Solitaire

I look at my computerized-Solitaire winning percentage.  37%.  Not very high.  But I don't feel like I have much else to do, so I keep playing.  And keep playing.  About fifteen games later, I finally stop, convicted that I could probably find something more productive to do.  But before I leave the game, I look at my winning percentage one more time.  Guess what?  It's still 37%.  Well over thirty minutes of my life and nothing changed - you can't even tell I spent time playing Solitaire.  Thirty minutes of my life had been used up without any lasting significance.

"Everyday is a bank account

And time is our currency

So no one's rich, nobody's poor

We get twenty-four hours each

So how are you gonna spend

Will you invest or squander

Try to get ahead 

Or help someone who's under?"

"Life Means So Much," by Chris Rice, raises a thought-provoking question.  How are we going to spend our lives?  We have less time than we think.  "What is your life?" James asks us.  "For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes" (James 4:14).  When I was little, time seemed to drag by very slowly.  Adults always told me that time flies, but I found it hard to believe.  At the end of our lives, though, we will be surprised how quickly we have spent our days.


It has been estimated that, by the end of a sixty-five-year-life, the average person will have spent nine years watching television.  Nine years spent sitting in front of a television tube.  Other ways we waste our time are more subtle: a little daydreaming here, watching the same YouTube video four times in an hour, or a game of Solitaire that turns into ten games.  Sports, movies, chit-chat, gossip; our time is spent "mulling over things that won't live past today" (Casting Crowns, "Here I Go Again").  What about purpose and vision? Where is our passion for a life that glorifies God?


While there is nothing inherently wrong with TV, sports, or Solitaire, why do we spend such great amounts of time on activities that have no eternal significance?  God calls us to pray without ceasing, study to show ourselves approved (so that we can be able to give an answer for the hope that is in us), and make the best use of the little time we have - and we're squandering so much of it on activities that have no eternal purpose.  We must use our time to do what God has called us to do.


As Chris Rice's song continues, "Teach us to count the days/Teach us to make the days count" ("Life Means So Much," Chris Rice).  While, again, there is nothing wrong with a game or two of Solitaire, may I always remember that playing a game is not what makes a day count.  Obedience to God and diligent working to do His will is what determines a day well-spent.  May we always be careful to, as Paul entreated, "Look carefully then how you walk...making the best use of the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-17).

Only, Part Three

Read Part One Here
Read Part Two Here

"I've called three different nursing homes - I haven't found one with an Esther Powell," Mrs. Stevens told Logan and Larissa.

"Great!" Hallie interjected as she hung up the phone. "Good Shepherd Nursing Home has an Esther Powell in Room 223," she informed the others. "The receptionist said that we can visit anytime!"

"That's great, Hallie," Mrs. Stevens told her daughter. "Let's get ready to go and Larissa can ask her parents if she can come, too. But we need to remember, even though we have some of Mrs. Powell's pictures and diaries and we know quite a bit about her, she doesn't know us or anything about us. We don't know how her health is, either. Let's remember to take it slow and be understanding."

~~~

Once everyone was in the car and they started for Good Shepherd Nursing Home, Hallie opened the diary Mrs. Powell wrote when she was twelve years old and began reading. "August 3, 1929. Today I met Mrs. Anderson. She is about eighty years old. She was kind. She gave me a wooden figurine. Love, Esther." Hallie closed the book and wondered what it would have been like to be twelve years old in 1929.

"We're here!" Mrs. Stevens announced.

~~~

"Here's Room 223," Larissa whispered to Hallie.

"Go ahead, honey. We're right behind you," Mrs. Stevens assured Hallie.

Hallie knocked on the door. "Come in," they heard a feeble voice say. Slowly, Hallie opened the door.

"Mrs. Powell?" she asked.

A frail woman looked up from her reading. "Yes?" she answered.

"My name is Hallie Stevens; my family and I live in your old house. We found some things that might be yours."

Logan brought the box of mementos to Mrs. Powell. "Oh, yes," Mrs. Powell gushed excitedly. "My, these bring back memories," she smiled as she picked up some of the old photos.

For a moment no one spoke as she lovingly looked through her long-lost treasures. Finally Mrs. Stevens broke the silence. "Mrs. Powell, if it's okay with you, we would love to hear more about these," she gently suggested.

Mrs. Powell leaned back in her chair. "My husband George and I got married in 1939, right before World War II. We were married fifty-three years."

"Where did you get this?" Hallie asked, handing Mrs. Powell the wooden figurine of an open Bible.

Mrs. Powell fingered the decoration in her hands and read softly, 'Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last.'" After a moment's pause she continued. "A lady named Mrs. Anderson gave this to me," she said.

"Oh," Hallie remembered. "I read about her in one of the diaries."

"Yes!" Mrs. Powell smiled at Hallie. "My parents became Christians when I was around your age, largely due to Mrs. Anderson's example and testimony. Mrs. Anderson gave this to me to remind me to spend my one short life only on things that matter."

"Did you?" Logan spoke up.

Hallie glared at Logan. "That's not very polite," she whispered.

Mrs. Powell noticed Hallie's reprimanding look. "Oh, no, I'd love to answer his question," she interrupted them. "No, young man, unfortunately I didn't. I was a Christian, but I didn't count the days."

"Count the days?" Larissa was confused.

"Yes; Psalm 90:12 says, 'So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.' All of us have a limited time on earth. When I was your age, it felt like my adult years were decades away, but once I was an adult, the years passed by all to quickly. I wish I had realized that at your age." Mrs. Powell looked at Hallie. "I wish I had followed the advice of this figurine when I was younger. Life is short - we want to live it for a purpose, and only Jesus Christ is a purpose great enough." Mrs. Powell handed the figurine back to Hallie. "Here, I want you to have this. When you see it, remember me, and remember that life is short."

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Stevens asked.

"Definitely," Mrs. Powell asserted. "I want to give it to someone who will remember - and live - its message."

"Thank you," was all Hallie could say as she felt the privilege of receiving what had been given to Mrs. Powell many years before.

~~~

That night, before bedtime, Hallie settled into her bed with her diary and opened it to a blank page. She started to write, but then paused and picked up a wooden figurine of an open open Bible. Hallie read what was written under the Bible: "Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last." Hallie set it down and began to write. "Today I met Mrs. Powell. Psalm 90:12 says..."

Thursday's Thought

"Wherever you are - be all there."
Jim Elliot

Only, Part Two

Read Part 1 here

"Logan, are you okay?" Hallie called out a little anxiously to her brother. Without any light, she couldn't tell what had happened.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Somehow the cat got up here with us," Logan explained. "I saw something moving behind the boxes; when it dashed out, it scratched me and caught me off guard. I accidentally hit the switch on the lamp, so the lights went out."

"All that was caused by a cat?!" Larissa questioned as Logan turned the light back on.

"Yeah - I mean - no, no," Logan caught himself. "it was a specially trained dog from the Corlat Resistance. It's called a D-8 and it's the most vicious dog man has ever known."

"That's more like it," Larissa teased.

"So, what's in the CR notebook?" Logan asked, changing the subject. "Battle plans? List of spies?"

"Sorry, Logan - it looks like a little girl's diary," Hallie answered, as she was the only one who had actually looked at the notebook so far.

"What - that's it?! It must be a decoy!" Logan decided.

"Yeah, that's it. Just a little girl's diary. But I like reading it. Here, on May 8, 1925, she wrote, 'Today I got a necklace from Aunt Pearl. I want to wear it to church tomorrow. Love, Esther.'"

"That's it? For the whole day?" Logan asked. "Girls," he scoffed.

"Logan, the notebook and the decoration might belong to the previous owners - we need to get it back to them," Hallie pointed out.

"Haven't you already lived here a long time?" Larissa asked.

"Several years..." Hallie began thoughtfully.

"...but there were still previous owners," Logan finished. "Was the previous owner named 'Esther'?" he asked.

"I can't remember," Hallie said slowly as she tried to remember. "I just remember the names Mr. and Mrs. Powell."

"Okay, let's look around up here and see if there is something else from the same girl," Logan strategically suggested.

Everyone spread out and started opening boxes. "Wow, Logan - is this you?" Larissa held up a framed baby picture. "Look at those ears!"

"Yeah," Logan grinned sheepishly. "But you should see Hallie's - she had the curliest hair in Parker county!"

"Hey, here's something," Hallie interrupted Logan and Larissa's laughter. "It's a wooden box I haven't noticed before - oh, look!" she exclaimed as she opened it. Logan and Larissa hurried over to her. "It's full of old black and white pictures, some letters, and a couple of diaries."

"Can you imagine living in such an hold house," Logan asked, for once a little distracted from his mission. Larissa giggled at the change.

"We need to show this to Mom," Hallie decided, definitely the most focused member of the trio.

~~~

"Mom, look at this!" Logan yelled. "We found a metal box in the basement and it had a diary that a little girl wrote a long time ago so we ran upstairs to see if the attic had anything else of hers and Hallie opened this box that had more diaries and some pictures and we think it might have belonged to the Powells."

"Wow," Larissa commented on Logan's explanation. "Nice delivery."

"See, Mom?" Hallie pulled out a black and white wedding picture. "On the back it says, 'October 14, 1939: Mr. George and Mrs. Esther Powell'. The Powells were the previous owners! We need to find them and give it back!"

"I see," Mrs. Stevens examined what the showed her. "I would sure want it all back."

"There's also this beautiful wooden figurine of an open Bible. Below the Bible it says, ''Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last,'" Hallie held up her favorite item from the box.

"Look at this, Hallie," Mrs. Stevens pointed out. "This birth certificate says Esther Wilson - it must be Mrs. Powell's maiden name. Did you see the birthdate?"

"No," Hallie answered curiously.

"It says May 24, 1917. That would make her ninety-three years old."

"Wow," Hallie said softly.

"Is she still alive?" Logan asked. No one answered.

To be continued...

Only, Part 1

“So, what do you wanna do?” Hallie asked her friend Larissa.

“I dunno. What do you want to do?

"We've done it all. We went swimming, played Monopoly, Scrabble, and we've watched lots of home movies."

"Hi, guys. Do you have the other walkie-talkie, Hallie?" Logan walked in on the bored friends.

"Sure do; here it is. What are you up to?"

"Oh, nuthin'. I'm just reporting on a solo mission to infiltrate enemy lines and discover the secret passageway to the classified headquarters of the Corlat Resistance. Mom's agreed to be my back-up, so she needs the other walkie-talkie in the living room."

"What?!" Larissa exclaimed.

"I think he's exploring the basement," Hallie explained.

"Don't you already know what's down there?" Larissa questioned.

Hallie glanced at her brother and grinned. "It depends on the way you look at it."

"Girls have no imagination," Logan muttered.

"Hey, can we go with you, Logan?" Hallie asked.

"What?" Larissa didn't agree.

"No, really, it'll be fun!" Hallie insisted.

"Okay, but remember: Corlat Resistance (or CR) agents are everywhere; we can never be too careful. And don't forget - we're looking for the key to the Dorex Hall Entrance."

"Got it," Hallie agreed solemnly.

"I'll never understand you guys," Larissa commented as she followed them apprehensively.

~~~

Larissa second-guessed her agreement as she quietly crawled across the cold basement floor - in the dark, of course. ("Lights?! And let the CR agents know we're coming?" Logan had said.)

"Hey, look, guys - it's a tunnel. I've never noticed it before, Hallie," Logan observed, whispering.

"It's not a tunnel," Hallie whispered back. "It just sticks back a few feet. See?"

"Oh. The CR agents must have blockaded it," Logan decided.

Larissa rolled her eyes. "Always a theory," she complained.

"Ow!" Hallie yelped.

"On guard, CR agent! You have met your match!" Logan jumped to his feet.

"What is it, Hallie?" Larissa ignored Logan as he poked among the boxes with a yardstick, looking for hiding agents.

"It's a box - a metal one. I hit it with my toe."

Persuaded that no CR agents had detected their presence, Logan returned to Hallie and Larissa. "Maybe it holds the coveted key to the Dorex Hall Entrance!" he gushed.

"Oh, pleeeeease," Larissa complained to Hallie.

"Let's open it and find out," Hallie suggested, still interested in the contents of the box. Logan held a flashlight over the box as Hallie worked open the rusty latch. "Sorry, Logan, no key. Just a notebook and a wooden decoration of some kind. It says, 'Only one life, 'twill soon be past, Only what's done for Christ will last.'"

"Let's get this back to Alpha Force Headquarters and examine it further," Logan suggested.

"Great - will there at least be light?" Larissa asked.

~~~

As they stood at the entrance to Alpha Force Headquarters, Larissa wasn't so sure that headquarters would be an improvement.

"The attic? The attic is Elf Force Headquarters?" she couldn't help sounding disappointed.

"Alpha," Hallie corrected her. Logan mumbled something about girls.

"As a still-rising officer of the Alpha Force, I don't visit headquarters often, but Hallie's discovery will be well worth my superiors' attention," Logan informed Larissa with the air of a decorated army general. "As for me," he continued, "while my findings have often been sent in documented form, this is only my second time to visit headquarters in person."

"He helped Dad with spring-cleaning last year," Hallie explained in a hushed voice to Larissa.

"I've never really liked attics," Larissa confided hesitantly as Logan brought down the ladder. "They're dark and boring, and -"

"Boring?!" Logan was appalled at the thought. "Girls," he sighed.

Once they were in the attic, Logan made his way through boxes over to a rafter where a lamp hung and turned it on. Larissa and Hallie found a set of folding chairs and set them up for the three of them.

"Okay," Hallie thought aloud as she opened the box. "Are you coming, Logan?"

"Yeah," he said absent-mindedly, as he was obviously watching something among the boxes. Hallie and Larissa pulled out the notebook and opened it. "Aaaah! Ow!" Logan cried out. Hallie gasped as the lights went out. Larissa screamed.

To be continued...

Beyond All Measure

"'Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends'" (John 15:13). In a culture full of love offered at a lower price, such sacrificial love isn't often asked for - and rarely given. Yet, no greater love exists.

In the Old Testament, God asks, speaking of Israel, "'What more was there to do for My vineyard, that I have not done in it?'" (Isaiah 5:4).  God gave Israel all she could need: fertile land, peace from neighbors (when Israel was faithful and obedient), priests and prophets, and a way to know the God of everything.  "'I have loved you with an everlasting love,'" God told His people. "'Yet you have not listened to Me...'" (Jeremiah 31:3; Jeremiah 25:7).

When Jesus came, He spent His life glorifying God by loving those He met. He taught them, healed them, served them - giving His time, energy, wisdom, patience... "Now...when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end" (John 13:1). He spent His life loving and when the time came, He showed the extent of His love by willingly giving His life.

Love songs abound as well as differing opinions on what love is. In 1 John, we find God's definition of love: "By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us... " (1 John 3:16). The entire Bible is written from a loving God to people who never deserve that love yet have always received it. "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1). When we wake up every day, we should count the many blessings we have received from our loving God. The One who created the entire universe has lovingly given us opportunity to pursue a close relationship with Him. God has given us salvation, His Word, family, an education... On top of all that, He proves His love a thousand other ways a day that we often take for granted. The most often-quoted verse in the Bible speaks of God's great love for us, stating that "God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son" (John 3:16, emphasis added). As Stuart Townend wrote,

"How deep the Father's love for us,

How vast beyond all measure,

That He should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure."

A Friend for Megan

Hallie walked down the street to her house after taking a stroll around her neighborhood.

"Hi, Hallie!" she heard as she approached her house.

Hallie turned. "Hi, Megan," she said with a little disappointment. Megan was a little younger than Hallie and followed her around whenever possible. Hallie thought Megan was nice, but having her around constantly quickly became annoying.

"Can you play?" Megan asked excitedly.

Mentally, Hallie searched for a good excuse. Relieved, she thought of one. "I really need to go help my mom get lunch ready," she explained.

"Oh," said Megan, sadly.

"Maybe I can play later," Hallie offered, now that she felt a little sorry for Megan.

~~~

After lunch that day, Mrs. Stevens went into Hallie's room. "Hallie," she began. "Do you remember when we talked about Megan Howell's parents' mission trip?"

"Yeah," said Hallie as she remembered. "They're going to Russia for three weeks, right?"

"That's right," Mrs. Stevens answered. "Mr. and Mrs. Howell have given a lot of money and spent a lot of time and effort helping a church there get started. They want to spend a couple of weeks in Russia to meet the people and see how things are going."

"Sounds great," Hallie said.

"Well, the Howells need a place for Megan to stay while they're in Russia, and your dad and I talked it over and told them she could stay here."

"What?!" Hallie responded quickly. "For three weeks?! Three weeks with Megan here? Mom, she's going to follow me around everywhere and look through everything in my room and talk constantly..."

"I know, honey, I know, but your dad and I talked about it and this is a way we can bless the Howells. As Christians, they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus told His disciples, '"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another'" (John 13:35). Just like the believers in the early Church helped each other (see Acts 4:32), this is our opportunity to do the same for the Howells. I know it won't be easy, honey, but this is our opportunity to glorify God by loving His children."

"Okay, Mom," Hallie sighed, still disappointed. "I guess I'll see what I have that Megan would enjoy doing."

"Great idea," Mrs. Stevens smiled.

~~~

Hallie cleaned her room as she thought about what she and Megan could do for three weeks. We could play with my old dolls and watch that movie I LOVED when I was her age, she thought. After that, the ideas just kept coming. We could play that board game, uh, what was it? Oh! "Honey House!" Maybe she would like that bowling game that's been in our storage room for forever... Hallie remembered the verse her mom had talked about: "'By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another'" (John 13:35). Lord, please help me to be able to show Your love to Megan while she is here, she prayed.

~~~

One week later, Mrs. Stevens went upstairs to Hallie's room where Hallie and Megan were giggling uncontrollably. "What's so funny?" she asked.

"Megan thinks my baby pictures are hilarious," Hallie explained. "And come to mention it, I did look kinda funny," she smiled. Megan burst out laughing again.

"Well, I'm glad you girls are having fun!" Mrs. Stevens smiled. "Megan, I just got a call from your mom and she said that everything is going great. Only two more weeks and they'll be home!"

Hallie smiled at Megan and then looked at her mom. "It'll fly by," she said.

None Greater

"We love because He first loved us," the apostle John penned (1 John 4:19).  "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" Paul explained to the Roman church (Rom. 5:8).  We have countless examples of God's love toward us, but how do we show our love to Him?  A king, a preacher, and a zealot were all loved by God, and their lives and actions testify to their love for God in return.

"'The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart,'" the prophet Samuel told King Saul (1 Samuel 13:14).  Paul affirmed this title for David when he told the Christians in Antioch that God had said, "'"I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after My heart, who will do all My will"'" (Acts 13:22). Always a zealous follower of God, David is first mentioned in the Scriptures when he was anointed by Samuel the prophet while Saul was still king.  Instead of violently grabbing the kingdom with his own two hands, David patiently waited for God's timing - even when Saul unlawfully sought David's life.  Armed with a sling, some stones, and a strong faith in the God of his fathers, the teenaged David struck down the giant Goliath, who had held the entire Israelite army in fear by his sheer presence.  David claimed the victory for God.  Later in David's life, David wanted to build a Temple for God, as he told Nathan the prophet: "'See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent'" (2 Samuel 7:2).  However, God told David that it was not for him to build the Temple of God, '"for you are a man of war and have shed blood'" (1 Chron. 28:3).  While obedient to God's command to wait and let David's son Solomon build the Temple, David still drew up the plans for the Temple - wanting to have some part in the building of the house of his God.  David wrote most of the Book of Psalms in the Bible, many of them listing the great things God had done for him and David's love for God in return: "I love you, O LORD, my strength" (Psalm 18:1).  David put God first in what he did and sought the things of God before the things of man.

The apostle John called himself, "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (John 20:2).  That doesn't mean that John was the only disciple that Jesus loved, but it does mean that John and Jesus had a close bond.  When Jesus died, He put His mother into the care of John (John 19:26-27).  Drawing from his own time with Jesus, John wrote extensively on love.  In the book of 1 John alone (a mere five chapters!), the word "love" appears thirty-six times.  1 John includes a description of love: "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10).  "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome...And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us" (1 John 5:3, 3:23).

Peter was the most headstrong and zealous of all Jesus' disciples, and often swung violently from one extreme to another.  When Jesus washed the disciples' feet, Peter objected, '"You shall never wash my feet.'" Jesus replied, '"If I do not wash you, you have no share with Me.'"  Peter emphatically declared, '"Lord, [wash] not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!'" (John 13:6-11).  He refused to believe that Jesus would one day be killed (Matt. 16:22-23).  When the mob came to take Jesus to the high priests, Peter heedlessly cut off the high priest's servant's ear (John 18:10; Luke 22:49-51). However, once the Spirit descended on him and he understood Jesus' purpose in coming to earth, Peter changed from his overly dramatic and zealous earlier days.  After Jesus' resurrection, He asked, '"Simon...do you love Me?"'  "'Yes, Lord, You know that I love You,"' Peter replied.  "'Feed My lambs,"' Jesus commanded Peter (see John 21:15-17).  If we love God, we will love and care for His children.  Six times in 1 and 2 Peter, the wise apostle entreated those receiving his letters to "love one another earnestly from a pure heart" (1 Peter 1:22) and "[l]ove the brotherhood" (1 Peter 2:17).  The man who once cut off a man's ear now entreated his friends to love each other.

Peter and John were probably present when a scribe wisely agreed with Jesus, '"And to love [God] with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices'" (Mark 12:33).  As King David showed us, to love God is to put Him before everything else.  We are not truly loving God when we are only performing the required minimum.  God wants us to love Him with all our heart, understanding, and strength - He wants to be first in our lives.  As the apostle John wrote, to love Him is to obey Him.  And as the zealot-turned-pastor Peter counseled, to love God is to love those He loves.  As the disciple whom Jesus loved said, "We love because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).  Let us love the LORD our God with all our heart, our mind, and our heart, and love our neighbors like we love ourselves, for Jesus taught, '"There is no other commandment greater than these'" (see Mark 12:30-31).

Showing the World

Deep in the heart of South American jungle in the small, coastal country of Ecuador, lived one of the most savage tribes ever known - the Waorani.  As savage defenders against outsiders, the Waorani had never been reached by anyone outside their tribe. But that was about to change.

Also in Ecuador, but not so deep in the jungle, five men and their wives labored to bring the Gospel to those who had not yet heard. They all had different backgrounds and circumstances; one had been married for nearly eight years and had three children, another married only eighteen months with no children. One was a World War II paratrooper, another a deep thinker, and another a inventive pilot. But they were alike in their passion for Christ and their burden for those who did not know the truth. Like the Waorani.

Leading up to their first meeting with the brutal, unreached tribe, the five missionaries dropped gifts to the Waoranis, including meticulously-planned items and photos designed to prove their friendship to the natives. After much prayer, planning, and more prayer, they flew off to visit the Waorani tribe for the first time on January 3, 1956. Meanwhile, the wives waited anxiously for the periodic radio contact and reassurance that everything was going well. On January 8, one of the missionaries radioed his wife and assured her that things were going fine. He saw that Waoranis were approaching, so he promised his wife that he'd call again at 4:35. His wife waited. All was quiet.

It was love from God that motivated the five men to pursue what appeared to be a suicidal mission in order to further the good news of the Gospel. It was that same true, Biblical love that kept those five from using their weapons when the natives returned - with spears. It was that same love from God that empowered one of the five martyrs' wives and another's sister to return to the same natives and continue the mission of furthering the Gospel - ministering to the same ones who murdered their loved ones!

Elisabeth Elliot wrote of one of the missionaries, "[he had] a love for God and a sympathetic heart" (Through Gates of Splendor, p. 65). Before his death, another of the slain missionaries wrote in his diary, "I am longing now to reach the Aucas [Waorani], if God gives me the honor of proclaiming the Name among them. I would gladly give my life for that tribe, if only to see an assembly of [them] gathering around a table to honor the Son" (Through Gates of Splendor, p. 26). All five showed a love for God that motivated a love for the lost - a love strong enough to resist fighting back when those they loved turned on them. This love for God, passion for His glory, and love for those who had never known the Gospel motivated Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, and Roger Youderian to give their lives. They could agree with another missionary, John Stott, who challenged, "In view of the constraining memories of the cross of Christ and the love wherewith He hath loved us, let us rise and resolve, at whatever cost of self-denial, that live or die, we shall live or die for the evangelization of the world in our day.” They did it gladly. God's love is great! As five missionaries to Ecuador have shown the world, our love should be, too.

Naught Be All Else To Me

The other day my family and I were shopping in a major retail outlet. Imagine my surprise when, as I was browsing for deals, I found a miniature, desktop Buddha (for only one dollar). As an American, I have never seen what many in other countries see routinely: a Buddha statue intended to be worshiped. It struck me that right in front of me in the aisle of that major American shopping center was an object that in other countries is a symbol of idolatrous devotion and solemn religious rituals.

The first two of the Ten Commandments both dealt with idolatry: "'You shall have no other gods before Me'" and "'You shall not make for yourself an idol'" (Exodus 20:3-4). Repeatedly, Israel abandoned God's commands and pursued the gods - the idols - of the other nations. In fact, King Amaziah of Judah went so far as to worship the gods of the peoples he conquered. As a prophet of the Lord insightfully asked Amaziah, "'Why have you sought the gods of a people who did not deliver their own people from your hand?'" (2 Chronicles 25:14-16). Testifying to God's sovereignty over all false gods, the Bible records an account of when the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant during battle with Israel. Triumphantly, the Philistines took the Ark and put it in front of their god, Dagon, in their temple. They awoke the next morning and "there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD!" So they set him back up. But the next day, "there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained" (1 Samuel 5:1-4). Idolatry was not just an Old Testament problem. Paul debated Greeks whose city was full of idols. He also reminded the Corinthians, "'What agreement has the temple of God with idols?"' (2 Corinthians 6:16). The apostle John ended his first epistle with the plea, "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21).
Neither did idolatry end after the New Testament. I realize that those who buy the one-dollar-desktop-Buddha-statue aren't intending it for worship. It's merely a desktop decoration; something that just sits there. We all have our own desktop idols (our pet sins), don't we? Bob Hostetler wrote American Idols: The Worship of the American Dream, where he says,

"I've become convinced that often the cause [of a lukewarm spiritual life] is idolatry. Not so much the ancient, pagan-altar-on-a-hilltop variety, nor the light-a-candle, chant-a-mantra sort of thing, either. No, it's usually a more modern form of idolatry. More antiseptic. More American. We seldom realize it when it happens, but our lives can easily become infected with modern idolatries that look utterly harmless, sometimes even virtuous. But these 'user-friendly' idols distract us from a wholehearted, single-minded devotion to God, and become the enemies of our souls. They insert themselves between us and God. They hinder our prayers. They dull our spiritual sensitivity and impede our spiritual growth. And, like all idols, they substitute broken cisterns that hold no water for the springs of living water God wants to pour into our lives..."

In his book, Hostetler names fourteen - yes, fourteen! - idols that are socially acceptable and even common in our day, such as "The Microwave Mentality" (instant gratification), "The Modern Baal" (money), and "The Passion for Fashion" (appearance). As Ross King writes in his song, "Clear the Stage": "Anything I put before my God is an idol. Anything I want with all my heart is an idol. Anything I can't stop thinking of is an idol. Anything that I give all my love is an idol" (And All the Decorations, Too). How easy it is to give our heart and set our thoughts on something other than God - even in our modern day.

If we root our idols from our hearts, Hostetler's prayer is that we "may come to know the one true God to be an extent we've not yet experienced or even imagined." As Ross King's song advises: "We must not worship something that's not even worth it. Clear the stage and make some space for the one who deserves it." Let us tear down every idol from the throne of our heart, be it Baal or fashion, Buddha or self-gratification. That throne is for God and God alone. Anything that takes our mind and heart from the One who made us to worship Him will cause us to stumble in our walk with God. Another song prays a prayer against idolatry of the heart:

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.

Thou my best thought, by day or by night,

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,

Thou mine inheritance, now and always:

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,

High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.