Sand to Sea

By Peter Lundell –

Imagine your whole life washing away in the ocean. I did when my daughter and I built a sandcastle on our vacation.

I stood by the water, facing land, and the castle looked great. People even came by to take photos, as if they’d built it themselves. Then I stepped to the other side of our sand monument and faced the sea.

Against the vast expanse of waves, the castle looked puny, miniscule, like nothing. And I knew it would wash away.

We built another castle after some little kids had fun kicking down the first one. Their parents apparently thought it was fun too. The second one still stood when we left to go home. But I knew that if it survived a kid’s foot, it would not survive the next storm or big wave.

Like the first castle, my life could end suddenly. Or I might slowly wash away in old age. Either way, the impressive things I’ve done with my life are like sand at the edge of the ocean, whose waves will eventually wash away every trace.

So what do I do about it? Panic? That’s wasted energy. Cynical disillusionment? That only makes things worse. Build bigger castles? The waves are infinitely bigger. I’ll never get out of this world alive, and I can’t take anything with me. Instead I’ll focus on what is not temporary and physical, what cannot wash away. And what brings more joy and purpose than anything else.

Jesus’ teaching, and his great commandment of Matthew 22:37–40, all come down to two things: loving God and loving people. To follow Him, my life becomes an act of worship to God and of blessing to other people. Worship is not only what I do in a Sunday morning sanctuary; I worship God daily, hourly if I have the focus to remember. I worship God with a right heart and mind attuned to Him, with a life lived as He taught me to live it. That honors him and finds intimacy with Him, whether in daily details or life ambitions.

Whatever castle I build, I’ve come to accept, even anticipate, an eternity that washes up like those ocean waves. How about you?

PRAYER: Lord, I offer up my life as an act of worship. May my thoughts, my goals, my attitudes, and my feelings be in harmony with Your Spirit. May my words and actions honor You and be a blessing to others.

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love our neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments’” (Matthew 22:37–40, NIV).

Today’s devotion is by Peter Lundell, author of Prayer Power. A rising new voice on connecting with God, he is a pastor, Bible college teacher and conference speaker. Visit him at www.PeterLundell.com for his inspirational “Connections” and free downloads of articles, parables, short stories and book chapters.

Dead Jesuses

By Peter Lundell –

I visited two churches in downtown Los Angeles. And they both had dead Jesuses.

One was the first church ever erected here, when L.A. was just a pueblo built by settlers from Mexico. At the back of the sanctuary lay a statue of Jesus dead in the tomb. He was white as a ghost, with plastic rays spiking out from his head, safe under a Plexiglas cover. People stood and worshipped him. I was not inspired.

The other church was a beautiful Italian Renaissance structure with an imposing Greek colonnade smacked on the front. Trees obscured the statues above the columns. Everything on the edifice was written in Latin, and the only English was a small historical plaque the city had stuck on it. People passed by without a glance. The building and grounds were well maintained, but the doors were locked and lacked any kind of handle. I peeked through the crack between the doors to see white marble floors, walls and altar—empty. Cold and bare, uninviting and irrelevant.

One church has an actual dead Jesus with worshippers who pay their respects as they would at a funeral. The other has no Jesus or anyone at all—a dead and gone congregation along with whatever Jesus they once worshipped. By the looks of the church edifice, they considered Jesus rich and respectable—like themselves.

If you worship Jesus, what kind of Jesus do you worship?

Is He respectable? He who was a rabble-rousing misfit.

Is He meek and mild? He who took on demons and a temple full of merchants.

Is He sophisticated? He who was homeless.

Is He absent most of the time? He who left the throne of heaven to walk in our midst.

Or is He beyond categorization?

And alive. Alive like a fire burning.

PRAYER: Jesus, take me, my whole life. I am Yours and You are mine. Keep me from deadness in how I see You and worship You. Burn Your Holy Spirit’s fire in me. I will in turn share it with others who need a living Jesus.

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. Just as the scripture says, ‘From within him will flow rivers of living water.’ (Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive, for the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified)” (John 7:38–39, NET).

Today’s devotion is by Peter Lundell, author of Prayer Power. A rising new voice on connecting with God, he is a pastor, Bible college teacher and conference speaker. Visit him at www.PeterLundell.com for his inspirational “Connections” and free downloads of articles, parables, short stories and book chapters.

What Do We Do with God’s Garden?

By Peter Lundell –

The BP oil disaster is finally over. Or not. Millions of gallons remain unaccounted for, some coagulating and settling on the ocean floor, some dissolved with toxic dispersants dumped in the water. Underwater oil clouds and oil-soaked beaches and wetlands are creating toxic waste zones that will continue to decimate the environment and the food chain long after the spill becomes history.

And the drilling goes on. The oil that wasn’t spilled gets burned in engines, then belched into the air. Every four days, California sends as many tons of pollution into the air as the oil spill sends into the ocean in a day. But California does it nonstop. And it’s just one state.

Oh, well. Jesus is coming and the world will burn up anyway. But until then, what about our health, our lives? What about our children? What about God’s command to take care of His garden (Genesis 2:15)?

I don’t hug trees or sing about mother earth, but I want to take good care of what God gave me, whether my soul, my body, my relationships or this beautiful world He created for us. I do it because I want to honor God. And because I’m compelled by mercy toward those who would be harmed if I didn’t.

I can’t do much about large-scale disasters, but I can control how I live. There’s nothing particularly religious about going green. But I can take care of the creation in honor and love to my Creator—which becomes a witness to the world.

Would you join me? Trust me, if Jesus tarries, your children will thank you.

AUTHOR QUOTE: Lord, beyond the politics and science of the environment, I choose to be a good garden keeper of this beautiful world You gave me. Lead me to care for this great gift and to do it with a daily attitude of worship toward You.

“The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it” (Gen. 2:15, NET).

Today’s devotion is by Peter Lundell, author of Prayer Power. A rising new voice on connecting with God, he is a pastor, Bible college teacher, and conference speaker. Visit him at www.PeterLundell.com for his inspirational “Connections” and free downloads of articles, parables, short stories, and book chapters.

Win or Lose One Detail at a Time

By Peter Lundell –

I live near a city that has two professional basketball teams that oddly share the same home arena. One consistently ranks around the top of the NBA. The other loses most games. Read more

Hold Life Loosely

By Peter Lundell –

Twice in four days an LA County Sheriff’s helicopter has evacuated people from ambulances right by my house, once in the street and once in the park. I live in a suburb that’s so peaceful, I sometimes think I’ll go comatose. People move here and pay too much for their houses in order to avoid drama and send their kids to good schools. And they typically prohibit anything they don’t like—or wish they could. Don’t we all? Read more

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