Tag Archives: change

June 1
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“But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.”  (2 Chronicles 10:8, NIV)

The passage of time and the limits of my personal scholarship make it difficult to know precisely why Rehoboam rejected the counsel of the men who had served his father Solomon when Solomon was king; but I suspect that it was what the Bible calls the “pride of life” that led Rehoboam to instead consult his contemporaries.

The bible is an old book that challenges our ways.  The traditions of the faithful are tested, but weathered and too-familiar.  The counsel of the ages often seems way out of step with what is being promoted as the latest and the greatest discovery.

We prefer new to old.  We choose fashion over substance.  We do, as Rehoboam did: We reject the advice that established the ways of our successful predecessors for the advice of those who are more like us in our preferences.

When tempted to make changes for the sake of establishing our independence; or for raising our profile; we should call a time-out.  Is the course we have chosen reflective of the “pride of life,” or something much, much better?  – Luther

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April 9
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“When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?'” (John 5:6, NIV)
 
A little story (not true, but illustrative): Jesus encountered three disabled men along the roadside.  The first, He touched and he was able to walk.  He touched the second man, and his sight was restored.  As Jesus approached the third man, the man retreated and said, “Don’t touch me!  I am on permanent disability.”
 
It may be hard for some of us to fathom, but those who have spent time helping acutely needful people can attest to the fact that not all such people want to “get well”; especially if they have been in that “condition for a long time.”  Change — even good, positive, change — can be unsettling because it means releasing old, familiar, ways.  Change means — well — change.
 
Our Lord addresses each of us at the point of our need, and He asks, “Do you want to get well?”  – Luther
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March 27
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“When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?'” (John 5:6, NIV)

A little story (not true, but illustrative): Jesus encountered three disabled men along the roadside.  The first, He touched and he was able to walk.  He touched the second man, and his sight was restored.  As Jesus approached the third man, the man retreated and said, “Don’t touch me!  I am on permanent disability.”
 
It may be hard for some of us to fathom, but those who have spent time helping acutely needful people can attest to the fact that not all such people want to “get well”; especially if they have been in that “condition for a long time.”  Change — even for good — can be unsettling because it means releasing the old, familiar, ways.  Change means — well — change. 
 
Our Lord addresses each of us at the point of our need, and He asks, “Do you want to get well?”  – Luther
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