Jump Start # 2745

Psalms 133:3 “Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.”

NOTE: Tomorrow is Christmas holiday. There will be no Jump Start tomorrow. Enjoy the day with your family and the Lord.

  Christmas Eve—that’s today. It has always been one of my favorite days of the year. You hope all the UPS deliveries have arrived, everything is wrapped and now you wait for the coming morning. There is always an excitement in the air. It’s great when you still have little ones in the home. The day awakens early with joyful anticipation. And for parents, seeing the joy in their children’s eyes is priceless.

  Our home is pretty quiet these days. The kids have all grown and now have their own families. But when they come, the energy level peaks and the fun begins. Nothing like little ones. The curiosity, fun, adventure and joy they bring is better than any vacation.

  And, I thought on this day, borrowing from our passage about children, I would reflect upon some of the great joys that children bring to our lives. We need to be reminded of that. Raising little ones can be very stressful, scary and expensive. Sometimes all a parent sees are the battles about going to bed, cleaning up the room, not making messes. That’s part of parenting. It’s necessary. But the wonderful joys certainly ease those tough times. And, in all families, there are days of tears. Shots at the doctor’s offices, death of pets, broken hearts, disappointments and hurt feelings are the mountains that we climb with our children. Life lessons are learned through those moments. However, the wonderful, wonderful memories that are etched upon your heart is something that can never be taken away.

 Here are a few things that came to my mind this day:

• The innocence of love. That sweet little hand that reaches up and takes your hand, nothing like that. Those little crayon drawn hearts, and dandelion bouquets mean more to you than anything a florist can make. Those little eyes that look up to you and smiles can drive the worst of days away.

• The joy of togetherness. I believe this is one of the greatest gifts of family and fellowship. Toys are nice and kids love them, but give them a box and you for an afternoon and you’ll have the best time. Children like to be near you. When my four were little, I often would be working on a sermon at home. I’d have a laptop, open Bible and a pad of paper spread out on my lap and one of them would climb up on top of all of that with one of their little books and suddenly the world and all of it’s problems seemed to go away. We’d go off on an adventure that the book took us to. And, one of the crushing outcomes of this pandemic has been the loneliness and isolation, especially among the elderly.

• The inquisitive fascination with learning. Kids love to learn. And, often, it’s not from text books, but just from seeing the big people doing things. They’ll ask thousands of questions and want to give it a try themselves, often when they shouldn’t. Talking a walk with a little one and they’ll stop to stare at a bug, ask you about butterflies, pick flowers and want to throw rocks into a puddle. Their little hearts are exploding with adventure and wanting to know things.

• The wondrous trust that they put in you. As long as you are near by, everything is ok. When scared, they are looking for you. Sitting on your lap or cuddled up beside you, they can fall asleep knowing that you’ll make all things right for them. There is such trust. They don’t see dangers like we do. They don’t know the world like we do. You are the bravest, strongest and best person in the world to them.

  And, when I look over these four qualities found between children and their parents, shouldn’t it be the same for us towards God. An innocent love; the joy of togetherness; the inquisitive fascination with learning, and the wondrous trust that we have in the Lord. Maybe this is one reason why Jesus used a child as an example of what He wanted in His disciples. And, maybe, just maybe, we have gotten to big for those things with God. And, when that happens, the sense of awe, joy and love is missing. We turn our faith into facts and intellectual truths that are believed. Worship becomes a matter of duty and not joy. And, unlike a little child, our faith becomes hollow and lifeless.

  I was watching a picture my daughter sent of her little girls at the zoo. Just looking at them bent down looking into the eyes of a giant turtle reminded me of what I saw years ago in their mother. Just joy, curiosity, and enjoyment. Life is good as a child.

  I hope as you spend some time with your family tomorrow, that these points will become evident and help you in your love for them and in your walk with the Lord. The Lord has given me so many gifts in my life. He has treated me much better than I ever deserved. The gift of life and salvation tops the list. He has given me ability and opportunity that has helped me so much. He has given me a wonderful wife to journey through life with. And, high on my list of Heaven’s gifts are four that are named: Nathan, Sarah, Jordan and Joel.

  Count your blessings…they are numerous.

  Roger

Jump Start # 1418

Psalms 133:3 “It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountain of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing– life forever.”

  Our verse today wraps up Psalms 133. It is a short chapter. Three verses. There is one central theme to this short chapter, brethren dwelling together in unity. That relationship is declared to be good and pleasant. The goodness of unity and the pleasant benefit of unity is illustrated in two ways.

First, verse two, describes this pleasant benefit of brethren dwelling together as oil being poured upon Aaron’s beard and running down his face to the edges of his robe. Now, for most of us today, that doesn’t sound very good. Given the opportunity to do this, most would pass. Aaron was anointed with oil. It was part of the dedication before he would serve as Israel’s first high priest. This was a religious ceremony that contained personal benefits. Many have seen the long, shaggy Duck Dynasty breads. One can only wonder what food or what critters lurk within those hairs. They are hot in the summer. They can become scratchy. The benefits of oil would be like lotion. It would sooth, feel good and be comforting. That’s the concept of folks who dwell in unity.  Worshipping together has personal benefits.

Second, our verse today, verse three, is the other illustration of the benefits of unity. It is like dew coming down from Mt. Hermon The morning dew, sent from God, nourishes the plants and the grass. The dew helps water things. This morning it is cool here in Indiana. It feels more like fall than the end of August. The grass is drenched with dew. It is very wet. I have golfed early in the mornings before. Everything gets wet. The golf shoes are very wet. The golf ball is wet. The golf club is wet from hitting the grass. One doesn’t go out on a morning like today and roll in the yard. He would be soaked because of the dew.

Unity is like this. It nourishes. It feels good. There are benefits. It is something special to know that people think about you, pray for you and are there for you. It is something special to know that a church family has your back and will be there for you. It is special to know that if you say something wrong, you are not tossed out to the curb, nor thrown under the bus. You are loved because you are family. It is something special to know that one is always welcomed and wanted.

Unity isn’t something that is easy to maintain. We are different. We have our own notions about how things ought to be. Some get their feathers ruffled very easily. Something innocent can turn into a major blowup if attitudes, love and unity are not always kept before us.

Together we are strong. One voice. One mind. One heart. One spirit. It’s like a husband and wife. Two individuals, who think, look and act very differently, but are one. A man and a woman respond to trouble differently. A man and a woman often have different tastes in movies, food and entertainment. They may have different backgrounds, different education levels, different thoughts about finances and places to vacation, but the two become one. They are one in name, one in aim and one in a destiny together. It is a marvel how two can get along. That concept is how unity works. Different people, with different backgrounds, different histories, different needs can come together and be one in mind and heart. They can be in unity. Great things happen when folks are seeing the big picture. When the goal is Heaven and we all want to do what is right, nothing but good will be done. It’s like oil on Aaron’s beard. It’s like the morning dew.

Satan recognizes that a unified church is a church that will be moving toward Heaven. A unified church is thinking and doing what the Lord wants. Satan knows that. So he will try to disrupt the unity. Just a little hurt feelings here and a little pouting there. A little feeling like you are not getting any attention. A bit of selfishness, a bit of opinions and before long, folks can take sides and be suspicious of one another. Feelings get bruised and hurt. Some begins thinking the worst of one another. Whispering and gossiping only fuel the feelings of discontentment. Someone notices that their name is not on this month’s schedule to participate in worship and something is made of that. Someone is not invited to a wedding and something is made of that.  The preacher’s sermon is a little close to home and something is made of that. People start looking for things. They start questioning motives. They begin accusing without knowing all the facts. And with a little pushing, Satan has turned the atmosphere into a real civil war. Folks spend their time thinking about the mess. Worship becomes tense and testy. Most of the work comes to a haut because the attention turns to whose side you are on. Visitors sense the turmoil and do not return. Some are brave enough to publically launch a few barbs about the problem. That is received with much resistance and counter accusations. Some  families get fed up with the mess and drop out. Some look for another place. Some begin talking about “getting their side” to start a new congregation. Worry about which side gets the money and the building dominates the discussions. Plans are mapped out. No talk of ending the differences. No talk of unity. Now, it’s the talk of division. And when it happens, fingers are pointed both directions. The two groups will have nothing to do with each other. Instead of being a strong, united congregation, there exists two small, struggling churches who feel that the other is wrong. And so time passes. Both churches sit in the same town, frowning at each other. A few funerals take place and still no merger, no getting back together, no unity comes forth. A new generation comes along and they do not understand why things are the way they are, but they have been taught to have nothing to do with the other church. And through all of this, Satan smiles.

Our readers may say, “How do you know this?” I see it. I’ve been  in congregations like this. The ground is parched because there is no nourishing dew from Mt. Hermon. But I have seen the other side as well. I’ve seen where brethren forgave each other after mean things were said. I’ve seen brethren hug and get along. I’ve seen folks put aside personal feelings for the kingdom. I’ve seen folks not lose sight of the great eternal work that God wants us to do. I’ve seen the benefits and the goodness of unity. I’ve seen Satan snarl because brethren refused to get ugly with one another.

Unity, what a wonderful thing it is. It is based upon Christ. It is founded upon the principles of the Lord. It’s not looking the other way. It’s not ignoring differences, it’s coming together and being one because we are one. It’s thinking like the Lord. It’s having the mind of Christ. It thrives when grace, love and forgiveness become the foundation upon which our relationships are built.

How good and how pleasant it is! Are you doing your part to be a peace maker and keeping the unity going? Or are you one who picks the scabs and keeps wounds bleeding? Are you working with the Lord or for Satan? Are you more interested in your feelings, than the Lord’s? Each of us have a role in unity. A church that is unified has members that are unified. Folks that are at odds with one another will weaken the church and only make Satan smile.

I’m tired of Satan smiling. Let’s make the Lord smile. Maybe it’s time for some folks to cross the bridge and begin conversations. Maybe it’s time to put down the past and start thinking about the future. Maybe it’s time we’ve seen how much damage has been done and it’s time to start rebuilding the walls together.

Maybe it’s time…

Roger