Righteousness; January 25, 2021

Posted on January 27, 2021 by jgarrott

Psalm 85:13 Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps.

Yesterday in our service we sang a song by Noriko Sasaki based on Hosea 10:12 that I translated into English several years ago, and it has been running through my mind ever since.

Sow for yourselves righteousness and you will find
That you will reap the fruit of God’s unfailing love.
Break up the ground within your heart and turn to Him,
For now the time has come to seek the Lord.
The Lord will come and shower righteousness on you.
The Lord will come and shower righteousness on you.

And now, this is in today’s reading! Psalm 85 seems to be remarkably applicable to America today. From verse one it talks about how God has been gracious in the past, and then verse four says, “Restore us again, O God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us.” That couldn’t be any more timely! However, this last verse is extremely important. America has done many good things, but in recent years there has been a rising tide of unrighteousness, and actions have consequences. Christians, even genuine believers, have tended to be passive, being satisfied if their own little bubble was blessed, rather than actively praying for those in leadership (1 Timothy 2:1-4) and destroying the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). In the process, society has become increasingly polluted. Even within the memory of most adults, standards of decency have eroded to an amazing degree, and things that were acknowledged as disgraceful not long ago are now even celebrated. If we want our Lord to come in blessing, we have to remember this verse. It is interesting that in English we say that righteousness “prepares the way for [the Lord’s] steps,” but the Japanese says, “Righteousness makes a road of the Lord’s footprints.” In other words, righteousness is involved in the Lord’s coming and going, and we must not forget that. We cannot be fully righteous on our own, but at the same time we aren’t to be casual about it and say, “He counts my faith as righteousness, so it doesn’t matter.” Paul was very clear on that point! (Romans 6:15) For America to experience the restoration that so many desire, we have to make righteousness a priority.

I don’t live in America, but this applies as much to me as it does to anyone. I too am susceptible to the rising tide of filth. I am to recognize it and stand firm against it. Internet browsing is a minefield, and “click bait” is often poisonous. I have enjoyed science fiction ever since I first encountered it in my teens, but I was recently shocked to encounter filth in a book I had downloaded. Whether that is an accurate reflection of society or not is beside the point. I don’t need to be taking it in! My chief goal is fellowship with my Lord and obedience to Him, and that is inseparable from righteousness, just as this verse says. I am never to be holier-than-thou in dealing with others, but I must never take holiness lightly.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I am to be vigilant at all times and make Jesus my standard. Help me be Your agent in every area of my life, whether it seems to involve others or not, to that I may be increasingly transformed into the likeness of Your Son, (Romans 8:29) for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Sharing God’s Blessings; January 24, 2021

Posted on January 26, 2021 by jgarrott

Psalms 67:1-2 May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us,
that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

Motives can be hard to determine, especially thousands of years after the fact, but putting the best possible face on this, it is noble indeed. The anonymous Psalmist seems to be asking God for blessings not from a strictly self-centered viewpoint, but so that all the nations of the earth may know about God. That is noble indeed, and the sort of prayer God delights to answer positively. We tend to be all about I-my-me-mine, but that is not the way of true blessing. God does care about us individually, but He cares about all of us individually. He does provide special blessings for those who respond to Him rightly, but that doesn’t mean that one person has inherently more value than another. It is a paradox, but every person alive can rightly say, “I am special in God’s sight.” God doesn’t “clone people for background,” they way they do in computer graphics for movies and such, He creates each person individually in the womb, just as David wrote so beautifully in Psalm 139:13. That’s why abortion is a sin against God, as well as against the child. Because He creates each person, He wants each person to know Him. When we grasp that truth and live accordingly, we enter into a dimension of blessing and fellowship with Him that can happen no other way.

I am something of an odd case in this area. It is a statistical fact that people with Teacher gifting seldom become active evangelists, tending to be more theoretical than practical, I am not only a missionary Teacher, I am the son of a missionary Teacher. God’s grace and His plans are indeed far higher than the merely human! (Isaiah 55:9) I have found, by observation and experience, that there is no deeper or higher joy than being used by God to bring someone into the family of God. I am not naturally very social, to the point that I don’t really like parties of more than a very few people, but by the grace of God I will speak to total strangers about Him, and rejoice in it. I have found that the better we understand the breadth and depth of God’s love, the less self-centered and the happier we are. God loves me enough to send His Son to die in my place, but He also loves each other individual that much, so sharing His love with other individuals is the best thing I, or anyone else, can do.

Father, thank You for Your incredible grace. Thank You for creating me as You did and bringing me through all I have experienced. Thank You most especially for using me in spite of myself, letting others know of Your love and grace and drawing them to You. I haven’t had the results I would have liked, but that is Your business. Help me be faithful, keeping my eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) and doing Your will on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Faith; January 23, 2021

Posted on January 26, 2021 by jgarrott

Job 5:2 Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.

Job’s friends’ pronouncements are largely collections of platitudes and truisms, but they do contain some nuggets worthy of meditation. Verse seven of this chapter – “Man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward” – is very well known, and this verse too seems worthy of being in Proverbs rather than Job. The negative effects of resentment and envy are undeniable. It is very true that personal success and happiness don’t depend so much on what happens to you as they do on how you respond to what you experience. Everyone goes through rough times, just as verse seven says, but some people come out “smelling like a rose” and some people are devastated. The deciding factor is ultimately faith: faith that God is, and loves you, and that your life has meaning and purpose. Such faith is a greater treasure than anything this world can offer. As John said, “This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:4) Faith in a heavenly Father who loves us so much He sent His Son to die in our place so that we might have eternal life (John 3:16) is the ultimate defense against all the junk the world and the devil throw at us. That’s why Jesus could tell us, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) The more we are fixated on this world, the more we feel “It’s all about me,” the more miserable we are. The more we realize we are a very small dot in the universe, but at the same time, a dearly loved dot, worth the life of the Son of God, the happier and more at peace we will be,

I have had people be amazed at how much I enjoy life, and also at how easily I can forgive people, but I can’t say I do either of those things perfectly. I too am still learning! I have the huge advantage of having been raised in a home where I had complete assurance of both the love of my parents and the love of God, but I still stumble on resentment at times, and occasionally even envy (though that is rare). I have been essentially unfazed by health issues I have had, but I certainly don’t rejoice at those my wife experiences. I do have trouble, just as Jesus and this chapter have said, but God has told me personally to rest, relax, and rejoice. As long as I am obedient to Him, life is good indeed! As a pastor, I am constantly dealing with other people’s problems of one sort and another. I seek to lift their eyes off of themselves and their circumstances and fix them on the God who loves them so much. When they can do that, the battle is won, even if nothing seems to have changed around them.

Father, thank You for the magnificence of Your love and grace. I have no words to express them fully, nor to thank You sufficiently. Help me live in full obedience to You as an open channel of Your love and grace, so that those who see me may be drawn to You, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Fatherlessness; January 22, 2021

Posted on January 23, 2021 by jgarrott

Deuteronomy 24:18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.

We can be thoughtlessly cruel, and Moses didn’t want that to happen. He wanted the people to remember that no matter how wealthy they got, that wasn’t where they started. I am reminded of Bill Whittle saying that some of the most unhappy people he knew were those whose parents had given them a massive trust fund, so they never had to work for anything. Those who struggle for finances tend to envy such people, but that’s not how human beings are made. Especially when we’re on the abundant side of things we need to remember that somebody in some way worked for everything we have, whether we did it ourselves or someone else did it for us. Ultimately it all comes down to God’s grace, and that’s what Moses wanted the people to remember. If you don’t remember being hungry yourself, you aren’t going to be as understanding and gentle as you should be with someone who is. Moses used aliens, the fatherless, and widows as a general category for the disadvantaged, and just now it jumped out at me that he didn’t say “orphans,” but specifically “the fatherless.” Right now in America there is an epidemic of fatherlessness, and only a small fraction of that is caused by death. Rather, biological fathers are absent from their children’s lives, because of divorce, government programs that reward unwed mothers, or because the conception was the result of a casual encounter. Only a small minority of people seem to recognize what a tragedy, a danger, that is, but thankfully that minority seems to be growing. Statistics are clear that the lack of an effective father figure is one of the biggest handicaps anyone can be saddled with, and at the same time it is the most easily preventable. We of course need to completely overhaul the welfare system to stop penalizing girls for getting married, but most of all we need to return to valuing the family and each member of it. Mothers are fully as important and valuable as “successful career women,” and some can indeed be both at the same time. Fathers are just as vital as mothers to the success of their children, and not just to their conception. Children are precious gifts from God, and not inconveniences to be eliminated in the womb, or ignored if they are born. There is a reason God has chosen to be called Father, even though there are people who rebel against that very idea, even rewriting the Bible to remove gender references. Being fatherless is a tragedy.

I was greatly blessed with a great father, but I am not to look down on those who were not so blessed. I titled my contribution to my father’s biography, due out in April, A Father for the Ages. As I look around me I see relatively few who were so blessed, and some who have been crippled by fatherlessness. I cannot have literal empathy with them because I’ve never experienced that, so I need to ask, and allow, the Holy Spirit to guide my interactions with them. He has allowed me to become a father figure to some, and that is as big a blessing to me as it is to them. I am to remember that everything is by the grace of God, and rejoice to be a channel of that grace to all with whom the Lord connects me, for the blessing of everyone and for His glory.

Father, You really changed the course of this from where I started! Thank You. I am quite prone to go with preconceptions, and that can blind me to what You are actually saying. Help me hear You accurately and obey You fully, so that Your will may be done in and through me for the destruction of the devil’s works and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Offerings; January 21, 2021

Posted on January 23, 2021 by jgarrott

Deuteronomy 16:17 Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.

The principle of proportional offerings, established by God through Moses, has remained valid ever since. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “If the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.” (2 Corinthians 8:12) Shortly after that he famously wrote, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7) We tend to think in absolute terms, particularly financially, but God doesn’t, since His wealth is infinite in the first place. God doesn’t need anything material that we could give Him, but He wants our hearts, our love and devotion. Offerings are a very good indication of that, because we tend to get very emotionally attached to our finances. Tithing is an excellent starting point, because it’s an easy calculation, but the very fact that it’s a calculation makes some people balk, saying it feels like a tax instead of an offering. We need to be grateful that God has supplied enough that just a tenth of it is the amount we are to give. When people haven’t been raised with tithing, deciding to tithe after they have a real job can be quite a stretch, particularly if it’s a good-paying one. However, we need to remember Jesus’ famous observation to His disciples, one day when they were in view of the offering box at the temple. “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything–all she had to live on.’” (Mark 12:41-44) We have nothing to complain about!

I have tithed, and more, for many years, but compared to that widow I certainly have nothing to brag about! As a pastor I want to teach the believers the joy of giving, but since I benefit from their giving, that makes me feel awkward in talking about it. I think that’s something most pastors struggle with, but some seem to have no trouble begging for money! I will not do that, but the fear of seeming to do that has held me back from teaching this truth effectively. I certainly need God’s wisdom, and I need to take my eyes off of myself better. I am forever telling others to look at Jesus rather than at themselves or their circumstances, but I need to take my own advice better! With changing US administrations there is a great deal of uncertainty in the world. I’ve got to trust God and look forward to His resolution of everything, not hanging onto anything in fear. He has provided and He will provide, and as He has told me, I am to rest, relax, and rejoice in Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I was under a lot of emotional attack yesterday, but You were faithful. Help me indeed give You everything, not just materially but emotionally and spiritually, in trusting obedience, so that I may be fully useful to You for Your purposes and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Rules; January 20, 2021

Posted on January 22, 2021 by jgarrott

Leviticus 26:3 “‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, … ‘”

The Bible has a lot of “if/then” places in it. We love to latch onto “the promises of God,” as we see them, but often we forget the conditions specified. What follows this verse is a description of a really idyllic agricultural society, but then verse 14 picks up with the bad things that come from not listening obediently to God. Thankfully, from verse 40 it speaks of what follows confession and repentance. Frankly, what we do matters! We are indeed saved by grace through faith, and not by what we do, (Ephesians 2:8-9) but actions have consequences. Over the past year the whole world has been focused on COVID-19. The deaths have been tragic, certainly, but statistics show that of those who have died from it, the average was over two “co-morbidities” per person. That is, they had more than one other condition that could have caused their death all by itself. And to be blunt, the most common of those was obesity, which ultimately comes down to lifestyle choices. We forget that our bodies are on loan to us by God, and we fail either to take proper care of them or to use them to do what the Owner desires. Such things have consequences! I keep coming back to the reality that God’s rules are far more for our benefit than they are for His. Just a few days ago I was remembering Jesus’ statement that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27) We complain about God’s rules, not realizing they are all for our good. As John said, “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” (1 John 5:3-5) In other words, the path to a victorious life is obedient faith. That is actually one of the major messages of the whole Bible!

I have been on the receiving end of the good side of many of God’s promises, both from the obedience of my ancestors to God and from my own having some sense knocked into me. I have also tasted some of the negatives, and I have occasionally skated on some very thin ice. As a school teacher and as a pastor I am often in the position of one making the rules, and I need to be very careful that any rules I make are genuinely for the benefit of those to whom they are delivered and not arbitrary, and particularly not to stoke my ego. As much as possible I am to listen to what God says about each situation and transmit that faithfully, not distorting it in any way. And of course, I am to be focused first on my own obedience to God, and not be so worried about the other guy. (Matthew 7:3-5)

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me indeed fulfill all of Your conditions for blessing and help others to do so as well, never from a “high horse” but always speaking the truth in love, so that together we may defeat the lies of the devil and walk in all that You intend for us, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Fairness; January 19, 2021

Posted on January 21, 2021 by jgarrott

Leviticus 25:17 “Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the Lord your God.”

In this chapter God instates a system that, if properly followed, would have resulted in incredible blessing, but which was actually followed very little, if I read the record correctly. “Sabbath years” don’t really come up in the Old Testament after this, and “Jubilee years” come up only in prophecy. The Sabbath year was and is sound agricultural practice, and is reflected in the practice of crop rotation today. They didn’t have chemical fertilizers, much less chemical soil analysis, so they didn’t know what the land needed to produce the best crops. The Sabbath year principle was to force them to give the land a “breather,” so to speak, and be replenished in various ways. The Jubilee year was for social renewal. Human society has a way of tying itself in knots, so God was saying that every 50 years they were to let the knots come untied. A major part of that was the whole principle of fairness, and that’s what this verse addresses. Today we would say that under this system land couldn’t be sold, but only leased. As it says in the verse before this, what was really being bought and sold was the productivity of the land. That would force the people to be more fair with each other and to fear God, as it says here. Someone who genuinely fears God is without question going to be the best sort of person to do business with.

I tend to agree that children are born with an innate sense of fairness, but I have seen that twisted and/or abused many, many different ways. Right now it is being abused by the “social justice warriors” who are insisting on equality of outcome (or so they say). The problem is, as Thomas Sowell has pointed out, even within a family everyone is dealt a different hand of cards. What is needed is equality of opportunity, because it ultimately isn’t “fair” to give one person what another person has worked for. As I have written recently, I haven’t been the best steward of what I have been given; I haven’t worked for success. When I have been diligent, good things have happened, for the most part, and when I haven’t been diligent, much less so. At the same time, I have had to learn not to focus on whether things were “fair.” Frankly, from the human perspective they often aren’t. I have had to learn to release things to God and trust Him to use them for good. (Romans 8:28) Just yesterday I had a minor traffic accident, that my insurance agent said would probably be adjudicated as 80% my fault. I was indeed not sufficiently careful at a relatively blind corner, and complaining that things “aren’t fair” benefits no one. It wasn’t fair to the young girl driving the other car, either, but this will be a good step toward her maturity, if she will allow it to be so. I am to be grateful that there were no injuries involved, and that I have good insurance. Also, I am to express proper contrition to her, following up on a personal level for her benefit.

Father, thank You for the Scripture this morning, and for the accident yesterday. Thank You that my response was very different than it might have been years ago. Help me leave fairness in Your hands, rejoicing to be Your child and doing what You say to do, when and how You say to do it, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Pastoral Income; January 18, 2021

Posted on January 21, 2021 by jgarrott

Leviticus 23:20 The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering, together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest.

I had known it as a fact before, but it really struck me just now that the majority of offerings in the temple, though given to the Lord and holy to Him, were for the priests. How the priests used those things was their responsibility, since they were indeed holy to the Lord. That puts a very interesting slant on preachers who live opulent lifestyles. They are responsible to God for their stewardship, but the money that was given to them was for the most part really given to God, and those giving it are blessed by God. However, I would hate to be in the shoes of some of those preachers when they have to answer to God for what has been placed in their hands. The complete statement of, “They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest,” is the real kicker here. Any “full-time Christian worker” who is careless with with what they are paid for their service needs to do some real self-examination.

This of course applies to me, since I am a pastor, but at the same time my income from the church, being less than what I give the church in my own offerings, is of no concern at tax time. I have had someone be shocked when they discovered that I tithe even what I receive from the church. However, I don’t see how I could do otherwise. I certainly don’t think I live a lavish lifestyle, but people in general think we are better off financially than we actually are, because God has been gracious to us in many, many ways. I’ve gotten some pretty remarkable things out of the trash! What I take from this verse is that I am in no way to feel guilty for receiving things from people who give them because I am a pastor. Those things are offerings to the Lord, and holy, and my refusing them would be wrong on my part. Just yesterday I received a package of rather expensive dietary supplements from someone who wants the pastor to be healthy! I would not have chosen to purchase them, but they are an offering to the Lord, and as such are holy. I delight to act as God’s agent, speaking His words and extending His hand of grace, so I must not shrink from allowing people to respond to me with offerings. At the same time, I must never put a price on my service to the Lord, or be greedy in any way. The moment I do that, I lose all credit before the Lord.

Father, this can be a complicated issue, and one I really don’t like to wrestle with. Thank You for Your abundant supply, given in many different ways. May I be the steward You want me to be, so that everything that goes through my hands, physically or otherwise, may accomplish that for which You intend it, for Your glory alone. Thank You. Praise God!

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Absolute Honesty; January 17, 2021

Posted on January 19, 2021 by jgarrott

Leviticus 19:11-12 “‘Do not steal.
“‘Do not lie.
“‘Do not deceive one another.
“‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.'”

Much of Leviticus is detailed rules of all sorts. For many people it is their least favorite book of the Bible, and I’ll confess that for most of my life I have been one of them. I recently read an article by someone who was saying that he had a real encounter with the Lord through reading Leviticus, and right now I feel I can understand that. There is actually a lot of genuinely inspiring – and of course inspired – material in the book. Verse 18 of this chapter has what Jesus picked out as the 2nd greatest commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:36-40) These verses seem extremely timely and pertinent, considering all that is going on in the political world. They get specific about something that was one of my father’s guiding principles, and that I have tried to make one of my own as well: honesty. As I have told many people in recent weeks, the thing that has me most upset about what went on in the US election and has gone on since is the widespread disregard for truth. Actual vote counts, not to mention voter qualifications, were fabricated out of thin air in shockingly many cases, resulting in an outcome that cannot be seen as legitimate. All of that, and much more, has come about from many individual choices to say and do whatever fit a desired narrative, with honesty being totally beside the point. The Bible is the record of God’s interactions with flawed human beings. In stark contrast to most historical writings of thousands of years ago it doesn’t dress people up to present them in the best light, even when the person in question is greatly revered, such as David, Solomon, or even Abraham. The awareness of man’s predilection to do the wrong thing is why Leviticus can be very helpful. From our current viewpoint in time, many if not most of the commandments might seem to go without saying, but experience tells us that we indeed need to be told, until we have the Holy Spirit living inside us to keep us on the right path. When we do have Him, detailed lists become unnecessary.

I well remember when my father told me about the conference he attended in Yokohama as a single missionary at which he encountered the Holy Spirit in such a way that for the first time he really grasped what it was – and is – to be in Christ, even though the use of the term, and related ones, in the Greek New Testament had been the subject of his doctoral dissertation. The conversation is etched in my memory because it was during the brief period, from the first of March to the middle of May, 1974, that we really related as adult men, brothers in Christ, after I had brought my wife and children to Japan for the first time and before my parents left for the furlough from which my mother would bring back a box of ashes. In that conversation my father told me that the speaker at the conference had stressed “Five Absolutes” that are called for in our walk of faith. He was honest enough to say that he didn’t remember all five, but that one that had remained with him as a foundational principle was absolute honesty. I had certainly seen that in him as I grew up, but having him articulate it to me was very meaningful, and I have sought to maintain that same principle in my life. That’s hardly a popular lifestyle these days! Having that principle myself is what makes it so painful to see all the falsehood around me. However, I’m not to let that pull me down, but rather rest in the One who is Truth itself, and know that in the end, all falsehood will be swept away and only Truth will remain.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I do continue to pray that Your truth would prevail, in government and in every area of life. Thank You for how so many falsehoods are being exposed. May indeed Your name be recognized as holy and Your kingdom come as Your will is done throughout this earth, as perfectly as it is in heaven. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Sabbath; January 16, 2021

Posted on January 19, 2021 by jgarrott

Exodus 34:21 “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.

When you think about it, this was a very shocking command. In an agrarian society, weather and seasons take priority over everything else, because nature doesn’t wait for our convenience. That makes this command very counter-intuitive, but it is simply a clarification of the fourth of the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:8) I see at least three reasons for this commandment. The first is very simply that God knows how He created us, and when subjected to uninterrupted labor we burn out very badly. Numerous studies have shown exactly that, proving that God’s commands are not capricious. The second reason is to remind us that God is our supply, and we are dependent on Him. If we are working constantly, we think the outcome is all the result of our own efforts, and we forget that we actually control only a fraction of our lives. The third reason I see here, and actually the one that jumped out at me as I read this passage just now, is that this is to free us from the tyranny of the urgent. Any farmer will tell you that plowing and harvest don’t wait for your convenience, given weather and the like, but here God is commanding us to make Him our first priority, even over important things that “can’t wait.” This is a vital lesson, even if our daily lives have little to do with weather and seasons. If we insist on doing “what has to be done” at a time when God has said to rest, we are placing ourselves above God and saying that our issues are bigger than He is. There is one note here that even Jesus made, and repeatedly at that: we aren’t to fail to take care of the animals – and by extension people – in our care. (Luke 13:15, 14:5) My wife, who had to milk two cows every morning and afternoon, before and after school, brought up that point. An unmilked cow is not a happy animal! Jesus famously proclaimed that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27) We aren’t to be slavish about all this, but God’s commands are for our benefit.

In contrast to my wife, I wasn’t raised on a working farm, and as missionaries my parents were regularly very busy on Sundays. Even so, whenever possible they scheduled a nap for Sunday afternoons, Sunday lunch was either at church or a restaurant, and Sunday supper was generally quite simple. As a pastor myself, the same applies. For that reason I try to keep Mondays free, not accepting school classes then, but I have to confess that distinctions blur even for me. I need other ways to maintain the awareness that God is my supply, and to keep Him as my first priority. I too suffer from the tyranny of the urgent! However, most often that urgency comes from procrastination and/or a failure to plan in the first place. If I do things promptly when I have time, it is far easier to obey the Sabbath principle.

Father, thank You for this reminder. I could be called semi-retired at this point, but it still makes a real difference how I organize my life. Help me follow Your schedule for me, not lagging behind and not rushing ahead, so that Your purposes for me may be fulfilled as You desire, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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