"Go!" said the LORD.

"Abraham, Abraham…" said the LORD.

"LORD, is that You?" Abraham asked.

"Yes, My child," He responded tenderly. "I have something I want to say to you."

With eagerness, Abraham shot back, "Well, speak, LORD!  I’m listening.  I will do whatever You say and go wherever You ask me to go!"

"I know, Abraham.  That’s why I’m calling you today.  I have put that faith in your heart, so you will trust Me wherever I send you," He said.

Bubbling over with excitement: "Thank You, LORD!  Praise You, LORD!  I do trust You.  I love You.  Thank You for speaking to me and thank You for calling me and thank You for loving me and…"

"ABRAHAM.  Abraham," His strong voice echoed.  "I am calling you… to leave your home country, the people you know, the land you’re accustomed to, even your father’s family – and go!"

"Go?  LORD, go where?" the man of faith wondered.

The firm and loving One: "Go… to the land I will show you."

Shaking but believing, His son replied, "Go.  Okay, go.  And You will show me where to go.  What should I do in this new land where You are sending me?"

"Abraham, do you trust Me?"

"Yes, LORD!  I trust You with all of my heart," Abraham immediately responded.

"Abraham, I’ll show you what you must do in this new land," the ever-gracious One said.

Again thinking and wondering: "What about my wife?"

"Bring your wife with you of course," the compassionate Father said.

Abraham thought aloud, "When we go to this new land that You will show us and we do what you will tell us to do, what will happen to us?"

"Abraham, do you trust Me?"

Abraham said, "Yes, LORD!  I trust You with all I am.  And then some…  I trust You, because You have taught me and You help me to trust You!"

The LORD promised, "Abraham, I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you.  I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.  And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.  I am going to send the Savior through your family."

"LORD, I trust You," the man of God confessed.  "I believe what You say is true.  At the same time, You have given me no children, and I am already an old man.  My body is as good as dead."

"Abraham, do you trust Me?"

"Yes, LORD!  Oh, I trust You," Abraham said from the deepest part of his being.  "You are God, and You can be fully trusted always.  Everything You do is good, and everything You say is true and right."

Directing his gaze heavenward: "Abraham, look up at the heavens and count the stars.  If you can…" He said with a love-laced chuckle.  "This is how many children your family will have.  Every person who believes in the Savior will join your family of faith.  Because you believe, you are right with Me, and we are close friends."

"LORD, let’s go," His son Abraham responded, exploding with anticipation.  "I will listen.  I will follow You.  Wherever You lead, let’s go together."

"Yes, Abraham, I will be with you every step of the way.  I will always keep My promises to you – no matter what happens.  I will speak to you, and you will follow Me.  And you will speak My words to others.  Let’s go, for I will be with you," said the LORD.

(Genesis 12:1-4; 15:3-6)

Wedding Symbolism

The marriage covenant is an eternal promise based on the truth of God’s Word, rooted in Christ’s love, and centered on His steadfast character.

*Marriage as a picture of the Gospel relationship:

The Bible teaches that marriage was designed by God to be a picture of the relationship Jesus has with those who love Him (Ephesians 5:29-33).  Each of us has turned away from right relationship with the God who loves us.  God’s Law, the Ten Commandments, clearly reveals our selfishness.  By loving others more than the LORD, lying, hating, lusting, and refusing to forgive, we have pushed ourselves away from relationship with Him.  

If we come to God trying to earn His love or to deserve a place in Heaven because of our good works, we will never know Him.  Our sin has separated us from Jesus, and we deserve only God’s judgment in Hell.  However, He wants us to experience His love and a close relationship with Jesus that marriage was designed to depict.

  

The good news is that Jesus, God in the flesh, came to earth.  He lived a perfect life, died on the cross, and rose from the dead!  As a Groom coming to claim His bride, Jesus will come again for all those who have turned from sin and put their trust in Him.  Jesus gave His lifeblood because of His desire to become united with those He loves.  He paid the bride price with His own life.  Husbands likewise are called to serve their wives by dying to themselves and sacrificing for the good of their wives. Wives are called to respond in self-giving love by cooperating with their husbands – that together the couple might be ministry partners for the Master.

Jesus calls you today to join His Bride, the Church. “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that He may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you, Jesus” (Acts 3:19-20).  Jesus has promised to return to bring His Bride home to be with Him forever.  Are you in right relationship with God?  Have you fully trusted your heart and life to Jesus?  In an act of bold love, He invites you to do so today.

*Bridal party walking down the center aisle in participation:

Walking down the center aisle is based on a tradition from the Bible.  The LORD made a promise to bless Abraham, who was a forefather of Jesus Christ.  In Genesis 15:9-21, the LORD instructed Abraham to sacrifice several animals, cutting them in half and laying them on the ground.  Two parties making a covenant would confirm their agreement by walking between these two halves of an offering that had been split in two.  In Genesis 15, only the LORD walked down the center aisle, because it was His sole responsibility to unconditionally uphold His promise to Abraham’s descendants.  Abraham was asleep.  We walk down the center aisle today as a symbol of involvement, either as participants or witnesses, in this marriage covenant.

*Vows as terms of our covenant:

In the Bible, the LORD made many promises to His people.  God is always faithful, perfectly upholding His vows to love and provide.  In Exodus 20, after the LORD delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, God and His people exchanged vows.  We call these vows the Ten Commandments.  In verse 1, He begins by stating who He is and reminding His people that He set them free from their bondage.  The ten commands that follow are the vows that His loved ones promised to uphold in the relationship that they would enjoy with their God.  Today, the New Testament provides many examples of promises that the Lord Jesus made to His Bride, the Church.  Our vows today are the terms of our life-long covenant relationship with each other.

*Rings as visual symbols of our lifetime commitment:

We have chosen to exchange circular wedding rings as a continual sign of our marriage, serving both to announce to others and to remind us of our vows.  A circle is a shape without starting or ending point.  It symbolizes the eternal nature of God, who is without beginning or end.  The Trinity – the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit – has always existed and always will (Genesis 1:26).  This eternal God created marriage (Genesis 2:18-25; Matthew 19:4-6).  He empowers us to remain faithful in our marriage, as He has first been faithful to us.  1 John 4:19, “We love because He first loved us.” 

*Salt covenant as a sign of irreversible partnership:

In biblical times, when two people wanted to make a covenant promise of loyalty, each would take some salt from a pouch carried on the belt and sprinkle it into the other’s pouch.  Both would then shake their pouches, intermingling forever the grains of salt.  Just as the individual grains of salt could never be taken back, their covenant would never be broken.  The LORD also included salt in covenants that He made with His people (Leviticus 2:13; Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5).

*Unity candle as a symbol of our new united family:

The Bible records that Eve first introduced sin’s darkness into the human heart (Genesis 3:6).  However, God also brought Jesus Christ, the Light of the world, through a descendant of Eve, a woman named Mary (John 8:12; 9:5; Luke 1:30-35).  As followers of Jesus, we have been called by Christ to be light in this world (Matthew 5:14-16).  Because they brought us into the world, we have chosen to have our biological mothers light candles representing all of our family relationships.  In a beautiful way, we leave and cleave to each other, forming a new family of our own, which includes our extended families.  The unity candle in the center represents this union of two people and two lives joined by Jesus Christ to become one.

Pastor fired for not evangelizing: faithfulness with "To Do" lists

Thrive80.com

At a local Bible study last night, one attendee shared a prayer request for his former church. During his time on the church board, they hired a new pastor, who served several years. According to this man, the pastor “promised to evangelize and do all kinds of other ministry stuff. But he hadn’t done any of it.” So recently, that pastor was fired.

If the pastor was truly let go for not evangelizing, the congregation probably should have been fired too. According to Bill Bright, a Campus Crusade for Christ survey of professing Christians found that “a bare 2 percent regularly share their faith in Christ.”

How many professing believers would agree that Christ’s great commission to “make disciples of all nations” was given to all Christians? And yet, how few actually talk with unbelievers about Jesus on a regular basis?

What renders so many mute? Are we crippled by fear of rejection? Are we concerned what people think of us more than what our Heavenly Father thinks? Do we crave the pleasures of this fallen world more than His affection? It’s time for a heart check: “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 Jn. 2:15).

We’ve zeroed in on one area of disobedience, but let’s apply this principle more broadly too. How many times do we promise to act and then don’t follow through? We may set the bar high to feel accomplished, but we never actually accomplish much of anything. We make to do lists and set goals, but we develop selective amnesia and never look back at them. We fear feeling like failures when we fall short. If we never try, we think we’ve escaped failure’s grasp. So, procrastination becomes a new roommate. Does fear of failure hinder you? Haven’t we experienced enough hope deferred and dreams that die? Do you have a sick heart (Prov. 13:12)?

This is a call to be faithful. Examine yourself and ask, “LORD, why is this fear in me?” We need to deal with fear like any other sin: to declare war on it, to memorize Scriptures about it, to take steps to overcome it, to ask others in our community of believers to pray with us and encourage us through. Loved and trusted people can help us accomplish the goals the Holy Spirit has laid on our hearts. When we’re witnessing, we can go out with others. Jesus sent His disciples out two by two to preach the Gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons (Mk. 6:7-12; Lk. 10:1-20).

On top of that, let’s take initiative that says, “When I write down this goal, I’ll start on it today.” Take at least one little step immediately that moves you toward the finish line. In my free time, when I’m not purposefully resting—which must also be budgeted into my schedule—I’ll be working on one of my goals. Do something eternally meaningful. Prioritize goals based on how valuable they are for your life and ministry. Then, start on the most important, and work to the least. You may never get to the action items on the bottom of your list, and that’s okay. They’re on the bottom for a reason.

When you catch yourself doing something mindless that doesn’t glorify Jesus, provide for your rest, build into the lives of others, or accomplish some of the goals that He’s called you to, get up and stop it. Ditch it. Change. Grow. Let’s be a people that put our hands to the plow and refuse to look back, lest we be found unfit for service in the Kingdom (Lk. 9:62).

Pause for a moment: what has Jesus called you to do? Are you doing it? If you have difficulty hearing His voice, could it be because you’ve neglected what He’s said to you in the past?

It shouldn’t take a mountaintop experience or a natural disaster for us to evangelize and be obedient to Jesus, living holy lives that follow in His footsteps (1 Jn. 2:6). What if our regular prayer time with Him was enough to motivate and put a fire beneath us to preach the Gospel and be who we’ve been called to be, as His children and new creations in Christ?

Then the daily prayer time that’s been on our mental to do list since we got saved would finally become a habit. And the Bible reading plan we’ve had shoved in a drawer for years might be put to use.

Are you part of the congregation that would get fired for not evangelizing? Let’s receive the fire and love of the Holy Spirit to go tell others about Jesus. Even when people reject us, let’s love them still and rejoice, for great is our reward in Heaven (Mt. 5:12; Lk. 6:23). It’s by obeying His commands that we show Jesus we love Him (Jn. 14:21). By deeply loving one another, we show the world we love Him too (Jn. 13:35). We don’t act out of dead obligation, but because we’re doing great exploits as the Living Lord Jesus empowers us (Dan. 11:32). Maybe then, we’ll finally be able to check something off our to do lists.


Also posted on Thrive80: http://www.thrive80.com/2011/06/paster-fired-for-not-evangelizing-faithfulness-with-to-do-lists/