Hot Buttons

In politics there are certain issues known as ‘hot-button’ issues. These are things that resonate amongst a large percentage of the voters, and are usually somewhat controversial issues. For example, a lot of people feel very strongly about immigration: Some feel that we let way too many people into this country, and some feel that we should have an open border policy; a lot people feel very strongly about healthcare: Some feel that every American should have health insurance, even if the government has to pay for it, and some feel that they shouldn’t have to pay for other people’s healthcare (whether through higher taxes or higher insurance rates as insurance companies are mandated to cover those that can’t pay). Some people feel very strongly about capital punishment. Some feel very strongly about abortion. The war in Iraq stirs up strong feelings. Global warming. The list goes on.
I think most of us have hot-button issues of our own. Some people are bothered by all of the things I listed in the first paragraph, some aren’t bothered by any of them but are bothered by other things that I didn’t think of. It’s only natural that some things are going to get under your skin, and cause you act with less rationality than you normally would. That doesn’t make it right. Ephesians 4:26 says to be angry, and sin not. Getting angry is not a sin, in and of itself, but letting the anger (or any other strong emotion) control you, is. Does this mean that we should all becomes stoics? No, of course not. God gave us emotions for a reason. Jesus, our perfect example, even showed us His anger, on more than one occasion, but He committed no sin.
The point is, we have been delivered from sin. We don’t have to commit sin any more. We will, because we are human, and we make mistakes; but nothing can force us to sin. It’s almost like being delivered from sin means that we have no excuse for sinning. In Romans 8:38-39, Apostle Paul gives a list of things that cannot separate us from God. I have had people tell me that it is an all-inclusive list, that there is absolutely nothing that can come between us and God, once we have made the profession of faith, but, if you look, it doesn’t list one’s self, and it doesn’t list sin. Of course, none of the things on that list can make you sin, either, so, whatever is between us and God, is strictly between us and God. We cannot blame anyone else, we cannot blame our circumstance, our environment, our culture… God is greater than all of that.

Blessing God

What does it mean to bless God? That’s an interesting question, and I’m not entirely sure that I have a good answer, but I’m going to make an attempt.
Let me start with the Scripture that says, “…the less is blessed of the better.” Now, does that mean that one has to be greater than God in order to bless God? To be honest, I don’t think so, but, certainly, it is a common thing for us to be blessed by God, for us to bless God is considerably less common, and only possible because of His greatness, not ours. David wrote several times about blessing God: In Psalms 16:7 he said he would bless the Lord, and also in Psalms 26:12, more famously in Psalms 34:1. David was a man after God’s own heart; if he believed that he could bless God, then who am I to argue?
It does seem to me that to bless God would mean to go above and beyond the call of duty. In Luke 17:10, Jesus said that when we have done all that we were commanded to do, then we can say that we are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. I don’t know too many people that have done all that has been commanded, much less go above and beyond. Romans 3:23 says that all have come short. Further, in Romans 12:1, we are told to present our bodies a living sacrifice, and that to do so is our reasonable service. That sounds like pretty extraordinary service to me, but apparently, that, too, is not enough to bless God.
In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a parable about Judgment, and He says that when that day comes, He will separate that sheep from the goats, and He will tell the sheep about what they have done, and why they shall inherit the kingdom (wait, Jesus said that salvation depends on works? That’s another study). But the surprising thing of it is, that the righteous question Him, saying, “When?” It’s surprising in and of itself that the righteous would question Him, but to say, wait a minute, when did we do those things? I can understand that if I’m to be rewarded, I would like to know why I’m being rewarded, and I would like to think that if I don’t deserve it, that I have enough integrity that I would point out the mistake (although, if I’m allowed into Heaven by mistake, I’m pretty sure I would keep quiet about that). My point is this, though, if anybody has a claim to have blessed God, it’s the people represented as sheep in this parable. Yet, when they are told about it, they are surprised. “We blessed you? When?”
I think that makes it clear that the really good things that we do, we do without even thinking about it. It isn’t so much what we do, but how we live. It isn’t the actions that count; it’s the mindset that drives those actions (of course, if the actions aren’t there, then, obviously, the mindset isn’t right, either). If we do something that blesses God, we aren’t going to be aware of it in this life; if we do something that we think blesses God, that’s probably just our own ego, trying to puff us up.

In the final analysis, I think that we shouldn't worry about trying to impress God. If your heart is right with God, that will impress Him, and if it isn't, He can help you change your heart.

Confidential to Lyn: Perhaps the urgency that I sensed in your request on Thursday was strictly in my own mind, but not having heard from you since, I am worried about you. Hopefully God has already worked out whatever it was, but I'm in the dark. Please let me hear from you, even if only to say that you're okay.