What Will You Do?

He has shown all you people what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

– Micah 6:8

Back in the 1970s, American Express launched a popular series of TV commercials that invited viewers to imagine their worst travel nightmares. 

“What will you do?” asked celebrity narrator Karl Malden. “What will you do?”

In one episode, a traveler is in a run-down hotel in some unnamed Third World country. He’s just discovered that his wallet and travelers checks were stolen by a pickpocket. His luggage is also missing. With no money, identification or any way to get help, the unwitting victim is in deep trouble because he can’t re-pay his debt. But had he purchased American Express Travelers Cheques (yes, that’s how they really spell them), his loss would have been repaid in full within 24 hours, regardless of his location.

Although that's a bit far-fetched in these days of PayPal, credit cards, emails and iPhones, this classic commercial still illustrates a basic spiritual truth. Because of the way we’ve lived our lives and treated others, we’ve all run up an immense bill with no way to repay it. But with God’s grace and mercy through Jesus’ death on the cross, the spiritual debt of every Christ-follower is completely paid in full. 

Since God shows us great mercy even though we really deserve death, we’re now expected to show mercy to others. That sounds simple enough. But somehow, it conflicts with our sense of fair play. After all, aren’t there some people who just have it coming? Shouldn’t they get what they deserve? Someone needs to even the score.

Does anyone in particular come to mind? How about that guy who kept cutting you off in traffic this morning? Or what about that woman who butted in line at the DMV ... or that neighbor who lets their dog loose in your yard? There’s no shortage of examples.

Yes, everyone has faced injustice and hurt in one way or another. So don’t those people need to pay us back to make it right? After all, they owe us. 

Maybe. But we owe God much, much more. And since he canceled out our huge debt, it’s up to us to spread grace toward those who have wronged us. Yes, it’s a hard lesson. But never forget that God doesn’t ask us to give more mercy than what he’s already given us. 

What exactly does the Lord require of you and me as Christ-followers? It’s in Micah 6:8 that we learn the answer: To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

With this in mind, Jesus — and Karl Malden — want to know: What will you do?

 

Guilty as Sin

LORD, the God of Israel, you are righteous! We are left this day as a remnant. Here we are before you in our guilt, though because of it not one of us can stand in your presence.

– Ezra 9:15

It takes just a single word — positive or negative — to paint a vivid picture of someone. For example, we might link words like genius or visionary to Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs, or leader to George Washington and Martin Luther King. Likewise, we might label Ted Bundy or Hitler as murderer.

How about you?

Would you label yourself as generous, energetic, successful … or maybe humble? Or what about lonely, abused or divorced? How about addicted?

Ask that question to 20 different people, and you’ll probably get 20 different answers. But the apostle Paul tells us through the book of Romans that there’s one word that fits everyone: GUILTY.

He explains that everyone (that’s you and me) has in one way or another broken God’s perfect Law. That’s because we’ve all lied, cheated, stole and killed — either literally or figuratively. We’re all guilty as sin. And according to God’s Law, the death penalty is the just response to our wrongdoings. 

Scripture affirms this. It’s in Romans 6:23 that we read the wages of sin is death.

But here’s the good news: This same Bible passage adds that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. Paul writes that God paid the penalty we all deserve through the death of his own son (Jesus) on the cross. So as far as our Creator is concerned, we’re considered RIGHTEOUS, or right in the eyes of God, and are now free to live out our lives and follow his ways. 

Have you put your faith in Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If so, he’s cancelled your debt. And as far as he’s concerned, your label is now innocent. Paul sums it up this way in 2 Corinthians 5:21:

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Pride Before the Fall

 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

– Proverbs 11:2

There’s a certain pride factor when you do it yourself and do it right. Who can deny the satisfaction gained from viewing a shiny polished car or a lush, manicured lawn? And that goes double when you put hours of hard work into your efforts. Yes, you should be proud.

Or should you?

Maybe taking pride in a job well done is OK to a point. But as Christ-followers, we need to understand that PRIDE is actually one of those giants that can hurt us badly if we don’t watch out. But is pride really that much of a big deal? It’s not like one of those negative-sounding issues like FEAR and DEATH. And there’s not the shame that’s associated with LUST.

But as it turns out, the Bible teaches that misplaced pride really IS a big deal to God. That’s because pride can be a crippling disease with some very nasty side effects. First, we see it in other people but not in ourselves. And eventually, we get to the point where we think we can do it all — and all while forgetting the fact that God is the true power and source of our successes. We become arrogant, vain, stubborn and defensive. We may even develop a strange sense of satisfaction when others (sometimes even our friends) face difficulties or tragedies in their lives. These symptoms last for a while. But only up to the point where God finally lets us crumble and fall flat from some unforeseen situation or circumstance. 

It’s called the pride before the fall. And it’s only then that we come back to our senses and come back to God with a humble heart. 

What’s the prescription for curing this infection called PRIDE? It’s not about adopting a permanently low self-esteem or a woe-is-me attitude. Instead, it’s all about replacing self-confidence with God-confidence. Our best strategy is to always put God first in our lives and remember that we can do nothing without him. Always give him the credit for your blessings and successes. And then remember that God chooses and uses the humble to do great things in the world.

The Bible sums it up with some solid advice: "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." 

Authentic Compassion

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

-- John 13:35

As Christ-followers, we're often reminded about the importance of helping our neighbors and showing compassion to strangers. Jesus taught this principle through The Good Samaritan: one of the most familiar stories of the Bible. 

It’s in Luke’s gospel that we read about a traveler who was attacked by robbers and left for dead. A priest saw the wounded man but elected to pass him by. Later, a Levite (a member of one of the tribes of Israel) also saw the man lying on the ground. And he too avoided him. But when a Samaritan — a member of a despised ethnic group — happened to come by, he bandaged up the injured stranger, checked him into a motel and even prepaid the bill!

Two supposedly "good" people had a chance to help the helpless, but they went out of their way to do nothing. Instead, it was the Samaritan who found God's approval because he had shown practical compassion to his neighbor (a total stranger).

Although that's a lesson we all need to learn and live by, helping neighbors and strangers isn't always easy. We too often let selfishness and pride get in our way. We don't want to get our hands dirty. And then we end up like the supposedly "good" people in Jesus' story. But let's consider the other side of the coin: How are we showing compassion to our fellow Christ-followers — not strangers — but rather other Believers?

The moment we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we become a member of an enormous family of faith spanning race, nationality, gender and generation. We may be very different, but it's our faith in Jesus that bridges the gaps. For all of us, Jesus is at the core of our thoughts and motivations. And we all share a common eternal destiny and a loving Father.

This truth sets apart Christ-followers from all others in the world. But since the world is watching us and questioning our motives, it’s crucial that we demonstrate lives of authentic compassion.

How should we do that? It’s by celebrating each other's triumphs, mourning each other's losses and sacrificing our own selfish interests that we exhibit much more than transformed lives and ongoing spiritual growth. Above all, we need to follow Jesus' example: one where love is an action-word lived out every day through a changed heart.

 

The Pursuit of Happiness

 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

– Isaiah 12:3

The world is reeling from a pandemic, millions are unemployed, the nation is divided politically, and inflation is on the rise. What’s more, the news headlines are both disturbing and depressing. Nevertheless, billions would be happy to trade places with us. That’s because even the poorest of the poor in America are considered rich (at least statistically) when compared with so much of humanity.

We understand that the concepts of wealth and poverty are relative because a dollar obviously stretches further in Montana than in Monte Carlo. But regardless of your address and the size of your bank account, money still can’t buy you happiness and joy. In fact, the Bible reveals that excessive wealth can be an obstacle to spiritual health. That's because of the temptation to rely on it rather than its ultimate source, God. Society, however, continues to spread a false narrative about riches, and it's even altered the definition of joy.

But true joy isn’t the reaction to something external, like a new car or a piece of jewelry. Instead, it’s an internal source of gladness and thanksgiving that reveals the true picture though the most difficult of circumstances. As Christ-followers, our relationship with Jesus grants us access to our Creator — a loving Father who hears our prayers and looks for ways to bless us. So no matter how bad things get in our lives, we already know that our ultimate story will end on a very positive note. Let’s consider the experience of the apostle Paul:

“Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,” he wrote in 2 Corinthians. “I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.”

That doesn’t sound like a happy, fun-filled experience. Yet Paul wrote that he was joyful.

When we have lives that are filled with joy, even the most unpleasant of circumstances can’t bring us down. Paul spent years in prison chained to his guards while under the constant threat of death. But he always prayed thankfully. And instead of feeling sorry for himself, he used the situation to change the lives of fellow prisoners and jailers alike — and all while writing much of what we today know as the New Testament. The lesson for modern-day Christ-followers like you and me is that we must habitually look for the good and dwell on the positive.

Yes, we are living in complicated, unprecedented times that can pull us down both physically and emotionally. But Paul’s advice to you and me is both simple and profound:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”

Houston, We Have a Problem

 We are ruined by our own stupidity, though we blame the Lord.

– Proverbs 19:3

NASA’s original plan for the April 1970 Apollo 13 mission was to land on the moon, survey it and develop mankind’s ability to work in the lunar environment. But then came these fateful words from astronaut Jack Swigert: 

Houston… We’ve had a problem here.

That problem was caused by an oxygen tank explosion aboard the spacecraft, which nearly ended the mission in disaster. The crew was forced to return to earth without ever landing on the moon, and they had to improvise a way to conserve onboard electricity while reducing the buildup of deadly gases inside the cabin. More troubling still was that no one could determine if the damaged capsule would withstand the intense heat generated while re-entering the earth’s atmosphere.

Earth-based radar stations tracked Apollo 13’s progress home while NASA stayed in radio contact with the astronauts. But as expected, communications were lost when super-heated plasma built up around the spacecraft. It wasn’t until minutes later that Mission Control heard the astronauts’ voices break through the static. The prayers of millions of around the world were answered that day as Apollo 13 and its crew splashed down safely to earth.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that everyone’s plans — big or small — result in varying degrees of success or failure. And depending on the circumstances, we may feel like we have a handle on the situation … or that the situation has run amok. Maybe you feel like that today — and for good reason. But believe it or not, God is in control.  

This is a fundamental truth that every Christ-follower should embrace. One reason that we don't feel his power is because we can't see the big picture. We don’t know the life-changing people and situations that he’ll introduce to the mix. We also don’t have his vantage point of knowing what’s around the corner and miles up the road. Moreover, it’s hard for us to see a greater purpose in our lives when we're going through the pain of unemployment, lingering illness, family problems or even death. But God is in control. And for those who trust and follow him, he offers this assurance:

"Before I made you in your mother's womb, I chose you,” says our Creator. “Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Have your best-laid plans led to frustration and depression? Don’t lose hope. God knows what we need — and he knows it long before we ask him for help. And when our plans align with his purpose, success is on the horizon.  

Swiss Army Knife

I know how to live when I am poor, and I know how to live when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens, when I have enough to eat and when I go hungry, when I have more than I need and when I do not have enough.

– Philippians 4:12

If it takes the right tool to do the job right, chances are that the Victorinox Swiss Army knife is that tool. 

First produced in 1891 for — as its name suggests — the Swiss army — this folding, all-in-one pocketknife is easily recognized by its red handle and cross logo. What's more, the iconic cutlery is produced in dozens of models with ingenious implements including corkscrews, tweezers, bottle-openers, can openers, and even nail files. Newer models feature everything from USB computer storage drives to laser pointers. And there’s even a 9-inch-wide version with 85 tools for the outdoorsman (or outdoorswoman) who has everything.

Speaking of having everything, God has blessed us with a nation of incredible abundance and wealth. And although millions of Americans seemingly do have it all, we live amidst an epidemic of discontentment. The more possessions we gather and the higher we climb the corporate ladder, the more unfulfilled and disillusioned we become. And rather than thanking God for his blessings and making the most of them, we wonder if that’s all there is to life.

This contagious disease comes with some nasty symptoms. Those afflicted often turn to alcohol, street drugs, illicit relationships and gambling to ease the pain. They find that things might get better for a while. But the hunger for fulfillment returns soon enough.

This problem is hardly new. And it's not confined to the United States or even Western society. In fact, the Bible addressed the issues of naught and disappointment centuries ago. And its advice is as valid today as it was back then.

First, let’s think about all the ways God has blessed us. That could include family, career, health and friends — to name a few. Next, we must quit comparing our possessions with our neighbor’s. Advertising agencies thrive when they convince us that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. 

The only remedy is found in the One known as The Great Physician: Jesus. And a growing relationship with him produces contentment because there's nothing bigger, better or more necessary in life. Comparisons fall away and material things lose their luster. With Christ as our Master, what was once so important soon fades into obscurity. 

Does this sound simplistic or too good to be true? Fulfillment is just inches away — the distance between our head and our heart. 

"Seek first God's kingdom and what God wants," Jesus invites us through Matthew's gospel. "Then all your other needs will be met as well."