The balance between planning and worrying

Proverbs 6

Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise; which having no chief, overseer, or ruler, provides her bread in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.  How long will you sleep, sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep?  A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:  so your poverty will come as a robber, and your scarcity as an armed man.

Proverbs 6:6-11

This is the other side from Matthew 6:34 "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

While we should not borrow worry from the future, we should also be prudent and  plan.

There is no guarantee for our plans, however. For example, many people invested in businesses that have been disrupted by COVID19. They couldn't have predicted that.

But likewise, if we laze around and don't work and invest, we will be like the grasshopper who starved in winter while the ants could eat what they had stored in summer.

So, there is a balance to be held.

Father, thank You that You have given us a mind to think and plan, but at the same time, we need to trust in You and don't borrow worry. In Jesus' name, amen.

Caught between the now and the not yet

Romans 7

So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.

Romans 7:4‭-‬6

We're no longer under the old testament law, but we're now to serve God in the Spirit.

 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

Romans 7:21‭-‬25

However, we still struggle with our old nature even though we're already in Christ. We're in the process of becoming like Jesus, but we're not perfect yet.

Good works is a consequence of grace

Romans 6

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer?
...
Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. Also, do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be! Don’t you know that when you present yourselves as servants and obey someone, you are the servants of whomever you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were bondservants of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered. Being made free from sin, you became bondservants of righteousness.

Romans 6:1-2, 11-18

Last Sunday, we saw that faith is proven by works. In today's reading, we see that having received God's grace, we have died to sin. Therefore, sin no longer has dominion over us. If we continue to sin, we will be slaves to sin rather than being bondservants of righteousness.

Suffering

Romans 5

Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope: and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 5:3‭-‬5

Suffering produces perseverance, character and hope... but man, it's still hard to rejoice in our suffering! 😅

But we do have God's love, and we do have the Holy Spirit. So we can hang on.

Let the suffering make us better, not bitter.

For while we were yet weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man. Yet perhaps for a righteous person someone would even dare to die. But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:6‭-‬8

The fact is, even as others may be causing us suffering now, we have sinned before ourselves and caused suffering of others. Yet God loves us and Christ died for us even while we were in rebellion to Him.

Hope after a messup

Exodus 36

They spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which Yahweh commanded to make.”

Exodus 36:5

This was after the golden calf error that they did this for the Tabernacle. So even after such a bad sin, there's still possibility of repentance and doing good.

Missing the forest for the trees

Exodus 35

‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of solemn rest to Yahweh: whoever does any work in it shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations on the Sabbath day.’”

Exodus 35:2‭-‬3

God gave humans the Sabbath to make sure that people rest one day a week, for, as Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for people, and not people for the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27)

However, they've been debates over the centuries, if you're cold or can't see, can you light a fire? Can you turn on a light switch? Can you start your car?

These days, making a fire is a simple matter of striking a match, or turning on our stove. But during Moses’ time, it was a labourus process of gathering wood and kindling, rubbing dry sticks together for a long time while blowing, etc.

These debates point out that people often lose sight of God’s principles when arguing about details - missing the forest for the trees.

Father, if I miss the forest for the trees, remind me of Your principles. In Jesus' name, amen.

Faith & Works: the balance

Romans 4

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”  Now to him who works, the reward is not counted as grace, but as something owed. But to him who doesn’t work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.

Romans 4:3‭-‬5

Paul quotes Genesis 15:6 to point out that Abraham was justified by faith, which is very interesting because James quotes the same passage:

Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God. You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not only by faith.

James 2:21‭-‬24

to point out that his faith didn't stand alone, but was backed up by works.

Here we see the balance: we are justified by faith, but our faith is evidenced by works.

Without faith in Jesus' sacrifice, we don't have anything. But if you claim to have faith in Jesus but your life is not affected, then is it real?

Father, thank You for saving us. May we work out our salvation in following You. In Jesus' name, amen