Thought of the Week

Our Champion

Posted on by Shannon

The world loves winners and champions. It’s that time of year when baseball championships are played out, followed by football, and then other sports in the spring. Players want their big rings, noisy parades and inflated reputations.

Even in the world of politics we hope for great leaders. Canada needs strong people right now who will champion our identity, economy and well-being. When weak leaders fail to stand up for us, they end up in the dustbin of history. Champions are long remembered.

The New Testament book of Hebrews presents Jesus as “the author of our salvation” (2:10). It’s a peculiar Greek word that means “leader” or “forerunner” (6:20). He’s described as the only one who can lead us to victory. In that sense He is our champion. He leads us to great spiritual triumphs, and ultimately into heaven.

In the book of Revelation, John gives us a description of the first vision of the book. Jesus is pictured as an exalted priest, pure, all-knowing, and powerful (1:12-20). He is glorious and the winner of a great victory – He beat death by rising again. In his hand he held seven stars which are protective angels who watch out for each congregation of His church. Here is our champion. He will protect, lead and help us for the rest of our lives. While John was told to write down the rest of the visions of the book, the story has already been told in the first chapter – Jesus will lead His people through whatever the world throws at us.

What battles will you fight this week? What temptations must you defeat? What courage will be required of you? Fall in line behind our champion and He will help you win victories.

– Tim Johnson

Worries About Food

Posted on by Shannon

Most of us worry a little about food. Grocery store prices keep going up and many items we pay for keep getting smaller. We’re told that costs will continue to rise because of upcoming changes in the North American Free Trade agreement and side effects from global warming. The United Nations reports that one out of nine people on earth are undernourished and can’t live a healthy, active life. Droughts and conflicts in central African countries make food production more difficult. And the world population will reach 9 billion by 2050. Experts worry if we can feed everybody.

It would seem strange that Canadians would worry about food. We seem to have lots of it. Food production, in fact, is Canada’s largest manufacturing employer – 285,000 people! We have a climate that allows us to grow lots of it, and some of us even have our own gardens at home. And in addition to all these advantages, we are surrounded by a host of restaurants that want you to come and eat.

Emerging from Egypt, Israel worried about what they could eat traveling in the desert. It didn’t look too promising. Moses later remarked, “And He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know…that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord” (Dt.8:3). Jesus later quoted Moses’ words when dealing with the devil’s temptations in Matt.4:4. He was pointing out that there’s more to life than producing and eating physical food. We also need everything God said in His word.

In Jesus’ statement, at the least, the word of God is placed in equal importance to our need for physical food. In some senses it’s more important, for it can give us an eternal destiny when food can’t.

This is why we need to spend time in the word of God every day learning it, savouring it, and putting it into practice. Great lives feed on more than just physical food. We ought to worry a little when we haven’t taken time to open its pages.

Have you fed on the word of God today?

– Tim Johnson

Hindsight

Posted on by Shannon

We appreciate leaders with foresight and vision, whether politicians or church leaders. But we forget the value of hindsight. Some want to forget the past because it is painful or embarrassing. Some people think the past has no value at all. But God gave us a memory for good reasons, and it involves hindsight. If we gain some wisdom from the past, it’s going to help us with the future.

The bewildering stories of the Old Testament kings of Israel reveal radical flip-flops of policy and religion from father to son. After all of king Hezekiah’s positive reforms, his son Manasseh took the throne and did the complete opposite, rebuilding the idolatrous shrines his father had destroyed (2 Kings 21). His grandson Josiah took his turn and destroyed the idols and led the country back to God. Manasseh forgot the national blessings of faithfulness and Josiah remembered the past consequences of idolatry.

When Stephen addressed the Jewish council in Acts 7:51-53, he pointed out their failure to remember what happened to their forebearers. “You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.” The apostle Paul had hindsight, never forgetting the harm he once did to the church and God’s graciousness to forgive him. It taught the world the power of the gospel in a man’s life, that even the worst can be saved.

We need hindsight because our past mistakes teach us what won’t work in the future, and what will. It helps us steer our lives with more wisdom. Humility is maintained when we remember our humble beginnings, granting us compassion for others. Like Paul, remembering the grace of God in saving our ruined souls helps us to never forget our work today – reaching out to the lost. Strive to develop foresight, but know the value of hindsight.

What is it you need to remember? What is it you need to forget?

– Tim Johnson

Amaziah the Troublemaker

Posted on by Shannon

It is said of king Amaziah that he “did right in the sight of the Lord, yet not like David his father [ancestor]” (2 Kings 14:3). He was handed the throne of Judah at only 25 years old, an age when young men often set out with great optimism but little wisdom. It seems he intended to rule with faith in God and justice toward men, but he just didn’t go far enough.

He immediately brought the murderers of his father to justice and, respecting the Law, was careful not to go too far and harm their children. Then war with Edom loomed, as it often did, and God helped Amaziah win a solid victory. Enthused by his successes, he became proud and foolish.

His first of many mistakes came when he challenged king Jehoash of Israel to fight a battle and see who was strongest. Jehoash replied that this was unnecessary. “You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has become proud. Enjoy your glory and stay at home; for why should you provoke trouble so that you, even you, should fall and Judah with you?” (14:10). A smart warning. However, Amaziah insisted and the battle did not go in his favour. He was captured, Jerusalem invaded, the temple robbed of valuables, and hostages taken back to Samaria.

What a foolish disaster! Amaziah started out well but let his pride lead him to a fall. He didn’t consider the trouble he could inflict on his army, his capital city and its citizens. He died in shame.

There’s a warning for us in these verses. We, too, can provoke unnecessary trouble around us if we’re not careful. Like Amaziah, we may have faith in God and intend to follow good principles in life, but our own pride and lack of wisdom can lead us to anger people, annoy those who live close to us, and cause irreparable harm. It can easily come back on us.

God gave us good advice to avoid such mistakes. “He who would love life and enjoy good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile; let him shun wrong and do right, let him seek peace and make peace his aim. For the eyes of the Lord are on the upright, and his ears are open to their cry; but the face of the Lord is set against wrongdoers” (1 Peter 3:10-12).

– Tim Johnson

Strength for the Weary

Posted on by Shannon

Ancient Israel always seemed to be flirting with idolatry. In Isaiah 40:27-31, God patiently explained that He is not like inanimate idols who are powerless to help man. He said, “The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable” (mysterious and unfathomable). Then He revealed some good news for us: “He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength.”

All human beings become weary and tired. We wonder how we are going to come up with the energy to do the things we are called upon to do. This is especially true as we age. However, our living God is able to help us carry on with renewed energy. God never wears out and He is willing to give us strength. The secret is to ask Him for it, and then get moving.

I’m reminded of my high school history teacher, Walter Dale. He was a long-time teacher at Great Lakes Christians College and a part-time preacher. After retiring, he and his wife Eileen decided to move to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to help the small congregation of the Church of Christ there. He could have easily spent his retirement in luxury and ease, as many people do. But not Walter. He wanted to serve the Lord as long as he could. He seemed to have a great deal of energy and strength for a man his age. For the second time in my life I was able to be friends with him, for we also lived in that part of the country. The Dales were a great model for me as a younger preacher.

Age, illness and overwork can slow us down. But when we need strength to carry on the Lord can give us what we need. It’s a quality that the living God shares with us. Idols can never come up with it, but our living God can.

Weary? Tired? Feeling weak? Now you know what to do.

– Tim Johnson