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A Map is a Great Way to Figure Out Where to Go

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The Problem Is That It’s Much Harder to Get There if You Don’t Follow It

If you want to go from here to there, maps are a great way to figure out the route you want to take. They can show us the roads to drive, rivers that have to be crossed and mountains that we need to go around.

When giving directions if we say going up, we are referring to North on a map. Going down is South. Up and down directions when using a map aren’t about elevations.

Determining elevations with a map is hard. Even though you can see the drawings of rivers, plains, valleys, and mountains, it’s hard to get the full effect of the differences when looking at a flat piece of paper.

As we’ve been going through the book of Luke over the past several weeks, Jesus and His disciples have been traveling. Starting near the Sea of Galilee, they were going through portions of Samaria and headed to Jerusalem. Today’s adventure starts in Jericho which is near the Dead Sea.

It’s about seventeen miles from Jericho to Jerusalem on the map. What the map doesn’t show is the elevation difference. Jericho is 864’ BELOW sea level…Jerusalem is 2500’ ABOVE sea level. This is a 3364’ elevation change. This is almost ¾ of a mile up.

This unseen uphill elevation is going to make the journey harder than it appears on the map.

This is why it is important to read and study the whole map and not just look at the pictures. The information you need is there if you just use it.

The same thing is true for the Map for life, the Bible. Just looking at the popular stories and verses doesn’t give you the full picture. You need to read it and study it so you can be prepared for the elevation changes.

Going through this journey of life without even looking at the Map (Bible) is sure to make the adventure more difficult.

In this week’s portion of the Map (Luke 18) we are given a lot of valuable information for our journey.

We learn that –  

  • Like the widow’s persistence in going before the judge, if we pray day and night God will hear our prayers. (Luke 18:1-8)
  • Thinking too highly of ourselves and putting others down is not pleasing to God. This is shown to us in Luke 18:9-14 when the Pharisee prayed out loud how great he was and how greedy, dishonest and unfaithful the tax collector was. On the other hand, the tax collector only asked to be forgiven for his sins.
  • In Luke 18:18-30 our Life Map shows us how to get to Heaven in the example of the rich man who isn’t willing to put God ahead of his earthly wealth. We all have things that we do the same thing with. Whatever that thing is for you, you need to make it less important than God.

The Map doesn’t say it will be an easy journey, but it makes it clear it’s the right path.

  • The final directions given to us in Luke 18 are in verses 35-43. Here we are shown how having faith in Jesus will open our eyes. The blind beggar heard that Jesus was passing by. He shouted out to Jesus to give him his eyesight and his prayer was answered.

As Jesus and His disciples were on their way to Jerusalem, the disciples were having trouble believing what Jesus was telling them about His upcoming death. They believed that Jesus was the Savior, but His death was not their vision of how He would conquer the world.

The disciples’ hearts were in the right place, but their heads weren’t.

They finally figured it out after His death and resurrection.

They disciples had preconceived ideas and were having trouble focusing. In Sunday School, my sister compared this to when her son was a young boy. She would try to get him to focus on what she was telling him by putting her hands on each side of his face and getting him to look her in the eye. Then she knew she had his focused attention.

We need to make eye contact with God and give Him our focused attention.

Read and study the Life Map. Realize that there will be highs and lows. Life is not going to be a paper smooth journey, but it’s worth the effort.

It’s Okay to Embrace the Busy, it’s Part of God’s Plan

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“Work” Isn’t a Bad Word, and it Shouldn’t be Used That Way

Last week I wrote about the topic of being busy and it’s current prevalence in conversations. This frequency was confirmed in a recent Ray Edwards podcast, “5 Reasons Why You Need to Take More Time Off”. My intent is not to throw Ray under the bus, on the contrary, he starts off by saying, “Make hay while the sun shines.” Having grown up on a farm, I can totally identify with this.

Growing up on the farm explains a lot about my work philosophy.

I think the issue of being busy, working too much, or taking time off, comes down to a couple of things. First is a societal push to have life goals of long weekends, vacations and retirement. Second is the meaning of words and how we use them.

It seems the subject of working less is being pushed more and more. I’ve heard Michael Hyatt speak of taking long sabbaticals. The internet, books and social media are full of ideas for working less and less, some say the goal should be 4 hours per day.

I don’t know but this just seems crazy to me.

I think the key to this issue is in understanding ourselves and finding the balance in what we do. This will be different for everyone. Balance doesn’t mean resting the same amount of time that working. It means resting proportionately to working.

I base my work/rest balance on God’s 6-1 ratio. He worked six days and then rested one. He completed His work and then rested. His focus wasn’t on resting, it was on accomplishing His goals. When that was done then He rested. And He loved what He was doing.

We definitely need rest…the question is what is rest and how much is needed?

I remember when people would say they were bored, I never understood that. How can someone be bored when there is so much important work to do. I think boredom is rooted in not having found a purpose. That or they were just lazy.

God’s Word makes it very clear that we are instructed to work hard and put our best effort forward. The Bible, especially in the wisdom-filled book of Proverbs, speaks often of the cause and effect relationship of hard work and rewards as well as laziness and ruin. Bible Study Tools, Bible verses about laziness, Knowing Jesus, Open Bible.

Part of the problem is in the misuse of words.

Like the word “work” for example. People use this word as if it were a punishment. It’s as if they’ve been bad so now, they have to go to “work” rather than being able to play. The definition of work is activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.

Sign me up…this sounds like something I would like to do.

Work becomes a problem when it causes us to become so focused on one thing that we lose sight of other things in life. (Take it from a recovering workaholic.) Work hard on all the different areas that make up a well-balanced life not just a job.

  • Build my relationship with God (Spiritual)
  • Build a family legacy (Family)
  • Help people build their dreams (Vocation)
  • Build wealth (Financial)
  • Build the best me (Personal Well-being)
  • Help others build a better them (Ministry)
  • Help build a better world (Social and Community)

The key is to find the work that you love and do it. This is where the real problem lies. Most people have settled for a mondain existence rather than finding their God given purpose.

Get clear on what God wants you to do and get BUSY, WORKING on that!

Today, The Scripture Has Been Fulfilled In Your Hearing

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The Bible can seem like an old history book. Full of things that are irrelevant to us today. This could not be further from the truth.

Sure it’s a book full of history…but it’s so much more. It is the “Living Word”. John 1:1-4 says, “1In the beginning there was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were made by him, and nothing was made without him. 4 In him there was life, and that life was the light of all people.” (NCV) Jesus is not just the Jesus of the Bible, He is the Jesus of our lives today.

History is important, but we need to be careful to not let history cause us to forget the present and the future. In this week’s scripture, Luke 4:14-20, Jesus had returned to His home town of Nazareth where He had grown up. While there He was teaching one Sabbath and read these words from the book of Isaiah; 18 “The Lord has put his Spirit in me, because he appointed me to tell the Good News to the poor. He has sent me to tell the captives they are free and to tell the blind that they can see again. Isaiah 61:1 God sent me to free those who have been treated unfairly Isaiah 58:6 19  and to announce the time when the Lord will show his kindness.” Isaiah 61:2 (NCV)

Jesus goes on to say in verse 21 that  “Today, This Scripture Has Been Fulfilled in Your Hearing”.  This fulfillment didn’t stop with the people who were there physically. It is still being fulfilled in our hearing of it today and tomorrow and the next day.

Then in verse 22 the people who were initially pretty impressed by His reading, began to have second thoughts about this. They remembered Him as the son of a carpenter who grew up in their midst. They were letting their history of Jesus cause them to not see the present or the future.

You may have heard it said that we all have a Jesus shape void in our lives. We all have had the feeling that something is missing. Many people don’t realize that it’s God. They may try to fill that hole with everything but God. He is the only thing that will fit. If you haven’t done so already you should test Him to see how He fits. The Scripture is a great instruction manual for this.

Remember that today, the Scripture is being fulfilled in your hearing. So be sure to listen to it.