Brown's Daily Word 10-3--08

Good Morning,
It is Friday. Thank you Jesus. Sunday is coming. Jesus came as the Lord of the Sabbath. He destroyed the power of sin and death. He came to set the captives free. He came to give life abundantly.
Henry David Thoreau claimed that most men “live lives of quiet desperation.” To avoid that fate, he spent two years, two months and two days, alone in the woods of Walden Pond. He described his experiences in his 1854 book, "Walden", “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” This is Thoreau’s philosophy of “abundant life”. As an early adopter of Darwinian evolution, he advocated a return to nature accompanied by a casting off of religion. A different idea is illustrated by a “veteran mountain climber sharing his experiences with a group of novices preparing for their first major climb. He had conquered many of the world’s most difficult peaks, so he was qualified to give them some advice. ‘Remember this,’ he said, ‘your goal is to experience the exhilaration of the climb and the joy of reaching the peak…. If your purpose for climbing is just to avoid death, your experience will be minimal.’” (David Egnar, Our Daily Bread, February 13, 2003). Fear robs the climb of joy. Sometimes Christians avoid the errors of Thoreau only to slip into those of a novice mountain climber. Professor David Egnar (Cornerstone University and RBC Ministries), who was listening to the mountain climber, said: “Jesus did not call us to live the Christian life just to escape hell. It’s not to be a life of minimum joy and fulfillment, but a life that is full and overflowing. Our purpose in following Christ should not be merely to avoid eternal punishment. If that’s our primary motivation, we are missing the wonders and joys and victories of climbing higher and higher with Jesus.” Many voices call us to their path. Above the noise, however, if we have ears to hear, Jesus offers abundant life. He frees your soul from bondage to sin and the fear of failing in self-justification. Listen to his words of hope, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news…. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor" (Luke 4.18). Receive Jesus as he is offered in the gospel because he gives abundant freedom. He also heals broken hearts, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11.28-30). We must be careful of lightning because electricity follows the path of least resistance. Rivers too, never flow up the mountain, but always down and around. As fallen creatures in a fallen world, we find it easier and more pleasurable to do the same. Watching TV is easier than cooking for our neighbor. We may hope to be happy by taking the path of least resistance, but that path surely does not lead to joy. One of my favorite writers is G. K. Chesterton. He once said, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.” There are days when following God seems the very opposite of abundant life. But whoever loses his life for Jesus’ sake and the sake of the gospel will save it.
It has been said that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow could take a worthless sheet of paper, write a poem on it, and make it worth $6,000—that’s genius. Nelson Rockefeller could sign his name to a piece of paper and make it worth a million dollars—that’s capital. Uncle Sam can take paper, draw pictures on it and make it worth $100.00—that’s money. A machinist can take a $5.00 bar of stainless steel and make it into a $5000.00 surgical implant—that’s skill. An artist can take inexpensive canvas, paint a picture on it, and make it worth $1,000—that’s art. God can take a worthless, sinful life, wash it in the blood of Christ, put His Spirit in it, and make it a blessing to humanity—that’s discipleship.

In Christ,
Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-zJHgaoVa4