Four things that I should learn from the family dog

Posted on October 8, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 3 Comments

Our dog Marcy loves Saturdays when we are home doing chores around the house. She is less than a year old and is still very puppy-like. This past Saturday while I was splitting wood I had a chance to observe her while she entertained herself. The thought struck me that there were a few lessons for me in her behavior. Some things I’ve learned from my dog:

Feel free to chase the leaves as the wind blows them around the yard. Marcy can spend hours chasing butterflies, bees and leaves around the yard. She gets great enjoyment from this and the number of things to chase is large. What I learn from this is that I should enjoy the small gifts that God sends my way. When I am open to it, there is a seemingly inexhaustible list of things that I can enjoy. Sunshine, the wind in the trees, a beautiful spider web or an exuberant greeting by a puppy are all things that are meant to be enjoyed.
Just about anything will work as a chew toy. This is similar to #1 but is slightly different. Marcy does not seem to waste any effort in pining over a lost toy. There are potential toys all around her, so she does not get stressed at the loss of any one of them. A piece of firewood, a shoe, a sock, a pair of glasses or a gardening trowel is acceptable to her as a chew toy. In other words rather than being disappointed by the lack of a particular toy, she makes herself content with whatever is available. Too often, I fall prey to the idea that some item will make my life easier or more complete. Instead, it would be so much better to be content with what I have.
People are more important than anything else. Whenever someone comes out of the house or pulls in our driveway, Marcy takes it upon herself to be the welcoming committee. Whenever a new person is within her sphere, that person becomes her one and only priority. I am sometimes distracted by things that need to be done or some other preoccupation causes me to fail in my greeting and connection with the people around me.
Do not worry about anything. I can observe no indication that our dog worries about anything. She gratefully eats the food when it is in the bowl but shows no concern about when the bowl might be filled again. I can observe no fear of what might happen. She simply responds to life as it happens and seemingly derives the most joy out of what is happening in the moment. I should not let concern over things I cannot control distract me from enjoying the moment.

Jesus also pointed to the animal kingdom to give us a lesson when he said:

“”For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:25–27, NASB)

We can learn a lot from birds and puppies.

A lesson learned from a genealogy

Posted on October 5, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

In reading through the names in the genealogy in Matthew 1, it is tempting to skip through to verse 18 where the text gets more interesting. “Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of . . . .” is not riveting reading. It is like walking through a graveyard. There are a bunch of names of dead people who seemingly have very little impact on how I get through my day.

Some of the names are important people in Israel’s history. Of others we know nothing more than their name and where they fit in the genealogy. Some were obedient to God and were praised; some were disobedient and went on to ignominy.

This is exactly the choice that all men (and women) have to make. We choose to be obedient or disobedient; we must make this choice every moment of every day. Like those men in the genealogy, our lives will be defined by the sum of our choices. We cannot work our way into Heaven (Ephesians 2:8-9), but Jesus does give indication that there will be rewards and a hierarchy in eternity. It is through obedience and service that the rewards are accumulated.

Rich or poor, influential or insignificant, popular or unknown, talented or untalented, we all are called to follow God in obedience. In that sense we are all the same. We cannot use the excuse that our choices do not matter, because all of Scripture teaches us that they do. Specifically, the words of Jesus in Luke 16:10-13 come to mind:

“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” (NASB)

Someone told me “mind your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.” In the same way, if we choose faithfulness in the little things, the foundation will be laid for faithfulness in the big things.

Let us choose to be obedient in the small things.

Content but not satisfied

Posted on October 1, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 5 Comments

Content

The Apostle Paul indicates that contentment is the state of mind in which a Christian should operate. After God denied his prayer to have his “thorn in the flesh” taken away, Paul writes to the Corinthians:

“Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10, NASB)

In Philippians 4:11, Paul indicates that contentment is a learned behavior. No matter what his circumstances, Paul would be content in the knowledge that God is in control and working things out for the advantage of his mission to preach the Gospel. Paul encourages his protégé Timothy to similar behavior when he writes:

“But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.” (1 Timothy 6:6–8, NASB)

But not satisfied

On the other hand, Paul expresses a desire to advance, to change, to make things better. In Philippians 3 he speaks of “pressing on” to describe his lack of satisfaction. Paul describes his desire to climb higher in his spiritual life:

“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13–14, NASB)

We can also see Paul’s dissatisfaction with his progress in his spiritual life when we read Romans 7. At one point in the chapter Paul cries out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24, NASB) We do not get any sense that Paul had arrived at a place where he should be satisfied in his spiritual state.

A reconciliation

Was Paul content or was his dissatisfied? From the verses cited above the answer to this question has to be “both.” Paul was content but dissatisfied.

Is Paul conflicted or is there some other way of understanding what is going on? I believe it is the latter and this understanding can be applied it to our own lives.

With regard to his physical circumstances (who he was with, his food, his clothing, his travel schedule, the rigors of fulfilling his mission) Paul was content that God was in control. The oft quoted Romans 8:28 is an indication of this. Nothing about his circumstances would deter Paul from the completion of his mission. Paul did not get bogged down in self-pity when things were difficult.

On the other hand, with regard to the things of God, Paul was discontent or dissatisfied. He was not satisfied with his own progress in true holiness. Paul was not satisfied that he had done enough for the spread of the Gospel. Paul was not content to allow people to go into eternity without having heard the good news of Jesus Christ.

Too often, I have this backward. I am often dissatisfied in my physical circumstances and complacent regarding my holiness and mission. My dissatisfaction stems from being self-absorbed and focused on the wrong things.

By God’s grace and through his power, I choose to realign my contentment and dissatisfaction to follow the example of Paul.

On mites and absolute value

Posted on September 28, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

Assigning value

This morning I thought of the story of the widow and the mites (King James Version) she gave to the Temple treasury. The story is found in Mark 12:42-44:

“A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, ‘Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.'” (NASB)

Those of us who have heard this story before may think of this story in a monetary framework. The rich man gives millions but it doesn’t amount to the same level of giving as the widow who gave all she had. Maybe it is only me, but I gravitate to evaluating the gift based on a percentage of net worth. In this type of thinking the evaluation is reduced to a simple math problem.

God’s economy

However, I think that this understanding does not go far enough. The point I take from this is that God’s economy works on an entirely different value system.

We rightly think about doing great things for God, but perhaps we get confused in our understanding of what constitutes greatness. For example, it may be that the addict who learns to face his past while remaining sober has done more in the Kingdom of God than the talented preacher who draws thousands on a Sunday morning. The man caring for his wife with dementia may be doing more than the CEO of a world relief organization. We think in numbers and measurement. God thinks about the heart and commitment.

Careful in your judgment

We must be very careful when making judgments about the value of people to the Kingdom of God. Jesus expressed the same concern when he said:

“But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 14:10–11, NASB)

The King is the one who knows the real, absolute value of his subjects. We should be concerned that in our jockeying for position we slight one who will fare better when it comes time to receive rewards.

In the end, the only question we should ask is “am I doing all the God has called me to do.” Honesty requires that I answer this in the negative; I fall short of what I am called to do. Therefore, I should work first on getting my own life in order before standing in judgment of someone else.

We need to learn to appreciate the mites that are given in genuine worship. When we do, we are drawing nearer to the mind of God.