Week 4: Different in all the Right Ways

This week's Bible reading plan is as follows: 

• Sunday: Genesis 41:17-42:17; Matthew 13:24-46; Psalm 18:1-15; Proverbs 4:1-6
• Monday: Genesis 42:18-43:34; Matthew 13:47-14:12; Psalm 18:16-36; Proverbs 4:7-10
• Tuesday: Genesis 44:1-45:28; Matthew 14:13-36; Psalm 18:37-50; Proverbs 4:11-13
• Wednesday: Genesis 46:1-47:31; Matthew 15:1-28; Psalm 19:1-14; Proverbs 4:14-19
• Thursday: Genesis 48:1-49:33; Matthew 15:29-16:12; Psalm 20:1-9; Proverbs 4:20-27
• Friday: Genesis 50:1 - Exodus 2:10; Matthew 16:13-17:9; Psalm 21:1-13; Proverbs 5:1-6
• Saturday: Exodus 2:11-3:22; Matthew 17:10-27; Psalm 22:1-18; Proverbs 5:7-14

Our S.O.A.P. this week is from the book of Matthew: 

Scripture: Matthew 13:24-26
"Here is another story Jesus told: 'The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew.'"

Observation:
Jesus later explained to his disciples that this parable of the weeds among the wheat depicts ungodly people living among godly people. What strikes me about this is that Jesus envisions the people of his Kingdom living in close proximity to those who are not members of the Kingdom. In other words, we are living in the period of Salvation History in which weeds and wheat, Christ-followers and non-Christ-followers, coexist in the same place.

Those of us who follow Jesus live in the world but we are not of the world. We shop at the same grocery stores, wear the many of the same clothes, enjoy some of the same music, and eat the same foods. But we are fundamentally different.

Application:
The struggle I face is discerning how best to be different. That is to say, I want to be different in the ways that God wants me to be different. I want to be different in all the ways that matter for the Kingdom of God. I want my differentness to have redeeming value for the sake of Jesus Christ and his work in the world.

There are appropriate ways to be different from non-Kingdom people and there are appropriate ways to be like non-Kingdom people. The Apostle John in 1 John 2:15 says, "Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you." But when he says that we are not supposed to love the world, he is not talking about everything in the world.

Elsewhere in Scripture, for example, the Apostle Paul points out that God richly gives us everything for our enjoyment (1 Timothy 6:17). God loves to see us enjoy the beauty of a sunrise, the sweetness of Honey-Crisp apples, the thrill of roller coaster rides, and the soothing warmth of a hot bath on a cold night. There are millions of pleasures that God created for us to experience...and to enjoy these blessings the way he intended is the highest form of gratitude.

God does not want us to be different from non-Kingdom people in our enjoyment of the many pleasures he created for us to experience. He wants us to be different in terms of our core cravings. Rather than being driven by the lust for money, (immoral) sex, and power (see 1 John 2:16), we are to seek after a relationship with God as our number-one priority.

Put simply, I want to make it my aim in life to be different in all the right ways.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, please help me be enough like non-Kingdom people to be a redeeming presence while at the same time being different enough to have something of value to offer them. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Have a great week!

Faithfully,
Chuck