DAILY DEVOTIONAL – January 7, 2020
“Take a Number”
Prayer: Lord Jesus, as You stood before those who falsely accused You and mocked You, You remained silent as a sheep before the slaughter. You endured the treatment our sin deserved. Thank You Jesus. Help us to shine Your light by handling our own affairs with such faithfulness and grace. Amen.
Scripture: Philippians 2:14-15
“Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”
Devotional – “Take A Number”
American poet Randall Jarrell once said, “The people who live in a golden age usually go around complaining how yellow everything looks.” It’s sad but it’s true isn’t it? No matter how much more improved life becomes or how good things may be, we humans have no problem finding something to complain about. It takes no effort to complain. Everyone can do it and it takes no special skill (although some people certainly seem more gifted at complaining than others!). While quite often it takes a sizeable amount of effort for us to be content and satisfied or be optimistic about things, all of us seem to have a knack for complaining. Complaining comes so naturally to us because it is in our nature, our sinful nature.
After Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden and hid from God, God sought them out and asked, “What is this you have done? Did you eat of the tree I told you not to?” Instead of answering, “Yes,” Adam complained saying, “The woman who you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit and I ate it.” After seeing the miracle of the burning bush and speaking to God directly, Moses still complained about having to go to Pharaoh, and even after God freed the Israelites through 10 miraculous plagues and split the Red Sea in two so they could walk to freedom and dropped bread down from heaven…all they did while in the desert was complain about how good they used to have it! That complaining is what drove them to go chasing after false idols, only to find themselves in far worse situations and on the receiving end of God’s anger.
If there is anywhere that complaining should cease to exist, it’s in the church. Our God and Lord Jesus had every legitimate reason to complain about our sin and rebellion that ruined His perfect work of creation. However, God didn’t complain. He took action. Even before Adam and Eve sinned God had a plan to clean up our mess of sin and death, and God was faithful to that plan and promise, sending His Son Christ to die in our place. Our Lord Jesus was perfectly faithful, never once lamenting or complaining as He humbly and obediently suffered the judgement against our sin. Knowing this love of God in Christ and knowing all that we have been forgiven, the children of God should be the last to complain and the first to sacrifice in order to make right what we see is wrong.
Although I certainly don’t agree with his beliefs about Jesus, I do agree with Gordon B. Hinckley when he said, “By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves.”
USA Today ran an article in 2013 that reported on how one city in Arizona had successfully dealt with the challenges facing police departments that were taxed by increasing demands and decreasing resources and personnel. In the city of Surprise, AZ, instead of just blaming a lack of funding for the problems facing both the department and community, the Surprise police department turned complainers into volunteers…and it has worked incredibly well.
According to Sgt. Mark Donovan of the Surprise police department, what started in 1997 as a handful of police volunteers using an old donated truck as a squad car, has swelled to a nationally recognized and uniformed force of 68 volunteer officers with marked cruisers. “I cannot say enough good things about the volunteers,” Donovan said. “They want to give back and they want to serve.” The volunteer officers perform any number of non-confrontational tasks from patrol and surveillance to forming crime-scene perimeters and questioning witnesses.
When the program first started out, many in the community and many officers themselves balked at receiving help from volunteers, but as Sgt. Donovan said, “…it’s impossible to deny how effective they are.” Reading the article, I was reminded of the words one of my mentor-pastors shared with me when I was just starting out in the ministry. He said, “If I had a volunteer walk into my office for every time I have had a complaint walk into my office, we may actually start to get some ministry done.”
At the end of the article about Surprise’s volunteer police force, Sgt. Donovan added one last observation as he reflected on why this program proved to be such a success. He said, “They don’t complain like paid people do. They truly come and want to help us out.”
Christ paid for our sin in full on the cross. Our debt to God has been satisfied and there is nothing we owe God or have to pay in order to be saved. We have been set free by God to serve Him joyfully. As Psalm 100:2 says, “Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into His presence with singing!” God has given us a new heart that desires to love Him and love others, and like the volunteer police men and women of Surprise, AZ, we “want to give back” and “want to serve”. As we serve God with our life and especially in His church, we should do so with gladness and heeding Paul’s words in Philippians 2, “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”
Thanks for joining me today for this devotion. I pray your week is off to a great start, and remember, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
