843 acres

Relevant Text: Prov. 26:13

Perception | It’s nearly impossible to know the true facts of any situation. Almost everything we see is colored by our perceptions. This is why, for example, the law considers eyewitness accounts to be “opinion” testimony; they’re admittedly impacted by expectations, biases, prejudices, hopes, motives, attitudes, backgrounds, abilities and environments.

Hearts | Our perceptions are also colored by our deceptive hearts [2]. Most of us worship idols – that is, we inordinately love false gods that come in the form of created things like money or sex or power [3]. Everything we see is colored by these idols. For example, years ago, a tobacco lobbyist named Victor Crawford – himself a smoker with throat cancer – admitted that his love of money influenced his perception of the truth: “I’m not proud of having lobbied for them. I think it’s ironic. And in a way, I think I got my just desserts, because, in my heart, I knew better. But I rationalized and denied, because the money was so good and because I could always rationalize it. That’s how you make a living, by rationalizing that black is not black; it’s white, it’s green, it’s yellow. But I knew, in my heart, that what the Surgeon General said was right” [4].

Self-Deception | This is how our sinful hearts and minds work – our deepest desires guide our rational thoughts and cause us to think that our desires – although wrong – are right. But our hearts are not neutral observers of the truth. They create illusions. Thus, Solomon wrote, “The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets!’” [5]. Sluggards want to stay at home and be lazy, so they use their minds to create reasons to justify what they already want to do – even to the point where they believe their own self-deceptions.

Hope | Is there any hope? Yes! As God spoke through Jeremiah, “I, the LORD, search the heart and examine the mind” [6]. Jesus came not only to show us how to live, but also to give us new hearts and minds [7]. Although he shatters our self-deception by piercing our souls with truth, he also welcomes us into his family by embracing us with unconditional love.

Prayer | Lord, Almost everything we see isn’t as it seems because our perceptions are colored by our idols and self-deception. Therefore, we ask that you pierce our hearts and reveal the truth. Open our eyes to see you. Amen.

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Footnotes: [1]  Pogo. Cartoon.  |  [2]  As Jeremiah prophesied, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9 NIV 1984).  |  [3]  As Paul lamented, “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator” (Rom. 1:25 NIV 1985).  |  [4]  Roger Rosenblatt, “How Do Tobacco Executives Live With Themselves?” The New York Times Magazine. 20 March 1994.  |  [5]  Prov. 26:13 NIV 1984  |  [6]  Jer. 17:10 NIV 1984  |  [7]  “God … made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6 NIV 1984).

Relevant Text: Prov. 18:22
Full Text: Prov. 17-19

 He who finds a wife finds what is good
and receives favor from the LORD.

Marriage | In their forthcoming book, The Meaning of Marriage, Tim and Kathy Keller argue for “the surprising goodness of marriage” [1]. Yet, they lament how perceptions of marriage have changed: “Marriage used to be a public institution for the common good, and now it is a private arrangement for the satisfaction of the individuals. Marriage used to be about us, but now it is about me” [2]. Tim reflects on his own marriage-seeking: “When I met my future wife, Kathy, we sensed very quickly that we shared an unusual number of books, stories, themes, ways of thinking about life, and experiences that brought us joy. We recognized in one another a true ‘kindred spirit’ and the potential for a bond of deep friendship” [3]. According to a 2002 study, however, modern men looking for a wife prioritize physical attractiveness and – even more – compatibility, which they define as a “willingness to take them as they are and not change them” [4]. Yet, the Kellers note, “This is a significant break with the past. Traditionally, men married knowing it would mean a great deal of personal alteration” [5].

Gospel | As Tim and Kathy continue, “The reason that marriage is so painful and yet wonderful is because it is a reflection of the gospel, which is painful and wonderful at once. The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope. Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it. God’s saving love in Christ, however, is marked by both radical truthfulness about who we are and yet also radical, unconditional commitment to us. The merciful commitment strengthens us to see the truth about ourselves and repent. The conviction and repentance moves us to cling to and rest in God’s mercy and grace” [6].

Prayer | Lord, The gospel teaches us about marriage and marriage teaches us about the gospel. Although You chose us while we were still sinners, You do not leave us as we are. Therefore, we praise You for transforming us through Your love and truth in Christ. Amen.

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You are invited:
The Meaning of Marriage Book Launch & Signing
Tuesday, November 1 at 7 pm
New York Society of Ethical Culture, 2 W 64 @ CPW (map)
Tickets are free, but you must register because space is limited: here.

Relevant Text: Prov. 15:8
Full Text: Prov 14-16

The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked,
but the prayer of the upright pleases him.

“The LORD detests the sacrifice of the wicked” | How does a good thing – like a sacrifice – become a detestable thing? When it comes from a wicked or corrupt heart. As Jesus warned the Pharisees, “You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness” [1]. He sees beyond actions and into hearts.

“But the prayer of the upright pleases Him” | Upright hearts that depend on Him, however, bring Him delight. Unlike the wicked, the upright tremble at His word and weep for their sin. They know that He loves meeting needs more than making demands and that He loves working for us more than seeing us work for Him [2]. Thus, Jesus told a parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” [3]. God delights in the prayers of the upright because they know they have no righteousness before Him. They humbly trust in God’s willingness and joy and power to show them the mercy that they need. These humble and contrite hearts make God smile and bring Him delight [4].

Prayer | Lord, We fear You because we know that we have no righteousness before You. We beat our chests and are beggars before You, longing for Your mercy. Yet, we know that You delight to hear our prayers and to meet our needs and work for us. Therefore, give us humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

Relevant Text: Ps. 127:1
Full Text: 1 Kings 4 + Ps. 72 + Ps. 127

Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.
Psalm 127:1

Solomon | The man who wrote this psalm – Solomon – was perhaps the greatest builder that Israel had ever known. Not only did he build the Temple of the Lord, he also built a magnificent royal palace for himself. At the end of his life, however, Solomon reflected on all his work: “I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees … I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a haremas well – the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor” [1].

Meaningless | Although his surroundings were breathtaking, his life was anything but beautiful. His heart was a mess. He loved the charms of the world – lusted after foreign women who worshiped other gods and spent twice as much time on the construction and adornment of his palace as he did on the Temple. At the end of his life, surrounded by his wives and wealth, Solomon was a spiritual pauper: “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun” [2]. At his death, his great kingdom was torn apart by civil war and eventually conquered by other nations.

Prayer | Lord, We confess that our priorities can sometimes be topsy-turvy. We spend years making sure that our homes and our images and our portfolios are well built, but we often don’t strategize about our godliness and our holiness and our growth in the fruit of the Spirit. May it never be said of us, though, that our labor has been in vain. We ask that You build our work so that our labor is not meaningless. Amen.

Relevant Text: 1 Kings 2:2-4
Full Text: 1 Chron 29:21-30 + 1 Kings 1:1-2:12

David | When David was dying, he wasn’t thinking about his successes or failures or about how great his name had become. Instead, he was thinking about God’s glory and the delight of living in Him. Therefore, his final words to Solomon were about being faithful to God: “I am about to go the way of all the earth … So be strong, show yourself a man, and observe what the LORD your God requires: Walk in his ways, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and requirements, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go, and that the LORD may keep his promise to me” [1]. Thus, David reigned forty years in Israel and then he died.

Paul | Likewise, when Paul was leaving Ephesus, his parting words reminded them to pursue God: “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again” [2]. Thus, Paul bid farewell and, according to tradition, was later beheaded in Rome.

Testimony | As both these men faced death, they were thinking about God’s beauty and grace, not their material goods or temporal successes. They treasured Christ in death because they treasured him in life. As David once sang, “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” [3]. And as Paul was declared, “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain” [4].

Prayer | Lord, No matter what this life holds, the life to come – when our faith becomes sight – is far better! Yet, if we don’t treasure you now, what makes us think that we’ll treasure you when we’re dying? Forgive us for being too easily pleased with fleeting things and root us in Your everlasting glory and grace. Amen.