Coming soon! New comic—RULES
An interview with Neo Beng Poh, author and comic illustrator of RULES 1) When did you draw Rules? How old were you then? Rules was drawn in 1999. I’m about 22-year-old then. It is for a Youth For Christ evangelistic sports camp. The current version is a “remake” that I did about 2 years ago. I redesigned [...]
ODJ: faking your features
To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy. Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth (vv.5-6).
READ: 1 Timothy 6:1-9
Paul warns Timothy that some people use religion or “godly acts” (in the original Greek) to get rich. How so? Well, godly acts are good things, and all good things have value. So godly acts will always have buyers. But they should never have sellers.
Paul’s concern? Virtuous Christians are tempted sometimes to skip the discipline that developed their character and fake their virtue for profit. This may occur when they discover that their godly character opens doors and fast-tracks them past less pious folks (1 Timothy 6:5).
A pastor who has built his ministry on prayer may begin to pray longer in public and less in private as his church and preaching opportunities expand. A caregiver known for her servant’s heart may begin to selectively pick her moments of compassion. And a teacher renowned for his biblical wisdom may scale back his own study as he borrows liberally from the insights of others.
It’s failed thinking from our fallen nature that causes us to fake our best features. Smart people should always know the right answer, winsome people must wear a constant smile, and leaders must pick the battles they know they can win. And so we begin to identify with our image—an image that we’ll do anything to protect. (especially if we’re paid for it).
Paul responds that the path to true wealth lies in contentment. Unlike those “who long to be rich” and so “are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction” (1 Timothy 6:9), those who are content with who they are—and with what God has given them—possess great spiritual wealth. They will continue to cultivate the habits that earned their reputation and will turn down lucrative opportunities that, though innocent in their own right, would leech too much energy from their main mission in life. —Mike Wittmer
What admirable qualities helped you to land your current job or social status? How have you been serving God out of image, not reality?
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Loading ...ODB: subtle wisdom
August 7, 2009
READ: Mark 8:34-38
If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. —John 12:26
When I was in college, my co-worker Bud, a fork-truck driver, often enriched my life with his pithy wisdom. We were eating lunch one day, sitting on the back of his fork truck, when I announced that I was transferring to another school.
“Why?” he asked.
“All my friends are transferring,” I answered.
Bud chewed his sandwich for a moment and then replied quietly and with subtle irony, “I guess that’s one way to pick a school.”
His words struck me with rare force. Of course, I thought. But is this the only way to choose a school? Will I follow my friends for the rest of my days, or will I follow Jesus? Will I seek His face and His will and go where He wants me to go?
Twenty-five times in the New Testament, Jesus said to His disciples, “Follow Me.” In Mark 8:34, He said, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” No matter what others do or what direction their lives may take, we must do what He asks us to do.
The words of an old song come to mind: “My Lord knows the way through the wilderness; all I have to do is follow!” — David H. Roper
To find your way through life, follow Jesus.
Source: Our Daily Bread
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