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).

Whether it’s your phone, your keys, your wallet, or something else, we all forget things from time to time. One summer during college, I forgot about the syllabus for a summer internship. I panicked when just a few days before the end of the internship I remembered the syllabus and discovered to my dismay that there were requirements for the internship that I had not been meeting, plus there were two books to read and write book reviews on! Not a good feeling! Thankfully, the due dates were not until several weeks into the following semester, so in the end, it all worked out. Sometimes forgetting is humorous, other times it is an inconvenience, and sometimes it has unchangeable consequences. But is anything more tragic than forgetting the Lord?

Deuteronomy 8 reminds us of the terrible danger of forgetting the Lord. Moses warned the people of Israel, “Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not walking his commandments… lest when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up and you forget the LORD your God… Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the LORD your God…” (Deut. 8:11-14, 17-18).

These verses teach us that we must not forget the Lord. We forget the Lord when we do not obey his commandments. And as Moses warns the people here, luxury and ease can predispose us to this kind of self-sufficiency and forgetfulness. We also forget the Lord whenever we take credit for the blessings we have, as if our own power or strength have earned those blessings for ourselves. Brothers and sisters, it is possible to forget the Lord even while continuing to go through the motions of Christianity, so take care lest you forget the Lord.

In order to not forget the Lord, we need to guard our heart. Moses makes it clear that forgetting the Lord is a heart issue. Twice here in these verses he mentions the heart. Forgetting the Lord may show up in your life as apathy or disobedience, but it stems from a prideful heart (“lifted up” vs. 14). So guard your heart, because it is the measure of who you are. Never ignore the ‘little’ indicators that your heart is spiritually unwell. You may know things about your heart that you think no one else knows, but God knows. Take steps to guard your spiritual “heart health” by eating spiritually “heart-healthy” foods, a.k.a. a balanced spiritual diet of the Word of God, prayer, and corporate and private worship, as well as other spiritual disciplines. In a word, invest in your personal spiritual life and in this way, guard your heart so that you do not forget the Lord.

In Acts 13-14 we read about what was arguably the first Christian missionary team. “While [the disciples in Antioch] were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus” (Acts 13:2-4). For some time, these men traveled to islands in the Mediterranean and throughout parts of modern-day Turkey. What did these missionaries do on their mission trip? “When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra… 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). Eventually, though, it was time for this missionary team to return to their sending church. Luke tells us that “…they went down to Attalia, and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles” (Acts 14:25-27).

Now I’d like to retell this story about a missionary team with a modern twist. In 1989 in southern California, a young Christian man shared the gospel with another young man who was in the Air Force. That young man accepted the gospel and began preparing for a lifetime of ministry and service in the church. More than a decade later, these same two men set out on a missionary journey together—their destination: Guatemala. For years, the men labored in cities across the country. When they had preached the gospel in one city and had made many disciples, they began new mission works in other cities. Everywhere they went they were 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. From time to time though, they return to visit their sending churches in the States. When they do, they gather the church together and they declare all that God has done with them, and how he has opened a door of faith to the Guatemalans. 

That “modern twist” is of course the true story of Hawatthia and Byron and Mission Guatemala. We’re grateful to have had Hawatthia with us this past Sunday and my prayer is that we will be inspired by his example and devotion to the cause of Christ. And like the disciples in Antioch who sent Barnabas and Saul out into the mission field with prayer, let’s send him on his way with much prayer.

Let’s face it—life is complicated. We believe in right and wrong, good and evil, and absolute truth, but it’s not absolutely clear in every situation what is the right choice and what is the wrong choice. Absolutes don’t always translate cleanly to real-world application. That’s not to deny the existence of absolute truth or God’s revealed will as the standard for morality, it’s just to recognize that sometimes it is very difficult to know how to apply our knowledge of right and wrong to a specific situation that we find ourselves in.

For example, a preacher might tell the congregation to love each other with a Christ-like love. When the Bible commands us to love one another, it speaks not primarily of a feeling, but a resolve to selflessly act in the best interests of another person. This leaves a man sitting in the pew wondering how to apply this to his situation at work. He is the CEO of his company and he knows that another man in the same church owns a smaller company in the same field. A third, larger company has just moved into town, threatening to take over the market. The CEO knows that if his company is going to survive the pressure brought by the larger company, he will have to tighten things up and reduce his prices. But in doing so, he might put his smaller competitor (his brother in Christ) out of a job that he has spent years investing in. What is the loving thing to do? He has a responsibility to his own employees and their families, but he also wants to do the loving thing for his brother in Christ who owns the smaller company. He wants to do the right thing, but it’s not immediately clear what “the right thing to do” is.

We should not think of life—with all its messiness and complexity—like a standardized test, as if every situation we find ourselves in has four options labeled A, B, C, and D, three of which are completely wrong and one of which is completely right. God is not interested in his people merely “knowing all the right answers” in an ideal world. He wants his people to be growing in Christlike virtues and learning how to live out those virtues in a wide variety of complex and ever-changing situations. God didn’t give us a book with a million rules for every single scenario in life. Rather, he invites us into a relationship with him, showing us who he is, who we are without him, and who we are supposed to become in Christ. So pay close attention to your heart and your motives. Strive to become more like Christ and exhibit the same virtues that he perfectly embodied. That won’t magically give us all the answers in every situation, but it will equip us with the character and virtue we need to navigate the situation in a godly way that glorifies the Lord.

For just a minute, think about how crucial farmers are for our way of life. We are so accustomed to buying food (including fresh food) year-round in grocery stores that we almost forget how much work went into planting, harvesting, and transporting our food. Think about how difficult it would be if you had to grow your own food to survive. Even though modern technology has made huge changes in the farming industry, farming is still hard work. Farmers have to be part engineer, part biologist, part chemist, part weatherman, and part businessman. There is a lot of book-knowledge and wisdom from experience that goes into being a successful farmer. Farming is hard work.

In 2 Timothy 2:3-6, Paul wanted Timothy to understand that living out his call as a Christian would be challenging and would require self-denial, focus, and diligence. The three analogies he used make his point come to life in vivid pictures: “Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, and the Lord will give you understanding in everything” (2 Timothy 2:3-7). 

A few years ago, I visited the home of a preacher in a beautiful valley in central Washington. As we walked around his property, he showed me his small orchard of fruit trees. He explained to me that his fruit trees have been a living parable for his ministry. He planted the orchard the same year that he began his ministry at the church where he still preaches more than 20 years later. The fruit trees on his property remind him that his life as a Christian and as a minister is not about quick flashy growth but about long term, sustainable growth. The farmer knows that to have a harvest at the end of the season he must give consistent, diligent effort for months. And in the case of orchards, it may be years before the trees mature and begin bearing much fruit. Similarly, Paul wants Timothy to know that he must be in it for the long-haul. Just like a farmer works diligently for months or even years for a harvest, we must give ourselves to the Lord’s work with diligence. And because we ultimately lean upon the Lord’s strength and not our own, we can trust that he will bless our efforts with fruit—maybe not in outwardly visible ways like numerical growth, but at least in growth in Christlikeness in our heart and in the hearts of Christians around us. Like the hardworking farmer, let us work diligently for our master so that when he returns he finds us faithful and we can find our eternal rest in him after our labors on earth are done.