to the religious zealots of the day. At the end of the discourse with Zacchaeus in Luke 19:10, Jesus said, “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” It was His purpose to interact with all sinners.

Paul understood this in 1 Timothy 1:15 when he said, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” Paul is also the one who reminds us in Romans 3:23 that no one is without sin. We all fall short of what God expects.

Jesus didn’t spend all of His time rubbing elbows with the religious leaders of the day. Just the opposite. We find Jesus taking care of the downtrodden, the ones who have lost hope or never had it in the first place. We find Jesus offering to be a true friend to people that certainly didn’t deserve that friendship, but nonetheless, many accepted it.

Just think for a moment of some of the people that Jesus was with in His ministry. Matthew and Zacchaeus were both tax collectors. One He called to be an apostle; the other He went to his house. The woman at the well in John 4 was a Samaritan and was despised by the Jews. Yet He spoke with her and she led her entire city to follow Jesus.

Why would Jesus want to be friends with people who were sinners? Because that was the will of the Father.

John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Romans 5:8, “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

“Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” What a friend we have in Jesus! The world around Jesus didn’t understand why He would associate with people who didn’t deserve His time. Unfortunately, the world around us today still has difficulty in seeing this as well.

Why does Jesus want to be our friend? Because He came to seek and save the lost which is the state we were in when He found us. What a friend to have!

On Our Daily Walk today, may we be less concerned about what the world thinks of our actions and be more focused on doing the will of our Savior while we are still here. May we reach out today to those who are weak or hurting, those struggling with sin, those in need of hope. And may we help introduce them to the best friend anyone could have—Jesus.

Our thought for the day: “He is your friend who pushes you nearer to God.”

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.