Author: Dave Dishman (Page 308 of 459)

If people could read one line on your tombstone 2,000 years from now, what would you hope they would read?

In a short letter, way back at the end of our Bibles, we learn the names of two church leaders. Outside of this letter, no further knowledge of these men exists. Scholars know nothing more of their past or futures. Only their mention in this short note from John to his friend Gaius reveals anything about them.

John first wrote of Diotrephes—who loves to be first. Diotrephes opposed the influence of John and other followers of Jesus. He spread rumors, refused to host traveling believers, and even stopped others from doing so. John goes to far as to refer to Diotrephes as evil.

Contrast that description with Demetrius—well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. John commended Demetrius for his service to the people around him and encouraged Gaius to engage with such a good man.

Diotrephes loved his position, loved to be first, loved all the attention and adornments and power that come to a leader. He cherished control. The work of the Lord dragged behind the work of keeping Diotrephes in the limelight.

Demetrius walked in the truth he professed. He was ok with being first, or second or fifteenth, or twenty-third. I picture him patiently waiting at the back of the church buffet line, letting others fill their plates first, then helping wash the dishes.

Demetrius served others—Diotrephes used them.

Pretty crappy line on a tombstone—He loved to be first—but that’s what Diotrephes earned. Demetrius, for his humble service, reaped a beautiful epitaph—well spoken of by the truth—and we gain encouragement from his example today.

I’m sure we’ll meet Demetrius in glory, where he’s probably holding one of the pearly gates open for us to enter.

3 John in week forty-eight of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Javier Quiroga

The Jews of the kingdom faced a death sentence. Due to the evil influence of one man, they woke to the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day.

One hope remained—Esther, the new queen, and unknown to the king, also a Jew. Her uncle Mordecai sent her this message:

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?

Esther, in one of the bravest acts recorded in scripture, risked her life to approach the king and save the day. The twists and turns of her story read like a movie script. The Lord used Esther to both save and bless her people.

I don’t face such dramatic circumstances, and hopefully never will. But I believe that each one of us was born to some purpose. You and I live in a time where we need to act, to step forward to help or guide or influence another.

I’m tempted to stay quiet when speaking feels risky, or to melt into the crowd rather than raise my hand. The Japanese have a saying—the tallest blade of grass is the first one that gets cut—and I’d rather not get cut. And why should I speak in our world where everyone jabbers all the time anyway?

For such a time as this. In my life this works much more simply. I might be listening to someone, and feel a nudge to respond in a way that feels risky or uncomfortable. Perhaps that nudge is from the Spirit, and I need to speak up with truth and grace. Or I see a need that I could meet, and I just go do it. Not pause and talk myself out of it, as tempting as that sounds.

Mordecai prodded Esther to act. I need to ask myself—where is the Holy Spirit prodding me?

Esther 4 in week forty-eight of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by William Krause

David, of all the writers in the Bible, possessed the sharpest intuition about the way the Lord knows us and relates to us. Reading his psalms pulls me into the deep end of understanding how the Lord cares for us as we go through this life. Here’s an example:

You perceive my thoughts from afar…before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely…you hem me in behind and before…where can I flee from your presence?

Amazingly, the Lord knows us even from the womb: For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb…I am fearfully and wonderfully made…my frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.

Those who place stock in the words of scripture, myself included, find compelling reasons to protect the lives of those not yet born. Every person alive—each and every one of us—arrives from the hand of the Creator, and those hands first act within the womb. It’s hard for me to acquiesce to the destruction of people with such value and worth.

Choose life. The Lord grants it to us and the Lord guides us through it. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

Why would I not pursue such a life with my Creator? Why not, like David, ask the Lord to lead me in the way everlasting?

I choose life—how about you?

Psalm 139 in week forty-eight of reading the Bible cover to cover

The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo

A week-long party marked the end of years of hope and prayer and hard work. Jewish exiles celebrated the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, destroyed years before. For the longest time the construction looked impossible, and enemies tried to halt the work. Now the builders partied.

The exiles celebrated a miraculous turn of events in their long saga of hopes and disappointments, something they dared not dream as they started. The Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

The king of Assyria ruled vast lands and peoples. An obscure temple on the edge of his empire normally failed to spark much interest, let alone call for an enormous resource allocation to ensure its reconstruction. His attitude tended toward ignoring such requests. Better to build magnificent works down the street than across the desert.

However, the Lord stepped in and changed the king’s attitude, and created an enthusiastic benefactor. The pagan king went all in, the the temple stood finished in record time, and the party started in Jerusalem.

I often despair over circumstances that look beyond hope, and I worry about people that look beyond change. In doing so, I forget the God of Israel, who changes the attitudes of any he wishes. In my resignation, I forget to pray to our God who holds the hearts of men and women in his hand. I overlook the power of the Lord.

The Lord changes attitudes. It might take years, like rebuilding a temple, but I pray understanding this reality. And when I see evidence of such change, then it’s time to party.

Ezra 6 in week forty-eight of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Sarah Dorweiler