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- Written by: Don Goulding
Command those who are rich in this worldʼs goods not to be haughty or to set their hope on riches, which are uncertain, but on God who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment. (1 Timothy 6:17)
The monkey watched from the safety of his branch as a man chained a clay jar to a tree. The man hid something colorful inside the jar and left. The monkey caught a sugary scent. He climbed down and reached a nimble hand to the candy. The mouth of the jar was too narrow to withdraw his closed fist, so, with his arm still inside, he dragged the pot toward the safety of his tree.
The chain clinked taut.
The monkey clamped his fist tighter around the candy and howled. The noise attracted the man, who slowly pulled the chain and the monkey toward a cage. The little animal refused to abandon his sweet prize. Instead, he screamed in panic. In that situation, what else could a monkey do?
“Let go,” the Lord says to me. “Open your hand from the things of the world and live in freedom.”
Jesus would have me be more intelligent than the monkey, yet I keep mental fists around popularity, health, comfort, my bank account—the list goes on. Like the monkey, I clamp down on my expectations of what I should get.
The devil’s chain is not long. While I grip temporal gifts, Satan draws me toward eternal imprisonment. The one breakable link between me and his hellfire is where my palm seizes earthly privileges. My only available option is to open my monkey fist and trust Jesus.
Prayer: Giving Lord, I set my hope on you alone.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be assembled before him, and he will separate people one from another like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matthew 25:31-34)
While en route to an outreach in southern India, our van detoured on a dirt road, and we found ourselves surrounded by a large flock of sheep mixed with goats. In temperate climates, sheep often don’t grow a fleece, and it isn’t easy to distinguish them from goats.
“The sheep carry their tails down. The goat’s tails are up,” one of the nationals informed us.
He sounded knowledgable but tails were twitching both ways.
As our driver tooted the hooter and inched through the brown swarm, I noticed several necks in the flock sporting personal collars. This was evidence that the shepherd knew each animal by name and would certainly know which ones were sheep or goats. The passengers gawking through the van windows proved unqualified to identify the animals.
When Jesus said he would one day separate the sheep from the goats, he compared the short-haired, Middle Eastern sheep of his time to goats. The two looked so much alike that only the shepherd was qualified to identify the species.
Every day my life intertwines with both saved sheep and damned goats, and I can’t tell them apart. It’s not my job. I act like a fool when I assume the Shepherd’s task of separating the blessed from the cursed. It’s a full-time task to sort out my heart, leaving me no time to categorize others.
My responsibility is to love everybody, no matter how goatish they seem, because the Shepherd may call them sheep.
Prayer: Mighty Judge Lord Jesus, forgive me for taking over your job.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name. (Acts 22:16)
A boy beat a drum as he led our colorful throng out of his village for baptisms in Andhra Pradesh, India. Others sang, shook tambourines, and laughed as the Indian pastor and I struggled in the lake against the sucking mud. One by one, beautiful Indians waded out and were buried in the water, only to be raised in new life.
A woman waiting at the end of the line howled. Her demon lamented its imminent eviction. When her turn came, the woman forced herself and the evil spirit into the water and, after some flailing about, submitted to baptism. She left the water free of her torment.
This was not an isolated incident. I have witnessed deliverance connected with baptism in Africa, India, and Fiji. I don’t know all that is transacted in the heavenly realms at baptism, but I do know the demons take the ceremony more seriously than many of us.
Baptism is the most beautiful sacrament given to God’s children. Immersion represents the burial of the old self and then resurrection into life in Christ. This is brilliant, life-altering symbolism. Except for pride, why would any believer opt for private elopement when they can be publicly wed to Christ through baptism? I would do it repeatedly if it weren’t for the fact that union with Jesus is complete upon the first baptism of an informed follower.
Prayer: Precious Jesus, I celebrate the day I sealed my journey with you through baptism.