After years of exposure to the Bible, we sometimes lose our sense of wonder at the amazing things we read about in the pages of Scripture. Every once in a while it is good to take a step back, pause, and marvel at the miracles that we read about in the Bible, and to praise God who has shown his power through these miracles.

One fascinating miracle in the Old Testament was performed by the prophet Elisha in 2 Kings 6. He was felling trees with some other men when an accident happened: “But as one was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water, and he cried out, ‘Alas, my master! It was borrowed.’ Then the man of God said, ‘Where did it fall?’ When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float” (2 Kings 6:5-6).

Another miracle in the Old Testament that always stops me in my tracks is found in 2 Kings 13:20-21. “So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. And as a man was being buried, behold, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.” (2 Kings 13:20-21). What an amazing event! If you had seen this, wouldn’t you have told everyone you know about what you just witnessed? By this event, God showed his power through Elisha, even after Elisha was dead. This is one of those miracles that reminds me to pause and marvel at the power of God.

A third lesser-known miracle is found in Acts 19. While we are not told all the details, Luke emphasizes the incredible nature of these miracles. “And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them” (Acts 19:11-12). It is nothing short of incredible that pieces of fabric that Paul touched could then be taken to sick and demon possessed people who were healed with the touch of the cloth.

Everyone knows that ordinarily iron doesn’t float, dead men’s bones don’t make other dead men come alive, and fabric doesn’t heal people of diseases. These are three spectacular miracles that put God’s greatness and power on full display. Nothing is too hard for our God! But all too often, instead of trusting in the God who can make iron float, dead people come alive, and heal people with a handkerchief, I worry about situations in life that seem out of my control. When something feels out of our control, it’s a good time to pause and remember that nothing is too hard for our God!

Christian, did you know that even today, in our modern world, you don’t have to travel very far to find former idolaters? That’s right, even here in Kentucky in the 21st century, you don’t have to travel around the world to find people who were once worshippers of idols. You don’t have to go to the humid jungles of South America or to the arid plains of sub-Sahara Africa. Nope, all you have to do to see a former idol-worshipper is to get up and go take a look in the nearest mirror. Staring back at you, you’ll see someone redeemed from a life of vain idol worship.

The truth is that we worship that which we most highly regard. And before we acknowledged Christ as our Lord and Savior, we regarded ourselves most highly. We were a god unto ourselves. We sat on the throne of our hearts and lived for our own glory, comfort, pleasure, and pride. But now that Christ is our Lord, all that has changed. We no longer regard ourselves most highly; we regard Christ most highly. He is our God. He sits on the throne of our hearts and we live for his glory, honor, and praise. We once worshipped the idol of self, but Christ has saved us from that vain idol worship. In ancient times, idolatry often took more obvious forms (like sacrifices to wooden or stone figures, etc.) but it had at its root the same issue: the worship that rightfully belongs to God was wrongly given to a created object or being.

Listen to what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, “For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:8-10). Like these Christians Paul wrote to, we have turned from idols (the idol of self) to serve the living and true God.

No doubt when these Christians became followers of Christ, they made a clean break with their former ways of idolatry. But turning away from the idol of self is more challenging in some respects. You can throw a physical idol out of your house and never see it again, but every day of our lives, the idol of self is trying to reassert itself into our lives, trying to drag us back into our old ways of living for self instead of living for God. So this week, put to death the old idols of self-promotion, self-glory, and self-serving; turn away from these things and give all your worship and attention and devotion to the Lord.

Children naturally imitate their parents; it’s what they do. Whether it’s pushing a toy mower behind daddy while he mows the grass, or baking mud “pies” in the backyard because they see mama hard at work on something delicious in the kitchen, children inevitably pattern their behaviors to a large degree based on what they observe in their father and mother. Personally, it feels a little intimidating knowing that soon, there will be little eyes watching me. I know that when my children or others look at me, they will not see a perfect example. And that is exactly why it is so important that we all look to the One who is the perfect example—our Lord Jesus Christ. Your spouse, your children, your parents, your roommate, your classmates—they may not see a perfect example in you when they look at your life, but they can see an example of someone who is following the perfect example.

Paul told the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7, “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.” When other churches heard about the faithfulness of the Christians in Thessalonica, it wasn’t a perfect example they saw, but it was an example of Christians who were following the One who is Perfect. The point is this: we are called to be imitators of Christ. But if you put all your value and expectations in being a perfect imitator of Christ with the understanding (either voiced or unvoiced) that you have to do this in order to impress, appease, or satisfy God, you are getting off on the wrong foot. God does not call us to be imitators of Christ in order to attain an acceptable status in his eyes. He calls us to be imitators of Christ because as those who have put our faith in Jesus Christ and in his righteousness (not ours), it is right and fitting that we draw near to our Lord and let him change us from the inside out so that our lives bring glory to God.

So are you an imitator of God? If you want to imitate a master painter, you have to spend hours watching him work and trying your hand at reproducing the lighting and blending of the colors that he makes look so natural. If you want to imitate a master violinist, you have to spend hours practicing the instrument, accepting corrections and constantly pushing on through endless mistakes. If you want to imitate the heavenly Master, you have to spend hours with him in the pages of Scripture, listening to him teach, witnessing his mercy and compassion, and holding your breath while he performs seemingly impossible miracles. Let’s follow in Jesus’ footsteps by doing God’s will, because as children of God, we imitate our Father; it’s what we do.

We are all familiar with the last verse of 1 Corinthians 13—“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” But did you know that this is not the only time Paul grouped these three virtues together like this in one verse? He speaks of the same three virtues in another place in his letters, and he says something about them that is very instructive for us today. When Paul wrote a letter to the Christians in the newly established church in the city of Thessalonica, he told them that he was always giving thanks to God for them and that he was constantly mentioning them in his prayers. What was it that prompted Paul to constantly give thanks for them and to remember them in his prayers? His own words were: “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Notice what it is that Paul remembers: their work of faith, their labor or love, and their steadfastness of hope. Practicing and embodying these virtues is not easy: it calls for work, labor, and steadfastness.

When Paul recalled their faith, it was not mere mental agreement that he remembered. He remembered their work of faith. Their faith led them to action. Biblical faith cannot be limited to ‘head knowledge.’ The evidence of faith is in the action that springs from it. And what that action looks like is submission and obedience to the word of God. The path of the Master requires trust and diligence; it truly is a work of faith. Paul also remembered their labor of love. Hollywood has convinced us that true love is supposed to be the easiest thing in the world. That couldn’t be further from the truth! Loving another person in a godly way is one of the hardest things! Yet that is exactly what we are called to as Christians, for Jesus commanded us to love one another as he loved us (John 15:12). The Christian life is not easy; it truly is a labor of love. Finally, Paul remembered the Thessalonians’ steadfastness of hope in Jesus. When life is good it is easy to say we are trusting in the promises of God, but when things are tough, it is difficult to remain steadfast in that hope. Since the Christian life is more like a marathon than a 100-meter sprint, God calls us to faithfulness and endurance throughout a lifetime. The way of discipleship is not always easy; it truly calls for a steadfastness of hope.

If Paul knew you, would he remember your work of faith, your labor of love, and your steadfastness of hope? This week, remember to translate faith into action, to labor at showing love, and to anchor your life in the unchanging hope that is in Christ. 

I’ve seen it dozens of times and it always perplexes me. A murder of crows is often seen mobbing a hawk in the sky. Like raucous bullies harassing a dignified and composed gentleman, the noisy crows screech and divebomb the hawk, yet I have never seen the hawk attempt to strike back. Just the other day I was watching three crows badgering a hawk, perplexed by the apparent lack of retaliation on the part of the hawk. Hawks are more predatorial than crows (who are scavengers, not predators) and have a sharper beak and sharp talons, so I have always assumed that it wouldn’t even be a fair fight. To me, it looked like the hawk was exercising lots of self-control in sparing his attackers the pain he could inflict if he wanted to. To the casual observer, it looks like the picture of strength under control. 

This kind of strength under control—often called meekness—is a Christian virtue. Meekness is not the absence of strength (that is, it is not simply weakness); rather it is the possession of strength that is restrained by wisdom and used in the right ways at the right times. Meekness does not imply inability but it requires great self-restraint. A person who is meek does not use his strength for selfish gain or retaliation but only uses his strength for righteous purposes and goals. Meekness could look like refusing to use your platform to lash out at a personal rival. It could also look like refraining from publicly humiliating a co-worker for her mistake, even when you really want to “get even” with her for something she did to you. As I watched the hawk, I thought that he was showing meekness by not using his power to lash out at the crows.

But it turns out, there is a little more going on with the hawk and the crows. Hawks do have a superior beak and talons, but crows often have better maneuverability, making it tiring for the hawk to attack the crows. Plus, crows always attack in a group, outnumbering the hawk and deterring attacks in return. Apparently, hawks just don’t think it’s worth it to try to fight back. It’s easier just to move on and leave the crows to themselves. So, hawks may not be a good example of meekness after all, but there is Someone who is the perfect example of true meekness. He has all power and authority (Matt. 11:27), yet he is meek (also commonly translated gentle) and lowly in heart (Matt. 11:29). He proved this when he allowed himself to be arrested by the hands of sinful men, rushed through a mockery of a trial, and nailed to a wooden cross on a hill outside Jerusalem. He could have called ten thousand angels (Matt. 26:53) to rescue him and wipe every sinner off the face of the planet, but he died on that cross for you and me. That is strength under control.

Have you ever known someone who talked a big game, but all their bragging and boasting was nothing more than hot air? No matter who else is around and no matter how great their accomplishments, he always has a bigger and better story. If someone else caught a fish that was 20 lbs, the fish he caught was 30 lbs. If someone else received an award, the award he received was more prestigious. If someone else is an amateur in a sport, he was MVP on his team in that sport ‘back in his prime.’ And on and on it goes. Talk is cheap, so lots of people in the world talk the talk.

But how many will actually walk the walk? Even as Christians, we are tempted to talk a big game, perhaps from a sense of insecurity or from a desire to fit in with others we perceive to be more spiritual than we are, or from an arrogant self-absorption. There are many who talk the talk, but fewer who walk the walk. The apostle Paul was one of those people who fearlessly walked the walk. Because of his lifestyle and unquestionable devotion to the cause of Christ, when he talked the talk, people knew that his life backed up his words.

Early in his first missionary trip, Paul faced opposition from hostile unbelievers, but things took a turn for the worse when he was preaching in Lystra. While he was preaching in that city, “…Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe” (Acts 14:19-20). If this was me, I probably would have decided to lay low for a while, at least till things settled down. And if this happened to you or me on a foreign mission trip, our supporting church would undoubtedly encourage us to return to the states for a while to rest and recover. They might even recommend that we not return to that area where we faced such grave danger. We’d be tempted to quit.

But not Paul. After surviving this vicious attempt of his life, Paul kept right on like nothing had happened. And not long after, he returned to the very city where they tried to kill him in order to encourage the young disciples there: “…they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:21—22). He stood before the church, probably still with visible wounds and possible disfigurement, a living testimony to the trials that we are called to endure. Paul didn’t just talk the talk. He walked the walk. Will you?

Throughout the Scriptures, we frequently read about the Two Ways, a simple yet powerful way to teach about the basic choice that confronts each one of us in life. Moses used the Two Ways to teach the Israelites in their day: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live…” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20a). Jesus also used the Two Ways to teach his followers about the narrow gate that leads to life and the wide gate that leads to destruction. 

Proverbs makes use of this same teaching method. Proverbs 9 personifies the two ways with two women—Lady Wisdom and Lady Folly—each of whom invites guests into her home. Interestingly, the call of the two ladies is the same: “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” (Proverbs 9:4 and 16). Their invitation may be the same, but the ends that their guests come to could not be more different. Lady Wisdom’s invitation is to “Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight” (Prov. 9:6). Furthermore, her invitation to the simple has a distinctly moral tone. Her invitation is not to secular wisdom but to true, Biblical wisdom. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight” (Prov. 9:10). Thus verse 10 clarifies that Lady Wisdom’s call to walk in the way of insight in verse 6 is a call to know the Lord. And the reward for walking in the way of wisdom and the fear of the Lord is life: “For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life” (Prov. 9:11).

Lady Folly’s invitation is entirely different. Far from being an invitation to come to know and revere the Lord, her invitation is to moral laxity. “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant” (Prov. 9:17). The Way of Folly is so called precisely because we follow it when we suppress our knowledge of what is right and pursue our own desires. It is the Way of Folly not because we accidentally made a mistake, but because we long for what is forbidden and choose to do what we know is foolish and wrong. But what we seldom think about is where the Way of Folly will lead us. In the words of the Proverbs, ‘He does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol [i.e. the place of the dead]” (Prov. 9:18). Two ways: the way of life that leads to blessing or the way of death that leads to the curse. Two ways: the narrow way that leads to life or the broad way that leads to destruction. Two ways: Lady Wisdom or Lady Folly. Two ways; two very different results. Two ways; your choice.

We are careful in life to guard the things that we value and protect them from harm. We protect memorabilia from the ravages of time. We guard our homes and the possessions within them by means of locks and home security systems. We guard our children from danger and keep them out of harm’s way. We guard our health during cold and flu season. We guard our passwords and accounts so that our identity doesn’t get stolen. But these are not the only things in life that we should guard. A friend of mine recently shared with me three reminders about situations when we need to be on our guard.

1. When you’re alone, guard your thoughts. What we think about shapes who we become. For many people, times of solitude can be times of temptation. You may be tempted to shut your mind off and just passively be entertained, rather than filling your mind with good things. Or, you may be tempted to fill your mind with things that are unholy. Either way, there are abundant temptations to let down our guard, leaving our mind and thoughts exposed and vulnerable to the attacks of the evil one. Paul teaches us in Philippians 4:8 to fill our minds with things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy.” When you’re alone, guard your thoughts and keep them pure.

2. When you’re at home, guard your temper. We’ve all seen it before, and we know that few things are as damaging as an unleashed temper. The words of one Christian hymn remind us that “Angry words are lightly spoken / Bitterest thoughts are rashly stirred / Brightest links of life are broken / By a single angry word.” Truly, anger has a terrifyingly destructive power. The repeated Biblical instruction is to be slow to anger and guard your spirit carefully against this deadly enemy. As the Proverbs teach us, “Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city” (Prov. 16:32). When you’re at home, guard your temper and keep it under an iron-fisted grip.

3. When you’re with friends, guard your tongue. When you were young, you probably heard a lot about peer pressure. Why do we stop talking about peer pressure when we’re adults? It doesn’t go away! When we are with friends, there can be immense peer pressure—to talk like they do, to tell the kind of jokes they laugh at, to lie in order to look good, or to talk endlessly about yourself and your own accomplishments. Remember, our words reflect what is in our hearts (Luke 6:45). When you’re with friends, guard your tongue and keep it free from lies and arrogant speech.

This week—when you’re alone, when you’re at home, and when you’re with friends—be on guard!

While it may be true that even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while, there are some things in life that just do not happen by accident. For example, no one receives a Ph.D. by accident, no one wins a marathon by accident, and doctors never become skilled surgeons by accident. These things require years of dedication, focus, and hard work. In order to accomplish one of these feats or something similar, people must pursue their goals for years on end; dreams like these don’t happen without steadfast purpose. It’s also true that no one just happens to be faithful to the Lord by accident. If a Christian is going to remain faithful to the Lord throughout years and decades of life, he or she will never do it by accident. In order to receive the crown of life, we must run the race of faith with a steadfast and unwavering purpose. This was exactly the message with which Barnabas encouraged some new disciples at a fledgling church in the city of Antioch. Luke tells us about this event in Acts 11. 

“Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord” (Acts 11:19-24).

My encouragement and charge to you this week is the same as Barnabas’ was to these Christians: remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose! You have started the race of faith. You are running well. But remember that it is not just how you begin but how you finish that matters. So let the dying love of your Lord on the cross encourage you. Let your memory of the hopelessness of life without Christ point the way to your gracious Savior. Let the knowledge that God is with you every step of the way fuel you. Let the church around you motivate you. Let the prize ahead of you spur you on. Let all the promises of God and all the history of his faithfulness to his people produce in you a steadfast, unwavering purpose to continue with the Lord and to walk in the light of his mercy and grace. Turn to the Lord for his strength and continue in the faith with steadfast purpose!

This week I had a new experience that I hope I never have to repeat—cleaning the drainpipe under the kitchen sink. When water was draining very slowly out of the sink, I knew that something was wrong. After an initial attempt to clear the pipe was unsuccessful, I brought out the big guns—a 15-foot plumbing snake and a PVC pipe cutter. Working from the basement, I opened up the pipe and began searching for the clog. After a little while, the clogged material was out of the pipe—some of it was on the floor and some of it was on me. I’ll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that the smell was simply wretched—one of the worst smells I have ever smelled.

While working on the drain, I thought of Isaiah 64:6—“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” In the same way that working on that pipe was gross and made me feel unclean, my sins make me unclean in the sight of our pure and holy God. And this sin problem is universal: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Rom. 3:10-12) and “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). So when Solomon asks in Proverbs 20:9, “Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”?” the answer is clearly no one.

But someone might claim that we can also do a lot of good things to win God’s approval. Can’t the good just outweigh the bad and make us acceptable to God? Such a view falls woefully short of the Biblical teaching about the extent to which our sin has infected us. Isaiah corrects such a misunderstanding when he declares that “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags”! Even our best is not good enough to earn God’s approval. Paul, speaking of the human condition apart from Christ, gives us words to express our anguish when we realize that even what we would call our “righteousness” can never do anything to restore God’s favor or earn his salvation: “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out… Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:18, 24).

Your sin makes you unclean and your righteousness is like filthy rags, but there is one who gave his life in order to make you clean and give you his perfect righteousness. So we do not despair, because Jesus came to die for sinners. Praise God that “…he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy…” (Titus 3:5).