“Gone Fishing” Matthew 17:24-27

Peter was moping in Capernaum because the temple tax collectors wanted their money and he didn’t have it.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Jesus. “Take a little break and go fishing.”

So Peter took His advice, went down to the lake, and threw in his line. Imagine the great guffaw from Peter when the first fish he caught had a coin to pay both his and Jesus’ tax!

I can just see Peter coming back up the lane to his house a few hours later—“Lord, guess what I found!”

I’m sure Jesus smiled at Peter.

Pleasing the Lord

You may remember the story, Chariots of Fire, made into a movie in 1981. The young Eric Liddell is racing with his friends in Scotland. After he easily wins, he says, "I believe that God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. When I run, I feel His pleasure."

About a month ago I came across a Bible verse that caught my attention so powerfully that I printed it in letters half-an-inch high across the first pages of my journal— FIND OUT WHAT PLEASES THE LORD! Eph. 5:10.

Then I started to dig—what does please the Lord? For starters, I ran a Bible search on those three words and got seven hits, four OT and three NT. Apparently, “it pleased the Lord to bless Israel.” Num.24:1. “It pleased the Lord to make you [Israel] prosper and increase in number.” Deut.28:63. Then it pleases the Lord to “praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving” (more than sacrificing an ox or a bull). Psa.69:31. “It pleased the Lord…to make his law great and glorious.” Isa.42:21.

The New Testament tells us that we all should be “concerned about the Lord’s affairs”—how we can please the Lord. 1 Cor.7:32. And then, “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.” Col.3:20.

Let’s enlarge on the whole subject of “pleasing the Lord,” by brainstorming a list of things that help:—

       • direct communication with the Lord (prayer and Bible reading—we speak to Him and He speaks to us.)

      • raising our children to know Him.

      • associating with and helping all God’s people.

      • assembling with God’s people to worship Him.

      • spreading the knowledge and the love of the Lord everywhere we can.

      • striving for personal holiness. Arthur Dixon recently commented, “Do you want to be holy? Read 1 Corinthians 13!”

This list is almost overwhelming, and it’s far from complete. Here are three more scriptures: Psalm 104:34 says, “May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord,” and 2 Tim.2:4 says “No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.” Finally, 2 Cor.5:9 says, “We make it our goal to please him.”

Perhaps no one outside of scripture said it better than C.S. Lewis: “That some of us, that any of us who really chooses, shall actually survive that examination, shall find approval, shall please God. To please God…to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness…to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son—it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is.”

Summer sunrise, from my balcony

Some thoughts about creation

God created light!—not that He just lit a candle or a star and produced light, but that He created light. ‘God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.’ Gen.1:3. And what powers light, that it can travel for four years from the nearest star? What other thing do we know of that can travel undiminished for that length of time, with no other apparent input of energy? No wonder we are told that “God is light.” 1 John 1:5. What better metaphor could there be in the physical world for a pure, unchanging, fadeless and eternal Being? But this is still only a figure of speech because God is greater than light—He can go where light can never go. Psalm 139:12 tells us, “darkness is as light to you,” and Hebrews 4:13 says, “nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.” Ultimately, Paul tells us, He “lives in unapproachable light.” 1 Tim.6:16.




Mount Saint Michael at high tide and low. South coast of England.

 

Book Review: Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible

Strong, James, ed. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Holman Bible Publishers, 1999.

For Father’s Day, my children gave me an iPod Touch. One of the first things I put onto it was a Bible from the Olive Tree Company because it included a search function allowing me to find any word in the Bible. I now use it all the time for my daily reading and my thought was that now I don’t need a concordance any more. How wrong I was, as you will see.

James Strong (1822-1894) was Professor of Exegetical Theology at Drew Theological Seminary in New Jersey, when this work was first published in 1890. Although based on the King James Version of the Bible, it is really only a compilation of facts—it’s almost like a huge computer print-out. As a concordance, it allows you to find any word in the Bible. Where it goes beyond a concordance is this— it allows you to see which Hebrew or Greek word was used to give whatever English word you are searching, and shows what other words were used to translate that same Hebrew or Greek word.

For instance, look up the word “pleased,” as in, “it pleased the Lord to bruise him.” Isa.53:10. The Concordance for this reference indicates that the word for “pleased” is Strong’s Number 2654. When we look up that number, we find that the word has been translated in the KJV by a multitude of other words, including (have, take) delight, desire, favour, like, move, be (well) pleased, have pleasure, will, or would. If we look up any of these words, we will find at least one instance where #2654 was the original. It thus becomes impossible for the non-Hebrew speaker to refine the exact meaning. Perhaps the best modern word to use would be, “It was the Lord’s will to crush him.”

When you think that this book is over 1500 triple-columned, fine-print pages from the days before computers, it’s obvious that Strong was primarily the supervisor and editor— he was backed up in the work by over a hundred colleagues. It must have even become a matter of some pride because when the title says “exhaustive”, it means “exhaustive”— even the words “a” and “an” are indexed!

The publisher now tells us that the entire book has been newly typeset, with “a key word comparison chart for six Bible translations. The words of Jesus are shown in red.” Maybe it’s time I bought a new copy!

Reviewed by Glenn Wilson 