Slack Water

“Now as they were traveling along, He entered a certain village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord’s word, seated at His feet. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him, and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” – Luke 10:38-42

I’m still walking on water after my big trip to Alaska. One of the highlights was an all-day fishing excursion for salmon and halibut, which turned out to be fruitful. We all limited out (3 salmon and 2 halibut each.)

I’d love to take credit for that, but the fact that all six of did is a credit to our captain, John Moline. Captain John is a student of fishing, and a passionate one at that. I might add that few other boats all limited out the day I was there; not only that, but wherever we went, other boats would end up as well. John is a fisherman’s fisherman. Which brings me to my point.

During the run out to our spot, John received numerous radio calls from other skippers. One, in particular, was looking ling cod, a delicious bottom-dweller. This skipper was a few miles from us, near a small island, and reporting no results. John encouraged the man to seek other species, as it was mid-tide, a fact that was lost me (and apparently the other fishless skipper.)

Finally, he relented and went out to one of the many halibut spots. A quizzical look from me brought an explanation. It seems that at the time, the tide was racing in, creating swift flowing water, especially on the rocks below the waterline, creating an environment where the bottom fish would be forced to drift with the curent away from the island, and also made it nearly impossible to feed, or to fish for them. Better, John went on, to wait for the slack tide at high and low tides. The water is still, the fish move and feed during this time.

It’s when things are quiet, undisturbed by the cares of the day, that you and I can feed. Feed on the very Word of God, (My flesh is true food, and my blood true drink, John 6:55) When the tides of life flood in, the eddies and roils of life upset aour ability to take spiritual nourishment, an we are committed to dealing with them.

My friend, feed during the slack water.

Keep Your Promises - Leviticus 27

I’m a big fan of movie lines. And the the more action oriented, the better. Go ahead, make my… Most of us can fill in the last word. It’s classic: Dirty Harry, pointing his .45 at the bad guy, jaw settled, eyes squinting, gun gleaming. (It’s “Go ahead, make my day.” BTW)

Top Gun is another favorite. After going inverted (flying upside down over a Russian MiG military jet) and later assisting a spooked pilot land his F-14 Tomcat on the heaving deck of an aircraft carrier and nearly running out of fuel, “Maverick”, the hero, stands before his commanding officer, who berates him with this line: “Son, your ego is writing checks your body can’t cash!” for putting himself and his aircraft in needless jeopardy.

So I’m wading through Leviticus. In chapter 27, God is instructing Moses about keeping promises, the writing-checks-I-can’t-cash kind. Being a corn fed, 21st century American, this all sounds like Urdu; it makes no sense at all; why would anyone go and open their mouth and bind themselves to such a an oath. Specifically, if anyone made a promise to God of themselves, their family(!!) animals, fields, or whatnot, they either had to put up the goods, or redeem them, if possible.

It made no sense to me until I flashed forward to Acts chapters 4 & 5. The baby church, filled with the Holy Spirit, bands together in the midst of intense persecution, selling all they had, and using the proceeds to help all the brothers and sisters. Barnabas is cited, specifically.

Ananias and his wife Sapphira, in contrast, sell off some land and pass only a part of the money, but representing that they had given the Apostles all the loot. We know what happens next: they both drop dead for lying to God and discount self-glorification gone bad.

Duh! Now it made sense. If I promise God something, I need to make it good. But you might say, isn’t God killing Ananias and Sapphira (can we call them A & S, my fingers ache) a bit over the top (drastic)? Let’s consider. What if Peter had let them get away with it? Consider the poor pastor, a big sack-o-cash is dropped on your desk from two of your flock. The s-t-r-o-n-g temptation would be to say thanks and ignore it. But that would compromise the pastor’s integrity.

A & S have had their integrity compromised. And they’ve sought their own glory, something God takes a dim view of. (Isaiah 42:8 & 48:11, look it up. I double dare you.) No doubt word would have gotten out that A & S fudged on their contribution. They must share the blame if no one steps forward.

And most importantly, God is being slapped in the face. By A & S, their pastor, their church, and any unsaved person who finds out and despises those whack, self-congratulating hypocrite Christians.

So no. God can’t let it stand. He protects His glory by recalling A & S home a bit earlier than they originally planned. And we can’t compromise either. Why just this morning I promised Pastor Randy I’d play for three Thursday nights. I could blow it off and not show up…

I think I will keep my commitments.

The Man in the Mirror - Exodus 20

Let’s keep this simple. I went to work a few weeks ago. Having slept well, I woke up late, powered throught the shower-shave-shirt-shoe cycle, out the door, and flew to work, warp factor 9. My boss was to be there, and I don’t see her that often, so when she IS there, I want to make the most of the opportunity.

AS I AM WALKING THROUGH THE DOOR, I glanced down and saw a coffee stain on my shirt rivaling San Bernadino County in size. No sweater, no time to go back for a new one, I busily try to damp clean the really bad parts, (I think it was the spot that looked like Colton, CA) only to have a shirt that that was not only filthy, but wet.

Well, the meeting went well, anyway, L— is a gracious person, and actually thought it was pretty funny. I groaned inwardly and swore off coffee, (ya right!) and vowed to check the mirror as my dear wife and older daughter do before leaving the house.

What does that have to do with Charlton Heston coming off the mountain with those two big stone dudes? Had I bothered to check the mirror, the Map-of-San-Berdoo-stain would have revealed to me the need to deep six the shirt, put on a new one, and wake up more than 15 minutes before work. But noooo!

Well the Ten Commandments are the same way. They tell me when I need to clean things up in my life. When I look into the “mirror” of the ten Big Ones, they tell me I need to wash up, like Jesus told Peter to do in John 13:10. I can’t claim Heaven by keeping them, but I sure can see where I need to make some changes in my life.

So no, I don’t take the mirror to work, and I don’t wear 2 heavy burdensome tablets to earn Heaven; I just check the mirror, for crying out loud, and change that shirt!

Abra-Man

Genesis 22
We are moving through Pastor Randy’s Thursday night study. I read Genesis 22 tonight. It’s funny how the Holy Spirit often reveals new facets to old familar stories. I was moved by the recognition that Abram took action immediately when instructed by God to sacrifice his son Isaac. He didn’t hesitate, ask God to clarify or confirm, didn’t do the many things a less faithful, less sure man would have done.

And the inner turmoil! A case of antacid could not not have soothed his roiling insides. The burden dread of the task, the protective answer, all overcome by even more enormous faith that the God he KNEW and TRUSTED would turn out all things rightly.

He had no Old or New Testament to turn to, no Christian book or video to prop himself up with. No, Abram hitched himself up, and got on with it.

I saw in this that the woman and man of God is at her best when obedience is sure and decisive, not double-minded. The pain is not shunned or avoided, but confronted head on. I would to have that faith.

But if I am intimate with God as Abram was, I can.