Asides

January 28
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Uncategorized Aside

“‘Why are you sleeping?’ he asked them. ‘Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.'” (Luke 22: 46, NIV)

The most compelling temptation is not the urge to do something that is wrong, but it is the urge to do something that is good but falls far short of excellent.  It is the urge to settle for the near-term tactical advantage at the expense of the strategic victory.

Sleeping is not a bad thing.  It is while we sleep that our bodies repair, refresh and regenerate.  However, in today’s scripture verse, something was happening that called for a response from the disciples that sleeping could never deliver.

To choose to pray is to aspire to see the world as God sees the world.  In prayer, we avoid temptations to settle for anything less than God’s will in the challenges we confront each day.  – Luther

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January 27
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Uncategorized Aside

“For those who find me find life, and receive favor from the Lord.” (Proverbs 8: 35, NIV)

These words from the book of Proverbs are inscribed on the natural history museum building of the University of Kansas (my alma mater).

I don’t know why Wisdom’s promise is posted on the museum and not, instead, on one of the other prominent buildings on the campus’ main thoroughfare — Jayhawk Boulevard.  Yet, a museum is appropriate in that it is a repository of the tangible history of a people, an event, or of an era.

Is Wisdom evident in our tangible history: The bank account, the appointment calendar, the contact list?  Have you and I chosen wisely the investments we’ve made of our treasure, our time, and in our relationships.

The litmus test in these things is whether our choices would find favor in the eyes of our Heavenly Father.  – Luther

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January 25
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Uncategorized Aside

“Then he said to them, ‘So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.’” (Matthew 22:21b, NIV)

We know what belongs to Caesar.  Caesar’s name is on his money.  Caesar collects his tax from wages, even before it is deposited in our personal accounts. Caesar has laws for conduct that must be obeyed under penalty of fine or imprisonment. We get it, and we render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar because it is right to do so.

On the other hand, what belongs to God?

For an answer, we need look no further than the first book of the Bible (Genesis), where we see that we each were created in the image and likeness of God. As coin and currency bears the image and likeness of Caesar (a.k.a civil government), it is God’s image only that is borne by you and me.

While Caesar is about possessions and property, God is always about persons.  We belong to God, and God desires our fellowship.  He desires nothing more; and we should offer Him nothing less.  – Luther

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