I wrote recently about the will of God and a helpful question, suggested by Andy Stanley: What would love require?

Here’s another challenge, this one from marketing blogger Seth Godin. Speaking of mass media on January 12, here’s some of what he wrote:

If it [mass media] is not for you, about you, or something you need to engage in, then who put it on your agenda?…Here’s something to consider: the world doesn’t get better when you spend more time engaging with mass media…But it does get better when you spend more time doing things that matter. Actions matter. (Emphasis mine)

Wow. There’s a question: will what I’m doing make the world better? That’s a good perspective on things we can be about:  good work, well done; deeds of love and mercy (holy moments); modeling godly character, ministering grace and love, … Small but intentional actions do change the world, and that may be a subject for another blog!

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5.15, 16, ESV)

Whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” (Matthew 10.42, ESV)

[Jesus] put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” (Matthew 13.31 – 33, ESV)

Jesus’ baptism in Matthew 3 closes with the familiar affirmation:

And as Jesus rose up out of the water, the heavenly realm opened up over him and he saw the Holy Spirit descend out of the heavens and rest upon him in the form of a dove. Then suddenly the voice of the Father shouted from the sky, saying, “This is the Son I love, and my greatest delight is in him.”. (Matthew 3.16, 17, Passion Translation)

“This is the Son I love, and my greatest delight is in him.” My friend and former pastor Jim Singleton used to say that this blessing and affirmation came BEFORE Jesus had done anything. But that’s not quite true. He had done something: he had grown up in an obscure town, patiently waiting for the right time, and in the meantime, no doubt, he was working in the carpenter shop. 

Jesus knew the Isaiah prophecies of “the voice,” so by now he knew he had to wait.

And the Father is well pleased with him, maybe primarily in his identity as my friend Jim suggested, but the Father also was well pleased with his submission to his mother and his years of preparation. Prep time counts!

Paul originally charged off into ministry, but God shunted him off into the desert. “You need some prep time.” (See Galatians 1.15 – 18).

June is undertaking a 3-year program of study to be a spiritual director. Prep time! God is pleased with that.

On a daily basis, I need prep time! I can’t just get up and charge off into the day. Time in the quiet counts. I should also take a weekly sabbath and a monthly or quarterly day of prayer. God’s pleasure is in the quiet as well as in the bustle of activity. 

So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. (Luke 5.16, NKJV)

I wrote back on January 5, 2020, the day I completed one year of publishing a blog every day, that there was something important about a streak. I quoted baseball’s iron man, Cal Ripken, about the importance of a streak, just the daily discipline.

Now Seth Godin, who has blogged continuously for 20 years(!), has written about another aspect of a streak. Here’s some of what he said:

Fear of falling behind is a good way to enforce compliance.

But it turns out that real progress comes not from measuring ourselves against everyone else’s pace, but in building habits. And habits come from streaks.

You’re almost certainly never going to win a 26-mile marathon, but if you train every day, you’ll finish one.

Drip by drip, day by day. Habits lead to commitments and commitments create learning.

A culture of streaks can’t help but be mutually supportive. If there’s no behind, then there’s no ahead. But if we’re supporting each other in building new habits, we discover that opening the door for someone else also benefits us as well.

Writing this daily blog has been transformative for me. I pray that it may not only be encouraging and instructive for you, but that it will also inspire you to start your own streak…of holy moments, daily time with God, or some other contribution or discipline.

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (Luke 9.23, ESV)

Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD. Proverbs 8.34, 35, ESV)

I wrote yesterday that by any definition, Jesus was a layman. He might have assumed he was to be raised in the Temple like Samuel was (see 1 Samuel chapters 1 – 3), but he grew up in Nazareth as the son of a carpenter, and, therefore, participating in the family business.

Before I say just a bit more about that, I hear a question: “You mean Jesus, as God, did not enter the world with complete knowledge? That it’s possible that he thought incorrectly that Samuel’s life might be an example to him?” Yes, exactly. Else, “Jesus grew in wisdom” (Luke 2.52) doesn’t mean anything. He grew. Therefore, at some point, he was less than full-grown. His understanding was incomplete.

Back to growing up in Nazareth: he experienced an ordinary childhood in an ordinary town. He helped run a carpentry business. He wasn’t raised in privilege at the Temple. No senior rabbi took Jesus under his wing. When he was grown, he chose working men to follow him.

There are many sources indicating that young boys were chosen to follow a rabbi around age 15 and that, therefore, Jesus’ disciples had already been rejected by other rabbis when he called them. But I haven’t seen pointed out that Jesus himself did not go through such an apprenticeship with a rabbi either. (Such an observation may be there, but I haven’t seen it.)

When people say Luke’s gospel is for everyone, we mean everyone. For example, Luke takes pains to include women (annunciation to Zechariah AND Mary, Simeon AND Anna in the temple, etc.). The angels appeared to shepherds. Jesus did not have a special Temple or rabbinical education.

The message is clear: Jesus is “like us” that we may be like him, participating in God’s mission.

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4.13, ESV)

I love that no matter how many times I read the Bible or think about a familiar story, there’s always the potential for something new. I was meditating on Jesus’ visit to the Temple when he was 12 years old. Here’s the exchange with his parents when they finally found him:

When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” … Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them…And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. (Luke 2.48 – 52, NIV)

This is an interesting exchange. “ Son, why have you treated us like this?” In fact, it didn’t occur to Jesus that he was doing anything to them. Maybe he thought it was natural that he would be in his (real) Father’s house. Maybe he thought that, like Samuel, he would just stay there. 

Then Elkanah went home to Ramah, but [Samuel] ministered before the LORD under Eli the priest… And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with people. (1 Samuel 2.11, 26, NIV)

This incident may have been pivotal. Jesus understands that he will stay in Nazareth until the proper time. After the visit to the temple, Jesus learns that he will be “about his Father’s business” while he is about his father’s business. Not a professional hanging out in the temple but among real people, working, in Nazareth.

And I just noticed that the same phrase was used for both Samuel and Jesus: they grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people. Except Jesus grew in obscurity with no official or religious position. Jesus was a layman! I’ll write more about that tomorrow.

The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? …Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” (John 7.47, 48, 52, ESV)

What’s your reaction to a blog title of “Discipline!”? Most of us have a negative reaction, don’t we? Either it’s synonymous with punishment or it’s part of an arduous training process as in Hebrews 12.11:

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (ESV)

But I want to write about the discipline I observed at the auto mechanics’ shop when my headlights were fixed. It was a joy to watch.

When I went out to watch Ben work, he was in the process of buffing the headlight lenses. He had a little case that had a small air-powered buffer, two different pads, and two different buffing compounds. Upon completing the work, he carefully returned all the pieces into the case. Everything else he picked up, after he used it, he returned it to where it was. Discipline. Attention to the little things.

When Ben opened the garage door to back my car out, he saw a 55-gallon drum of brake wash outside the door that a vendor had dropped off. He rolled that inside. The men have apparently been trained to do what needs to be done when you notice that it needs to be done. Discipline.

And the best news is that when I arranged to have the work done, I scheduled 1:00 pm, knowing I had to leave by 2:00 pm in order to get to a meeting. And, guess what? I was ready to leave by 2:00 pm. With a 45-minute drive in front of me, I stopped by the bathroom. Surprise, surprise, it was clean! More evidence of discipline, and maybe the art-signs posted there for the employees to see were part of it:

I enjoy excellence and discipline wherever I find it. Good work done well is an art-form.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1.7, NLT)

Those who disregard discipline despise themselves, but the one who heeds correction gains understanding. (Proverbs 15.32, NIV)

My Hyundai Sonata just turned 13 years old last month and still looks and runs fabulously…except for the headlights! They’ve never worked all that well and lately, the light they give off has been almost non-existent. So, I finally took it to a local mechanic, and learned a lesson (about headlights and discipleship)!

After the car had been in for a few minutes, I asked the owner, Thom, if they were making progress. He replied, “O yes. The bulbs weren’t in the right position to bounce the light off the reflectors properly.” At this point, we could have had this conversation:

• Me: Of course! I understand that well. I’m a math guy. The reflectors are parabolic, and the bulb must be at the focus of the parabola in order for the light beams to be reflected parallel to each other.
• Thom: You may understand the mathematics, but that understanding didn’t help you install them correctly, did it? My guy Ben probably doesn’t know anything about parabolas, but he does know how to put in headlight bulbs!

In some of our Christian traditions, we are happy if people know the details of some theological concepts. God is more interested in our putting the Word into practice. I heard a pastor say once, “I have people who can parse the Greek and the Hebrew, but they are useless in doing anything for the Kingdom.” Knowledge is good, but skilled application is better!

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1.22, NIV)

“As for you, son of man, your people are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, ‘Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD.’ My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice. (Ezekiel 33.30 – 32, NIV, emphasis mine)

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5.16, NIV) The pastor I quoted above points out that this text says, “See your good deeds” not “Hear your good words.”

Here’s another aspect of God’s will that I grew up with, the negative side, often expressed as, “Is it OK for a Christian to…?” Every tradition has its own list of questions and answers. 

Andy Stanley in his book Irresistible suggests that this is the wrong question. Andy calls a concern for what we can or can’t do “Vertical Morality” or “Sin Management.” How much can I get away with and not make God angry with me? Or even, more positively, how can I keep myself pure?

It’s still the wrong question. I can play a game, say, basketball, and never break a rule. Never be called for traveling or double dribbling. Never foul my opponent. But if I don’t help my team win games by being an effective scorer myself or helping others to score or preventing the other team from scoring, I haven’t contributed.  

Andy argues, and I agree, that the better question is,

What does love require?

Andy calls this “Horizontal morality,” not, how am I relating to God, but how am I relating to others? Scripture is clear:

[Jesus said, “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22.39)

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13.34, 35, ESV)

Growing up, a familiar verse was Romans 12.2, which in the King James reads this way:

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Sometimes we were taught to pursue God’s “perfect” will for our lives and don’t be satisfied with merely his “good” or “acceptable” will. And so God’s will was some mysterious thing we were supposed to find, especially in areas like which college to go to, whom to marry, what job to accept, etc.

In fact, most of the newer translations see the “good, acceptable, and perfect” as attributes not as increasing degrees of suitability:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12.2, NIV)

In that vein, the January 5 meditation in LICC’s 40-day Growing in Resilience series (I recommend) reminded us that God’s will is daily and continuous, not just occasional “big-event” decisions:

We are constantly being encouraged to conform to the pattern of the world around us and adopt its values. This happens through advertising, social media, workplace culture, the films we watch, and the books we read. Paul explains that the purpose of renewing our minds is to enable us ‘to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.’ As our minds become renewed we are more attuned to God’s thoughts, viewing situations and people from his perspective. By contrast an unrenewed mind, conformed to the world’s thinking, will have difficulty discerning God’s will.

As I wrote in other words on January 3, God’s will for us is “Deeds of love and mercy”–holy moments!

Here are a few other “suggestions” on what the will of God might include, right out of Romans 12:

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. (Romans 12.9 – 13, NIV)

Here’s an important lesson from the life of Joseph, husband of Mary:

After they had gone, Joseph had another dream. An angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Get up now and flee to Egypt. Take Mary and the little child and stay there until I tell you to leave, for Herod intends to search for the child to kill him.” So that very night he got up and took Jesus and his mother and made their escape to Egypt… (Matthew 2.13, 14, Passion Translation, emphasis mine)

“That very night he got up…” Sometimes obedience must be instant. No time to think or plan or debate with oneself. No waiting until morning. Just do it. 

The shepherds came with haste… Joseph and the family left in haste. 

A pastor friend used to say, “If a man says he’ll do something, he’ll do it! There’s no need to nag him every six months about it.”

My mother used to say, “Delayed obedience is disobedience.” June would say I still have that problem! Instead of making a note “to get to it later,” why don’t I just do it now?

Then Naomi said, “Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.” (Ruth 3.18, NIV, emphasis mine)

This is what the LORD Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the LORD’s house.’” …This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the LORD. (Haggai 1.2, 7, 8, NIV, emphasis mine)