Day 18

 

Jesus Asks a Question

 

When Jesus came to the region of Caeserea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

 

Matthew 16:13

 

 

I was a long haired college student and going home through the traffic and the construction that was always around the freeway. I, along with the cars in front of me and the cars behind me, turned out of the second lane under the freeway overpass. Shortly after that turn a policeman pulled me over and informed me I had made an illegal turn and asked for my driver's license.

 

I was immediately mad. I knew, that of all the cars that had made that same turn that I had, the policeman had singled me out because I was young and had long hair. I gave the policeman my license and he looked at it and asked, "How old are you son?"

 

I was mad before but then I became furious. How old I was didn't have anything to do with it. The policeman would never had asked my dad how old he was. I was obviously old enough to have a license since he had it in his hand. It was simply age discrimination.

 

I told the policeman, "My date of birth is on the license; figure it out if you can!"

 

Do you want to guess who got a ticket?

 

Now Jesus was in the car with me and he asked me, "Why did you get so mad at that policeman?"

 

I said, "Jesus, that wasn't fair. I just got a ticket because I have long hair!"

 

Jesus asked me again, "Why did you get so mad at that policeman?"

 

I stopped and thought and then said, "Because I have trouble with authority figures and I don't like people telling me what to do."

 

Jesus said, "Now we are getting somewhere."

 

Have you ever wondered why Jesus asks questions? Think about it. Jesus already knows the answer to the question and he knows what your answer will be. Since he already knows it all, why does he ask?

 

He asks for our benefit. It may be that Jesus wants to point out that we don't know as much as we think we do. Jesus also might want to teach us something about the real answer. Look at the questions Jesus asked in the Bible. All of his questions are used to teach his followers something they need to know.

 

When Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do people think I am?" and "Who do you think I am?" it wasn't for his own benefit. Jesus knew who he was. It was important that they knew who he was.

 

So what kind of question is Jesus asking you? The answer will be important.

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read Matthew 16:13-20

 

• What two questions does Jesus ask his disciples?
• What is it that Jesus wants his disciples to know when he asks these questions?
• Where did Jesus say that Peter's answer came from? 

 

Day 17

 

The Best Laid Plans

 

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."

 

 

Proverbs 19:21

 

I had it all planned out. It would be a date she would remember. I was probably right in my optimistic  prediction. She would remember it, but for the wrong reasons.

 

The central part of my plan centered on my recent discovery of how to get on the roof of a shopping mall. There was a swimming pool on the roof of the mall and a jogging track around the glass dome part of the roof. Access to this was reserved for hotel guests in the hotel connected to the mall or for enterprising people who had discovered a way up to the roof for free.

 

So, after the movie ended, my date and I made our way to the mall roof. At first my plan seemed to be working. We walked hand in hand around the glass dome of the mall peering down on the people inside. We were the only ones up there on the roof. We settled in to some chairs by a table with an umbrella on the wooden deck next to the pool. We were sitting there in the dark having a nice conversation when things began to go wrong.

 

I saw something scurrying around my dates feet. I seldom wore my glasses back then and I couldn't tell what it was so I put on my glasses to discover that there were mice everywhere. I told her not to be alarmed but it was probably time to leave because there were mice running around her feet. She, of course, was ready to leave then and informed me she had to be home by midnight anyway so her dad wouldn't get mad. The mice were a small setback but I though I had still made a good impression.

 

As we went to get off the roof we found that the door we had entered by was locked. Evidently the hotel staff didn't realize there was anyone on the roof and had locked the door. We weren't really supposed to be on the roof anyway so they were not looking for us. The girl began to get nervous. "My dad is going to freak if I don't come home tonight." In my mind I could see the headlines in the newspaper: "Father Shoots Boy who Imprisoned 17 Year Old Daughter on Mall Roof for Entire Night."

 

I searched for another exit of the roof. I pulled on every door I could find before I finally found one that would open. It opened into a hallway in which there was an elevator. We quickly got in the elevator and pushed the ground floor button. I didn't think it was a good idea for a couple of teenagers who weren't guests to be caught loitering around a hotel in the middle of the night. As the elevator went down it suddenly stopped and the doors opened. We were between floors and the door would not shut and the elevator would not move. We stood there for a while before the door finally shut and the elevator started moving again. As we reached the ground floor we hurried past a hotel employee and ran into the parking lot. She made it home before midnight.

 

Once again my plans had gone awry. It was not the first time and wouldn't be the last. I had a first date where I had to change a flat tire in a downtown parking garage. I had another first date where my car overheated in the traffic of a college football game. When I pulled into a gas station to put some water in the radiator I didn't wait long enough for the engine to cool down before removing the radiator cap. Fortunately for me I was young and quick or the radiator cap would have taken my head off and the hot water would have scalded my face when the cap exploded off and the water went up like a geyser. My plans for a date were always going wrong. Most of the girls I dated changed their identities and entered the witness protection program rather than be identified as a girl who had dated me.

 

Our plans often times fail but God's plans always succeed. God manages to accomplish what he wants to accomplish with or without our cooperation. It would be years before a girl survived enough dates with me that it would lead to marriage. I knew by then if I was ever to get married it would have to be God's plan.

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read Jeremiah 29:10-14

 

• What kind of plans did God have for the Israelites?
• What happens when we seek God with all our heart?
• Do God's plans sometimes take us through bad (captivity) times?

 

 

Day 16

 

Telemarketers

 

"...Yet because this widow keeps bothering me I will see that she  gets justice, so that she won't wear me out with her coming!"

 

Luke 18;5 

 

 

I get junk in my mail box. I get junk email or spam on my computer, and I used to get junk phone calls from telemarketers. I have asked for none of this but out of the goodness of their hearts companies shower me with these ads. I don't mind the junk mail and email as much as the telemarketing phone calls. The junk mail you can toss in the garbage unread and the company that sent it will not know that you did it or witness it (unless there is something more hi-tech and sinister going on than I know about). The junk email you can delete without opening it, and that too is impersonal. The telemarketer, though, is a person and it wastes my time and that makes it personal.

 

I say that it is a person though sometimes it's not. The new recordings are of such good quality that it sometimes takes a while before you realize it is a recording. I don't mind hanging up on a recording - it is a machine and doesn't deserve the same sort of respect and dignity a person does. That is my problem. I was brought up to treat people with dignity and respect so I don't want to rudely hang up on them. This is these people's job regardless of what I think of their job. I do know that cynical businesses prey upon the common decency of people to get their phone ads in. This makes me think less than kind thoughts about whatever they are selling.

 

What irritates me the most is when they don't take "no" and "good-bye" for an answer and keep on talking. That is when I consider it fair game to play whatever trick I can come up with on them.

 

On one occasion the telemarketer asked me if they could talk to "whoever was responsible for the phone." I told them that Alexander Graham Bell was responsible for the phone and did not live at my house and was in fact dead. That ended that conversation.

 

On another occasion a publishing company called wanting to sell me a copy of their new book, The Sea. The lady went on and on about how many wonderful color photographs were on each page and what the chapters in the book were. When she finally asked me if I wanted a copy I told her, "no" but she wasn't satisfied. She told me what her favorite chapter was and about the wonderful photographs and finally asked once again if I wanted to buy a copy. I said, No, thank you."

 

She would not give up. She said, "How can you not want a copy, there is a big color photo on every page!"

 

I told her, "That's the problem. I'm blind."

 

There was an audible gasp. She began to apologize, "I'm so sorry, I had no idea."

 

I asked her if they had copies of the book in Braille.

 

Jesus tells a story about prayer and a persistent widow. She goes to an unjust judge time after time seeking justice. The judge, at first, refuses but the widow stays after him. Finally, the judge relents and gives her the justice she deserves. God, of course, is a just judge but we must learn to be persistent in prayer. We could all learn a lesson in persistence from telemarketers and we can all praise the Lord for the "NO CALL" list.

 

Upon Further Review:

 

Read Luke 18:1-8

 

• Is God suggesting we can wear him down?
• How does God respond to our cries for justice?
• What must we do until Jesus comes again?

 

Day 15

 

Keeping Up Appearances

 

"Abstain from all appearances of evil."

 

1 Thessalonians 5:22

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was Christmas break and I was a poor college student. I was working to get enough  money for the spring semester and it was going to be a close call. One Sunday night after church there was a man in the church that had a construction business or owned rental property, I'm not sure which, that offered me a chance to make some money. He would pay me $75.00 for one night of work. I suspect he was trying to help me out because back then I would have to work about 4 days to make $75.00, so I took the job.

 

The job was simple. I had to sleep in my car at a construction site. A house was being rebuilt after a fire and there was a lot of lumber at the site. The lumber had been disappearing bit by bit every night. The location wasn't the hood but it wasn't exactly a nice neighborhood either. To get my $75.00 I had to park my car next to the lumber and sleep there that Sunday night until the sun came up on Monday.

 

 

 

I was young and stupid so I wasn't afraid. I threw a pillow and blanket in the back of my Chevy and drove to the site and parked next to the lumber. I didn't sleep much that night, not because I was frightened, but because I was cold. I had underestimated how cold it could get in the back seat of a car in the winter time. It was in the mid-thirties and drizzling rain all night.

 

 

When the sun came up and the workmen started to arrive I climbed into the front seat and headed for the warmth of home. As I was approaching the interstate I saw a young lady on the roadside hitchhiking. She was wrapped in a rain soaked blanket and had to be freezing. Having just spent the being cold the whole time I felt that I just had to stop and offer her a ride.

 

I pulled over and she opened the passenger door and I said, "You need a ride?"

 

She said, "Yes," and began to climb in the front seat. Then she looked in the back seat and there was my pillow and blanket all made out like a bed. She immediately got out of the car and said, "No, thanks." I looked into the back seat and realized what she was thinking.

 

"It's okay," I said, "I can explain." She didn't want to hear the explanation, so I drove off.

 

I was trying to do the right thing but the appearance of evil intent had prevented it. I certainly had no way of knowing that would happen or that something so innocent could be seen in the wrong light. I had not done anything wrong but the appearance that I might had caused a problem. It didn't hurt me but that poor girl had to suffer some in the cold and wet. And often times just the appearance of wrong doing can cause you harm through lost opportunities or reputation. We can't control what others think but as much as we can we should not place ourselves where we might be seen in a bad light and damage the reputation of the Christ we serve.

 

 

 Upon Further Review:

 

 

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22

• In these 11 verses Paul gives a list of things we should do. What are they?
• In these 11 verses Paul tells us some things we should avoid doing. What are they?
• What 3 things is it God's will for us to do?