A Question For You

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

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A college football coach was hired recently for $4 million a year. Is he worth it? Well, that depends on how you determine worth? If he wins games and brings in more revenue, then certainly he can pay for himself. But that really doesn’t answer whether or not he is worth $4 million a year.

While you and I will likely never be in a position to earn such an enormous salary the question might still be valid, “what are you worth?” The answer, of course, depends on how you determine worth.

Several articles have been written on what the human body is worth. If one takes the chemical composition of the body and then applies a market value for elements such as calcium, potassium, carbon, hydrogen, etc., one will find that we really aren’t worth very much. Some say only a few dollars.

But when those elements are combined into a functioning body we are certainly very valuable. Insurance companies have fixed relative values to human body parts such as bone marrow, lungs, eyes, hearts, etc. Although we can not sell our parts to others, if we were to add up all of the possible donations that could be made, our bodies would hold a value of several million dollars.

So a valid question to you might be, “what are you worth?” James asks a similar question in James 4:13-16. This passage asks the reader to contemplate one’s own life.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

What are we worth? What is our life? Reflecting on our own mortality and our date with eternity we should hopefully place a great value on this day and on our righteous standing before God.

But that is still viewing what we are worth through our eyes. David writes about this issue as he asks why God is attentive to us. In all of the majesty of creation, why is man so highly regarded by God. Notice this reading from Psalm 8:1-9.

O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen-- Even the beasts of the field, The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

God made us in His image and gave us an eternal spirit. God sent His son to die for us on the cruel cross. God invites us to accept His grace and forgiveness of our sins. God wants us to be with Him for all eternity in heaven.

Are we worth it? Well, that depends on how we determine worth. From our perspective we have certainly not earned or merited this value from God.

But from God’s perspective we are individually valuable to Him. Despite the ways in which we continually fall short of His expectations, God wants us to know that we are always worth something to Him.

Peter writes in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

On Our Daily Walk today, may we realize the enormous value that we hold in God’s eyes and may we conduct our lives knowing how valuable we are.

Our thought for the day: “It is in our lives and not in our words that our religion must be read.” Thomas Jefferson

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.

A Question Of Salvation

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.
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Perhaps you have seen a television program showing the video taken from police cars as they pull over motorists. Some videos show how people struggle with the police or attempt to escape. But one that I remember showed how desperately a man was trying to talk his way out of a speeding ticket. The audio captured his panicked voice as he was willing to do anything to avoid being charged with a moving violation. His last plea was, “Is there anything, anything at all that I can do to get you to let me go?”

This man was looking for mercy, not justice. He knew that he was guilty and did not wish to face what he deserved. Instead, he was looking for some means by which he could be saved from the consequences of his actions.

Although we probably would not go to the extremes of this man, we can certainly relate to his desire to not be accountable for what he had done. Guilt is not pleasant and when we are guilty we do not look forward to punishment of any type. Even a pet who does something wrong will show affection and flash loving eyes in an attempt to avoid punishment.

Salvation is defined as a “preservation or deliverance from destruction, difficulty or evil. A source, means, or cause of such preservation or deliverance.” With regard to Christianity, it is “deliverance from the power or penalty of sin; redemption. The agent or means that brings about such deliverance.”

Trying to talk your way out of a ticket is an attempt to avoid a penalty for our actions. If we are not charged at that point, then we will likely not ever be charged for that infraction.

But with our spiritual lives this is not the case. Some people mistakenly believe that if God doesn’t punish them immediately then their actions must be ok. Not so.

Paul tells us in Romans 14:12 that, “each of us shall give account of himself to God.” This includes every action, every word and every thought during our lives.

It is at this point that we can truly appreciate that we need mercy and not justice. None of us live without errors or sins that occur in our lives. We need salvation.

So imagine the worst sin that one could commit and think about how desperate that person would be to escape the penalty for that action. What sin would you think that was? Lying, adultery, murder? How about the murder of God’s Son, Jesus?

Consider then how the crowd must have felt on the day of Pentecost in Jerusalem. This was just seven weeks after the crucifixion of Jesus and Jesus had, of course, risen from the grave and walked among the people for 40 days afterwards. Now He has ascended to Heaven and Peter is preaching a powerful sermon that causes everyone there to reflect on how they caused the death of Jesus. This reading is from Acts 2:36-39.

Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

I can’t imagine any sin worse than causing the death of God’s Son. And I can’t imagine a motivation as strong at to know that you are guilty as charged and that judgment is coming your way. Salvation is needed.

Any sin will separate us from God unless we take the steps to learn of salvation and obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. But it takes a realization of our sinful condition before we can be properly motivated to search for salvation.

That motorist that was pleading for the policeman to let him go was more than happy to drive along breaking the law. He feared nothing until the police arrived and placed his actions under scrutiny.

Perhaps it is that way with us as well. Until we feel the scrutiny of God on our actions we may not be properly motivated to find the salvation that God is offering.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we stop this hour and realize that not only are we not perfect, but that we are in need of salvation from God. May we humble ourselves before our Creator and may we obey His will in order to secure our salvation.

Our thought for the day: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Peter, Acts 4:12

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.

A Question Of Courage

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

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Most of us have lived long enough to have disappointed someone we love. I don’t think we intend to let them down, but when we do, we feel terrible about it—and we should. Take, for example, the teenage boy who has given his word that he will never be involved with drinking alcohol and then has to face his father who comes to bail him out of jail for drunk driving. The young man probably made his commitment in faith that he would keep it, but lacked the courage and will to see it become a reality.

Making a commitment to someone and then not keeping it not only lets them down but also show us to be less than what we should be. Perhaps we lacked the ability to make good on our commitment. But mostly we lack the courage and will to do what we have promised to do.

Courage is a main ingredient in commitment. Making a promise is an empty exercise unless we are ready to stand and defend that promise with actions.

Husbands and wives make promises, or vows, to one another that they fully intend to keep for a lifetime. Why is it then that they so often will abandon those promises? Are they no longer capable of loving, cherishing, honoring? Or do they lack the courage to stand by a mate when health turns to sickness and prosperity turns to poverty? Courage is a part of commitment.

John’s account of Peter’s denials of Jesus give some insight into how courage plays into our commitment. Notice the bravery in Peter’s words in this first reading from John 13:36-38.

Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.” Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake.” Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.

Peter has offered to die in order to serve his Lord. But Jesus knew that his commitment would not be met. Instead of the heroic disciple that he promised to be, Peter became the coward that Jesus predicted he would be.

Notice the readings of the denials of Peter from John 18:15-17 and 25-27.

And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in. Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this Man's disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.”

Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not!” One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of him whose ear Peter cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed.

Now, it is bad enough that Peter denied the Lord. But the real pain for Peter came in Luke’s account of the last denial. Notice what happens here in Luke 22:61.

And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”

Peter loved Jesus. There can be no denial of that. But Peter’s good intentions to defend Jesus and even die for him fell short as his courage failed to materialize. Perhaps he was dismayed by Jesus rebuking him for pulling out his sword to defend Him in the garden.

It is difficult to be consistent and courageous in all situations we face. The main thing is to remember that even when we stumble and fall we can always get back up and get right with God.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we not be afraid to make commitments in our lives and to our Lord. But may we also not forget to fortify our strength so as to be better equipped to carry out those commitments we make.

Our thought for the day: “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage.” Dale Carnegie

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.

A Question Of Commitment

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

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It’s a horrible feeling. You can feel it coming on and yet you just can’t seem to stop it. I’m speaking of falling asleep during a lecture or a sermon. Oh, I know that it happens. It may well be an epidemic in some places. You really don’t want to fall asleep, but then before you know it your head becomes very heavy and before your next thought crosses your mind your neck gives way and you have that awful feeling of being suddenly awakened.

Don’t worry. Most preachers I know don’t really notice if there are people sleeping during the worship. Things like that happen when people settle in and become quiet in confined spaces.

I did hear the story of a preacher who once did notice a member who was fast asleep and snoring loudly. He stopped his sermon and asked a member near this man to kindly wake the sleeping man. However, the man replied, “You put him to sleep. You wake him up.”

Fair enough. Sometimes the sermon or lecture may be uninteresting. But sometimes weariness and fatigue play a part as well.

In the final days of Jesus we find Him turning His attention to the disciples. John’s gospel separates the ministries of Jesus into three areas: the public ministry, the private ministry and the passion ministry.

In the final week before the crucifixion Jesus spent His time only with the twelve. The last supper was during this time along with Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. It is also during this time that Judas goes out to betray Jesus and Jesus predicts that Peter will deny Him.

Certainly this was a very busy and very emotionally draining week. Matthew records that Jesus took three of the disciples and went into the garden of Gethsemane to pray. They were all very tired, wearied from their ministry. Notice this reading from Matthew 26:36-41.

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Then He came to the disciples and found them asleep, and said to Peter, “What? Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Not only did Jesus find them asleep this time, but He came back two other times as well and found them sleeping. They were weary and tired. They loved Jesus and had all just said that they would die for Him. Yet they were unable to stay awake even for an hour.

This becomes a question of commitment in our discipleship of Jesus. The physical weariness of these disciples was temporary, but it interfered with their desire to do as Jesus requested. The spirit was willing. The physical body was weak and let them down.

One hour doesn’t seem like much of a test of discipleship. “Could you not watch with Me one hour?” our Savior asks.

Weariness can cause our commitment to Jesus to suffer. We all sometimes become tired, overwhelmed, outnumbered or have a feeling of hopelessness in a cause.

But we must remember that God has faith that we can be strong, be alert and be faithful. Let us have the strength to focus on what we need to do to remain faithful.

A sudden feeling of sleepiness in church can be cured by getting more sleep the night before or by having a more focused attention during that hour. But far more dangerous than a feeling of slumber is a weariness of spirit that causes us to forget our commitment to serve our Lord.

On Our Daily Walk today, if we have trouble with our commitment to living the Christian life, may we look to God’s word for what we should do. May we never forget that we are human, not perfect, and that God expects us to be faithful to our commitment to Him.

Our thought for the day: “A churchgoer complimented the preacher one day after an especially long sermon. ‘Preacher, that was a very refreshing sermon. It’s the best nap I’ve had in a long time.’”

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.

A Question Of Discipleship

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

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In a book I recently read an atheist wrote about what it would take to convert him to Christianity. Among his conditions he listed that he would be ready to convert if he were able to see a genuine miracle. Of course, God is not interested in our conditions of whether or not we wish to claim the salvation He offers. We are in no condition to be setting such conditions to our Creator. But I really doubt that seeing a miracle would make much difference in the faith of this atheist.

Would one miracle be enough to convince this man? What if he began to doubt if it was a true miracle or an illusion? What then? Wouldn’t two miracles be better than one? Why stop there? Have a dozen or so.

Now, before you think I’m getting carried away and picking on someone who has no faith in God at all, let me shift the thoughts over to what it would take for a Christian to be a disciple. Yes, that’s right. What would it take for a Christian to be a disciple of Jesus?

But aren’t all Christians disciples? Yes, I suppose they would qualify under most definitions we would use. But not all who profess to be Christians are willing to actually follow Jesus. That’s where discipleship comes into focus.

Imagine that you were one of the thousands that followed Jesus around. As you mill about with the others you hear Jesus speaking as He teaches the crowd all day. You also witness Him as he heals hundreds of people who are brought to Him throughout the day. The lame, the blind, the sick—they are all healed.

But that’s not all. After this long day of teaching and healing you are instructed to sit down on the grass with the others. Then you see as Jesus takes five small fish and two small loaves of barley bread and feeds the entire crowd of over five thousand people.

One would certainly think that those who were healed, taught and fed during that day would be followers of Jesus. And they were. But not all of them would stay with Him.

Not long after the feeding of the five thousand the crowds continued to follow Jesus. But when the teaching became more challenging many of the people did not like what they heard. In John 6:60 His disciples were complaining as they said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”

So the real test of their discipleship was upon them. Jesus could teach them the words of God, feed their hungry stomachs and even heal their relatives and their friends. But to many, Jesus went too far when His teachings became more strict.

Isn’t that the way it is with so many people today as well? They love to hear about the love, forgiveness, mercy and grace as well as the eternal life that is free from pain, tears and sorrow. But when the discussion turns to changing their lives to be in keeping with God’s ways, well, that is where real discipleship is tested.

Notice this reading from John 6:66-69 as the teachings of Jesus become harder and the people become less committed.

From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Isn’t it amazing to think that thousands of people could be personally blessed by Jesus and then be so quick to turn away from Him? Well, maybe sad is a more appropriate description.

That atheist might well be convinced if he saw a genuine miracle performed just for him. But the test of his discipleship would come afterwards. Many are convinced to confess Jesus based on the testimony of the Bible. But that same Bible often gives instructions that many people are simply not willing to follow. Now that’s a real shame.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we spend a few minutes to contemplate just how strong our faith in Christ is and just how far we are willing to follow Him as disciples. May we call upon the wisdom of the Bible to help us to remain strong as we walk with our Savior.

Our thought for the day: “Until you have given up yourself to Him you will not have a real self.” C. S. Lewis

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.

A Question Of Faith

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

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Some surveys show that over 90% of our population believes in God or in some type of religious deity. Yet less than 50% of our citizens actually bother to worship their God on a weekly basis. It kind of makes you wonder why they would acknowledge there is a God if they were unwilling to worship Him.

Faith is a fundamental foundation of religion. It is the essence of our belief. The writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Later in verse 6 we find, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

So what do you believe concerning your religion? Are you willing to stand by your faith? Is your faith strong enough not only to confess your belief but also to live it?

Not everyone who believes in Jesus will confess Him or follow Him. In John 12:42-43 we find, “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”

What a shame that would be to think that a person believed in Jesus or God but then were unwilling to confess that belief for fear of punishment or rejection by other men. If a person believes in God and Jesus they should fear their rejection more than the rejection of mere humans.

Concerning such a confession, Jesus asked the disciples who they thought He was. Here is that reading from Matthew 16:13-16.

When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Peter answered correctly and Jesus went on to say that His church would be built upon that confession. But talk is cheap unless it is followed up with action.

Many people acknowledge Christ with their lips, but it does not show in their lives. Faith must be seen as well as heard.

Unfortunately many in our culture today do not smile upon any religious system that claims exclusivity. In Exodus 20:1-4 we read of this exclusive nature of God.

And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.”

In John 14:6 we also read of the exclusive nature of Jesus as He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” With these two readings we find that there is one God and the way to that one God is through His one Son, Jesus.

If we believe this then we should neither be ashamed nor afraid to confess it before others. Once we know and believe that this is the truth, then there is no other choice to contemplate. Our faith in our God and Savior must be seen as well as heard.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we ask ourselves the question, “If I believe in Jesus Christ, does my life demonstrate it to others?” May we also be ready to always tell others of the God we worship.

Our thought for the day: “Discipleship is more than a single confession. It is a continuous commitment.”

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.