Who are you to say no?

Lately, when people have asked me how I'm doing, I haven't really known what to say to them.  On the one hand, I'm not super stressed or overwhelmed with life; I actually feel on top of things for the first time this whole semester.  

But on the other hand, I'm just so weary.  It's almost as if I don't feel worthy to accept the rest that God has freely given me.  Like I feel guilt if everything in my life is going well, after such a long string of bad.  And so, when people ask me how I'm doing, I've caught myself on more than one occasion feeling the need to search for (or at least elaborate on) the bad stuff.  

Perhaps that why Hebrews 4 hit me so hard today.  Verse 1 says, "therefore, since the promise of entering His rest still stand, let us becareful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it."  

All this time, I had been thinking, "who am I to live in God's rest?"  Like I somehow didn't deserve to rest in Him.  But really...who am I not to?  He has given me, He has given all of us, rest as a gift; He has commanded that we walk in it.  Resting is not just a matter of convenience or comfort - it's a commandment.  Refusing to do so is just as disobedient as thievery or deceitfulness.  Woah.  Kinda puts resting into a whole new perspective, doesn't it?  

So the next time you start to think that you're not worthy of the gifts that God has given you - or even that you simply don't have time to rest - just stop right there.  If God has given it to you, if He has commanded that you rest...then who are you to say otherwise?  He did not command us to observe the Sabbath for His benefit, but for ours.  So rather than focusing on reasons why you shouldn't or can't accept God's goodness, try just focusing on and meditating in his goodness, His goodness that gives sorely needed rest to weary souls.  

Hebrews 4:1-11

Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. 3 Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” And yet his works have been finished since the creation of the world. 4 For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” 5 And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.” 6 Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, 7 God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

The ashes remain

 I went to an Ash Wednesday service at my church recently.  It was a very solemn, spiritual time – there were candle, and scripture readings, and communion, and overall a general feeling of holiness that permeated the entire service. 

But the most striking part of the evening didn’t hit me until after I had left the building and returned home.  In Biblical times, Ash Wednesday was so named because it was literally a day when the Israelites put ashes on their heads, to symbolize mourning and repentance.  It was  a day that symbolized the beginning of Lent, a period of 40 days that was meant for God’s people to commune with Him and grow closer to Him.  To remind us of this, my church had put out a literal bowl of ashes, to be used for people who were seeking the same closeness to God that His people experienced in Bible times. 

So I had a friend rub ashes on my forehead.  I kept them on me the entire evening, but when I returned home I naturally wanted to wash them off.  And that is where the most memorable part of the evening lies for me.  Those ashes…would not wash off.  I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed – I must have scrubbed for nearly 20 minutes, until my whole forehead was red and irritated.  But those ashes would not be removed.  It took several days’ worth of scrubbing before I could fully remove all of their traces from my face.

I wonder if that can, in some way, be looked at as a symbol of how God wants to be in our lives, what He wants to teach us throughout the period of Lent and beyond.  He doesn’t want His presence to be something that we can wash off at a moment’s notice.  He doesn’t want to simply be like an article of clothing or accessory, easily removable and interchangeable with something else.  He wants to stay with us.  Just as the ashes stayed with me, He wants to be with us day in and day out.  When we wake up, when we lie down, and every moment in between…He wants to be there.  During this period of Lent, don’t settle for God the accessory.  Make him an integral part of your life.  Don’t simply rub Him on superficially, to be washed away whenever you feel like it.

Micah 6:6-8

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.     

Valentine's Day

When you hear the term "Valentine's day," what do you think?  Do you think of giggly girls, wondering what their boyfriends are going to do for them?  Do you think of paranoid boys, who are worried about screwing everything up?  Do you think of singles, who wax and wane about "single's awareness day," sadly wondering when the day will come that they get to celebrate with someone, languishing in a sea of singleness and self-pity?  Do you think of chocolate, and flowers, red hearts and pink balloons and overpriced stuffed animals?

I must confess, that I myself find Valentine's Day highly over-commercialized.  While chocolate or flowers (or even something more creative!) are a nice sentiment, they lose a lot of their specialness when the only reason they’ve been given is because the mass media says that it’s the “thing to do.”  If you have to be told on a specific day in February by a trite Hallmark card and overstuffed teddy bear that someone loves you, there is, in my opinion, something not quite right about your relationship in the first place. 

It’s interesting, however, how the connotation changes when you add a “saint” on the beginning of the holiday.  There’s a big difference between “Valentine’s day” and “Saint Valentine’s day.”  Saint Valentine, the person that the holiday was named after, was a real person.  While not much is definitively known about his life, it's amazing to me how my perspective changes when I think of "Valentine" as a living, breathing person, rather than an over-commercialized holiday.  

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for showing affection to people you love.  But it just seems to me that people have forgotten that being in a relationship is not the summation of life.  Being "in love" is not the only goal for people to strive for.  And romantic love is not the only type of love.  There are friends, family, classmates, colleagues, lonely people on the street or in the elevator, who are all looking for love.  

So the next year, when Valentine’s day rolls around, take the time to show love to someone you don't usually pay attention to on Valentine's Day.  Make an effort to call your family, or to send a card to your friend, or whatever springs to mind...be creative about it!  At the very least, do something to make a stranger smile.  Oh yeah…and then surprise your sweetheart and celebrate Valentine’s Day on some random day in the middle of April :).