Month: October 2021

    Some years back on TV I watched all these strong guys play around with heavy duty things.  Some wore refrigerators and stoves as knapsacks. Others, like the Flintstones, lifted car frames and walked around like we did with empty boxes as kids on Romper Room.  They carry truck batteries, pull trains, toss steel or cement balls like marbles for fun.

    These are the guys you can picture at a counter laughing and telling jokes.  One is on your right & the other on your left.  As the jesting continues, one places his hand on your suspenders and the other pats you on the back causing you to go flying through a wall while your drink flies up in the air and when you reach the end of your sling, your suspenders snap you right back like a jet in time to catch your cup and take a drink! “GOOD, EH?”  they say as you gulp and try to recover from your sudden trip.  When they give you a high-five, they send you flying through windows and landing across the lawn. 

   Yep, they’re strong alright. They have legs built like concrete pilings, bulging muscles, and necks larger than my thighs.  But what if there was a different type of contest?  What if there was a “Weak-man’s Competition?  Something only for weaklings. 

   Can you imagine?  Who would win?  Let’s see.  You’d have the Q-Tip lift, the Match-Car lift.  They’d lift toothpicks, matchsticks and probably cry, howl, or faint from paper cuts!  They’d have to see who could toss a Frisbee and have it land completely behind them. Or who can carry a few whiffle balls!

   These are the guys that get sand kicked in their faces all the time.  They’re the ones built like toothpicks, in fact, they’d probably snap easily.  They’re the ones whose muscles droop down the farthest and they would probably be the most impressive!

   There would be the paper airplane flying competition, house of card building, carrying the least amount of water droplet in an eyedropper, and we can’t forget the ultimate swimming-  pool noodle challenge where individuals would battle opponents “to-the-end” from a height of 2 inches off the ground for the prestigious All-Around Weakling Award.

   Our society is all about strength, mighty deeds, great looks, bodies to-die-for, stiff muscles, stiff hairdos, chiseled jaws, buns of steel, etc.

   However, God isn’t impressed by all that, at least not for His kingdom.  He doesn’t want our strengths causing us to think we have saved ourselves or that through our power and self-sufficiencies we have acquired our salvation.

    Man, in general, wants to be in control.  We want to show off our accomplishments, how long we can hold our breath, how long we can pray for, how much we know, how holy we are, etc. Those things lead us to believe we’ve reached God because of things we’ve done.  It separates us from others who have done less. God wants our dependency on Him alone.            

   He did the sacrifice. He bore our sins. He died for us-we didn’t.  Therefore, our strengths are of no value to Him.  Neither is our wisdom, though He’ll use these later in life once we acknowledge Who’s in charge.

     Scripture tells us “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom; and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong; He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. Let him who boast boast in the Lord” (1Corinthians 1:25-31).

If we’re going to brag, let’s brag about what God has done in us, not how strong we are or how amazing we were to resist a temptation, etc.

   I don’t want to sound as one who has a flaky (potato) chip on my shoulder, but come on, I’ll arm-wrestle you, just don’t squeeze too hard.  I don’t want to break a nail.

God Bless,

Sam

About twelve years ago, my wife and I were at a Disney Park when a “total stranger” came up to me and greeted me. I stared at him wondering if I knew him. After asking how I was doing, he explained where he knew me from. We had worked together for a short time, maybe for a year, at an elementary school in Brooklyn, NY.
I looked hard at him but nothing rang a bell. I’m good at names and at remembering people, events, etc. But this man was no one I knew…he then told me he had gained tens of pounds. OK, I thought. Then I looked up at him and that’s when he told me he used to have hair some 15 years earlier when we worked together. Little by little I began to construct an image and to remember him.
Ever run into someone you think you may have met or known from the past? From another life? Another planet? From your dreams, but just can’t quite put your finger on?? As they’re yapping away, you’re not hearing much, you’re trying to place them somewhere. It’s normal.
My wife and I have enjoyed watching Undercover Boss-a TV program where CEOs and bosses dress up or down with varying disguises to infiltrate their own companies to see what goes on. All of them give up their comforts in the likes of thousand-dollar leather chairs and/or mahogany desks, for jeans, overalls, regular dresses, etc. to go pack items, drive fork lifts, etc. Some, have been criticized by their very workers for their incompetence in their new assignments. The bosses soon learn how difficult most of the work is.
In almost every episode, the bosses come across workers with special situations such as having a special-needs child, facing foreclosure, or having lost a loved one, etc. One particular show shared a young manager of a coffee/doughnut business who was very successful. As both manger and boss spoke about the secret of his success, the manager looked out across the glass door and pointed to a bridge saying that it all began back there. Puzzled, the boss asked what that meant. The young man shared how he had been homeless living under that bridge for 2 or more years unable to get back on his feet. Everyday he would visit the very shop he now managed for coffee and would ask the manager to hire him. After a while, he did. He now treated every client with respect, not forgetting where he came from and grateful for being hired. Mr. Boss could not believe it.
Each boss ended up calling those workers to the headquarters for a brief meeting. They didn’t know why they were summoned. Sometimes, the bosses would be recognized, most times they weren’t. Most of the times the bosses gave out tens of thousands of dollars to those workers facing hardship for medical reasons, for a vacation, for education, etc. One guy even gave a young mom over $250,000 for a new home!
Scripture shares a very similar story. Two thousand years ago, God in His infinite wisdom took on flesh and came to dwell amongst us (John 1:1, 14; 1Timothy 3:16). He was unrecognizable. He didn’t wear a wig or overalls, not even fake tattoos. From a Spiritual being, He became a man subject to everything human. Those He came for had no clue He was the very God they worshipped. He was the very God they prayed to, the very One they taught their kids about. He knew by heart every scripture they referred to because He was the very Word they studied. (John 1:1, 14).
Just as the undercover bosses left their comforts, Jesus left His glory, His riches, and His throne to live with us. Scripture tells us that He emptied Himself-Kenosis from the Greek (Philippians 2:7,8). That means He put aside His equality with God, the Father to complete His task. He knew once finished; He’d gain it all back again.
Jesus knows your trials and mine. If you think you need to tell Him yours, go ahead. He’s listening. He has blessed us with all types of gifts, trials, and blessings.
Like the TV program, He’ll be calling you for a meeting. Which will you hear Him say? “_ Well done, good and faithful servant,” or “I never knew you: depart from me, you who work iniquity;” (Matthew 25:21; 7:23)
This Undercover Boss, the Unrecognizable One has been revealed to the world over two thousand years ago yet many have never seen Him. His identity is revealed throughout scriptures (“Search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And you will not come to me that you might have life” (John 5:39).
Talk to Him just as you talk to anyone else. No need to yell or scream or to get religious in your talk. No need for “Thou or Thee.” He speaks and understands your language-even your silence. He knows your heart. Invite Him into your life that you might get His life into yours. He will make you a NEW person. You might like or love yourself, and think you’re OK, but God says, “There is none righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10). On the other hand, the “YOU” you may not like, the “YOU” you might hate, even the ugliness in your life, Jesus will wipe clean and give you a brand-new start. Live for Him.
God Bless,
Sam