|
My Two Cents
by Rev Chuck Behrens
October, 2013
|
Past Articles |
|
There are certain
occupations where I think you need a particularly strong self-image. For
example, I would think a dentist needs a strong self-image. I mean, he's a
professional, he's helping people, but it's just hard to have so many
people dreading what you do. Or in the world of sports, like a baseball
umpire? Everybody thinks they can see better than the umpire does. You can
tell because they keep yelling, "Hey, are you blind?" Because they don't
agree with your call. Everybody thinks they have a higher IQ than you do.
They keep commenting on the intelligence of an umpire negatively just
because they don't agree with him.
But you couldn't have baseball without the umpires. I mean, can you image
the players trying to agree on whether a guy was safe or out at second?
That would end the game right there. Or how about letting the fans decide?
Man, there would be chaos without the umpire. So, let's say there's a
dramatic play at home plate. The winning run is sliding into home plate as
the ball is thrown to the catcher; there's a cloud of dust; there are
thousands of voices giving their opinion whether the runner was safe or
not, but there's only one voice that matters. The umpire settles it.
I love in Colossians 3:15 where God says, "Let the peace of Christ rule in
your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace."
Notice here it says that "the peace of Christ should rule in your hearts."
Now, that word in the original language of the New Testament means to be
the judge; the one who awards the prize. In essence, "Let the peace of
Christ be the umpire in your heart."
In other words, the peace of God is your own personal umpire. As you make
each day's choices, you need some way to decide what should be safe and
what should be out. Well, that's the peace of Christ. You've got a lot of
choices. You've got right or wrong choices and some of them are not
covered by a specific rule in the Bible. You've got to decide which way to
go in a lot of situations; which option is the one God wants.
Well, the Bible says, "Let the peace of Christ decide." Let it be the
umpire. Now, this peace comes as you continue to bring a choice to God.
You come to Him with a blank piece of paper and you say, "God, you know
what I'd like, but I'm not going to give you a contract to sign. This is
my blank piece of paper. What do you want?" And as you pray it through, I
think you'll find that one way you're supposed to go. One road feels right
most of the time when you're praying about it when it's just you and
Jesus; as you pray about it over and over again.
Now, I'm not talking about rushed prayer here. You've got to have time to
let Him put His thoughts into your heart. But as you get off your knees
and start to go through your day, the peace of Christ is going to be
challenged by a lot of other voices - like the umpire and all those people
in the stands. I mean as soon as you get with other people, God's will
starts to seem a little less clear than it did when you were just with
Him. There are all these other voices, but you've got to focus on the one
voice that decides it.
How can you tune your peace meter so you can hear and receive the peace of
Christ? Well, the next verse says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you
richly." So you need to have some increased time in God's Word. You need
to memorize some verses. You need to read whenever you can, looking for a
personal word from the Lord. The more you get full of God's Word, the more
God has to work with in giving you His personal guidance. His peace and
His Word always go together.
Human umpires? Well, they're right some of the time. God's umpire is right
all the time. Why don't you offer your choices to the Lord and ask for His
peace as the confirming signal in your heart; that sense that you've had a
divine "OK" or a divine "forget it?" God's peace is His wonderful way of
calling "Safe!" or "Out!" on the calls you have to make. And you'll always
win if you go along with God's personal umpire...OK, I admit, I'm watching
the Tribe in their playoff game!
See you in Church!
Rev. Chuck
|
|
