Advent
Had Jesus, the Immanuel of Bethlehem, not gone to cross to bear the rightful sentence for our sins … none of us could ever hope to face him at his Second Coming. His gift should be more than enough to make your Christmas Merry!
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
My Adoption
After years of infertility, some missionary friends of ours decided to adopt in the country they’re serving. The path they traveled was fraught with hurdles and heartaches. They were examined by doctors and psychologists. Their home was inspected and they were forced to plow through miles of red tape on numerous occasions. But finally, they have a beautiful five-year-old girl.
I was amazed by the last step in the process. It must have been the most daunting of all. Once they had been approved by everyone else, they had to be accepted by the child they were trying to adopt. They had done more than she could ever imagine to bring her into their family. All the expense was theirs. They didn’t chose her based on her talents, fortune, looks or aptitude … the adoption process was fueled by their desire to love on an unloved child. But after all the love they had invested … in the end she had to ask to be part of their family.
I wept as I read the news of that last step in the adoption process. No human analogy is perfect, but this spoke to me of God adopting me as his child. He did all the work. He did it not based on anything in me, but on his propensity to love the unloved. He broke into my world and paid all the fees … and they were staggering! But in the end he did not force me to love him. I had to accept being accepted into his family.
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— John 1:11-12
Ah the beautiful mystery of God’s foreknowing adoption and our choice in receiving the gift! For more on your adoption, see Ephesians 1:3-14
Time is Flying
Here in the Tropics, we have few seasonal markers to tell us what’s coming. Standing in the checkout line, I looked up and realized that I was staring at a Christmas candy cane. I thought, “Why do they have that out?” Then I remembered that it is almost Christmas. Yikes! How did that sneak up on me? Well … I had no cooling weather and changing leaves. No TV at the condo advertising Holiday entertainment. No Black Friday circulars in the mail … no mail (that’s still wonderfully weird). Here in Panama, I’m going to have to be more attentive to the passing of time.
Most of us have hit the age where it’s starting to be more evident that life is flying (has flown) by. Our joints know the weather is changing before we do. Our Doctors are younger than we are. We wonder if the change that fell out of our pocket is worth picking up. We’re the target audience for life insurance … NO MEDICAL EXAMINE REQUIRED! There are signs. And yet … many live as if they had all the time in the world. Moses wrote this ancient wake up call,
Lord … You turn men back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.” For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning— though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered. (Psalm 90:3-6)
In a society that does all it can to stave off or at least ignore the brevity of life, these words might be called morbid cynicism. But God’s Word calls them “wisdom.” Psalm 90 encourages us to count the days of our ephemeral existence and run for refuge to the Eternal God. It culminates in this humble prayer,
Teach us to number our day aright that we might gain a heart of wisdom. (Verse 12)
Panama Holiday Week
2nd – All Soul’s Day or Day of the Dead
3rd – Separation from Columbia
4th – Flag Day
5th – Colon Day
10th – First Call for Independence from Spain
28th – Independence from Spain
I’m sure it will be a while before I start to grasp the significance of all of these dates. But something simple struck me … November is a month that begins with death followed by multiple celebrations of freedom. It made me think of the progression of my own life.
Colossians 2 says that once I was dead in my sins. But then God made me alive with Christ and forgave all my sins. In the liberation movement of all ages, He disarmed the powers and authorities that had ruled and dominated my life and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross! John 8:36 says, “If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed!” This is the supreme story of death followed by a life of freedom … and it’s worth celebrating!
What Did I Do?
Oh no! Police lights in the rearview mirror! Your pulse quickens! You look at the speedometer, but you’re not speeding. You wonder if you have a tail light out. Did you make an illegal lane change? What did I do?!?
Nothing … you’re in Panama. This past Friday, I drove almost all the way from Gorgona to Capira with that scene out my back window. I did instinctively slow down, but then I saw the word “Bomberos” plastered across the vehicle’s hood. Those pretty colored lights don’t mean pull over in this country. They mean something more like, “Here I am … I’m official … see my pretty lights.”
And yet … we don’t want to forget what we’re supposed to do when we see them in the U.S. or Canada. That could be disastrous. When they have you out of the car face down on the asphalt, they’re probably not going to care what flashing lights do or don’t mean in Panama. Here we live by one set of rules, but it’s not wise to forget the rules of your country of origin.
For Christians, it’s even more difficult. We have to live with an eye on two sets of rules. We see that in 1 Peter 2:11-13,
Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority …
God’s purpose for our being good citizens of both worlds is evangelistic. The witness of our lives is supposed to point people to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Never lose sight of where your real citizenship lies … the Gospel is on the line.
