Month: December 2013

Resolutions

/ Bobby Hicks / Leave a comment

Suggested Scripture Reading: Philippians 3!

Focal Passage: 12 Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, 14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14

It’s that time of year again…time for that list of things we’re going to do to improve our lives…New Year’s Resolutions. We all make them and we all break at least some of them, but we try again. I read recently where some take the easy way out:

“I’m going to eat more and exercise less”…or the more humorous route…
”I’m going to be more positive and less sarcastic; like I really have a shot at keeping that one”.

Whatever the case, most of us would like to do something to make our lives better in the coming year. Billy Graham recently stated some of his biggest regrets and what he would do to change them if he could. This one really struck me:

“I would spend more time studying the Bible and meditating on its truth, not only for sermon preparation but to apply its message to my life.”

That one immediately went to the top of my resolution list: I’m going to spend more time in God’s Word. Imagine how far that would go in helping us keep the rest of our list! Think back on your time in God’s Word this year…is there room for improvement?

I read recently where Rick Warren was asked what the best Bible Translation was. His answer was, “When you translate it into your life.” That’s what Bible Study is supposed to be about, isn’t it? I mean, if we’re not applying it to our lives, we’re not using it the right way. I find myself slipping into that trap. Many times most of my study time is spent preparing a Sunday School lesson instead of determining what God want’s me to do with His word. James tells us:

But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. James 1:22-24

And Paul makes it pretty clear in 2nd Timothy:

All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

In other words, James says we’re to stop yakking about it and do it…and Paul says we have everything we need to be better. Let’s go back to the focal passage. Paul realized a responsibility to pursue a greater personal knowledge of our Lord…an intimacy…a conformity to Jesus and holiness. He viewed his experience as that of a runner…not looking back. He didn’t mean that he refused to remember the things he did in the past, he just didn’t have to dwell in them. He had abandoned the goal he had in the past. Now he had a new goal toward which he was looking and running.

If we truly desire to be more like Jesus…to know Him more intimately, what better possible way could there be than to spend more time with Him…in prayer, and IN HIS WORD? May god bless each and every one of us in the coming year as we strive to conform to His likeness.

Why Shepherds?

/ Bobby Hicks / Leave a comment

Suggested Reading: Luke 2

FOCAL PASSAGE: 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.10 And the angel said unto them, fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,14 glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into Heaven, the shepherds said one to another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. 16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. Luke 2: 18-17.

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field…” I suppose I will remember those words until the day I leave this earth; at least I hope so…they are very precious to me. As a small boy, the passage in Luke 2:8-16 is among the first scripture I ever memorized. I remember as if it were yesterday; reciting it first for my mother for practice, and then in Sunday School class. It was a long passage for a child, and I was very proud.

Of course it was the King James Version, that’s what most of us read back then. Its poetic beauty is unmatched, but I’m glad we have other translations to read today as well. I particularly like the way The Message Bible puts this verse:

“There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood”.

Sheepherders. If you’ve ever watched an old western (I confess to not only watching, but owning a few hundred in my movie collection), then you know that sheepherders were not the most respected people in the west, particularly among the cattlemen. The same perception was true in New Testament times. Shepherds were poor, lower-class people in their society, despised by religious Jews because their work kept them away from many religious activities. Shepherds had once been held in high esteem among God’s people, but they had become unwanted, left out, and pushed to the side. They smelled like sheep. They slept on the ground. Their jobs made them little or no money…they came from the lower rung of society.

So why did God choose to reveal the glory of Heaven first to a bunch of unwanted and forgotten shepherds? Of all the people to whom He could have chosen to announce the birth of His Son, why shepherds? I suppose there might be several reasons:

-These were Bethlehem shepherds. Shepherds in this area raised sheep to be offered as sacrifices at Passover. So even in the announcement of His birth, we are reminded of His sacrificial death.

-Abraham, Moses and David were all shepherds. God made great promises to them about deliverance for their people and that the Messiah would come. Maybe He used this opportunity to show that He honors His promises by announcing it to shepherds first.

There are probably countless other parallels and I believe among the most important is this: Jesus spoke of shepherds often. It is the image He used for an example of a leader…one who pastors, who shepherds his flock and is even willing to lay down his life for them. God is frequently identified in the Old Testament as the loving, tender shepherd of His people:

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Psalm 23:1.

And in John 10:11, Jesus identifies Himself as the good shepherd who gives His life for His sheep.

In verse 10 of the focal passage, the angels spoke of “good tidings of great joy”. Look further in verse 11 at the three words they use to describe Jesus. What are they? A “Saviour” which is “Christ” (or Messiah) and “Lord”. Think about what these three words would have meant for lowly “sheepherders” who were under Roman occupation in the first Century. They meant hope…freedom…salvation.

Guess what? They mean the same for us today. Jesus came for me! I am not too low, too insignificant, too unimportant, too powerless, too forgotten, or too anything for God to love me, search for me, find me, and want to bring me home. HOW COOL IS THAT?

I received some good news yesterday in a phone call. A large contract that I have worked hard on for over a year came through. The first thing I did was tell my wife, and then I picked up the phone and called three other people and told them. I was excited…and I wanted to share it.

That news of course pales in the light of the good news the shepherds received that night. If you notice, the passage I mentioned memorizing as a child did not include verse 17. It should have. It’s an important part of the scripture…otherwise it wouldn’t be there.

“And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.”

Have you received the good news about Jesus? Have you shared it?