A blessed New Year to you!
I (Jenni) sporadically use a devotional called Connect the Testaments, by John D. Barry and Rebekah Van Noord. It takes you through the Bible in a year, but it combines Old and New Testament readings with a unique topical approach, rather than just going through the Bible sequentially, and the authors weigh in with insightful commentary and a few thought-provoking "so what?" questions. I journal my responses when I'm not feeling overwhelmed with other responsibilities, so I just progress through the devotional at my own pace, and I might finish it by the time I'm 80 or so. If you're looking for a good devotional for the New Year, I will just say that, while I haven't agreed with every interpretation and application these authors offer, I have genuinely appreciated the thoughtful questions that God has used to inspire some valuable introspection. This was not meant to be a commercial, but it's on Kindle for $5.99 if you want to get started right away.
Since I've been silent on this blog for so long, I thought it would be helpful to go back to what was on my heart just after my last post. In May and June, I was reading March's devotions, which were based on 1 Corinthians. The recurring themes were grace and love, which seemed an appropriate follow-up for the previous topics in this blog. This first contemplation is based on readings from chapters 12-14. More will follow later.
Rebecca Van Noord probes my soul: "How are you extending God’s grace to the people around you?"1
I responded with a rather quick, dry answer: "I try to extend grace to everyone through simple kindness, forgiveness, and forbearance with the shortcomings of others, but I fail miserably when I feel some great injustice has been done, especially when I feel that it's targeting me. Thank you, God, for your abundant grace and mercy. Help me to demonstrate grace to others."
That's it? Was that prayer even from the heart?
On another day, John Barry says:
"Love—as manifested in Christ’s death and resurrection and in our living sacrificially for Him and others—is central, and spiritual gifts should support that cause... Spiritual gifts are meant to indwell believers. Christians are meant to be driven by God’s Spirit and to do miraculous things in His name. But none of it matters if it’s not for the purpose of showing Christ’s love."2
I don't know why it strikes me as so profound that the purpose for all that we do is to demonstrate the love of God. I wrestle with this because truth can't be dispensed with in the process, and it's often difficult for me to balance truth and love, "speaking the truth in love" (Eph. 4:15) instead of rising up in so-called righteous indignation, especially when I feel truth itself is being challenged. I think I have been inclined to underestimate the value of true compassion. I understand the value of diplomacy, but I don't equate diplomacy with love. Diplomacy is a plastic smile; love is genuine. Diplomacy is employed sometimes merely for the sake of survival, or at least maintaining a superficial peace. It occurs to me that if love isn't our true motivation for getting along, our restraint doesn't really accomplish God's desired objective. God cares how much we care more than He cares about our social standing, and sometimes caring means speaking the truth, popular or not. Sometimes it means remaining silent, even suffering injustice.
What about the caustic thrust of many of the Psalms and Prophets? Or the vengeance that is certain to rain on the enemies of God? Those who are unceremoniously annihilating Christians just because they're Christians? Shouldn't we fight against them?
Surely we should desire that they would be saved, rather than consumed...right, Jonah?3
Lord, please help me to demonstrate grace to others.
Did I mean it this time? God, have mercy. Can I please do it without suffering injustice? When else are we called to extend grace, but when we're wronged?
~~~
1 John D. Barry and Rebecca Kruyswijk, Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012).
2 Ibid.
3 Jonah wished for the destruction of his enemies, the Assyrians, who had just demolished the whole northern kingdom of Israel. This is why he shirked his assignment to preach to those in the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, to begin with. "But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster." (The Holy Bible: English Standard Version [Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016], Jon 4:1–2).
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