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Christianity is not a spectator sport. When God saved you, he bestowed upon you the Team Jesus jersey through no achievement or effort of your own. You could never have earned it, yet he placed it on your shoulders in love and grace. But he did not only give you a team jersey. He gave you his word (the playbook) and his Spirit (the athletic ability to play the game). You have literally been granted supernatural power to do what was once impossible: to repent and obey in faith. So how strange it would be if you thanked the Lord and walked cheerily towards the sideline, admiring your clean, spotless new jersey, and sat down to cheer everyone else on instead of stepping into the game? T’would be strange, indeed.
Something about the way God crafted our sense receptors to metabolize chords and notes incentivizes joyful transcendence. As such, all these melodic vibrations and frequencies are a reminder that He meticulously designed our universe with more goodness and beauty than He needed to. We’d technically be able to survive without music, but a life without it wouldn’t be life to the full.
If we took stock of who we are becoming, one of the things we will clearly see is that the hands of our Sculptor seem to have been most formative during the days of difficulty and trial. Though we might have been too blinded by our pain at the time to recognize it, in retrospect we would have to admit that those dark days of difficulty were forming days. It was during those days that God chipped away at our sin and self-reliance; at our lack of trust and immaturity.
Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.
Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.
Where to Find Your Happy Place
Andrew Wilson writes about happiness and joy: why do they exist? How do we find them? He explains how we find ultimate joy in God’s presence.
But it’s Solomon’s father, David, who goes even further. He declares that beyond dwelling in any physical structure, being in God’s presence and the joy it brings is the only thing he wants in life: “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple” (27:4). God’s presence is so delightful that when you experience it, you don’t want anything else.
At first glance, Acts 1:15–26 is a puzzling passage. Luke devotes twelve verses to the replacement of Judas Iscariot! That is unexpected. Even more surprising is the method by which the apostles make their replacement decision. After identifying two qualified men, they cast lots to determine who would become the twelfth apostle. Did you hear that? They cast lots.
Mustang Grape
Our poem of the week: Mustang Grape, by Kate Bluett. This poem is about a vine growing in Texas and also about desire for the Lord.
On the WPCA Blog This Week
This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called Those Who Hope Are Transformed. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!
Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.
Most Christians I know have felt stuck in their walk with God at one point or another. For some this lasts a month or two, but for others it can drag on for years. Why is this?
For those who have the Holy Spirit and regularly seek the Lord, it seems like growth should come more easily. Trees don’t always produce fruit as quickly as we’d like, but with the right soil and care, they do produce fruit.
It’s probably rare that a stalled spiritual life is the result of a single cause. And different people are different! But the Bible does help us ask some relevant questions.
Confidence Now
The apostle John wrote his first letter to explain how believers might have assurance of eternal life (1 John 5:13). In the middle of the letter, he discusses how to have confidence both now and when Christ returns.
One of the reasons believers can have confidence in their salvation now is objective: God has loved us and called us his children.
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now (1 John 3:1-2)
John points to the facts of the gospel and the words of Jesus for this evidence. What he has written in his Gospel account is more than enough to justify these claims. The “kind of love” the Father has given stretches from a cosmic scale (”In the beginning was the Word…”) to the washing of feet, from welcoming notorious rebels to dying at the insistence of religious leaders. It’s the kind of love that cannot remain in the grave—the stone must roll away.
John also teaches that godly actions come from godly people: “If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him” (1 John 2:29). “Practicing righteousness” cannot mean mere external conformity to some list of rules, as true righteousness involves desires, motives, and worship.
Confidence Later
John wants his hearers to have confidence in their salvation when Christ appears, not only in the present time.
John confesses he does not know exactly what we will be like when Christ appears, but what he can say for sure is lovely: “when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).
Make sure you grab onto this promise with both hands. We shall be like him. These bodies and minds of ours that are shot through with sin and shame will be transformed. The curse—which has invaded our every cell—will be no more. God is holy and glorious, and we shall share in that holiness and glory!
I’ve written a lot in the last few years about hope. My shorthand definition of biblical hope is that hope is the joyful expectation that God will keep his promises.
John does not beat around the bush—he writes to give hope: “And everyone who thus hopes…” (1 John 3:3). When John describes the promise of God to be fulfilled when Christ returns, he’s calling us to hope! Believe this promise, picture it being fulfilled, reflect on just how wonderful that fulfillment will be.
Hope is powerful, and it has natural consequences. “And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:3). Those who hope in this way will purify themselves. Note that this requires and assumes that we understand how God is pure and how we aim for that purity.
Another word John uses for purification is abiding in Christ. And he counsels that abiding in Christ—or purifying ourselves because of our great hope—gives us confidence when he returns.
And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. (1 John 2:28)
As we grow in godliness, we grow in our future confidence before Christ. By the power of the Spirit, and because we are forgiven, we will increasingly say no to sin. We will not shrink back from him in shame.
Look to His Promises
If you feel stuck in your walk with God, if you feel you’ve reached a plateau or are even losing your footing, the apostle John has a word for you. Lean into hope.
It may be that you’re not growing because you’re not hoping. The Bible doesn’t call us to focus on the future to the exclusion of the present, but our hope is clearly forward-looking.
Have you meditated on the future? Have you let your sanctified imagination loose on the idea of new bodies, a new earth, and new heavens? Have you pondered what it will be like to see God as he is? To be like him?
These are not idle daydreams; this is not a frivolous thought experiment. If you want to grow in purity, in your God-likeness, hope like this might be just what you need.
By the end of August, many people have come to admit that the dreams they had for Bible reading that year have not been realized. Maybe that’s your reality. Maybe you set out strong in January and kept up the habit through the first half of the year, but then summer came along, routines were disrupted, and things haven’t been the same ever since. Or maybe you planned to read through a daily devotional but didn’t enjoy it as much as you thought you would. Maybe you found your reading plan was just a bit too heavy for the realities of your life. Maybe you got sick and couldn’t read for a time, or had a baby and have had to build entirely new routines. There could be any number of factors.
I simply want to encourage you not to surrender the rest of this year. In fact, I want you to believe that you can still make this an extraordinary year of reading your Bible. However, for that to be the case, you will need to take a bit of time to consider how to read, what to read, and how to either form a new habit or re-form an old one.
For some of us, impure sexual thoughts come up often, for others, hardly at all. That’s just how God designed us. But society clearly wants us thinking about sex all the time, and more importantly, society wants us to engage and dwell on those thoughts. It appeals to our sexual passions. Because that’s how we are led to buy more products and services. As a result, for some Christians, their interiority can be crowded with impure thoughts daily. And they may hate themselves for it. They may experience shame. Regret. Self-loathing. Distrust of self. And also a feeling of helplessness. The thoughts just keep coming. How do you stop them so you can pay attention to what’s in front of you, to who is in front of you? How do you love your brothers and sisters in Christ by thinking of them in holy, respectful, familial ways?
How to Pray When You Feel Like You Pray the Same Thing Every Day
Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.
If I could give advice to a young bride today, after three decades of experimentally learning how to live a life that’s hopelessly and gloriously intertwined with a man’s, I would urge her to embrace her dependence on her husband. I would tell her not to just embrace it, but to revel in it, enjoy it, and celebrate it as one of the great joys of married life.
We study the Bible not to become smart but to become wise in the things of God. We study the Bible to know the ultimate author, hear what he has to say, walk closely with him, and reflect him to the world around us. When we open our Bibles to observe, take notes, pray, ask questions, and search diligently, we will be transformed as our minds are renewed by the inspired words of God.
This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called How to Enjoy Your (Vain) Life. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!
Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.
When Christians think of Ecclesiastes, they probably think of vanity. If it’s been a while since they read or studied the book, they might only remember that famous line: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
And yet, even though “all is vanity,” not all of Ecclesiastes is about vanity!
A surprising thread runs through this gem of ancient wisdom literature. The Preacher wants his hearers to sober-mindedly face life and to enjoy themselves in the process.
There are a small number of passages in Ecclesiastes in which the Preacher explicitly discusses joy or enjoyment. I’ll be drawing from those passages for this post and connecting them to some of the larger themes of the book.
Our Days Are Few
Death is coming, and it may come much quicker than we’d like. This is one of the drums Ecclesiastes bangs repeatedly; it is also a key to enjoying life.
Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. (Ecclesiastes 5:18)
In the context of another passage about enjoying life, the Preacher also says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going” (Eccl 9:10).
Ecclesiastes puts our life in context, and one foundational context is that life is finite. We may act as though life will extend forever—that’s often easier than confronting our mortality, after all—but pretending does not conjure reality. This life ends, no exceptions.
It may seem counterintuitive, but accepting this truth makes life easier to enjoy. We cannot enjoy this life after we die; therefore, we should enjoy life now. Let’s push it a bit further: if, drawing on a monastic impulse, we refuse to enjoy what God gives us in this life, we do not honor our God who loves to give.
Receive God’s Gifts
In his book Living Life Backward, David Gibson presents one of the early contrasts in Ecclesiastes as gain versus gift. Will we take good parts of our human lives (work, wisdom, pleasure) and use them for our gain, or will we receive and enjoy them as gifts?
Recognizing the good things in our lives as gifts, the Preacher would contend, is crucial to our joy.
There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25) I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13) Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. (Ecclesiastes 5:18-19)
We honor God most when we enjoy his gifts as gifts—when we don’t try to make them into anything more. They are not meant to increase our status, they do not determine our identity, they are not a way for us to earn favor with God or others.
We are on the path to enjoying life when we recognize God as the good giver he is, developing the habit of receiving what God places in our empty, outstretched hands. The Preacher mentions food, drink, work, wisdom, knowledge, wealth, possessions, and marriage in the context of gifts of God we should enjoy. God does not give all of these gifts at all times to all people; yet when he gives, we can rejoice.
God Must Give the Joy
One of the most sobering passages in Ecclesiastes comes at the beginning of chapter 6.
There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil. (Ecclesiastes 6:1-2)
The Preacher writes this directly after noting how good it is when God gives power to enjoy his gifts (Eccl 5:19). So, let’s make this crystal clear: not all who have God’s gifts will enjoy them!
Common sense may dictate that joy rises and falls in proportion to our possessions, health, or other tangible markers of vitality. But that’s not the way God’s world actually works. God gives some great wealth and no joy while he gives others meager belongings and exceeding happiness. This is part of the upside down nature of the kingdom of God.
God Approves
The Preacher pulls few punches in Ecclesiastes. He writes about oppression, futility, and death. A lot.
Yet this honest assessment of the fallen creation, far from being a barrier to joy, is a prerequisite for joy. There is no hero’s journey we must undertake. Rather, we only need to see ourselves as finite and created, receive good gifts from our creator, and use those gifts in the way they are intended.
God gives to those who please him (Eccl 2:26); for those whose work he has approved, he tells them to eat with joy and drink with a merry heart (Eccl 9:7). The honest reader of Ecclesiastes must ask: How can I please God?
The looking-ahead answer that Ecclesiastes gives is to “fear God and keep his commandments” (Eccl 12:13). In its massive scope, and in the face of human sin, this points ahead to Jesus, the one who perfectly feared God and kept all of his commandments.
We may not think of Jesus as the most joyful human ever, but he was—and is. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, so those who walk by the Spirit will grow in joy. And instruction for growth in this joy is found in part, of all places, in Ecclesiastes.
Our confidence in Christ means we need not come to the news as anxious citizens or loyal partisans or helpless doomscrollers. We read as those whom Christ has chosen, redeemed, and forgiven according to the riches of God’s grace — as those included in God’s purpose to unite all things in Christ (Ephesians 1:4–10).
I can’t point to any single reason I’ve become less critical over the years. Surely the Holy Spirit has helped, convicting my heart in times of Bible reading and prayer (and through friends). Some of my growth is probably attributable to general maturity—as one ages he tends to get less fiery, I think. And no small portion of it can likely be credited to becoming the father of two young girls in the last six years. I would say being a girl dad has softened me more than just about anything—the Holy Spirit has certainly used this in his molding of my heart.
Creation Groans
Our poem of the week: Creation Groans, by Kate Bluett. This poem reflects on Romans 8 and imagines all that will be one day different in creation.
Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.
We dislike needing help. We resent our physical limitations. We’re frustrated by our emotions, disappointed by our failures, and unsettled by circumstances we can’t control. We despise the weaknesses that expose how little power we actually possess.
But perhaps we’re fighting the wrong battle. Weakness isn’t our enemy. Weakness is one of God’s greatest invitations.
If you seek your calling, look about you.
Reagan Rose helps us think about our present callings (in contrast to our possible future callings). Often, what God is calling us to right now is evident around us!
It’s easy to get so preoccupied with looking to the future that we neglect faithfulness in our present responsibilities. It’s easy to miss the glory of the mundane. But all of our responsibilities are important as we do them as worship unto the Lord and love to our neighbor.
Are you seeking to be holy as He is holy, reflecting the image of Christ in whatever roles or responsibilities you have right now? Whether you are working a job, studying for school, serving in church, or doing the dishes, your calling is to be maximally faithful to the task He’s given you.
How To Show Hospitality When You Live in a Small Home
First, don’t be ashamed of your house. We are all prone to judge one another by visible symbols of wealth like cars, clothes, and houses, and we knew that people would draw conclusions about us based on the size of our home. But we understood this to be the Lord’s provision for us and never wanted to be ashamed of what he provided. So we chose to be as thankful for our small house as anyone could be of their big one, and every bit as unashamed of it.
On the WPCA Blog This Week
This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called Ecclesiastes As Invitation. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!
Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.
The book of Ecclesiastes occupies a unique place in the Bible. It is the only book of philosophy, it is the book that speaks most relentlessly about death, and it is the only book supplying the lyrics to a #1 Billboard song in 1965.
Ecclesiastes is also brutally honest about life in a fallen world. It is so honest, in fact, that some Christians find its assertions and conclusions difficult to stomach.
But we will make no apologies. The Preacher of Ecclesiastes takes a clear-eyed look at the world around him and reports his often-devastating findings. If we listen closely, these observations ring in harmony with the frustrations we hear from our neighbors, our coworkers, and our own hearts.
All is Vanity
My neighbors don’t usually use language like “vanity” or “meaningless,” but I catch the sentiment in some of their complaints.
What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:3, 5, 7, 9)
Perhaps you’ve heard (and thought) it too! I’m stuck, making no progress in my life. I hate doing all of these tasks over and over and over—it seems like I’m never done. I thought we were making progress as a society, but I see the same old things come up year after year.
Ecclesiastes opens with a discussion of the absurdity that gives the book its distinct flavor. Specifically, the first eleven verses of the first chapter provide the book’s most extensive explanation of the word translated “vanity” or “meaningless.” I’d wager that if you haven’t expressed some version of these thoughts, you probably haven’t been honest about your experience of life.
Return to the Dust
While we don’t often talk about death in casual conversation, everyone knows it’s coming.
I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. (Ecclesiastes 3:18–20)
Given the right setting and a close degree of friendship, we don’t need to scratch too deeply to broach this topic. Almost everyone has had a relative, friend, or pet die. Our lives are inescapably finite, and the Preacher of Ecclesiastes points this out in ways we might resent.
How steep was the fall of humanity into sin? The Preacher says: it was THIS steep—man has no advantage over the beasts. The Fall was devastating, with infinitely many consequences, and the Preacher insists we not look away.
Injustice
Whether in national headlines or in booths at local diners, injustice is a hot topic.
There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 8:14)
Why do the wicked prosper? Why aren’t good people rewarded? If we’re looking honestly at the world, we need to grapple with these questions and be ready to discuss them with our curious friends, because they surely are thinking (if not talking) about them.
An Invitation to the Bible
Our friends who have little familiarity with the Bible may be surprised to hear that these frustrations are voiced in the Bible. No, it’s not just “a list of rules” or “moral stories.”
Those same friends need to hear that the Scriptures also address those same frustrations. And, when possible, these friends need to hear it from us!
God knows the dissatisfaction and discouragement you feel. It’s in the Bible! Wouldn’t you like to hear the remedy the Bible prescribes?
Many people view Ecclesiastes as a confusing, downer of a book. But if we listen closely to both the Preacher and our neighbors, we might find instead that it is a great start to deeper, spiritually-significant conversations.
Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.
When God’s Plans Seem Inconsistent With His Promises
Kirsten Black writes about how the story of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac reveals the nature of faith. God will keep his promises even when we can’t see how that may happen.
Enduring faith trusts the character of God, even when his actions defy logic. Lasting faith believes who God says he is, even when experiences suggest otherwise. Sincere faith accepts that we cannot see the full picture. We can be certain, however, that we have a faithful God who knows and understands every aspect of what he is doing. He sees the beginning, the end, and everything in-between.
Cruising Downstream, Laboring Upstream
Tim Challies uses an analogy about canoeing on a river to help us understand growing in holiness.
You may know from experience that it is easy to take a boat downstream and much harder to take it back up. You certainly know from experience that it is easy to follow sin downstream and much harder to change your course to pursue holiness. As long as you go with the flow of your own desires, the ways of the devil, and the movement of the world around you, life is easy. You can stow your paddle and simply coast. But when you choose to turn toward the Lord, when you decide you will labor toward the Heaven he has secured for us rather than coast to Hell, you quickly learn that you are in for a struggle.
Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.
