“This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us, whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt . . .” (Acts 7:38,39).

IF WE’RE HONEST, WE’LL ADMIT THAT WE SOMETIMES LOOK BACK AND LONG FOR THE WORLD THAT WE’VE BEEN DELIVERED FROM. Just as the people of Israel foolishly thought, once they were in the wilderness, that their lives had been better back in Egypt, so we may think that the difficulties of doing what’s right are too hard and that life was better back when we simply lived for the moment. It’s a fact that gaining freedom from slavery involves a good deal of danger and discomfort, whether the slavery is physical or spiritual. And we may think that although being a slave had its disadvantages, they were at least tolerable in comparison to the more grievous hardships of freedom. And so our old “comfort zone” calls us. It’s tempting to give up the struggle and go back.

On one occasion, when Jesus was impressing on His disciples the need for decisive action, He said, “Remember Lot’s wife” (Luke 17:32). In the act of escaping the destruction of Sodom, Lot’s wife perished, not for going back but simply for looking back.

On another occasion, Jesus said, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). We show ourselves unthankful and unworthy of the grace that has been granted to us if we look back from our work in the Lord and think that our lives were better before that work began.

Does this mean we should never even THINK about our pre-Christian past? No, but it does mean that we should reject that past decisively and never give the thought of going back a chance to get a grip on our minds. To the extent that thinking about the past helps motivate us to serve God more faithfully, then we should think about it. Paul, for example, seemed to work harder as an evangelist when he thought about his past (1 Corinthians 15:9,10). But if thinking about “Egypt” tempts us to go back there, even if it’s just in our hearts, then we must determine not to do it. After all, it is not backward but FORWARD that we are reaching.

“Shut out all of your past except that which will help you weather your tomorrows” (Sir William Osler).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

“For love is as strong as death . . . Its flames are flames of fire, a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods drown it” (Song of Solomon 8:6,7).

IF IT’S FORWARD THAT WE WANT TO MOVE, LOVE IS THE MOST POWERFUL THING TO PROPEL US IN THAT DIRECTION. As a motivator, love really has no equal. It’s “as strong as death.” It burns with a flame that “many waters cannot quench.” If someone you know is trying to do something and love is the reason why, you’d be wise to get out of the way. The thing is very likely going to happen.

Wouldn’t we reach forward more fervently in life if our love for God were more affectionate? If the word “passion” accurately described our love for God, could anything hold us back? For too long, most of us have loved God too little and with too little fire.

The love that we so desperately need in our relationship to God is a thing that we can choose to have. We are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind (Matthew 22:37), and that is a command we are capable of obeying. We can choose to think rightly about God, and then we can feed our minds on the truths that He has revealed about Himself in the Scriptures. When we do that with the genuine intent to be what He created us to be, we will find ourselves loving Him, adoring Him, and longing to be with Him now and forever.

It is no mere happenstance that God ordained the Lord’s Supper for His people. Of all the things that can feed our love, none is more powerful than meditating, with other Christians, on the staggering, unfathomable love shown at the cross of Christ.

The world, the flesh, and the devil must be FOUGHT. But the simple fact is, we fight a losing battle if love is left out of the mix. If we don’t have the help of our HEARTS in serving God, it’s not likely that we’ll hold out to the end. So, my friend, it is imperative that your activities be motivated by love, first for God and second for your neighbor. If that’s the case (and God certainly knows whether it is or not), then discouragement will not defeat you. Other motives may falter, but “many waters cannot quench love.”

“Love can hope where reason would despair” (Lord George Lyttelton).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

“Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7).

THERE IS NO AVOIDING OUR FUTURE APPOINTMENT TO BE JUDGED BY THE GOD WHO MADE US. When our lives have finally run out, we will die. And when that happens, “the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” Having been created by God, our spirits will return to Him. We will give account of ourselves. It is inevitable.

WE ARE CREATURES, OR CREATED BEINGS. If we simply “happened” to exist as a result of merely physical processes, then at some point we would cease to exist. But we didn’t just happen to exist; we were CREATED, and it is to our Creator that we will return. Where we are going has more than a little to do with where we came from!

WE ARE ACCOUNTABLE TO OUR CREATOR. To be personal beings is a truly awe-inspiring fact. It means that we bear RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR ACTIONS. Freedom of the will is a marvelous gift, and the use of it is something that we shall have to answer for at the end of our lives. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

By far the most important question in life is whether, having returned to God, we will be allowed to REMAIN with Him. If we leave this life in a right relationship with God, we will hear Him say, “Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:21). But if not, we will hear, “I never knew you; depart from Me” (Matthew 7:23).

Yet the anticipation of our return to God need not be fearful — it ought to be joyful. That prospect can’t be joyful if we spend the years of our sojourn here in selfish indulgence, disregarding the things of God, and in fact, it can’t be joyful if we simply live carelessly. But there is no reason why all of us can’t make the same deliberate choices that Paul did and be able to say what he said: “The time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6-8).

“All days travel toward death, the last one reaches it” (Michel de Montaigne).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:1).

NOTHING TESTS OUR CHARACTER ANY MORE THAN HAVING TO CHOOSE BETWEEN MOTIVES. When there is a good deed to be done, for example, our character is tested: will we do it simply to glorify God or will we do it “to be seen by men”? That is a hard choice — much harder than most of us are willing to admit.

Praise itself is not evil, of course, but there’s no denying that it has the potential to hurt us. Indeed, it’s a rare person who can receive more than a moderate amount of recognition and not have his or her attitude marred by it. That doesn’t stop us from wanting it, however. As Norman Vincent Peale once said, “Most of us would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.”

As for our motives, it’s hard to be honest as to what they really are. The desire to be noticed and recognized as having done something good can be so subtle that it can be our real motive at times when we would say that it isn’t. In a given situation, it’s difficult to see when the thing that we really want is to be praised.

Perhaps it is stating it too strongly to say that we want “to be seen by men.” But what about that word “recognized”? A little appreciative attention is an intoxicating thing. Once we’ve experienced it, even as children, it’s easy for that to become the payoff that we seek (be truthful now) in every transaction thereafter.

The needs of self, including the need to be appreciated, are not unimportant, of course. But God has set up reality such that SELF’S NEEDS ARE SATISFIED MOST FULLY WHEN WE PUT OUR PRIORITIES ELSEWHERE. Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED TO YOU” (Matthew 6:33).

So let’s be very honest. Why do we do what we do for God? Do we serve Him as faithfully in private as in public? If no one ever noticed or thanked us, would we be content simply to know that God had been glorified? And if so, would we then avoid the opposite sin: being privately smug, knowing that we are “big” enough to do what’s right even though nobody appreciates us?

“I cannot say ‘Thine is the glory’ if I am seeking my own glory first” (Anonymous).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com