TUESDAY’S NOTES: What’s Our Excuse?

And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel. –Deuteronomy 17:18–20

The day was coming when Israel would ask for a king. God predicted this through the mouth of Moses in Deuteronomy 17:14. We see its fulfillment in 1 Samuel 8. God had certain rules that the king should keep as listed in Deuteronomy 17:14–20:

• The Lord would choose the king. Whoever served over Israel was going to be hand-picked by Jehovah. We see this occur as Samuel anoints both Saul and David on behalf of God.
• The king would be an Israelite. No foreign king would be allowed to rule over them.
• He would not be allowed to build a strong stable of horses.
• He would not be allowed to acquire numerous wives that could easily turn his heart away.
• He would not be allowed to acquire a massive surplus of gold and silver.
• And he would be required to copy the Book of Law that was approved by the priests to keep with him constantly. The intent was that he would read that Law as a form of godly guidance to help him in his reign.

Interestingly, Solomon appears to have broken many of these restrictions. He was an Israelite and he was chosen by God. But Solomon build a stable of horses from Egypt (1 Kings 4:26; 2 Chron. 9:25). He amassed great riches (1 Kings 10:27, 2 Chron. 1:15). And he had numerous wives (1 Kings 11:1–10). It appears he made many mistakes.

People are often quick to point out the mistakes of Solomon and other Jewish kings as well who seemed to violate these principles. The point is made—quite appropriately—that if the kings had followed the instruction to reproduce the Book of the Law by hand and keep it with them constantly they would avoid making these great mistakes. Had Solomon adequately known the law—as one can only assume he would have if he had copied it himself—then he would have used his great wisdom to apply these requirements and avoid numerous problems. In contrast, the recorded history shows he failed in doing this.

So what’s our excuse today? We aren’t kings. We aren’t told we can’t own horses or have great riches. But as Moses told the Israelites that a king should not “turn…to the right or to the left…” we are instructed to follow the Word of God with the same strictness. The idea of the narrow path in Matthew 7:13–14 seems to carry the same implications. The path we are on is “narrow” and “hard.” It is contrasted with a path that is described as “wide and easy.” Those who walk on a hard and narrow path don’t have the luxury to turn to the left or the right hand side of the pathway. We must walk on the straight and narrow.

We tend to be so critical of Solomon and the other kings who failed to keep the Law. Each one of us has our own personal copy of the Gospel of Christ. Many of us have multiple copies. We have copies of the Word in our cars, in our desks, next to our beds, and sometimes we leave a copy in our seats at the buildings. We have more than just one copy of God’s Word. Yet, like Solomon, we fail to walk the straight path without turning to the left or the right.

The key is we have to do more than own God’s Word. We have to do more than read God’s Word. We even have to do more than study God’s Word. We have to live God’s Word. Solomon’s failure is our own. We need to know the Word and live the Word.

May God help us to avoid the mistakes of those before and help us live His Word every day in our lives.

TUESDAY’S NOTES: More Than Enough

Imagine it is next Sunday morning and one of the elders makes the following announcement: “The elders have met and determined that the collection is too much. You have been giving much more than the work needs here. Since there is no way we can scripturally administer all of these funds, we are asking you to stop giving until further notice. There will be no more collections until the need returns.” While that sounds too good to be true, it actually happened once.

“…all the craftsmen…said to Moses, ‘The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that they Lord has commanded us to do.’ So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, ‘Let no man or woman do more for the contribution of the sanctuary.’ So the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.” –Exodus 36:4–7

Israel is often used as the “poster child” of what not to do—especially during the Exodus. They are often seen complaining about food and water, accusing Moses of leading them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, and failing to trust in God. While the Israelites were certainly guilty of failure at times, their example of giving is one we should not overlook.

God had given specific instructions for building the Tabernacle. He had carefully delivered a blueprint with every detail. Included in those instructions was a detailed “shopping list” for building materials: gold, silver, bronze, fine linens, animals skins, etc. The people were expected to give those items and they did. As seen in the text from Exodus 36, they gave “much more than enough.”

It is important to note why the children of Israel were able to supply the needs for the Tabernacle so easily. Prior to their abrupt departure from Egypt following the final plague, the children of Israel asked their Egyptian neighbors for silver, gold, and clothing as Moses commanded them. The Egyptian people granted those request because God had given the Israelites favor in their sight. In fact, the text says, “They plundered the Egyptians” (Exodus 12:35–36). The Israelites left Egypt wealthier than they could have ever imagined. But, their wealth was not delivered to them in order to make them a prosperous people. God blessed them with earthly wealth in order to carry out the instructions that would soon come regarding the Tabernacle.

Many of God’s people today are a prosperous people. We are blessed with well furnished homes, multiple cars, filled closets, overflowing pantries, stocked financial portfolios, etc. Is it possible that we fail to see the point of our blessings? The Israelites were blessed for a purpose—to carry out the work of the Lord. Is it possible that is the purpose for our blessings? I am convinced it is the very reason we are blessed.

There are some who attempt to do away with the weekly contribution. Their presentation centers on 1 Corinthians 16:1–2 as they assert the collection was only “need based” in its design. I agree. The collection was on necessary when a need was clearly present. The question is whether there is a need or not. Here are three reasons the need is greater than ever before.

• There are request for support received weekly at congregations for men who are diligently working for the Lord. These men have stepped out in faith and risked the welfare of their family to preach the gospel as they wait on other congregations to help supply their needs. Many churches are having to turn down these requests because they just don’t have the funds to help.
• Many congregations outgrow their meeting houses. While that is a reason to be overjoyed that the church is growing and souls are being saved, it also creates great anxiety. Buildings are more and more expensive to build. Many congregations can only secure the funds through financing which then requires the local body to pay off large loans over an extended time. This causes a great financial burden on the church.
• The economy is hurting which means many Christians are struggling financially. Some are losing their jobs. This creates a greater benevolent need in each local church. Some churches are struggling to meet the financial needs of their members. They simply lack the funds.

The needs are great. But we are a propserous people—even in the midst of a bad economy. God has blessed us greatly. Israel was given their gold and silver to provide for the Lord’s work. The same is true for us. I wonder if God is as pleased with the way we spend our blessings as He was of Israel. I wonder if we are giving “more than enough.”

TUESDAY’S NOTES: Forgotten Promises

It’s a common problem. Promises are made with good intentions until life gets in the way. The constant wave of tasks and assignments can push promises further down the list of growing priorities. After a few days, promises are slowly forgotten.

The butler of Genesis 40-41 is often viewed critically. Joseph interpreted the dreams of the Butler and the Baker while in prison. The payment Joseph requested was “…only remember me…” (Genesis 40:14). The butler agreed and three days later was restored from prison to his post at Pharaoh’s side. No doubt Joseph remained in prison waiting. The butler was consumed with the constant tasks of serving, tasting, and waiting. He didn’t intentionally deceive Joseph. Life interfered with his commitment. Two years went by until Pharaoh’s dream jogs the memory of the Butler. Suddenly he remembered the man in prison who knew dreams.

As critical as we might be of the butler, we have made the same mistake. We have made commitments and promises that we failed to keep because life interfered. We did not intend to lie or deceive but other important duties and responsibilities caused us to forget. How can we keep from making the same mistake? Here are some suggestions:

Fulfill commitments early. The butler had the opportunity to keep his commitment to Joseph. He could have requested a pardon for Joseph immediately after his release. Often we procrastinate when promises are concerned. The decision to “do it tomorrow” causes us to forget our promise. If you want to keep your word, do it early and often.

Think of others first. It is likely the butler was consumed with work for one reason-he wanted to stay out of prison. The butler forgot Joseph. Often we fail to keep promises because we focus on our needs first. While we want to fulfill our obligations to others, we also want to provide for ourselves: doing our job, providing for our family, and making our life successful takes on a higher priority. Put others first will ensure that we keep our commitments to them.

Intend to keep your promises. The butler didn’t intend to deceive Joseph with his promise. It may be that he didn’t intend to be truthful. So often we fail to keep promises because while we don’t intend to lie we don’t intend to do the right thing. The core concept here is purpose. Make it a purpose to keep your commitments.

Children of God should be the highest examples of promise-keeping. Christians should be the example of fulfilling commitments. That won’t happen unless it is a high priority.

What about the other side of failed promise keeping? Joseph sat for two years waiting and wondering. No where in the Genesis account do we read of Joseph giving the butler a tongue lashing. Why is that? Joseph understood God was in control. This is clearly seen after Joseph meets his brothers (Genesis 45:5-8). We need to remember if we are the forgotten promise of someone else that God works in His time. We know clearly from the story that Joseph was revealed to Pharaoh in the proper time for an exact purpose. God clearly was in control. The failed promises we may focus on may indeed be a result of God’s providence working. Our response should not be anger and frustration. Instead we should be longsuffering and wait on the Lord patiently. We should consider that it may not be God’s plan for us at all. Rather than allow the failed promises of this life to malign us, we should trust in God to provide for us realizing we often fail to understand His plan.

May God help us to remember our commitments and trust in Him.