Stepping in the Light

“And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” Matthew 23:12

Gravity is a powerful force. We live with it every day. If the law of gravity were altered even slightly, it would fundamentally change the way we experience life. God created gravity and set its powers in place so that it affects the movement of objects and how their movements impact one another. These principles come into play when we try to understand what makes a seesaw work. The end of the seesaw with the heaviest weight goes down, and the other end goes up.

In the scripture above, one person is exalted while the other is abased. In other words, one goes up and the other goes down. It is a little bit like a physical seesaw, but the spiritual seesaw of humility is somewhat mysterious because it seems to work in reverse. The way to dominate on the seesaw is to have the most physical weight. You may have had an experience at some point in your childhood when someone who was older and bigger was on the other end of the seesaw and wouldn’t let you down. They had the advantage, they were in control, and you were totally at their mercy.

The principles that govern our interaction with people are also set in motion by God, and they are just as powerful and absolute as the law of gravity. If you exalt yourself, you will be abased. If you humble yourself, you will be exalted. So, there is only one way that you can be exalted. Humble yourself.

“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” Matthew 22:37

Jesus was asked which of the commandments was the greatest in the law. From the context, we can assume that the purpose of the question was to give Jesus the opportunity to say something wrong, something that could be used against him in the court of public opinion. The question came from a lawyer who evidently did not believe that He was the Messiah. No doubt, this lawyer had debated this very question with other lawyers and had an answer in his own mind that made sense to him. Evidently, the lawyer expected Jesus to single out a certain commandment as being the most important, and he thought that he would then have the opportunity to argue the point in front of everyone present and show that Jesus was wrong. But rather than picking out one particular ordinance that was significant in its ability to add righteousness to anyone who could keep it, Jesus revealed the purpose of the law by showing how it points us back to our Creator. His answer was both simple and profound. What is the greatest commandment? Love God. Love Him wholly and completely. This one law is the basis of every other command in the Bible.

God loves us, and what He wants more than anything is for us to love Him in return. Most of us begin each day looking for ways that we can please ourselves. What if we replaced our selfish desires with a deeply-rooted passion to find ways to please our Heavenly Father? What if we truly loved God?

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.” Exodus 31:1-5

God had a unique task that He needed someone to fulfill. This was not just any job; it was perhaps the most important assignment undertaken by any craftsman in history. This person would be shaping the furnishings of the Tabernacle, the place where God would meet with His people. He would craft the Ark of the Covenant, where the Shekinah glory of God would rest within the Holy of Holies. He would have to be the best of the best, the ultimate craftsman. It would seem that the search for such a person would be daunting, but God knew just who He wanted to do the job. God said to Moses, “I have called by name, Bezaleel.” God knew that Bezaleel was capable, and as we read through the following chapters, we can see that he completed his task to perfection. I believe this Old Testament craftsman is an excellent example of the fact that God has a job for each one of us to do, and we are uniquely qualified to do it. Each of us has been chosen by God; we have been called by name. Are we willing to recognize the gifts that He has given us, have we answered His call, and are we fulfilling our tasks?

“A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father?” Matthew 21:28-31

The Pharisees were questioning Jesus’ authority and trying to find ways to trick Him into saying something that they could use against Him. Instead of answering their questions directly, Jesus asked them a question about John the Baptist. After they declined to answer because they were afraid of what the people would think, Jesus gave them this parable. A man has two sons, and he asks them both to work for him. One agrees politely but doesn’t actually go; the other son refuses to go but later changes his mind. In this parable, both sons did something wrong. One was disrespectful and the other was deceitful and derelict in his duties. Jesus asked, “Which one did the will of his father?” The obvious answer helps us set priorities for our actions and attitudes. Any father would enjoy hearing his son speak respectfully and appropriately. Any father would be disappointed with a son who rejected personal responsibility. This father experienced both, but at the end of the day, what he needed most was to have the work done. God is more concerned with what we do than He is with what we say we are going to do. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could be the kind of Christians that not only would say that we loved God, but were willing to prove it by obeying His Word?

 “And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.” Exodus 27:20

God gave Moses instructions to make a beautiful candlestick with seven oil lamps and place it in the holy place inside the tabernacle. The lamps would give light to the priests who came in to minister before the Lord. God told Moses that He wanted the lamps to be always burning; but in order for that to happen, someone had to provide a constant supply of oil. There are many parallels to the Christian life found in a study of the articles within the tabernacle, and we can find a practical lesson in the continual demand for oil to keep the fire burning in the lamps of the candlestick. The Israelites were in the wilderness, and there were probably not very many olive trees there. The olive oil that they did have would have had to have been carried with them everywhere they went and carefully stored each time they stopped along their journey. Depending on the size of the lamps and the type of wicks that were used, the lamps would have needed tending quite often, both during the day and at night. Some of the Levites were given the sacred responsibility to ensure that these lamps never went out. Just like it required a great deal of effort for them to keep the oil lamps burning, it requires a great deal of effort to keep our spiritual lights burning. God’s Word is the source of our light, and it is important that we consistently spend time in its pages in order to keep His light burning brightly in our hearts and minds.

“But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:26-28

Jesus spoke often about humility. He used Himself as an example for His disciples, but they had a difficult time understanding. They had been waiting all of their lives for the Messiah to come, and they had the idea ingrained in their minds that He was going to be a mighty military leader and establish a world-wide kingdom based in Jerusalem. In their view, He would need to choose cabinet members, governors, deputies, generals, and fill many other positions of power in order to enable this new government to function properly. The disciples were excited about the miracles He performed, but they kept waiting for Him to begin talking about military strategy and political structure. When that time came, they wanted to be ready. They wanted to secure the highest position possible in this new government. It was an idea that they could not get out of their minds. They must have been so disappointed every time they brought it up and Jesus responded by talking about the importance of being a humble servant. The completed New Testament gives us a perspective that the disciples did not have, but when it comes to following Christ, we don’t often do much better than they did. Do you have a desire to be more like Jesus? If you do, then look for ways to be a servant to others.

“And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.” Exodus 24:3

The Israelites made a solemn promise after they heard Moses read the law of God to them. “All the words which the LORD hath said will we do.” Undoubtedly, they had good intentions. They wanted to obey God, and they may have thought that their obligation was rather simple: just do what God said. Perhaps their enthusiasm was heightened by their recent experiences. They had seen the plagues in Egypt. They had walked out of slavery and carried with them the spoils of Egypt, given to them by parents grieving the loss of their firstborn children. They had seen the Red Sea parted, and they had crossed over on dry ground. They had seen Pharaoh and the Egyptian army drown in the Red Sea. They had literally heard the voice of God as He gave them the Ten Commandments. However, they soon found out that it was one thing to stand before Moses and make a promise and an entirely different matter to carry it out.

Most of us have great intentions in our spiritual lives. We want to read the Bible. We want to pray. We want to love the Lord, our family, and our neighbors. We want to be patient and forgiving. We want to speak kind words, lend a helping hand, and give to those in need. It takes more than resolve to live the Christian life; it also requires us to follow through.

“The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.” Matthew 19:20-22

Some people read this passage and come away with the impression that we can earn our way into heaven by giving away all of our possessions. But that cannot be true because of the overwhelming number of passages that point to salvation by grace through faith without works. So what does it mean?

This man was presented with a difficult choice: spiritual gain or temporal gain. We know that there were wealthy people such as Joseph of Arimathaea (John 19:38) who did follow Christ and were not asked to give up their wealth first. So, a vow of poverty is not a necessary step to salvation or even to becoming a faithful Christian. Then why did Jesus make him choose? The answer is in the choice that the young man made. He chose his possessions just like Jesus knew he would.

If you were faced with the same dilemma, what would you choose? We know what the right answer would be, but how easy would it actually be to sell everything and give it away? The Lord isn’t asking us to walk away from those things; He gave them to us. He wants us to value eternal things most and to use our temporal possessions for eternal purposes.

“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Matthew 18:21-22

At the beginning of Matthew chapter 18, the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him which one of them would be the greatest. Jesus answered by placing a child in their midst and telling them that they needed to humble themselves as a child if they truly wanted to be great. Jesus then continued to teach them and it seemed that He changed subjects several times, but each new topic was related in some way to how much God values us and how that should impact the way we value each other. In verses 15-17, Jesus explained how to deal with another person within the church who has wronged us. When Jesus finished speaking, Peter asked, “When someone wrongs me, how often must I forgive them?”

As it relates to the rest of the passage, forgiveness is all about value. We naturally tend to see ourselves as more important than everyone around us, but all of us are equally valuable to God. Considering this truth will help us understand why He wants us to forgive each other. Was Jesus suggesting that when someone wrongs us, we need to begin keeping a tally? That’s one. Only four hundred sixty-nine more times, and I’ll never have to forgive you again! I don’t think so. I believe that Jesus was saying that He wants us to learn to be forgiving.

“Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:19-20

What does it take to impress you? The longer I live, the more places I have been, and the more things that I have experienced, the more difficult it is for me to be truly impressed with anything. Whenever we are impressed, we are impressed with unusual speed, power, size, beauty, strength, dexterity, knowledge, ability, etc. God looks at things from a totally different perspective. He is not impressed by the things that impress us; and, all too often, we are not impressed by the things that impress Him. When it comes to churches, we might be impressed with a big crowd or a beautiful building, but God is impressed with the hearts and the minds of the people who are gathered together. We learn from the scripture above that God wants to answer the prayer of any two people who agree regarding the petition that they bring to Him. If two or three people are gathered together in His name, He promises to be in their midst. No one takes notice of a church that only has three people there, but God does. What is He looking for? He is looking for those who love Him and are faithful to Him to come together in His name, believing in Him, to ask for His help in His cause. Will you be one of those faithful ones?