Moments With God.
Advent Week 1
HOPE
Thursday, December 2
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When I was a young Christian, I was not a Nazerene. In fact, I had never even heard of the Church of the Nazarene. But by 1980, I definitely was a saved, entirely sanctified Christian; I had asked Jesus into my heart when I was 7 or 8 years old, and in 1980 I gave Him my all (entire consecration) and He filled my spirit entirely with His Holy Spirit (entire sanctification). But none of the Christians with whom I was closest at that time was Nazarene, or even Wesleyan by background. In fact, many of my Christian friends were quite diverse in their Christian doctrines.
I remember one time in particular during that point in my life when I mentioned to one of my Christian friends that my arm was bothering me. The first thing she said to me was, "Maybe you have some unconfessed sin in your life." Well, I don't know (nor did I know then) of any unconfessed sin in my life. However what I did know was that I had recently injured my arm (it ended up being a displaced collarbone) playing football. My injury and subsequent pain had nothing to do with any unconfessed sin in my life.
I learned back then that I don't agree with doctrines which espouse health and wealth for Christians. Too many things in the Bible show me otherwise. For instance in 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about his sufferings which occurred, not because he was sinning, but because people opposed him and the gospel he preached. Paul was therefore persecuted by people opposing what he did simply because he was carrying out the work of God. This Scripture passage and others like it have helped me to understand that we won't always be healthy and wealthy simply because we are Christians who lead holy lives.
However, sometimes it's easy to look at something such as Paul's sufferings and thereby conclude that suffering is never caused by people sinning against God. But today's Advent readings show us that sometimes our sin is the reason why we suffer.
In our passage from Amos, we read that all kinds of bad things were happening to God's people. Why? Because God was trying to get these people to turn back to Him. In the passage from Matthew we see that it is God who has given everything to His people, but that God's people were ungrateful and antagonistic toward God. At the same time, in the passage from Psalms, we can see that God is the protector of His children, and that their leading holy lives can indeed lead to blessings.
While I don't believe in a "health and wealth" doctrine, and while I don't believe that all of our suffering is due to some sinful ways in our lives, let us not forget that God still wants us to lead holy lives, and that God does not withhold discipline if we need it. Hebrews 12:5-6 says, "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and punishes everyone he accepts as a son." (NIV)
So Scripture tells us that at times God indeed does let rough times come upon us as His children, and that sometimes it is to get our attention in order that we may turn to Him. But when we do cry out to Him (as did David in Psalm 18), we can have hope that God does hear us and that God does love us, and that ultimately God will bless His children when they lead lives that are holy and pleasing to Him.
Pete Vecchi
New Lebanon, OH, USA
Prayer
Father, please help us to remember that whether things seem to be going well or seem to be going bad, You are still God. Thank you for the hope we have been given through Your Son, Jesus Christ. It's in His Name we pray.
Amen.
[Psalms 18:1-20] [Amos 4:6-13] [II Peter 3:11-18] [Matt. 21:33-46]
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Edited: Nov. 21 8:00 p.m.
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