Imagine my surprise when I went to a workshop on essential oils and the speaker opened her presentation with that statement.  Quickly she went on to explain, and I have appreciated her even more as a sister in Christ since then.

            This young woman uses the oils.  She enjoys them in her bath, on her skin, and diffused in the air around her.  However, she does not believe that they imbue people with spiritual powers.

            “I am a Christian,” she said.  “What some people claim these oils do for you is done for me through Christ and the Word.  Period.”  Once she began to list the claims, and once I did my own research, I have uttered a hearty amen.

            So what do they claim?  The following is only a partial list, and remember, each of these things is supposed to be “spiritual,” so, for example, when it lists “strength,” it means spiritual strength, not muscular strength.  Keep everything in that context.
            Fennel—perseverance
            Grapefruit—generosity
            Helichrysum—patience
            Myrtle—ability to forgive
            Palmarosa—faithfulness
            Parsley—purification
            Sandalwood—unity
            Pine—humility
            Juniper—sincerity and enlightenment
            Myrrh—spirituality
            Cedarwood—regeneration
            Agrimony—protection
            Chamomile—spiritual awareness, inner peace
            Bay laurel—confidence
            Bergamot—joy
            Cinnamon—love
            Angelica--comfort
            (www.mauldinfaily1.wordpress.com, “mama bear musings”)
This isn’t even half the list, but it contains most of the “spiritual blessings” these oils are supposed to impart. 

            Some people also ascribe “magical” powers to essential oils.  Magic?  Yes, as in potions to protect you and grant you good health and good luck or to put a hex on one’s enemies.  This is exactly how the pagans used oils in ancient times, as indicated by many of the Bible verses that condemn the practice of such “magic.”   Remember too, that most of the verses used to claim Biblical authority for using “essential oils” at all are referring to plain old olive oil, the stuff you and I cook with.  Yes, other oils are mentioned by name, but with the exception of the table of incense in the tabernacle and the Temple, I could find none used in the worship of God.  (Please show me if I am wrong.)

            Before we get to this matter of spiritual benefits, let’s clear up a couple of other things.  Proponents of essential oils say that they were used in Biblical times and were even found in King Tut’s tomb.  Let me quote:  “…aromatic materials were used in Biblical times…but these materials would not have been essential oils, at least not by today’s definition of being steam distilled products.”  Steam distillation was not even invented until the 11th century, over 2000 years after King Tut’s death.  (www.weedemandreap.com, “10 Essential Oil Myths vs Fact” by Dr Robert Pappas)

            Others lean heavily on the fact that the wise men brought frankincense and myrrh to the house where the toddler Jesus was living in Bethlehem.  Besides these gifts having more to do with the nature of the Messiah as the future king, priest, and sacrifice, it probably financed, along with the gold, the flight to Egypt the poor, newly married couple had to make to save their child’s life.  And, as quoted above, it wasn’t even the same thing as those two materials today.

            As for the “magical” properties, I seriously hope I don’t have to say much about that.  Those things are condemned in both the Old and New Testaments not just as sins, but as “abominations to the LORD.”  No Christian should ever believe such things or use these oils in that way.

            For those spiritual properties, let’s examine the scriptures.  In no particular order:
2 Cor 5:17—God has made us new creatures in Christ (regeneration)
Rom 12:5—we have unity in Christ (and many more passages)
2 John 1:3—we have grace, mercy, and peace through God and Jesus Christ
2 Cor 2:17—sincerity shows when one speaks in Christ
Phil 2:1—encouragement and comfort are found in Christ
Eph 3:12—we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him
Eph 1:18—Paul prays for our enlightenment, in this context, in him
1 Pet 1:22—we are purified by our obedience to the truth
Gal 5:22-26—the fruit of the Spirit (love , joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) comes when we put to death the deeds of the body and are led by the Spirit, a very good definition of spirituality.
And should anyone still be doubtful, Eph 1:3—God has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing.  “Every” should cover anything I missed in the lists above.

            If I need these oils in order to be able to forgive someone, why didn’t God make sure I knew about it in His Word?  In fact, He does tell me that if I do not forgive I will not be forgiven, so this is a serious matter.  If I need some sandalwood in order to have unity, why weren’t the first century Christians told to find some and use it?  Their unity, Jesus said, would make the world believe.  Are we consigning people to Hell because we don’t have any sandalwood in our assemblies?  If I need parsley for purification, surely God would have told us that it wasn’t just the blood of Jesus that purified us.  I think you can probably see my point by now.

            When the Jews started relying upon horses, chariots, political alliances and false gods, God destroyed them.  I think you can add essential oils to the list if they are being touted as “necessary to purification and spirituality.”  Even if we believe they just “help,” we are on dangerous ground.  When God supplies something, it’s enough.

            If you enjoy using essential oils in your own home, please do so.  I enjoyed passing them around and smelling them.  And it certainly was an eye-opener to me about how generous those wise men were with their gifts.  One ounce of frankincense (that’s 2 tablespoons) was listed at $97.00.  I believe they brought Jesus far more than that (and remember it was NOT exactly the same thing).

            But if you claim to be a disciple of our Lord, you need to be careful what you believe about these things.  You owe it to Him to make sure that your companions do not tar you with the same brush as those who make unscriptural claims.  They need to hear that while you may enjoy these oils you worship the Creator, not the creation. 

            Do not undermine the all-sufficiency of Christ by claiming that these oils can do for anyone what he does for those who are “in him.”  It’s nothing less than blasphemous to say that “essential oils” can impart the same spiritual blessings that He can.
 
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Heb 13:20-21
 
Dene Ward

“Hi!  My name is Moe and I will be your server today.  What can I get you to drink?”

            We had received a gift card to an Italian restaurant we had never been to before and were using it after a doctor appointment one afternoon.  Moe was slightly shorter than average, but a dark-haired, good looking young man, probably working his way through college, it being a college town.  We enjoyed our meal and Moe served us well.  Our first course came lickety-split and when the second took a little bit longer, he stopped to tell us we were “next” and to see if we needed anything else while we waited—like another loaf of warm bread, an offer we were happy to take him up on.  All through the meal he checked on our progress, on whether we were happy or not, and whether things were prepared to our liking.

            When we had finished and were sated enough to turn down dessert, he stood another moment and said, “Is there anything else I can get you?”  Then a half second later, “I really mean that.  You are the kindest table I have waited on all day and I would do anything in the world for you.”

            I had noticed that the booth behind Keith had called him over half a dozen times, and another table had sent something back.  No one raised a voice, but evidently their words and manner showed they might as well have. 

            And us?  We didn’t really think about what we were doing or how we were acting.  We were just—us.  Maybe it’s that we learned a long time ago that people in the service industry are often mistreated and verbally abused, made to pay for someone else’s failures—in this case, maybe the chef’s—and treated just like furniture as far as any personal interaction goes.  Maybe I learned it from my daddy—he always called people he dealt with by their names, and waiters and waitresses, car salesmen and mechanics all remembered him.

            But Moe’s words of gratitude have made me actually think about what I am doing and saying, trying to be even kinder than usual, and maybe even developing a short—but sweet—relationship with those people.  Isn’t that the way Christians are supposed to treat those who serve them?

            Masters, treat your servants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven…and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him. Col 4:1; Eph 6:9

            Why shouldn’t those passages apply to how we treat waiters and waitresses, plumbers and mechanics, cashiers and pizza delivery guys?  These people serve us as part of their daily work, and we can make or break their reputations with their bosses and even cost them their jobs.  We can also brighten their day if we treat them as we ought to, and who knows, maybe someday we can help bring them to Christ. 

            My boys have worked in service industries over summer semesters.  Even all these years later they can tell you stories about certain customers.  Do you really think it is Christlike to be a customer remembered for his sour disposition and rude words over twenty years later?

            Did you go out to eat yesterday?  How would your server remember you?  If you walked in again today, how would he feel?  How does your cashier at the grocery store greet you?  Does she ignore you unless you go through her line, or does she smile and wave when she sees you walk through the door? 

            So thank you, Moe, for reminding me that we are supposed to be reflections of our Lord to everyone.  Thank you for reminding me that my actions and attitudes can glorify or shame Him.
 
You shall not rule over [your servants] ruthlessly but shall fear your God. Lev 25:43
 
Dene Ward

My son, Lucas has been transferred and he says the attitude of his workers in this new store is remarkably different from those in his old one.  They actually understand the concept of earning a paycheck.  In the old store the workers seemed to think that merely showing up not more than a couple minutes late was sufficient to earn their living.  They could stand in the halls and talk all they wanted as long as they were there doing it between the start and end of their shifts.  Actually “working” was above and beyond and should earn them a hefty raise every six months.
            I am afraid some people who call themselves Christians have the same misunderstanding.  They think their “shift” is Sunday morning from 9 to noon, and all they have to do is sit in a comfortable seat in an air conditioned building and that should be enough to get them to Heaven, in fact, that should “earn” them Heaven.  I mean, what more could God possibly expect than for them to give up a good-sized chunk of their weekends?
            They are so mistaken.  God expects hard work.  Jesus set the example of hard work.  He rose early in the morning (Mark 1:35); he often worked through meals (John 4:31-34); he was always looking to the next village, the next person to save (Mark 1:38,39).  Finally he was able to say, I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given me to do, John 17:4. Do we really think God will expect any less of us?
            Paul tells us we should work heartily [for our masters on earth] as unto the Lord, Col 3:23, which presupposes that we are actually working hard for the Lord, and need to be told to work that hard for our “masters” as well.  Our shift for the Lord begins the day we commit ourselves to Him.  It doesn’t end until we end. 
            Paul reminds us to Give diligence to present yourself approved unto God, 2 Tim 2:15.  Diligence means you keep working even if the work is long, difficult, tedious or unpleasant.  You cannot take a break; you cannot call in sick; you cannot stop for any reason short of death, and still you have not earned your paycheck.  And be glad of that, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, Rom 6:23.  You really don’t want the paycheck you have earned.
           
And exercise thyself unto godliness:  for bodily exercise is profitable for a little; but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come. Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation. For to this end we labor and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of them that believe. 1 Tim 4:7-10.
 
Dene Ward

One of my writing teacher’s favorite metaphors was something she called “the abstraction ladder.”  She told us we wrote in forgettable generalities.  “You have to bring it down the ladder,” she said.  Then she began to show us what she meant.
 
           On the board she wrote, “Meat cooking in a pan.”  What kind of meat?  What kind of cooking?  What kind of pan?  “Bring it down the ladder,” she said.  “Make it appeal to as many senses as possible.” 

            Under the offending phrase she drew a large ladder. Then, as we answered each question, she rewrote the original phrase, placing each clarification down another rung on the ladder.  Gradually that blah little phrase became more and more concrete.  At the bottom of the ladder we wound up with, “Bacon sizzling in a cast iron skillet.”  Suddenly you could see it, you could hear it, you could even smell it. 

            Learning all the Bible stories is essential to a Christian.  All those narratives make the abstract commands more concrete.  “Flee fornication,” Paul says in 1 Cor 6:18.  The concrete illustration is Joseph in Genesis 39.  Look at all the things Joseph did to help himself—first he said no to the woman, then he did his best to avoid being alone with her, and when finally she caught him, literally, he simply ran. 

            But even recognizing that does not bring it down the ladder far enough.  I must apply it to my own life.  What temptations do I struggle with?  Do I even get past the point of saying no?  Do I avoid the temptation or try to see how close I can get?  Do I think I need to prove something and so stand there and try to overcome the temptation when the wiser thing would be to run away?

            That is just a small example of how the Scriptures should affect my life.  Men stand and pray at the end of practically every sermon that we will “make application” to our lives.  Too often we don’t even try.  Too often even the sermons themselves are void of specific concrete examples to help us find a way to apply them.  In actually making pointed applications, even made-up situations, the preacher is likely to hit a nail right on the head accidentally.  Maybe that is why we don’t hear too many specific applications.  That means we need to try even harder to do it for ourselves.

            God meant for the scriptures to lead us to Heaven.  We have the mistaken notion that we need to stay at the top of the ladder to get there.  But in this case, the closer we get to the bottom, the more likely we will make it.
 
This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate thereon day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then you shalt make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success, Josh 1:8.
 
Dene Ward

Lucas lives five minutes from the beach.  On our first visit we drove across Santa Rosa Sound and strolled the white sand beach, watching the sandpipers’ maniacal little legs dodging the last remnant of a wave as it crept across the shiny wet sand, and looked across the emerald green water for the first sign of a dolphin breaking the surface while the seagulls screamed overhead hoping for an errant crust or dropped crumb.  We plodded along, our feet sinking into the mud, leaning into westerly winds that would blow the curls right out of your hair, our words caught just as they slipped out of our mouths and blown away like dust bunnies in a fan.

            We weren’t alone.  Pale-skinned tourists in floppy sunhats scoured the beach for shells.  Children played tag with the waves.  Older tweens and teens, their hands and legs breaded with sand, carried pails of mud for sandcastles and sculptures, and gathered shells and driftwood for ornamentation.  Lovers of all ages strolled hand in hand, eyes only for one another.

            The beach itself is lined with condos, ten or more stories of glittering glass, reflecting the sun, balconies furnished with umbrella-ed tables and cushioned chairs and potted plants of the sort than can tolerate the sun, the heat, and the salt spray that constantly drifts over the narrow spit of land between the surf and the sound.

            “Wonder what one of those costs?” we often ask, telling ourselves we would never tire of the view and the calming rhythm of waves pounding the shore again and again and again.

            But guess what?  Before long we’d had enough and we piled back into the car for the five minute drive back to the apartment.  The first time we visited, we walked on the beach three times in three days, but soon it was down to one almost obligatory visit, and this past visit?  We didn’t go a single time.

            It’s easy to get used to things.  When we moved to Illinois for two years, I saw snow for the time in my 21 years of life.  Guess who was out playing in it, digging tunnels through eave-high drifts, throwing snowballs with mittened hands, and building snowmen?  All of our neighbors stayed inside where it was warm, peering through their blinds at the crazy people from Florida.

            A few weeks ago a YouTube video went viral.  It pictured something not often seen these days—a young man helping a poor, elderly woman check out in a grocery line one item at a time because she was not sure she had enough money, and doing it with patience, respect, and kindness.  Isn’t it sad that something like that has become so rare that, just like a landlubber at the beach or a Floridian in the snow, everyone stops in their tracks to look?

            And isn’t it sad that some Christians need the example that young man set?  Giving courtesy and respect where it is deserved and even where it isn’t, yielding our rights, speaking with kindness, accounting others the right to make the same mistakes we do without incurring our wrath, and realizing that not everyone operates on OUR timetables—THAT should be so common among us that no one gives it a second thought and certainly wouldn’t take a video of our actions as something rare—even behind a steering wheel.  Instead, we pat ourselves on the back for doing these things once every now and then.

            We should be like the waves incessantly breaking on this world with mercy, grace, and kindness, whether the shore is rough and rocky or flat and smooth.  No one ever questions whether the next wave will come.  It rolls in again and again, over and over and over without a break in the rhythm, so regularly that no one stops to say, “Look!  Here comes another wave.”  If it didn’t come, it wouldn’t be a wave.

            Are you a wave, or just an occasional splash?
 
Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. 1Pet 2:12
 
Dene Ward

I was searching through my Bible the other night, preparing for a class on how to overcome temptation.  I spent a considerable amount of time looking to the example of our Lord and how he managed it.  Maybe we will talk about those things another time.  However, I found in 1 Peter a passage in which I saw at least three methods to help myself overcome.
           
Take a moment now and read 1 Peter 1:13-21, just to save me space in this little essay.  In verse 13 Peter says to set your hope.  We have this nifty little definition we often use—hope is confident expectation.  I think we miss the emphasis on confidence.  It isn’t that we hope, maybe, if possible, perhaps, we will be saved—it is that we have every confidence that we will.  At least in the King James Version that Greek word is translated “trust” more times than it is “hope.” 
           
And notice on what we are to set our hope, our trust—not ourselves, not our own righteousness, not the great and wonderful things we have done for the Lord.  If that were the case, our hope would be hope-less.  We set it on the grace of God.  Now do you see where the confidence comes in?  Because I have trust in the grace of God I can more easily overcome sin.  I know it is not a “hopeless” cause.

Now look at verses 15-17—and this one I want to write down for you.   We often miss the point because of the parenthetical statement Peter includes.  I am going to skip that phrase so you will see what he is getting at.  But as he who called you is holy, be also yourselves holy in all manner of living, because it is written, “You shall be holy because I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father…pass the time of your sojourning in fear.”

Do you start your prayers, “Our Father?”  Remember who that Father is, a Holy Father.  I loved my parents as much as any child ever could, but sometimes it was remembering those parents that made me behave myself.  I had a very real fear—not simply respect—of their reactions if I didn’t.  When you go out in the world and temptation suddenly strikes, remember who your Father is, a holy one, who expects the same from you.  When you dare to call on him as Father, let that remind you to behave yourself.
           
Then in verses 18 and 19 Peter reminds us of the price that was paid for us.  When someone gives me an expensive gift, I take far better care of it than some little token picked up at the Dollar Store, don’t you?  The price paid for our souls was the blood of Christ.  Do you think so little of it that you would throw it away like so much rubbish?  Are you that ungrateful?  I doubt it.  But sometimes we need to be reminded of things we already know.  In moments of trial, it is far too easy to forget.
           
Set your hope, your trust, on the grace of God, not yourself.  Remember who your Father is.  Remember the price that was paid for your soul.  I hope these help you get through the day, and perhaps a few more to come.
 
 For the love of Christ constrains us because we thus judge that one died for all, therefore all died, and he died for all that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again, 2 Cor 5:14,15.
 
Dene Ward

I have just spent an inordinate amount of time on the telephone with a person I have never met in my life.  I let her tell me what to do and I obeyed instantly.  I believed everything she said.  I trusted every decision she made for me.  And this is not the first time I have done this.  I have made it a habit in the past ten years.

            I have decided that you need to have a bent for technology in order to get along in the world now.  Gone are the days when you can go out, buy something, take it home, plug it in, and it works.  Everything has to be set up, programmed, deprogrammed, downloaded, uploaded, or in-loaded.  I obviously do not have the mind for it.  When my computer asks me a question, I cannot even comprehend the words much less know the right answer.

            But those techs on the phone are amazing.  They can understand my poorly phrased, obviously ignorant questions.  They can tell me exactly what my computer screen looks like, what to click on, and what will pop up next.  They can find their way through twenty different steps I never even knew were there, and magically make my computer do what it’s supposed to do.  It has happened over and over for ten years now.  That’s why I go to them as soon as I have a problem, and do exactly what they tell me to do, no questions asked. 

            We have never carried on personal conversations.  I have no idea what their qualifications are.  I have never taken a regular computer class from them. All I can see are results--when I need help, they always have an answer and it always works.  And so I even listened to them the time one said, “Ma’am, you need a new computer.”  We went out and bought a new computer.

            I wonder if we can’t learn something about evangelism from all this.  Maybe it isn’t about your qualifications as a Bible scholar.  Maybe it isn’t about people wanting to sit down and study with you on a regular basis, at least not at first.  Maybe it isn’t about you being able to come up with Bible verses for every occasion.  Maybe it isn’t even about the fact that every Sunday they see you load up the family and head off to church.  Maybe the thing that matters is your life.  Maybe because they see that you can handle whatever situation you find yourself in with grace and endurance, they know you have something they don’t have.  Maybe because they see your marriage last for years and years in spite of the trials of life, they know that the two of you have more than just a commitment to each other, but to something larger.  Maybe because they see that your children have turned out to be good solid citizens, they realize that what you believe as a family has lasting value.

            Because they see all that, they will come to you for advice.  They will ask how you do it.  And when they do, then you can talk about those scriptures in the Bible.  Then you can discuss the eternal purpose of God from the foundation of the earth.  They don’t want what you have to sell until they see the results in you. 

            Do you want to save souls?  Show them how it’s done.  If you cannot save yourself, why should they listen to you?
 
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ…Phil 1:27
 
Dene Ward

Now that we have this wood floor, it seems I am sweeping all the time.  I simply can’t stand the sound or feel of sand under my feet when I walk in the house, and living in the country where there is no outside concrete for it to fall on beforehand, we track it in several times a day, despite door mats and runners.  Those treads on sneakers must surely have glue in them that wears off the moment you step indoors. 
 
           At least once a week I do “the clean sweep.”  I pull everything out, pick everything up, and sweep every square inch I can possibly get to, followed by the dry sweeping cloths that pick up things the broom missed, as well as all the dust bunnies under the beds and sofa.  The rest of the week I make do by “sweeping the middles”—every place I can reach without moving anything.  It isn’t perfect, as evidenced by what I sweep up on the day of “the clean sweep,” but it will do.  I really have more important things to do than clean the floors.

            I looked up “sweep” and “broom” in the concordance and found that God does not believe in “sweeping the middles.”  Three evil kings were told that God would “utterly sweep away their houses,” I Kgs 14:10; 16:3; 21:21.  Notice that word “utterly.”  In addition God said of Babylon, “And I will make it a possession of the hedgehog, and pools of water, and I will sweep it with the broom of destruction," Isa 14:23.  Do you want a good picture of how God sweeps?  Read the first chapter of Zephaniah.  God moves the furniture and gets under the beds when He decides to destroy sinners.

            So how do we avoid that?  By not just sweeping the middles when it comes to our lives.  We need to clean up every nook and cranny, every hidden corner of our minds, every space beneath the larger items in our lives that we think can hide the sin from God.  And grace means that after we do our best to clean the place up, God will come in to clean up what we could not, in the places we cannot reach. 

            When it comes to life, don’t ever be satisfied with just “sweeping the middles.”  Do “the clean sweep” every day of your life so you don’t get caught up in “the broom of destruction.”
 
I indeed baptize you in water unto repentance: but he that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire: whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor; and he will gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire, Matt 3:11,12.
 
Dene Ward

When I was a child I would often hang my head off the edge of the bed and look at the room upside down.  Suddenly the ceiling was the floor and the floor was the ceiling.  I imagined what it would be like to walk on that new “floor,” high-stepping through doorways and making my way around light fixtures.  The windows would come nearly to the new “floor” instead of being three feet above it.  And it certainly would be easier to clean the cobwebs out of the corners.  I would lie like that for nearly half an hour as my mind suddenly saw things from a new perspective.

            As I have grown older, dealt with people who had many different problems, and had far too many “exciting” experiences myself, my perspective on life has shifted as well.  In fact, if a person finds himself with no new insights on life, especially after the age of forty, he has probably not grown a spiritual inch.  And as you grow, your thoughts should begin to shift.  Things that look plain and simple when you have never experienced them have facets you never saw before.  Suddenly you notice the light fixtures, the exhaust fans, and the part of the doorway that hangs nearly a foot from the ceiling.  They were always there but because you never hung your head upside down you never saw them.

            As a Christian my perspective must be spiritual, not carnal.  It must be with a view toward Eternal Life, not life here on earth, something that could easily be described as looking at things upside down.  As Paul tells us in Romans 8, we must have the mind of the spirit, not the mind of the flesh. 

            The correct perspective is a powerful tool in defeating Satan.  In Hebrews 10:32-34, those Christians looked ahead toward a “better” and “abiding” possession.  With that thought firmly locked in their minds, and from that perspective, they could endure imprisonment, ridicule and scorn, loss of their earthly possessions, and physical persecution.  With the same perspective Christians could face hungry lions while singing hymns and praying.

            On the other hand, a person whose perspective is only on earthly things will not be tough enough to give up the praise of men.  He will not be strong enough to apologize.  He will be intimidated by the thought of losing acceptance in his community.  Living “the good life” will have a stranglehold on him and any trial of life will defeat him.  A wrong perspective can turn us into weaklings.

            Perspective affects every part of one’s life.  Think about Jesus’ perspective on wealth  (Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth...but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven where neither moth nor rust corrupt…), insults (who when he was reviled, reviled not again), status (he counted not being on equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself), his own desires (And Christ pleased not himself but [others]), and death (the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many). 

            No one understood Him because from their perspective he looked strange.  He was walking on the ceiling upside down.  We must be striving to get up there with Him, and when we finally make it, things that look so difficult from down on the floor will suddenly be much easier.

            A correct perspective may be one of the most important things a Christian can have because it changes everything—every opinion, every moral, every purpose in life.  It will determine the state of one’s heart, and therefore, the state of one’s soul. 
           
…They dragged Jason and some of the brethren before the rulers of the city and cried, These who have turned the world upside down have come here also, Acts 17:6.
 
Dene Ward
 

Work heartily, as unto the Lord, Col 3:23.  Paul assumed that the Colossian brethren were giving their best efforts to the Lord and that he needed to remind them that, for the Lord’s sake, they should give the same effort to their employers here on earth. 
            After a minute or two of consideration I suddenly wondered what would happen if we all worked for our bosses the way we work for the Lord.  I think Paul might need to change his admonition a bit for our culture in our time.  Why?  Because I have seen elders and deacons need to flatter, cajole, and coerce Christians into doing things as simple and comfortable as getting into an air-conditioned car to ride to an air-conditioned building and sit on a padded pew for a couple of hours.  I have seen them beg people to help with the teaching program.  I have seen them squirm uncomfortably when they need to remind people over and over of the things they promised to do a week ago, a month ago, even a year ago. 
            If we all worked for our bosses the same way we do the Lord’s work, would we ever receive a promotion?  Would we ever get a raise?  Or would we be fired for cause?  It looks like we care far more about a monetary paycheck than we do about eternal life.  I see too many people giving as little effort as possible, refusing to go the extra mile in terms of study and service, and working only when they are forced into it instead of actively looking for things that need doing, whether they are asked to do them or not, to believe otherwise.
            If the sick and needy are left uncared for, if the classes seem boring, if the church is shrinking and the next generation is falling by the wayside, we are not working heartily for the Lord.  That passage was written to us all, not preachers and elders.  What makes us think we will receive any sort of reward if an earthly boss would fire us for the same quality of work?
 
But beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak; for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and the love which you showed toward his name, in that you ministered unto the saints, and still do minister.  And we desire that each one of you may show the same diligence to the fullness of hope even to the end, that you be not sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises, Heb 6: 9-12.
 
Dene Ward