Reluctant Retiree

In my lifetime, I have been a child, son, student, graduate, husband, father, grandfather, business manager, teacher, bank teller, clerk, internal auditor, janitor, statistical clerk, and missionary. All of these were titles given to me by others. But none of these titles really describe who I am or was at the time. They only partially describe what I did or the relationship with others that I possessed.

I was given other titles based upon what others thought of me. Some were kind, some were not. They said I was quiet, angry, wise, sullen, foolish, soft-spoken, opinionated, and other characteristics that we won’t get into right now. While these titles were perceived, and therefore, accurate for others, they were not always true for me.

Titles leave us in the dark as to who we are and what we should do. They haven’t given me the light I need to live right nor accomplish my purpose in life. That is, until I was given new titles by my Heavenly Father. When I became a believer and His child, He gave me the titles that Peter wrote about in I Peter 2:9; “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

The moment I trusted Jesus as my Savior, God removed me from darkness and placed me in His light. All of a sudden I could see His purposes for me and I began to understand how I could live in the light of His love. He called me a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people for his own possession. Clearly He had higher expectations for me than I had. Now I am free to proclaim the excellencies of Him.

Join me in His marvelous light. Leave the darkness behind. Discover the love of the Almighty, our Heavenly Father. And enjoy the privileges and glory of being a child of the One True King.

Jesus told His disciples, “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” So, according to Jesus, one way to distinguish truth from lies is in the freedom truth gives us. If we believe something that is false, we become bound by its lies, to live by them and protect them. Truth does not come with such chains. Truth allows us the freedom to choose, knowing right from wrong. Falsehood is always condemning us. Truth supports and encourages us.

In the verse just before the one I quoted above Jesus says, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.” So Jesus links abiding in His Word with knowing the truth, and thereby being set free. Knowing the truth begins with knowing God, since He is the originator and embodiment of truth. In fact, Jesus said in another place, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The reason we struggle to find truth, and our purpose in life, is that we don’t start at the beginning, the source. As I quoted yesterday, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”

Leave the chains of falsehood behind. Believe the truth and be set free. Believe in Jesus Christ.

They used to say that you could tell what a person values by looking at their checkbook. In other words, what people spend their money on reflects their interests and priorities. I realize that this saying does not have the same impact today when checkbooks are not used much, but the truth remains that we spend our money based upon our perceived personal benefit.

The same basic idea is true with how we spend our time. Do we engage in a lot of selfish or frivolous pursuits? Or do we involve ourselves in selfless endeavors to benefit others? Are we spending much time trying to improve ourselves or are we just feeding our base desires? Do we try to do the right thing or do we simply concede to doing the expedient thing?

Psalm 90:12 says, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” It is true that our time on earth is limited and we don’t know how many days we have. Numbering our days does not mean to stay busy all the time. It does mean making the right choices and doing the right things with our time and efforts. By making the right choices we learn wisdom and multiply the benefits to ourselves and others. However, to make these right choices we need help. God’s Word gives us the truth to base our decisions on. And God’s Spirit enables His children to do the right thing. Submitting to the Word of God and His Spirit, then, are the first steps to living wisely. Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. “

A defendant stands before the judge awaiting punishment for the despicable crimes he committed. He still wears the dirty clothes that bear the marks of his crimes. The criminal has been found guilty. He deserves the death penalty. Before the judge can make his judgment, another man enters the courtroom. This man is impeccably dressed in bright white clothing. The intruder speaks to the judge with an unexpected familiarity. He offers to exchange clothes with the defendant, taking on the clothing soiled by crimes and giving the defendant his perfect white clothes. Beyond that, the intruder requests that the judgment be assessed to himself and that the defendant be set free. There is no reason for the intruder to make such a generous offer. The defendant certainly doesn’t deserve this sacrifice. But the judge, knowing the spotless character of the intruder, agrees to accept the offer. The defendant is set free and the intruder is punished by death.

While not a true story, you may recognize its meaning. The judge is our Heavenly Father. Each of us is the defendant. We have each committed crimes, that is sins, against the Father. We deserve the sentence of death. But the courtroom intruder has entered and made the offer to take our place. In fact, He has already done so, by bearing our sins and suffering the punishment. So our sins have been taken away and placed on Him. In addition, the Father has freely declared us not guilty, because we are now dressed in the garments of His Son’s righteousness.

Romans 3:23-24 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” One thing remains to be done. We have to accept the free gift offered to us by Jesus. The defendant is not set free until he accepts the intruder’s offer. And we are not forgiven, redeemed and justified until we accept the offer of God’s Son.

Our culture can be characterized by a disposable love. We tend to love only for a season. The possessions that we say we love, quickly wear out and are replaced by new loveable things. The values that we treasure are superceded by new values that better serve our desires. Even loving relationships are disposed of when we grow apart or the other person is just not meeting our needs. For us, love does not mean a commitment to remain together through the ups and downs of life and feelings.

God’s love for His children is durable and not affected by life’s journey. In Jeremiah 31:3 God says, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” God’s love for His children began before the foundation of the world. His love will continue forever. His love never changes or fluctuates with our performance and is not based on our faithfulness to Him. God is always faithful to His people and His promises.

The question is “what will you do with God’s love?” You can choose to reject Him, and live like His love does not exist. Or you can choose to accept God’s love, and live in the glory and protection of His love. Both decisions come with eternal consequences, so choose wisely.