“I enjoyed my dinner.”  Did your parents teach you to say that to the hostess every time you went to another home for a meal?  Mine did, and I am sure that the hostess knew that’s why I said it.  Some things are done just to be polite, like asking, “How are you?”  Everyone knows it is a greeting not a question to be answered.  It’s semantics, and part of our culture.

            But there are other times when the compliment is sincere.  Keith learned early on when someone was saying, “Good lesson,” to be polite, and when it was really meant, and the latter were precious to him.

            If we can know these things, why do we think God won’t?  Why do we think we can go through the motions without going through the e-motions? 

            There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evil men. Surely God does not hear an empty cry, nor does the Almighty regard it, Job 35:12-13.  If the only time God hears from me is when I cannot fend for myself, why would He come to my aid then?  If I expect help, I must offer something myself—like love, devotion, worship, and obedience.  That’s why it is called a covenant—both parties agree to give something.

            They utter mere words; with empty oaths they make covenants, Hos 10:4.  Undoubtedly, the covenant Israel made with God fit this condemnation.  Instead of loving God “with all their hearts,” they did what they thought necessary to get along with Him, imagining that outward rituals mattered more than sincere hearts.  It has never been so with God, and never will be.

            You cannot give God ritual obedience and think you have offered sincere worship.  You cannot follow the Law to the letter and leave undone its “weightier matters” Matt 23:23.  Israel tried it and God said, “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.  Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them…” Amos 5:21,22.  Jesus echoed that comment when he said, “Go and learn what this means—I desire mercy and not sacrifice…” Matt 9:13.

            God has always required sincerity and truth; He has always wanted those who “obey from the heart” Rom 6:17.  He has always sought a people who will be His in more than name only.  God knows when, “I enjoyed my dinner,” comes from a thankful heart and when it is just a courtesy. 

            When you pray tonight, will He recognize your words as sincere compliments, or just more formulaic nonsense meant only to salve a hypocritical conscience?”  He knows the difference.

This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules.  You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul, Deut 26:16.

Dene Ward

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            A couple of years ago we had one of those weeks to end all weeks.  Besides the tropical storm that dumped 13 inches of rain over us and left us without power for several hours, the pump on the well went out, the phones, and thus the modem, went out, the satellite dish went out, the air conditioning in the car went out, and we each had a respiratory virus.

            As I was sitting in the mechanic’s air conditioned waiting room, leaning back on his padded couch with a television droning on should I care to watch and a cup of free coffee between my hands, bemoaning all my misfortunes, I suddenly realized what a luxury it was to do so.  A tropical storm had moved almost directly over us, yet we only lost power for a few hours.  Thirteen inches of rain had fallen, yet we could still get up and down our road to a dry home; we just couldn’t use the telephones and modem for four days.  The air conditioning in the car, something I never even had as a child, was out, but I could still drive it to the dealership, sit in comfort while they fixed it, and my warranty covered it completely.  The pump was out so I had to do without running water for five hours.  A hundred years ago I wouldn’t even have known what I was missing.  What a luxury to be able to complain about such things.

            I saw a promo on television the other night.  Some rich, show biz personality was “going ballistic” because the $100 lipstick she bought did not match her evening gown, and she had broken a nail right after a $300 manicure.  I remember feeling outraged and downright disgusted with her, but am I any better?

            Compared to most people in the world, we live lives of luxury and don’t even realize it.  I am sure many of those impoverished people would have felt the same outrage at me had they heard me complaining.

            In the Old Testament, Israel became so wealthy that all they cared about was living lives of ease.  They stopped being concerned about the things a true people of God should be concerned with, like sin and evil in the world.  While many did not actually partake of those things, they simply let them keep on existing.  The important things to them were building large, comfortable homes, entertaining in style, and having others wait on them.  That is one of the reasons they were destroyed, as Amos plainly put it.  The elite, the “first” in the nation, were the first to be carried away captive.

            The next time we start our “poor little me” lists, we need to take a good look at them.  Let’s at least realize what a luxury it is to have such things to complain about and be grateful, and let’s save our real complaints for things that truly matter.

       
Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria…Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch themselves out on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the middle of the stall, who sing idle songs to the sound of the harps and like David, invent themselves instruments of music, who drink in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph.  Therefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile, and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.  The Lord God has sworn by himself, declares the Lord, the God of hosts, I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds, and I will deliver up his city and all that is in it, Amos 6:1, 4-8.

Dene Ward

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Today's post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.

One of my personal rules of exegesis (if I may use such a fancy word to describe my inexpert attempts to understand the Bible) is that if something is repeated in multiple accounts of an event or if the same concept is repeated several times, then it must be more important than usual. For example, the Gospels record Jesus healing on the Sabbath at least 5 different times. The Holy Spirit was probably trying to emphasize something there. Or if multiple Gospels record the same event and one phrase is repeated word for word in each account, there is probably a point of emphasis there.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all mention the same thing when telling of Judas coming to the garden to betray Jesus into the hands of the priests, et al, who wanted to kill Him. They all say that he was "one of the twelve." What is the emphasis? The level of betrayal. We've all heard the story so many times that some of the emotional impact may be lost. But Judas was one of the twelve. This wasn't the betrayal of an outlying disciple, one of those few hundred who were around much of the time, this was one of the twelve. This was a man who had been selected from among those disciples and exalted to a higher position. This was one who had been gifted with the power to heal and cast out demons. This was one who was always with Him. When Jesus fled the crowds to have a period of peace, He took Judas along. When He vacationed in Phoenicia and Caesarea Phillipi, He took Judas along. Judas was there, privy to the most private aspects of Jesus' life. Judas had access that few others could imagine. Judas betrayed Him. 

Am I any better? 

Heb 10:26-29 "For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which shall devour the adversaries. A man that has set at nought Moses law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, do you think, shall he be judged worthy, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace? 

I have access to God that the faithful who lived prior to Christ would be astonished at (Heb 10:19-22), yet all too often I decide that I'm going to do what I want to do rather than living for my Lord (who died for me). When I do that, I count His blood as an unholy thing,.something common and not worth any effort. I trample Him, to get to my desires. 

Am I any better than Judas?

Are you?

Lucas Ward

            Now, now--I can see those eyebrows.  No, I don’t know her name, but I sure know a lot about her, and so do you, if you think about it.

            We need to start back a few generations.  Luke tells us that Mary and Elizabeth were close relatives, 1:36.  If one is from the tribe of Judah, a descendant of David, and the other a “daughter of Aaron” from the tribe of Levi, how could they be “close?”      
           
            Under the Jewish system, unless there were no sons to inherit property, daughters were allowed to marry outside their tribe and were absorbed into their husbands’ tribes.  Luke’s genealogy shows that Mary was a direct descendant of David.  Yet he also says she was a “near kinswoman” of Elizabeth, a “daughter of Aaron.”  For Elizabeth to be past child-bearing age, she must have been at least two generations older than Mary, the same generation as Mary’s grandmother.  Thus it is likely that a sister from the previous generation married into the tribe of Levi, the family of Aaron.  The mother of those two earlier sisters must have been a righteous woman to raise two daughters who then raised yet more generations of righteous Jews, one of whom bore John the forerunner of the Messiah, and another the grandmother of the Messiah himself.

            This brings us to the woman in question—Jesus’ grandmother.  We know she had at least two daughters, Mary being the more famous.  Now get a sheet of paper, if your mind needs to see this in black and white like mine usually does.  Read Matt 27:56, Mark 15:40, and John 19:25.  List the women who stood at the cross and start matching them up.  Matthew says they were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.  Mark says they were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome.  John says that besides Jesus’ mother Mary, they were Mary Magdalene, Mary the wife of Cleopas (or Clopas or Cleophas), and Jesus’ mother’s sister.

            Look how much you learn from such a simple exercise.  Besides finding yet another Mary, we find out that James the Less had a brother named Joses.  We find out that his father Alphaeus (Matt 10:3) was also called Cleopas.  He was probably the Cleopas on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:18.

            More to the point, we find out that James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also the sons of Salome, and that she was Mary’s sister.  If John were the “baby cousin,” no wonder he was especially dear to Jesus.  This might also mollify any bad feelings some have toward Salome.  She really wasn’t all that presumptuous.  She was His aunt after all, and her sons were Jesus’ only blood relatives among the apostles.  Why not think they should be His first and second lieutenants? 

            So following those righteous women down the line we have one branch of the distant family bringing about the Forerunner of the Messiah, the Elijah of the New Testament, a martyr for the Lord’s cause.  In the other branch we have two twigs, one bringing forth the Messiah, the writers of two epistles (James and Jude, two of Jesus’ brothers) and an elder in the Jerusalem church (the same James); and the other bearing two of the apostles, one of whom would be the first apostle martyred (James in Acts 12) and the other who would write one gospel, three epistles, and the final Revelation—the apostle John.

            I have often thought of Mary and her dilemma when she discovered that she would be a pregnant virgin.  At that point she was a young teenager, poor and unmarried.  Imagine having to tell her parents.  Would you believe your daughter?  Of course, in this age things like that no longer happen, but when was the last miracle these people had seen?  How long had they been living with the promise of a Messiah who had yet to come?  They knew how they had raised their daughter.  They knew she was telling the truth.  Or maybe God “helped” them know as He helped Joseph, and their faith kept them strong through what must have been a difficult and awkward time with the rest of the community.

            I wonder if God could find such a family today, especially one whose righteousness He could count on to continue through several generations.  What about the family I raised?  What about yours?  What will happen two or three generations from now?  Did we give our children enough ammunition to fight Satan that long?

            One of the reasons God said he could trust Abraham, one of the reasons he was chosen was I have known him to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Jehovah to do righteousness and justice to the end that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken to him, Gen. 18:19.

            Jesus grandparents and great-grandparents, poor, uneducated by our standards, and living in a vassal nation, still accomplished what even the wealthiest and most powerful could not.  They probably never knew the end result during their lifetimes. We may never know what our efforts have accomplished either, but it may be something wonderful.  Don’t ever think that teaching your children won’t matter to the rest of the world.  Your influence, for good or bad, could go on for generations.

 

Therefore we said, Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you and between our generations after us, that we do perform the service of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, “You have no portion in the Lord,” Josh 22:26,27.

Dene Ward

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            We just bundled several services for a better price and more items.  In fact, the price we were quoted for four services was what we had before paid for two.  We asked every question we could think to ask.  Everything sounded good and we were thrilled.

            We just got the first bill.  I spent the next half hour on the phone trying to find out why this bill was 30% higher than I was told it would be.  Easy one, as it turns out.  The quote I got was the base price and did not include taxes, surcharges and all sorts of fees.     
           
            I was not happy. Yet, after I sat down and re-figured everything, we were still getting four services for the price we had formerly paid for three.  We are still saving money, which was the reason for the whole switch.  Everything had become higher than our new retirement budget allowed and now, despite my disappointment, we are still under budget. 

            Don’t you just hate fine print?  I would much rather know what the total price is, not be surprised with it when the first bill arrives.

            Jesus did not believe in fine print either.  He laid it on the line. 

            “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.”

            “I came not to bring peace but a sword.”

            “Go and sell all you have and follow me.”

            “If any would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

            “You shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.”

            “Some of you will be put to death.”

            “If you do not repent, you shall all likewise perish.”

            “Go thy way and sin no more.”

            Jesus told everyone what to expect.  He never sugar-coated it.  He never promised wealth and ease in this life.  What he did promise was a life of bliss and glory--in Eternity, not in Time.  And it isn’t a bait and switch.   

            He never said you won’t be persecuted.  In fact, he told his people to count on it.  He told them to rejoice when they were badly treated.  It puts us in good company.  “For so persecuted they the prophets before you.”

            He never said wealth would accompany our conversions.  In fact, he called wealth a danger to our souls. 

            He never said we would be healthy; that no trials of life would ever touch us.  He simply said, “I know how you feel.  I will not forsake you.”

            Jesus spelled it out.  We can know the final bill before it ever arrives.  If we are shocked because we have to suffer, then we just ignored what we did not want to hear.  He never tried to hide it.

            He also told us exactly what He will give us.  I am still getting a good deal on my little bundle, but it doesn’t compare to the deal I get with the Lord.  What the Lord offers is beyond our imaginations.  Even the words God uses for our frail intellect cannot express the glory that awaits a child of God.

            Go ahead and sign the contract.  You won’t have a nasty surprise in the mail.  And if you have signed already, remind yourself of the bundle that awaits you, especially if you are in the midst of trials now.  It is well worth the cost.

His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant: you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things; enter you into the joy of your lord. Matthew 25:23

Dene Ward

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            Any time even a good translator tries to translate poetry from one language to another it presents many more problems than translating prose.  How do you find words that keep the meter of the original, that rhyme if the original poem did, and that still translate the thought of the foreign poet?  Words that rhyme in one language do not rhyme in another, and words with two syllables do not always have two in the second language, and you certainly cannot count on the accents being in the same place.

            But God in His providence chose a culture where “rhyme” and “meter” have nothing to do with the poetry.  Instead of words sounding alike, each line of a Hebrew couplet “rhyme” in thought.  In their culture, each line restates the first in a more emphatic way.  The point of the “accent” is not the way word sounds, but in the gradual intensity of meaning.  That way the translators from any culture could translate without worrying about rhyme or meter and simply translate the words, giving us exactly the same meanings as the original, just as we would ordinary prose.  The imagery is still there word for word so the effect of the poem is not lost, and the psalm can do exactly for us what it did for those people thousands of years ago.

           Imagine if it had been the other way around.  Imagine if the original psalms were written in Occidental mode—rhyme, meter and all.  I spoke to a woman who had done some translating once from Spanish to English.  She said it was an overwhelming task because in her case she had to find those words that rhymed, that had the same singsong sort of meter, yet still meant the same thing.  Even with three dictionaries in front of her the job was long and arduous.  If we were Hebrew-speaking people trying to make sense of Western poetry, could we even be certain we had the right words?  If that were important, as it certainly would be, the whole effect of the original would be lost.

            But we can be sure, because God’s providence works in amazing ways we probably never thought about before. We can know that we have the exact wording of the original psalms, the exact meaning of those heartfelt phrases because of the nature of Oriental poetry. 

            If God takes such pains in such detailed items, surely His providence will work in other ways.  Surely He knows what we need when, and how to make it come about even by ordinary, everyday means; just as He made Joseph second in command to Pharaoh and supervisor of the stores just when the family of the future Messiah would have starved without them; just as He had a Jewish girl declared Queen of Persia just when an anti-Semitic Persian came to hold sway over the king; just as He had Caesar declare a census just when a certain Jewish maiden was about to deliver so she would be in the town prophesied in Micah.

            Don’t ever doubt that God works in the world today.  We may not understand exactly what is going on.  We may, in fact, never see the results of things set in motion during our lifetimes.  But I know He is working by this one simple example: God has taken pains to give me a Word I can trust. 

            Go find Peter, the angel told Cornelius, who will teach you “words whereby you shall be saved,” Acts 10:14.  Those same words can save us too, and we can have the utmost confidence in them.

And for this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when you received from us the word of the message, even the word of God, you accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also works in you that believe, 1 Thess 2:13.

Dene Ward

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On May 8, 1902, Mt Pelee erupted, killing 30,000 people.  It may have been the end of their world, but I doubt it held a candle to the fiery cataclysm in Genesis 19:  Jehovah rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven, and he overthrew those cities and all the Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities and that which grew upon the ground, vv 24,25.

            We know how Lot wound up in Sodom, but did you ever wonder where his wife came from?  When Lot left Ur with Abraham, Abraham’s wife is mentioned, Lot’s wife is not.  Is that because she was not important to the story, or because she wasn’t there yet? 

            Although Lot moved to the plain of Jordan in Gen 13:11, he was actually living in Sodom by 14:12.  We first have mention of “the women” in 14:16, but that could have referred to servants—remember, at one point he had quite a few.  Lot’s wife is not specifically mentioned until he is actually living in Sodom.  Between 12:4 and 18:10, twenty-four years have elapsed, plenty of time to marry and have marriageable daughters, especially in a day where marrying them off at puberty was the custom.  Since Sodom is not actually destroyed until chapter 19, it is quite possible that Lot’s wife was a native of Sodom.  It would certainly make her attachment to the city, and her looking back, much more understandable. 

            Jesus utters the words of the title above when he is warning his followers about the destruction of Jerusalem in Luke 17.  When the time came, they were to flee, giving no thought to the life they were leaving behind.  Any delay caused by the desire for that life would cause them to lose any hope of a future life.  The warning, Remember Lot’s wife, also carried with it the idea of regretting what was left behind.  As a matter of fact, the next morning Abraham looked at those same cities Lot and his family were told not to look at, Gen 19:27,28, but he did not turn into a pillar of salt.  He was not sorry these wicked places were destroyed; he was probably wondering if Lot and his family had made it out alive.  Lot’s wife, on the other hand, was looking back like the man who put his hand to the plow and looked back.  God wants a real commitment from us, with no lingering attachment to the old way of life.

            So no, we do not really know where Lot’s wife came from, but it is safe to assume she loved her life in Sodom.  If she came from there, that might explain it—family, friends, and familiar surroundings.  But if she did not, she still might be the reason he finally made the actual move into the city.  She left only because she was forced to, Gen 19:16, and because she so plainly regretted it, God counted her with the Sodomites and destroyed her too.  Being in Sodom was not the crux of the matter, but rather, being like Sodom, and liking that place all too well.

            How about me?  Do I live the Christian life because I love it, or because I feel forced into it, regretting the loss of my old life and wishing I were there?  Do I put my hand to the plow and look back?  Do I get along so well with the world that no one sees a difference between me and them?  If God were still in the salt business, what would I look like today?

Being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, unmerciful, who, knowing the ordinance of God, that they that practice such things are worthy of death, not only they who do the same, but who take pleasure in them that do them.  Rom 1:28-32

Dene Ward

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            I don’t know where that sobriquet came from, but I think of it every time I read Matthew 6.

…Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? …Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all, Matt 6:25-32.

            Jesus is making a point we often miss in that passage.  “For the Gentiles seek after these things,” He says.  The pagan gods were notoriously capricious, vindictive, and malicious.  The whole idea was to appease them.  The best a Gentile could hope for was that the gods wouldn’t notice him at all.  If he kept his head down, minded his own business, and made the required sacrifices, maybe he could stumble his way through life without too much trouble.  Certainly no one expected those gods to actually care enough about him to provide his needs.

            Then Jesus reminds his disciples, “Your heavenly Father knows…”  Did you catch that?  Your God is not a capricious god; your God is your heavenly Father.  If He is your Father, of course He will take care of your needs.  Any time we worry—just like the Gentiles worried—we are insulting God, calling Him no better than those heathen gods who didn’t love their subjects, and certainly never thought of them as beloved children.

            What would your earthly father have thought if, as a child, you came home from school every day and wondered aloud if there would be any supper on the table that night?  How hurt would he have been if you didn’t trust him to love you and provide for you any better than that?  Why do we think God would feel differently?  Why would He not only be insulted, but angry, and wouldn’t it be understandable?

            We may not have everything we want.  Some of us will be more comfortable than others.  But God is your Father, a Father who is able far beyond any pagan god to care for His people, and not only that--He wants to.  Don’t insult Him, treating Him like nothing more than an idol, and a spiteful one at that, by worrying about the necessities of life.

 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust, Psalm 103:13,14

Dene Ward

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            Do you want to know what the word “relative” means?  Just follow me around for awhile and listen to the doctors. 

            Many years ago we moved a thousand miles and I went to a new ophthalmologist for the first time.  Unfortunately, my file did not make it before the appointment.  The doctor looked at my eyes and the contacts I was wearing at the time and shook his head.  “Who fit these?  He obviously doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

            A week later I returned to his office.  He had received the file and read it through, noting the nanophthalmic eyes and the incredibly steep corneas.  “Your doctor is a genius,” he pronounced.  “I don’t know how he did this.  You shouldn’t even be able to wear contact lenses, but had he not been able to do it, you would be blind by now.”  Nothing about my eyes changed, but the doctor’s opinion certainly did.

            Then there was the difference between the lens implant surgeon in Cincinnati and my glaucoma surgeon.  The first considered the lens implant almost a failure because my nanophthalmus had skewed the formulas and I still could not see well.  The second considered it a success because I could still see at all. 

            Only a few weeks ago, I had a visit with the retina guru after a “retina event” as they called it in the glaucoma hall.  The tech there declared it impossible for the doctor to be able to see into “these tiny little pupils.  You will most certainly need to be dilated.”  (This, in spite of the fact that my chart is stamped in large, red, capital letters DO NOT DILATE.)   The retina doctor knew better than to dilate someone with my symptoms and overruled her.  Later, when the glaucoma doctor looked into my eyes, he said, “What are they complaining about?  These are nice big pupils.”  Of course, he has been dealing with them for years.

            You see, good for me is bad for you, at least at the ophthalmologist’s office.    

            Many things are like that.  If you’re from the north, you think Florida winters are warm and springs are hot.  If you are from Florida, you think the northeast is arid.  You would probably turn to dust the minute you walked into Arizona.  And because we understand the concept of relativity, we have a tendency not to see the awfulness of sin, particularly our own.  I’m not bad, we think.  I haven’t murdered anyone, I haven’t stolen from anyone.  I don’t lie—well, at least not big black lies.  And there we go excusing ourselves because we can always find someone worse than we are.  Paul, in another context, mentions those who measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, concluding that they are without understanding, 2 Cor 10:12.  We are too, if we think we can get to Heaven by comparing our lives to anything other than God’s standard

            Nothing is relative when it comes to sin.  When we think we can decide which sins need to be repented of and which don’t, when we think we can choose a standard of our own, whether a person or a personal credo, when we think we are the ones who get to draw the line, God will not tolerate even what we consider the tiniest of sins.  To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, a sin by any other name will still rise as a stench in the nostrils of God.

            There is nothing relative about sin.  It is a theory that will always prove false.

For whoever shall keep the whole law yet stumble in one point, he has become guilty of it all.  For he who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not kill.  Now if you do not commit adultery but you do kill, you have become a transgressor of the law.  So speak and so do as men who are to be judged by a perfect law of liberty, James 2:10-12.

Dene Ward

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            Girls raised in the South, or GRITS as one of my coffee mugs calls them, are some of the strongest people on this earth.  These women were nurtured on grits, greens, cornbread and chores from the time they could chew.  They work hard and long without complaint.  They know that getting dirty is healthy and sweat is not a terminal disease so they don’t avoid either one.  They can hoe row after row in the hot sun, shell beans till midnight, can, blanch, and preserve in a steamy kitchen for hours, cook for an army every night, and then clean it all up and start over the next morning. 

            They show up like magic when others are hurting and do whatever needs doing.  They find their way in any kitchen, heating up casseroles seasoned with love and tears, stirring pots of vegetables flavored with fatback, slicing tall layer cakes and mile high meringue pies, sinking their arms in a sink full of suds, and grabbing up a basket of laundry on their way out the door to be returned clean, mended, ironed, and folded before the house of mourning even realizes the clothes are missing. 

            They will take anyone’s children in their laps and dry up tears, listen to sad stories, and tell a few funny ones to bring back the smiles.  They bandage skinned knees and aren’t too prissy to change a needful baby’s diapers, no matter who it belongs to.  They will even offer a little discipline on little bottoms that think since Mama’s not around no one else cares—they care.  They can play tag, hide and seek, and red rover, make mudpies and sand castles, and then go home and finish whatever needs doing, no matter how late it gets.  They will stay up all night with anyone who needs it, then get up and go again as if nothing has happened.

            How do they do it?  The women I grew up watching had one magic ingredient—love—love that involved selflessness, strength, and purpose, and was borne from the heat of life.  Maybe living in the South made that come more naturally, just as the southern heat and humidity makes the sweat pour more profusely. 

            God applies the heat to us as well.  In Isa 48:10, God told His people,   Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. Affliction hurts.  It burns in a flash and roasts in constant pain and fear.  But eventually, the heat refines our souls and makes them pure and strong.

            What, you think it unfair that God would do this?  Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.  If He would do it to His own Son, who are we to get some sort of special dispensation?  In fact, the special dispensation is in the trials.  If God never put us through these things, we would be weaklings, always babes, never maturing to spirituality.  Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

            There is another result from all this fiery testing, perhaps the best result of all.  God speaks of a group of His people in Zech 13:9, saying, And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'They are my people'; and they will say, 'The LORD is my God.'"  I will go through whatever it takes to have Him declare me His child and answer my call, won’t you?

            Even now, as the long hot summer approaches, I am ready for it.  It reminds me that just as the southern heat strengthens my body, the spiritual heat can work wonders on my soul.  I know from watching both of my grandmothers, and my mother and aunts.  I know from working side by side with other women as we toil for our families and neighbors, and for the Lord, too, as we serve our brethren. 

            You need to become comfortable with the fire.  If you can’t stand the heat, the kitchen is the least of your worries.

Each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 1 Corinthians 3:13

Dene Ward

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