Delightsome Land

We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet He did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. —  Hebrews 4:15-16 Here is my prayer for you:  May you catch even the slightest glimpse of the tender mercy of our Lord Jesus. For one drop of the Lord’s mercy is better than an ocean of the world’s comfort. The situation that seems impossible. The finances that never balance. The hope so deferred it makes your heart sick. The anxiety over a child bent on a wayward path. The diet you are sick of. The broken promises of a friend. The lack of true friends. The constant messiness always distracting from the peace you want in your home. The impatience and frustration, anger and disappointment of losing it — again. If only we knew how deeply Jesus understands and cares for us. If on...

When I was growing up, there was always a next big thing. As a poor kid raised in Chicago’s Humboldt Park, I usually got the next big thing long after it had already peaked. By the time I got my first hand-me-down bicycle, skateboards were in. Couple years later when I finally got a skateboard, video games were all my friends talked about. On and on, from cassette players to car stereos, video cameras to VCRs, pet rocks to iPods, polo shirts to designer purses — there was always something that all the cool kids had while the rest of us lagged behind. Without money to waste, because a box of Cap’n Crunch was a luxury in my neighborhood, I realized early on that there would always be a next big thing. It’s how advertisers, and all the product producers behind them, stay in business. Their job is to make people feel even more inadequate, insecure, uncertain, and needy than we do already. They focus our attention on what we don’t have rather than what we do. More importantly, I also reali...

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places . . . Other seed fell among thorns . . . Still other seed fell on good soil.” —  Matthew 13:3–8 . Although this is often known as the parable of the sower and the seed, it can also be said this is a parable about the soil. All four types of soil are essentially the same dirt but are in different conditions and respond in different ways to cultivation. What made one soil more responsive and the other less? When the New Testament was written, communities were agriculturally based. A family would be appointed a section of land to farm. Every farmer’s plot was adjacent to their neighbor’s. In order to get to the fields, the farmers would walk along the boundaries bordering each field to avoid stepping on the growing plants. The “path” was held in common by all the farmers. Over time, the soil on the path would compact. It w...

Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.” Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, “Who are You?” — knowing that it was the Lord.  — John 21:12 It had been a tough morning, to be sure. Following Jesus’ death, several disciples returned to their regularly scheduled programming. They got up early, took their fishing nets, and… nothing. Not a bite. Until some guy stood on the shore and called out a weird suggestion to throw their nets in from the other side of the boat. I wonder if any of them grumbled briefly, “What difference does it make which side of the boat we throw the nets from? Who is this guy?” But by then, they were desperate enough to try anything. Suddenly, when their nets were heavy, the same question took on a different meaning, because they knew the answer. John shouted, “It is the Lord!” and Peter could not get to Jesus fast enough. Other than suggesting that they add some of the fresh catch to His spread, Jesus’ sole response was “Come and eat breakfast.” Now...

One spring day, I sat in my backyard with my friend Suzy and our kids. While we relaxed in lawn chairs, sipping lemonade, a few of the children played on the swing set. The rest sat at our bright yellow children’s picnic table, purchased just days earlier. They were happily creating masterpieces on the pages of several coloring books. When it came time for lunch, I helped the children clear their coloring supplies off the table. As I gathered up the crayons and coloring books, I spied a frightful sight. One of Suzy’s daughters had gone into the house and grabbed permanent markers to color with instead of the crayons. And color with them she did — all over the brand-new picnic table! She’d even written her name in her very best seven-year-old penmanship. I was angry that our newly purchased picnic table was now laden with permanent red and purple graffiti. I wanted to raise my voice and shout and scream my displeasure. But I didn’t. Instead, I leaned over and spoke gently to my friend...

I find it fascinating that we know very little about most of the men and women we meet in the pages of the Bible. Rather than an entire history, there are a few brief verses or, at best, a handful of chapters that tell how an encounter with the living God changed their lives and their eternal destinies. I’ve always wanted to know more, for instance, about the so-called Gadarene demoniac we meet in Mark 5. Jesus and His closest friends encountered this wild man after a stormy nighttime crossing of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus’ friends were fishermen, experienced in navigating the sudden storms that blew up out of nowhere, but something about that night was particularly disturbing. My theory is that demonic elements were stirring up the sea, for when Jesus stood to calm the sea, He said, Peace! Be still!  — Mark 4:39 ESV In the Greek, this is the very phrase Jesus used earlier to rebuke a demon (Mark 1:25). I’m convinced that evil itself was trying to keep Jesus away from delivering o...