Reluctant Retiree

When I looked at the news this morning, the first thing I noticed was that Congress argued with each other late into the night. Partisan disputes seem to be the norm these days. Everyone is holding onto their personal agendas and ideologies at the expense of the common good.

James 4:1-2 says, “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.” As long as we allow selfish motives to reign within us, we will not be at peace with each other. Somewhere we need to find the wisdom to look past our selfishness and seek to build up and benefit others.

Again James gives us help in finding this wisdom. He says, “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” These verses give us the basis for evaluating whether someone is speaking with wisdom. If we speak with peace, gentleness, mercy and impartiality with a life of good conduct, then we are speaking wisdom. But if our conduct exhibits jealousy and selfishness and our words are false and boastful, then we are not speaking wisdom. Words of wisdom lead to peace. Selfish actions lead to quarrels.

I am the stereotypical male shopper. When I go into a store I go straight to the item I want, pick it up and head to the cash register. I don’t evaluate the product against others in the same category and I am not very concerned with the relative price of my choice versus others. I may have done some research before heading to the store, but probably not much. My wife is the research fanatic. If I involve her in my choice selection, I will probably pay less and get a better quality product, but it will certainly take more time.

In other aspects of life, however, we are all prone to comparing ourselves with others. Whether it be the clothes we wear or the car we drive, we are often thinking about how these things rank in comparison to what our neighbor has. In social situations, we compare who we talk with to who are friends are speaking with. We judge how successful we are by comparing our awards, salary and promotions with those of others.

Unfortunately, comparing ourselves with others is a fruitless exercise. We will always be better than some and worse off than others. Even if we do win, in our judgment, so what? In the end, these achievements are meaningless, especially when you consider eternity. Our relative successes will all turn to dust one day and will not be remembered.

II Corinthians 10:12 says, “Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.” God is the standard by which we should evaluate ourselves. Ephesians 5:1 says that we should be “imitators of God”. He is the true and faithful standard for evaluating our lives. Becoming imitators of God will give us a life beyond comparison and ensure that we produce fruit in keeping with His grace.

There is wisdom in counting the costs before embarking on a project. We should make sure that we have the funds available, expertise needed, friendly assistance, and energy to complete the work. Failure to properly evaluate these factors and gather the resources will inevitably lead to frustration and embarrassment.

Many years ago, my wife and I bought a house. This house had an outdated and ugly kitchen. Who paints their kitchen cabinets peach color? My father in law offered to remodel the kitchen by building new cabinets. He gave me one condition, which was that I help him do all the woodworking. He was quite skilled and could easily do the work. I, on the other hand, had no woodworking knowledge or ability. As most do-it-yourself remodels go, this one seemed to go on forever. We worked on it most nights and weekends. I quickly ran out of steam, while also bruising many body parts. I had not accurately counted the costs of my involvement in the project. The project took longer because my father in law insisted that I do most of the work, in order that I learn some of the necessary skills.

At times God will call us to do some good work. We may doubt our ability, resources and knowledge to do what He asks. That’s alright because He has already counted the costs and gathered the necessary resources. II Corinthians 9:8 says, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” If God leads us to do a good work, He will provide the resources, knowledge and power to do it in His abundant grace. He has counted the cost and provided what we need in His grace before even speaking to us. His grace will be sufficient, ready for anything, and always available.

One of my granddaughters is a very picky eater. The problem is that she has never tasted most of the foods that she rejects. She doesn’t know whether they taste good or bad to her. She cannot explain why she won’t eat these foods, but we can’t change her mind.

People do the same thing with God. They reject Him, but do they really know who He is? Have they even investigated what He has said about Himself? Have they considered the impact of their decision?

God describes Himself to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7: “The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.'” If you know God, as I do, you know Him to possess all these qualities in abundance. If you choose to reject God, be aware that you are rejecting the God of steadfast love for you, and who accepts you in His mercy and grace.

The expression, “that’s just perfect”, can be used with both positive and negative connotations. On the positive side, we use the expression to confirm that the gift, project completion, or act of kindness is pleasing to us. On the negative side, the expression is used to demonstrate displeasure or frustration with something we face.

In reality, very little, if anything, ever is indeed perfect. If you are like me, you can find flaws in almost anything. That, by the way, is not a good quality to have and one that I am seeking to eliminate from my character. Gratefulness is far more attractive than complaining. While perfection is nearly impossible to achieve, we should still strive for excellence.

The apostle Paul recognized this when he wrote: “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be.” So while we may not be perfect, we should continue to progress toward being what Jesus wants us to be.

Paul goes on to write how we achieve this goal: “No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.” We should forget our past failures and sins, along with our former way of life, and pursue righteousness in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we do these things, we will become less like our former selves and more like Jesus.