The one for me.

Children love repetition, but not us adults. Along this long journey we call life, too many of us grow old too fast and lose the steely stuff children are made of. We are drained by the humdrum of everyday life. It is as if we had chosen to get off a rusty swing, a swing in whose heady rush of wind and exhilarating heights we no longer took pleasure in. The irony is our inner child need to be preserved correctly and beautifully if we are to grow up well.

We lose our child-like strength to exult in and triumph over monotony. Every day becomes the same as the last, except perhaps being, only more dead. Our days are flogged to death with sameness and we grow old and cold in our jobs, jobs which were once our star-dusted childhood dreams. We are dead before we die, processing data, typing in numbers and flicking people off, for we wither in the sameness of everyday.

As a third-year medical student, I was in the hospital drawing blood for and taking the medical history of the umpteenth patient when I found myself slumped forward, finally tired from asking the same questions and going through the same motions again. Where is your pain? How is it like, when did it happen, what is its nature, do you have any drug allergies? There were hoards of patients waiting to be seen, so many with the similar complaint of pain, discomfort and agony. Tired and drained, the crowd bothered me. The moment was scary because I learnt that repetition, far from the childhood exultation, had turned into a devastating monotony.

But the impatient crowd soon reminded me of the large crowd which followed Jesus from the towns, even though He had intended to withdraw to a solitary place. "When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick." (Matthew 14:13-14)

All at once, I realized the extent of Jesus' love not merely for the collective human race, but for every hurting, needy individual. Jesus, too, was tired and weary, but when He saw each one's need, he saw us more than as individuals, but as his Father's children. He, like his loving father eager to serve his hurting child, found the strength of steel to minister and care for every one. For a loving father may have many children, but would surely love each one in his own unique way, and seek repeatedly, unfailingly, ungrudgingly to fulfill each oneâ€™s unique needs.

Does a parent love each child any less because he has more of them? The realisation that God's fatherly, protective and intimate love for each patient then hit me hot in the face. Upon opening my eyes, I found new strength again to listen to the same answers, to do the same things, to perform the same procedures, simply because this was a different, unique Person, a child He calls His own - special and precious in His sight.

With God's love, we are enabled to work and answer and love always, without growing old, without growing cold. We are enabled to grow up well, with our inner child still preserved to enjoy the simplicity of celebrating repetition. For all His ancience and age, God's love is strong enough, to inspire newness into old things, the way a parent is inspired to be childlike all over again when he sees his child.

Could it be then with God's strength in us, looking through His eyes, we can find freshness in routine? Is it then that we will see differently every person at the counter, by the corridor, at the office cubicle, not as a digit, a statistic, case or patient or bed number, but as a Person, a child whom God loves so much and who is known so intimately that He would give up the world for him to know so? Because he loves the stranger as much as He loves me.

God the Creator takes great pleasure and delight in his creations day in and out. He draws the silken skies of dawn and dusk like coloured curtains, fingers the lips of chaste lilies and browns them to their graves, brews clouds over our lives for seasons of sunshine, rain and frost, creating the same creations over and over...and then, again. How much more than, that we as the crown of creation, adopted as children, are the delight of God the Father!

Our loving father knows how to see the distinctive value in each of us, and we can as well, encountering each one distinctly because the process of meeting, of knowing every individual, is different. Might I be the kind of doctor who sees every patient with the eyes God sees them with? After weekly 36-hour shifts running around meeting demands, can I serve each patient faithfully as if he were my first, with dedicated humility and dignity?

It would require a new understanding of my identity as a child in Christ. God has the infinite capacity for childlikeness, because He is. Jesus' heart is pure like a child's. It is full of faith like a child's. And we, as His children can have the same heart of purity and faith because we are in Christ. We can have hope in knowing that Christ in us will preserve our zest and zeal, our eternal gratitude for every sunrise and dusk, every flower which blooms and dies, every human being which passes our way, as long as we make a daily choice to remember who we are. His beloved children. Children of God the Father.

As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him--and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

The ten lepers were anxious and impatient to be healed. Jesus showed mercy and healed them, telling them to go show themselves to the priests. One of the lepers ran back to Jesus, overwhelmed with praise to God and heartfelt gratitude to his benefactor. The other nine were more interested in following the religious prescription--to show oneself to the synagogue, reentering society, and regaining acceptance from family and neighbors. It meant a social, religious, and medical “clean bill of health.”

Rather than seek approval and acceptance from the priests and society, one leper chose to rush back to Jesus with happy abandon. He was less interested in “getting on with his life” and more concerned with acknowledging God’s mercy and pouring out gratitude to his Savior.

God is not impressed with religious duty; he is more interested in our spiritual gratitude. The Lord is always looking for the heart that is effusive in expressing thanks for his great mercies. Even Romans 1:21 warns that God gave sinful man over to his own wickedness because “he neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.” Purpose today to pour out your gratitude to God for every small and great mercy.

Pride always blows our cover. In case you doubt that, hit the concordance key on your computer Bible software, type in the word "pride" or "proud", and watch a zillion verses pop up. All of them detailing how the Lord detests haughty eyes, boastful tongues, and hearts bloated by ego. Never was there a character trait more opposite of God.

In our best moments, we want very much to be like God, to be godly...yet what an invitation to pride! That's why it always requires humility to them and say, "I am so sorry for hurting you. What you have observed about me is true: I am stubborn and very much 'in the wrong.' Please forgive me." Oh, it is never easy! But it is richly rewarded.

And old Puritan wrote: "Let me never forget that the heinousness of sin lies not so much in the nature of sin committed, as in the greatness of the person sinned against." If we’re looking for humility, we don't gaze inward to see how greatly we've missed the mark. We gaze at the Lord Jesus. We drag ourselves to the cross...where our pride is suffocated! "Self" becomes "hid with Christ in God," and humility is the result.

Asking the Holy Spirit to roll up his sleeves and deal with pride in your heart may involve several things (I speak from experience!) it may include opening yourself to the valid criticism of others, openly confessing your faults, or inviting your spouse or close friend to point out your blind spots. Easy? Never! Rewarding? Always.

When God created the world, he spoke it into being. When Jesus walked the earth, he spoke and the lame were healed. When Peter preached his first sermon, he spoke and thousands were gathered into the kingdom. Powerful things happen when we speak. Our words can either accomplish great good or inflict terrible damage. God has arranged that words are granted incredible clout. Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Dr. Dan Allender gives us a profound purpose for our speech: “I am to sow words like seeds to bring a harvest of fruit that blesses God.”

Repeatedly in Scripture, we are admonished to choose and use words carefully in healing and holiness. However, our words are not only instruments of health but hurt. Words create division; they can wound or create distance through subtle inflection. James 3:6 warns, “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.” It’s interesting that the book of James does not give us any advice about stopping our tongues. Instead, God’s Word asks us to develop a sense of horror over the damage our tongue can inflict. The sobering reality of how such a small part of the body can do so much good or harm should wake us up to the power of our words.

Look for ways today you can exalt Christ through your speech. Find opportunities to sincerely encourage and commend your coworkers, family members, neighbours, or pastor and members of your congregation. Have you spoken damaging words? Do you need to make repairs? Remember, the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Living in Christian life is so opposite, so against the grain of our human nature. When today’s verse tells me to rejoice always, my inclination is to be glum-faced, thank you. A little bit of whining, huffing and puffing, scowling and sighing is more to my liking. But common sense warns me it will only make things worse.

Philippians 4:4 is a triple whammy: we are to rejoice in the Lord always, and then again, rejoice with an exclamation mark. Perhaps Paul felt he should underscore the command because circumstances in Philippi were so bad as to make the exhortation utterly unreasonable. But Christians can be commanded to rejoice because their ground for doing so is not in circumstances but “in the Lord.” The command may be contrary to our old nature, but remember it’s not Paul’s command. It’s the command of Jesus Christ. When Paul insisted we rejoice always, he was no doubt thinking of the words of Jesus who said, “Take heart! I have overcome the world,” and “Blessed are you when men hate you. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy for great is your reward in heaven” (John 16:33; Luke 6:22-23). We rejoice not only because Jesus told us to, but because he himself rejoiced. And that’s with an exclamation mark!

How can we rejoice in every circumstance? In chronic pain or cancer? In rejection and bankruptcy? The next verse provides motive, perspective, encouragement, and reason enough: The Lord is near (Philippians 4:5). You can keep a bright outlook in the midst of any hardship; you can have peace of mind and heart when you know that the Lord Jesus is close at hand. Think of a situation you’ve been grumbling about; choose today to rejoice in the Lord in the midst of it all.

Have you ever had a cup of the coffee they serve in hotel hallways of lobbies? Early in the morning the people at the front desk put a pot of coffee out on a little table with powdered creamers next to some Styrofoam cups. It’s not the best-tasting stuff--and may have been sitting there for hours. Sometimes when I’m traveling, I’ll spot the coffee, sniff the aroma, and often I’m tempted to scarf down a cup. If I’m in a hurry, I’m thinking less about quality and more about caffeine!

Ah, but if I know there’s a gourmet coffee kiosk at the airport, serving up a fresh ground heavenly brew, then I say, “Hmmm, I think I can wait a half hour.” I know it will pay off. I think of that which is higher quality. It takes a little self-control, and it means putting pleasure on hold, but I do it in anticipation of an even greater pleasure on the horizon.

This is at least some of what it means to “wait on the Lord.” Waiting on God does not mean passive indifference--hanging, around and doing nothing. It has more to do with saying no to impulsive, spur-of-the-moment actions or decisions, and by so doing, saying yes to something you know will satisfy much better on down the line. Those who have not yet learned how to wait on the Lord may tend to indulge in something immediate that only half satisfies. But Christians who have fostered a degree of self-control--Christians who know God better--don't mind putting pleasure on hold. They know something better is brewing down the line.

How many times have you watched someone dive headlong into immorality and thought, Nope, not me; I’d never be caught doing that. Beware. People who view themselves as standing firm are the most susceptible to the most gross type of sin. Upright and obedient. Noah stood alone against a carousing, lustful world that drank itself silly. Who would have thought Noah, of all people, would end up drunk? Look at Abraham. He was ready to push obedience to the point of sacrificing his own son. Who would imagine he would be the one to lie straight-faced to government officials? And to do it twice! Lot closed his door against the sexual sin in the streets of Sodom, but hardly does he get delivered from the city’s destruction than he falls into incest with his own daughters.

Bold and courageous David was brave enough to go up against Goliath, but later on, he made believe he was a madman because he feared his enemies. Then there’s Elijah. We take him to be a rather brave man as he wielded the sword of God’s vengeance against tens of thousands. But the threat of one woman sent him plummeting into suicidal despair. Finally there’s Peter. He was part of the Lord’s inner circle, following the footsteps of Jesus closer than anyone. Yet he ended up cursing and denying his Saviour.

First Corinthians 10:6-11 cautions us further about the human side of Noah, Lot, David, Elijah, “These things [are] examples...and were written down as warnings for us.” Just when you think you are doing pretty well, you stumble into sin that seems so out of character. But it’s not. The character of our body is of sin and death (Romans 7:13). Remember, you won’t fall as long as you’re leaning on Jesus.

The other week during a long flight home, I could not get comfortable in the airline seat. My corset was digging into me and no matter what Ken did, my blood pressure continued to spike and my forehead kept sweating (signs that I am in pain). Normally, it would have been enough to drive me to pray. But not this time. I was fed up with my disability (a nice way of saying I was fed up with God’s control of the situation.) My thoughts were sour, and I was not about to pull my Bible out of my backpack. Instead, I tried to get my mind off my pain by watching the in-flight movie. Halfway through, I thought, This is the stupidest film. Why am I watching it?!

That night after the pain subsided, my first thought was, That wasn’t like me. I’m normally not like that. But the whisper of the Holy Spirit replied, “That is you. You are like that.” Suffering always tests us, examining and sifting and asking, “Who are you really?” Normally, we are not faced all the time with how self-focused we are, or how sour or peevish our attitude can be. We think we’re doing pretty well. But suffering strips off that veneer and shows us our true colors.

Affliction does not teach you about yourself from a textbook; it teaches you from experience. It will always show that you love--either the God of all comfort or the comfort that can become your god. Think back on the last time you got “fed up” with your circumstances. What did this reveal about yourself? Talk to God about that today.

The pain and humility Jesus physically suffered leading up to his death was a mere warm-up to the real dread he faced. As he hung on the cross, he began to feel a foreign sensation. Somewhere during those hours that his body was impaled, and earthly, foul odour must have wafted, not around his nose, but in his heart. He felt dirty. Human wickedness began to crawl upon his spotless being--the living excrement from our souls. The apple of the Father’s eye began to turn brown with the rot of our sin.

From heaven, the Father roused himself like a lion disturbed, shook his mane, and must have roared against the shrivelling remnant of a man hanging on a cross. Never has the Son seen the Father look at him so, never felt even the least of his hot breath. It was the wrath of God being poured out like hot oil on the wounded heart of the Son of Man. And the Father watched as his heart’s treasure, the mirror-image of himself sank drowning into raw, liquid sin. Jehovah’s stored rage against humankind exploded in a single direction. The Trinity had planned it. The Son endured it. The Spirit enabled him. The Father rejected the Son whom he loved; the God-man from Nazareth, perished.

This is who asks you to trust him when he calls you to suffer. This is the One who asks you to obey him when it’s hard, when your flesh is itching to have a little worldly candy. This is the One who asks you to honour him when you face tough choices. Jesus Christ bore the wrath of hell so that you might enjoy a home in heaven with him, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. Celebrate this marvellous gift as you reflect on Easter Sunday.

When I saw the movie The Passion of the Christ, I was struck by the brute cruelty with which the soldiers treated Jesus. Like a bunch of poorly paid drunken legionnaires, they couldn't wait to take out all their frustrations on who they thought was a stupid, luckless Jew. They beat and abused him mercilessly.

The face that Moses had begged to see--was forbidden to see--was slapped bloody (Exodus 33:19-20). The thorns that God had sent to curse the earth's rebellion now twisted around his brow. The back of Jesus' legs felt the whip--soon the body of the Saviour would look like a ploughed Judean field. By the time the spitting is through, more saliva is on Jesus than in him. When the soldiers raised the mallet to sink the spikes into Jesus' hands, it occurred to me that the Son of God whom they were crucifying was the very One sustaining their lives! Someone must sustain their lives minute by minute, for no man has this power on his own. Who supplies breath to his lungs? Who gives energy to his cells? Who holds a man's molecules together? Only by the Son do "all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17). How amazing, how incomprehensible that the Son, the victim, is granting breath and being to his own executioners!

Close your eyes and think deeply on the things you just read. Consider so great a Saviour who would submit himself to such a torture...for your salvation. Think of the cost and sacrifice involved in Jesus' crucifixion. Then, commit afresh and anew to live on a higher, more sanctified level as you trust and obey him with new resolve. Praise your Saviour for granting you breath and being as well as life eternal.

Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household....The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.

When I was on the farm growing up, I once helped take care of a little lamb. Cute, warm, and fuzzy, he captured and melted my heart. I loved to hug him and feel his soft white fleece. This precious lamb was the picture of innocent. You can imagine my horror on the day he was taken to the slaughter house!

For passover preparations, God wanted a family to choose a lamb, bring it to their house, and take care of it for four whole days before killing it. How awful! They were required to slaughter the little lamb they had grown to love. This heart-wrenching sacrifice demonstrated the exacting demands of God's justice, as well as how destructive and awful sin really is. It was the perfect background to "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). God wants our hearts to sincerely break over the sacrifice of his perfect Lamb. We were the ones who put Jesus Christ to death. Our sin led him to the slaughter. It leads us to grief and repentance.

A Passover lamb was the picture of innocence, but the Lamb of God is the perfect picture of righteousness. Isaiah 53:7 says "He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth." Meditate on how a lamb is a biblical "type" of the life of Christ. Remember, Jesus went to his cross as your sacrificial lamb.

Suppose a man works as a cook and a doctor on a pirate ship. He has never picked up a sword a day in his life. He just stays on the ship and cooks nourishing meals for the other men when they come back from a hard day's pillaging and looting. He is there to heal their cuts and put salve on their scrapes. What could be more innocent?! But if the British Crown captures the pirate ship, the doctor-cook will swing from a rope just like his shipmates. Why? Because he was doing good things in a wicked cause.

This is the way God looks at model citizens who ignore the Saviour. Good people may work hard, drive their kids to soccer, keep their lawns spruced, and wave cheerily to the neighbours. But God says the first and the greatest commandment is to love him with all our heart, soul, and strength. That is, to do everything out of a motive of pleasing him. For the nonbeliever, good acts in his life amount to nothing if he disregards God. Two factors can make an act sinful--a wrong action or a wrong motive. Often people's actions are good, but their motives are a universe away from the righteousness God underscores in Romans 3. Only Jesus is our righteousness!

The first time I saw the Grand Canyon, I stood in silent wonder. When I felt the spray of Niagara Falls against my face, I did the same. I will never forget that crystal clear night in the Sierras when the stars looked like powdered sugar. I was breathless with wonder. Today's verse describes wonder well--it's a powerful emotional response, which lliterally overwhelms us with amazement and delight.

It's a fine line between wonder at God and worship of God. That he would bless us with eternal pleasures when he could easily char us like burnt toast is a wonderful thing. His grace and goodness make us stand breathless. It's why Isaiah 9:6 calls him "wonderful".

Charles Spurgeon wrote, "Holy wonder will lead you to grateful worship and heartfelt thanksgiving. It will cause within you godly watchfulness; you will be afraid to sin against such a love as this. Feeling the presence of the mighty God in the gift of His dear Son, you will put off your shoes from your feet, because the place whereon you stand is holy ground. You will be moved at the same time to glorious hope. If Jesus has done such marvelous things on your behalf, you will feel that heaven itself is not too great for your expectation. Who can be astonished at anything, when he has once been astonished at the manger and the cross? What is there wonderful left after one has seen the Saviour?"

It is the desire of the Holy Spirit to show you how full of wonder Jesus truly is. In preparation for Sunday worship this week, as the Spirit to reveal fresh, new insights into the gracious character of Christ. Ask Him to overwhelm you with a sense of wonder so that your adoration of God overflows with amazement and delight.