Archive for Shalom Tips
Cultivating a Holy Longing
Posted by: | CommentsIn his book, The Gospel for Real Life, Jerry Bridges writes,
Generally speaking, believers who have the least benefits of this life have the most vigorous hopes of heaven.
He’s right, right? I believe so. After all, if you have nothing here and God promises you a New Heaves and New Earth in which perfect righteousness dwells, you should have easier time focusing on the future. If all is going well for you here, your relative blessing oftentimes will obscure the perfect blessing that is soon to come.
So what do we do if life is going along quite well? If we are enjoying the benefits of this life in greater measure than many others, must we forgo them in order to long more for heaven?
Lest we think it doesn’t matter whether we long for the life to come, check out Hebrews 9:27-28,
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Did you catch that last part? ‘To save those who are eagerly waiting for him.’ That’s no joke huh? Though salvation is solely through faith in Christ, those who faith will eagerly wait.
And yet, we are so apt to feel quite at home here. Life gets going and we think little of the perfect life to come, where those who believe in Christ will live with Him and enjoy life as it ought to be and a thousand times better.
So back to our question: what do we do if our life here is pretty nice? Here’s two suggestions I have probably mentioned before.
1) Read the Bible and good books until you figure out what Heaven is really like and going to be like. Most of us aren’t as clear about the life to come as we may think we are. Do you think Heaven is singing hymns in the clouds with angels? Well then, you are way off and need to read up. Heaven by Randy Alcorn is a great place to start.
2) Cultivate a holy longing for the life to come by diligently seeking the Lord and asking Him for it. Word and prayer. It’s tough to get too much of these.
There is more that we can do, no doubt, but that is a good place to start. For no matter where we are or what is going on in our lives, we will do well to cultivate a holy longing for Christ and the life to come. Believe it or not, it will enable us to live much better here.
A Glimpse of the New Earth
Posted by: | CommentsLast Friday, I crossed the Walt Whitman Bridge from New Jersey to Pennsylvania. At the toll booth I encountered a man who was clearly a Christian. I knew it from the first moment of our encounter. He was exuding joy as he greeted me humbly and happily. I asked him how he was doing. He replied, “Better than I deserve.” (A great response in light of the gospel). I gave him an ‘Amen.’
After receiving my toll, he counted out my change with a smile on my face and said, “May the Lord bless you today.” To which I replied, “May He do the same to you today, brother.”
This might not seem like much, but it was rather early for me to be on the road and I wasn’t exactly exuding joy myself before than encounter. But afterwards, yes afterwards, I could not help but give thanks to God for such a providential encounter (after all, I could have picked any number of toll booths that day).
Not only that, but that brief encounter made me long all the more for the New Earth, where every encounter with every person will be so much more encouraging and joyful than the one I enjoyed that morning. Can you imagine such a world? A world where every person enjoyed their particular job and blessed others in the doing of it? Where we greet each other with thanksgiving and leave each other with blessing? All the time?
It’s coming. And I can’t wait. But for now, it seems wise to keep my eyes and ears open for such glimpses and to allow them to change my days. And, no doubt, to do all I can to be that kind of glimpse to others.
Tips for Shalom
Posted by: | CommentsI am thankful to be home, though I am still wiped. All told yesterday, we were more or less awake for 24 hours. Never easy to recover from that. I marvel at the people who can do so. We made it back to New Jersey though and for that I give thanks to God.
Blogging will probably be a bit sparse the rest of the week, but I plan on finding a good rhythm (for everything including blogging) beginning next week. For now, here is the first in a random category that actually came to mind while in the airplane bathroom. It is something I would like to call Tips for Shalom.
The Biblical notion of Shalom is a wonderful and rich one. I will say more on it later, but for now, it is worth saying that the concept of Shalom involves the totally of flourishing, the inter-working of every relationship for the good of every individual and the whole, all to the glory of God. At the very least, it involves everyone doing what they are called to do, no matter how big or small, perfectly well for the good of others and the honor and fame of God.
There is more to it (after all, that is the summary of a guy who has slept very little during the last 72 hours). But I want to offer some ‘tips’ in order to show that the little things we do or may be called to do can be done with a view towards blessing others and honoring God. Like the paper towel dispensers in the airplane bathroom (or anywhere else for that matter).
So what’s my tip? It’s this: For the good of others and the glory of God, please don’t overstuff the paper towel dispensers.
Sure, it might not seem like a big deal (and in one sense it’s not), but imagine that every paper towel dispenser in every plane is overstuffed (as mine was yesterday), so that countless paper towels are wasted and countless people left a little bit frustrated over the whole thing. Does that contribute to a whole lot of happiness? The answer is plain.
The littlest things we do either contribute to or take away from human flourishing and the glory of God. Even something as simple as embracing the limits of a paper towel dispenser. For real. Let’s take the time to think about some of the little things we can do for the good of Shalom. I’ll be sure to keep those random tips coming now and again, just to encourage us along the way as we seek to bless others and honor God.
