fire

Stumbling about

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“Have salt in yourselves…” Mark 9:42-50

A hook for a hand, a pegleg or an eyepatch might make a good calling card for the likes of Long John Silver and Captain Hook, but can anyone say these injuries improved the morals and behavior of such scalawags?

Jesus is concerned with the root of sin within us. Do our words and actions cause those around us to stumble and fall? Whoever causes a little child to stumble will suffer the worst God can mete out in judgment. It would be better for that person to have a very large millstone hung around his neck and be cast into the depths of the sea.

An innocent might be easily deceived and manipulated to go astray, but what causes a mature adult to stumble and fall? Is it your hand, a foot, or an eye? If so, cut it off and throw it away! It is better to enter life maimed than to know the fires and sufferings of hell.

Jesus is emphasizing the seriousness of our bad influence on others, not recommending drastic (and useless) self-mutilation. It is not the hand which draws our heart to sin, nor do the feet hasten our souls toward evil. Though the eye is a powerful influence, it only does the bidding of another. That other is the heart. It is the source of the problem. “For a fool speaks nonsense, and his heart inclines toward wickedness: to practice ungodliness and to speak error against the Lord” (Isaiah 32:6 NASB).

Jesus offers a better way: to be seasoned with salt and help make the world around us taste better and be preserved from evil. But what happens when we run out of salt? How do we get “salty” again?

Our own strength will fail us whether we are trying to avoid sin or are trying to do well. We need outside help. Jesus hints at the coming solution: “everyone will be salted with fire.” What other good thing comes with fire? He will baptize us with the Holy Spirit and fire. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to comfort us, i.e. to strengthen, empower and encourage us. Though we are saved, it is only with his help that we are able to overcome the failings of our hearts and the evil tendencies of the world around us.

Copyright 2020 David J. Cooley

Surprise!

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Don’t be.

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you…”

We know it’s coming in one degree or another. It’s just a matter of when and in what circumstance. It’s not something strange that has singled you out. No, it’s not just a test. It is real. It will test you and demonstrate to the world what you are made of.

“If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed…” Not just insulted for any old reason, but insulted because of the Holy Spirit’s presence in you. Remember, “he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. ” I John 4:4.

“…if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed…”  Just as when Peter or Paul or any of the disciples were imprisoned or persecuted, let it be a time of glorifying God. Rejoice that you share in Christ’s sufferings so that you may rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.

For more, read 1 Peter 4:12-16

Copyright 2019 David J. Cooley

More precious than gold

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“… so that the tested genuineness of your faith — more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire— may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:7 ESV

Precious. Greatly valued, loved, important. How many things do we regard as precious? People – children, parents, friends, sweethearts – often head the list, and sometimes things can vie for our affection, too. But how often is our faith included here?

It is not so much how we rank what is precious to us, but the process by which value is gained. The word for trial or testing comes from the industry of metallurgy. It deals with refining a raw ore to remove impurities and reveal the genuine metal. This is often accomplished by the application of heat or fire. Even modern mining operations excavate truck loads of rock, pulverize it into pellets, leach the precious metal out with chemicals and melt it with high heat before pouring it into an ingot mold. One mine reports that 12 tons of rock may produce only one ounce of gold. One ounce. That’s precious. Precious enough to go to all that trouble and expense.

Yet Peter declares our faith is of more value than gold. And he links it with the testing of that faith to be sure it is pure and genuine. How much of a trial does it take for you to back away and abandon your faith? Peter knows that pressure. Remember the night he denied knowing Jesus not once, but three times? (Mark 14:66-72)

What value does a gold ring have if it isn’t truly gold? At that final day of judgment, there will be no payoff for any currency but genuine faith.

(c)2018 David J. Cooley