Ebenezer and Thomas

  
      Allow me, if you will, to express a pet peeve.  Or two, actually.

    I cannot stand Ebenezer Scrooge being viewed as the symbol for mean, miserly, and cold-hearted misers who possess no caring or compassion for their fellow man.  Nor can I abide an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ who ultimately gave his life for the Savior being referred to as "doubting Thomas."

    "If any man be in Christ, he is as a new creature.  Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new" (II Corinthians 5:17).

    Whether in Dickens' literature or the Bible's historical reality, our focus should gaze not upon that which was, but rather, that which is.  In Ebenezer's case, his journeys through the past, present, and future led to his becoming the man who most knew how to keep Christmas.  His is a story of redemption, and thus when we hear the name "Scrooge," kindness and generosity should come to mind in joyful remembrance of transforming grace and mercy.

    In the case of the Apostle Thomas, a far serious matter presents itself.  Certainly, he expressed the fleshly "I'll believe it when I see it" sensibility that characterizes all of us at times.  "Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe" (John 20:25).  Moreover, the risen Lord Jesus chided his disciple for such uncertainty: "Then saith He to Thomas, reach hither thy finger, and behold My hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side: and be not faithless, but believing" (John 20:27).  However, the episode ends with Thomas expressing to his Savior one of the great affirmations of truth recorded in Scripture.  "My Lord and my God!" he pronounces the Lord Jesus.  Moreover, historical tradition holds that Thomas gave his life for Christ at the point of a spear.  I would therefore maintain that rather than "doubting Thomas," we should respectfully view our brother of old as "trusting Thomas," and a man who wears the martyr's crown for the glory of the Lord Jesus.

    God looks upon us not as who we were, but as who we are in Christ, and who we are becoming in Him.  We must share this blessed view of His saving grace, whether we consider a transformed literary figure, or a redeemed saint who gave the last full measure of devotion for his Lord and his God.  Ebenezer and Thomas - may we remember them as who they became, and as who they should endure in our hearts with great respect.

"Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord."
(Ephesians 5:8)
"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?   Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."
(I Corinthians 6:9-11)

"Mr. Cookie Bar? Or..."

         In an episode of the Andy Griffith Show entitled "Dogs, Dogs, Dogs," Deputy Barney Fife finds his late afternoon snack jeopardized by Sheriff Taylor, who feeds Barney's Mr. Cookie Bar to a stray canine Opie brings to the Courthouse.

    "Don't give him my Mr. Cookie Bar!  I"ll want that later on," pleads a troubled Deputy Fife.  "A slender, high-spirited person needs a sugar pick-me-up late in the day!"

    I knew how Barney felt yesterday, albeit my sinking spell occurred in the morning.  As we prepared to leave for two services we were scheduled to conduct, a wave of tiredness overtook me.  Being a morning person, this was unusual, and since we had a little extra time, I actually considered taking a quick nap before we left (since we had no Mr. Cookie Bars on hand!).  I had things to do, however, and a nap in the morning somehow just didn't seem appropriate.  Then the thought occurred to me: the Lord offers something better than naps, or even Mr. Cookie Bars.

    "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might... If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin.  But the spirit is life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Ephesians 6:10; Romans 8:10-11).

    I remembered our Heavenly Father's promised enabling through Christ, as revealed in us by the Holy Spirit.  Needing to stay active rather than recline, I chose to believe His assurance that calls us to be strong in Him rather than in ourselves.  In this case, the matter involved physical strengthening, but the blessed promise can apply to any form of weakness we feel in our humanity.  Sometimes it's emotional or mental.  Or it can involve the deeper spiritual necessities of our walk with the Lord.  Whatever the challenge may involve, He promises to quicken us, enabling us to overcome and to do His will.

   I cannot say I immediately felt an infusion of power from above.  The earth didn't quake, nor did the house or my physical frame shudder.  I just quietly kept doing the things at hand, and within a few minutes, I realized that I no longer felt the tiredness that had burdened me earlier.  Without a nap or a Mr. Cookie Bar, the Lord had strengthened me, just as He promises.  I had no problem finishing my preparations or conducting the services, and throughout the morning I marveled at the faithfulness of God.  "For by Thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall" (II Samuel 22:30).

    I share this as a testimony to that faithfulness, and as an encouragement to remember the promises of God regarding His enabling to fulfill the privileged responsibilities of life to which He calls us.  Of course, we realize that the Lord administers His strengthening according to His purposes and will.  Believing His promises involves no gimmick or magic bullet, and in my case, He could have enabled me to press on while still feeling tired, revealing His strength in my sense of weakness (II Corinthians 12:9).  In whatever manner He chooses to work, we trust Him, discovering perfect Faithfulness revealed in and through trusting faith.  I'm grateful for yesterday's experience, and for the everyday working of the Holy Spirit that enables us to affirm the promises of the God to whom the Psalmist declared...

"Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds!"
(Psalm 36:5)

"Self Destruction?"

         The Apostle Paul taught that human beings are not self-destructive.

      "No man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it" (Ephesians 5:29).

     Such Biblical declaration notwithstanding, we continually witness people hurting themselves in a multitude of ways, and who among us would absolve ourselves of wrongs we've committed against our own person and body?  Appearances certainly indicate that we are a self-destructive race.  Nevertheless, self-destruction cannot, by definition, characterize a race of beings whose nature involves nourishing and cherishing our flesh.  "All seek their own" (Philippians 2:21). Why then do think, speak, and act in ways harmful to ourselves?

    The answer lies in the plainly taught Biblical truth that humanity is not alone in the world.  We live among spiritual entities, both good and evil.  The former (angels) seek, by God's direction, the best interests of His trusting children.  "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14).  The latter, including Satan and other demonic spirits, ever seek our harm.  "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy" (John 10:10).  Self-destruction, therefore, actually originates in devilish attempts to rob, to murder, and to obliterate.  We must cooperate in the crime, of course, if it is to run its course.  Moreover, we are completely responsible for any form or degree of harm we do to ourselves.  However, we fail to rightly identify and diagnosis our problem if we ignore the Bible's plain teaching that malevolent entities outside ourselves actually foment and seek to perpetuate that which we misconstrue as "self-destruction."

   Truth, as applied by the Holy Spirit, enables born again believers to identify and overcome devilishly prompted thought patterns, beliefs, attitudes, habits, and ways in our lives.  We therefore do well to establish and maintain an ongoing communication with our Lord and His Word concerning this most vital matter.  "Search me, o God,  and know my heart.  Try  me and know my thoughts.  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24).  In the light and attitude of such prayer, we then open our Bibles in the willingness for the Lord to expose wicked ways.  The recognition that such spiritual and moral pathologies originate not only by our own devices, but also through the agency of tempting and deceiving enemies helps us to respond in humble repentance even when it hurts to have our error revealed.

    Our enemies wage the most effective war against us when we're not even aware of their involvement.  The notion of "self destruction" can be misleading if we fail to recognize that "we wrestle not against flesh and blood" (Ephesians 6:12).  Certainly, we are fully responsible for any way in us that does not coincide with our best interests.  We nevertheless fail to completely understand the battleground on which we live if we fail to remember the nourishing, cherishing nature of our self-interest, along with the murderous, destructive bent of our devilish foes.

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."
(I Peter 5:8)