Working

I have been thinking recently about a subject that has been hitting me hard recently.  Church people...  I use this term because I want to be sure to differentiate between those who are actually believers in Jesus Christ, Christians, with people who show up in church, church people.  These two groups overlap.  They should overlap a lot.  Christians should be in church, unless they are sick or at work or otherwise physically cannot make it.  They aren't always, but that is a topic to tackle under the title "Laziness" or "Irresponsibility."  There are also people who really do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ, but they are in church.  It may be because they have just always done it, or it may be because they are interested in what is being said.  Either way, I'm glad they are there.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,  not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

I love this verse!  It makes me marvel at the astounding grace of God toward us, who could not be good ourselves!  Any Christian who quotes this verse or is reminded or this verse or reads this verse should remember the vast amount of grace that has been poured out on them and be overwhelmed!  

However, like many good things, the use of this verse can abused.  Whether they realize they are saying it or not, many church people and Christians use this verse to justify pursuing their own desires above God.  They resolve in their hearts that because their salvation is not based on works that what they do does not matter.  If what they do does not matter, then they can go where ever they want during church and be "just as good a Christian at _______ than at church."  Can you be just as good an employee at _______ than actually being at work?  No!  You can't because you focus is in the wrong place!  Even those that work at home know that to be productive they must have a special place at home to do their job where they are separated from distractions.  They willingly ignore the very next verse, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).  Put these two verses together, and suddenly what you do matters!

I hear objections rising as people read, "But my salvation is not based on works!  It is based on grace!"  You're right!  I'm not talking about your salvation.  It's not about you!

Mind blown.  Yes, you were thinking about you again.

God has poured out His grace on us abundantly, but He did not do it because we are so awesome.  He did not do it for our sole benefit.  He didn't do it so that He would have company in heaven.  He is triune.  He has all the fellowship He will ever need in the Trinity.  He did it for His glory.  He did it so that when we saw what He did for us, we would fall down before His throne and give up ourselves!  He specifically tells us to do that, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship" (Romans 12:1).

The reason this has been on my heart so much is that I see so many church people that refuse to give up themselves.  They have convinced themselves that they can be a good Christian doing whatever they want to do.  They will do church things when it is convenient, but not if it isn't...  in effect putting themselves first and on the throne of their own lives where God belongs by right.

The consequences of this type of life are also not considered.  Jesus said, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62).  He also said, "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:37).  He even said, "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you;depart from me, you workers of lawlessness'" (Matthew 7:21-23).  Notice verse 21 says that not everyone who acknowledges Jesus as Lord will be welcomed into Paradise.  He says only those who "do the will of my Father."  How is this possible if salvation is not based on works?  James answers this when he tells us, "I will show you my faith by my works" (James 2:18b).  It is by faith that we receive God's grace and that grace the brings salvation.  Works are the proof of that.  What you do shows what you have faith in.  If you say you have faith in Jesus but you ignore what He commands, do you really have faith?  I am not talking about a mistake or moment of weakness.  I am talking about willfully ignoring what He says.  Do you think you have real faith?  Do you think you will be granted entry to the Kingdom of Heaven just because you cry out to Jesus as Lord?  Apparently those people who cried out to Him in Matthew 7 did.  look what happened to them.  

Some of you who know the Scripture may now want to quote, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).  I agree.  Notice it says that you must believe.  It does not end with just a confession.  You must believe in your heart that Jesus died to pay for the sin debt on your soul and that God raised Him from the dead conquering death itself!  You must believe, and if you believe, something more than just a confession will come from you!  You will tell others about the great salvation you received.  You will serve others first because Jesus did.  You will reach out to help the hurting and needy because God has reach out to you.  You will give your tithe so the church can continue to to operate and reach more people...  you may even give more that 1/10 of your income so that more can be done.  You will do these things because you love Jesus, and He said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments" (John 14:15).

Being that living sacrifice can hurt.  I know from experience.  I have lived below the poverty line in a place I didn't know with no family in service to God, not because I'm great, but because He is great.  God may not call you to that, but He is calling you to lay down your own life.  If you are a Christian, you proclaim Jesus as Lord of your life.  If He is, get out of His chair.

Snakes & the Gospel

I have recently become the owner of two wonderful little snakes.  Ranger, a fiery red and orange Brooks Kingsnake, and Nathaira, a beautiful green Checkered Garter Snake with a 
yellow dorsal stripe, have become very welcome members of my life.  

As a happy pet owner, I take every opportunity to show them off to people.  Some love it, and they regularly ask me about them.  Others are interested and watch the videos.  Several are genuinely scared of snakes. I completely understand this, though.  Irrational fears are exactly that, irrational.  I have one myself, so I do my best to remember who and not show them pictures or videos.  They are likely to block me on Facebook, too.  The group I find fascinating are the ones who are repulsed by them.  There is really nothing to this.  Snakes aren't slimy or gross.  They are very interesting creatures.  In fact, I would say that snakes, more than any other creature on this earth, understand the predicament of humanity.

Genesis 3 begins by talking about the snake.  It calls the snake "crafty."  It seems that this "craftiness" made the snake the ideal tool in the hands of the Enemy.  "Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.  He said to the woman, 'Did God actually say, "You shall not eat of any tree in the garden"?'" (Genesis 3:1).  

Now, anyone who owns a snake knows that snakes are super stealthy.  I was convinced I had lost Nathaira at one point.  She must have escaped while I was cleaning the tank because I tore that tank apart looking for her to no avail.  I put down hides and tape on the floor as well as heat to attract her.  One morning as I was checking my traps, I saw her slither up and over her tree IN THE TANK!!!  That snake had managed to hide in that tank the whole time...  crafty indeed.  However, no snake has the desire or mental capability to try to deceive mankind.  After all, snakes were created by God and He called them good.  "And God said, 'Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.'  So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:20-21).  If the snake was created good without any reason to deceive mankind, who does want to deceive mankind?  Satan does, and he used that snake for exactly that purpose.

The Fall of Man proceeded in this manner.  Satan possessed the snake and used its natural craftiness (probably just a shadow of his own craftiness) to deceive mankind.  He planted the seed of doubt, and they doubted the goodness of God.  They made the choice not to trust their Creator and rebelled against His one command.  They sinned and were no longer innocent.  This climactic event sent ripples throughout time that have swollen into waves that crash on the shores of our daily lives.  Mankind fell, and in the falling there are four guilty parties.  Satan is obviously guilty for starting this problem and deceiving mankind.  God pronounced his punishment here:

 "I will put enmity between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
    and you shall bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15).

This is the first mention of the Good News we see in Scripture.  It is  referred to as the protoevangelium or "first Gospel."  I will talk about this a bit later as it deals with man, not Satan.

God will also deal with Satan at the end of days, "And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them,  and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever" (Revelation 20:9-10).  Mankind is guilty for rebelling against God.  God gave them their punishment:


"To the woman He said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
    in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be for your husband,
    and he shall rule over you.”

And to Adam He said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
    and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
    ‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
    in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
  thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
    and you shall eat the plants of the field.
 By the sweat of your face
    you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return'" (Genesis 3:17-19).

For listening to the snake instead of God, women's pain in childbearing is increased, and she will desire to rule over her husband.  However, God will give that authority to the man.  For listening to the woman instead of God, the ground will be cursed and man will labor hard to provide for himself and his family.  

However, God did not give punishment without hope.  God will punish evil.  Don't make the asinine assumption that "good" = "let's me get away with what I want."  God will punish wrongdoing, and He does not play favorites.  That means you will bear the penalty for the wrong you do.  Doing something good later does not take that wrong away.  However, He also desire reconciliation with you.  This is where the evangelium or "Gospel" comes in again.   The only way reconciliation can happen is if your wrongdoing is punished.  He wants reconciliation with you so much that He decided He would pay the penalty Himself.  He became man and paid that penalty by being tortured to death on a cross.  That is a good God.  That is Jesus Christ.

That brings us to the last guilty party, the snake.  Obviously, the snake let Satan use him.  God would not have specifically punished an innocent creature for the work of Satan, so the the snake bears guilt in this debacle as well:

"The Lord God said to the serpent,

'Because you have done this,
    cursed are you above all livestock
    and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
    and dust you shall eat
    all the days of your life'" (Genesis 3:14).

So God takes the snake's legs away from him.  Now, instead of walking, he will slither on his belly.  Even though slithering on their bellies is all the snakes of today have ever known, the absence of legs is still an inconvenience.  As fast as snakes are, legs would certainly increase that speed, and with the increased speed, they may very well feel more comfortable out in the open as opposed to the amount of time they spend hiding.  Maybe not.  That's just a thought.

God also said that the snake will "eat dust."  Now, does a snake actually eat dust particles other than accidentally?  Well, it does use its tongue to taste the particles of dust or anything else by quickly flicking out its tongue and then inserting the forked end into the openings of the Jacobson's organ at the roof of its mouth.  This allows the snake to sense its surroundings, escape from threats, and hunt prey.  Once the particles are sensed, the tongue is cleaned.  I do not know for sure, but it does seem likely that the snake would just swallow the particles to cleanse the tongue, making it ready to sense the particles coming in from the next tongue flick.  Is this part of the curse God laid upon the snake?  Maybe.  The term, "eat dust" is also symbolic of being brought low, abhorrent, despised, and degraded.  God uses the comparison in Micah 7:16-17.  The phrase "eat dust" may just mean that the snake has been brought low, and having just lost his legs, that is certainly true.  The feelings of many toward snakes today would also testify to that truth.

The snake is the only creature in all of creation that had a part with us at the Fall.  We got deceived, and he got used.  We both bear guilt, and we both got duped by Satan, so the snake, more than any other creature, can relate to us on having been fooled by the Enemy.  He lives with the consequence of it everyday, as we do.

With that connection, certainly we can get along.

Madison's First Snake