Entitled to Leisure

It's been a long day. I arose early so I could leave early for school. After the hour and a half commute, I spent the first couple of hours in sermon preparation. I then turned to some of my assigned reading for class, only to discover that this day's reading assignment was about four times the normal length. I was able to read quickly and finish on time. I attended my classes, the last of which ended around 5:30pm. I started the drive home in rush-hour Louisville traffic. So, my hour and a half commute was squeezed into over two hours. I was tired. On the way home, I found myself daydreaming about relaxing in the easy chair while the children played in the floor, being perfectly kind to one another and perfectly obedient to me and their mother. Of course, the baby's schedule would be such that I could kiss him when I got home, and he would be going down for a nice, quiet nap. Supper would be served shortly thereafter, and it would be a wonderfully peaceful evening.

It didn't take long for my desire for a restful evening after a long and tiring day to turn into frustration. Why? Because before I even got home, reality came crashing in on me. That is not how my evening was going to go. It would be a mad dash to get everyone fed and cleaned up for bed time. In the midst of it there would be screaming and crying, fighting and disobeying, all of which call for constant intervention and discipline. It was going to require a great amount of extra effort to create time for family worship in the mix. My dreams of leisure were disappearing before they ever had a chance to materialize.

It was then that the error of my ways came crashing in on me. I was wishfully thinking that because of my hard work and tired frame, I was entitled to some leisure time. After all, hadn't I earned it? Is it really so much to ask?

The truth is, "Love your neighbor as yourself" is not compatible with a sense of entitlement to leisure. "Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" cannot be interpreted to mean that I am entitled to leisure. "Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord" is not possible to obey if I am interested in pursuing the leisure to which I feel entitled. Indeed, the whole of the Christian life screams at us that we have given up our claim on leisure and traded it in for a heavy cross that leads us to a hill of dying to ourselves and to our own sense of entitlement.

It's not that moments of leisure are never a good thing. Indeed, at times they can be enjoyed as gifts from God. But when we begin to feel entitled, they cease to be gifts and can quickly become idols. You and I feel entitled to leisure, but Christ tells us that those around us are entitled to love. Let us deny ourselves and choose the better thing. We might actually find that the joy of living for love far exceeds the pleasure of living for leisure.

Truths that Trifle

"Oftentimes, to win us to our harms, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with honest trifles, to betray us in deepest consequence."

- Banquo, The Tragedy of Macbeth, by William Shakespeare

"Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end is according to their deeds"

- 2 Corinthians 11:14-15

-------------------------

To feel an attraction to godliness, a desire to know divine truth, a desire to be associated with the people of God... coupled with an unwillingness to yield the most precious treasures of your heart when those treasures are found to rival God in your affections... is perhaps the most dangerous place a person can be. For, the religious sentiments that seem so genuine serve to blind the eyes of the heart to the hypocrisy which prevents faith from being genuine.

Many people have convinced themselves that what is expressly forbidden by God (in the Bible) is OK for them because their circumstances are different. "God desires my greatest good and joy in life" ... (This is True) ... "This (forbidden lifestyle) is what brings me greatest good and joy" ... (this is a misunderstanding of what greatest good and joy really are)... "Therefore, God must want me to pursue this, even though the Bible seems to say otherwise" ... (Here is the lie). The very convincing power of the lie rests in its use of the truth. Many are the victims of this subtlety, and many will thereby perish. Beware the truth that trifles in order to lead you willingly along the broad path that leads to destruction.

The Vine

This poem is a meditation on Isaiah 5:1-7 and John 15:1-8. I wrote it a little over a year ago. I hope it moves your heart to worship Him who is the fruitful Vine.

The Vine

Soil tilled an turned, stones and weeds removed
A tender vine is planted, the object of His love.
Painstaking, careful skill, the Vinedresser has shown;
Of all the plants that fill the soil, he calls the vine his own

Cultivated though it was, the vine could not produce
Any sweet and pleasing fruit for the Master's use.
In wrath, the Master cut it down, the vine he loved so well;
Let the reader understand. The fruitless vine is Israel.

Though circumstances be the best and privileges abound,
Upon the branch of a rotten vine, no fruit will e'er be found.
The efforts of the Vinedresser are faulted none at all;
Within the planted vine itself is located the flaw.

The sap of poison courses through the vine and all its parts;
Sin's the poison and the vine is every human heart.
Human effort, at its best, can only fruitless be;
Let the reader understand. The fruitless vine is me.

Soil tilled and turned, stones and weeds removed,
A tender Vine is planted, the Son of eternal love.
The sap of sin courses not within this Vine at all;
Within this choice and precious Vine is located no flaw.

Branches who abide in Him are used to make the wine
Which alone brings pleasure to the Keeper of the Vine.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, will ever-fruitful be;
Let the reader understand. The fruitful Vine is He.