May 26

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness...knowledge...self-control...perseverance...
godliness...brotherly kindness [and] love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:–58.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was imprisoned and then killed by the Nazis just before the Allies came in, said in his LETTERS & PAPERS FROM PRISON, "Nobility arises from and exists by sacrifice, courage, and a clear sense of duty to oneself and society, by expecting due regard for itself as a matter of course; and it shows an equally natural regard for others, whether they are of higher or of lower degree. "We need all along the line to recover the lost sense of quality and a social order based on quality. Quality is the greatest enemy of any kind of mass leveling. Socially it means the renunciation of all place hunting, a break with the cult of the `star', an open eye both upwards and downwards, especially in the choice of one's more intimate friends, and pleasure in private life as well as courage to enter public life.

"Culturally it means a return from the newspaper and the radio to the book, from feverish activity to unhurried leisure, from dispersion to concentration, from sensationalism to reflection, from virtuosity to art, from snobbery to modesty, from extravagance to moderation. Quantities are competitive, qualities are complementary."

Note that Dr. Bonhoeffer said quality, not equality! We are so concerned with equality, i.e., our rights, that we have let slip that virtue of quality that enables us to have equality.

May 27

"When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered money..." Acts 8:18; "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich..." Revelation 3:18.

"Greek agoradzo, to be in the marketplace; to do business there. The word is used here in the sense of doing business with God on His terms. Man sold himself a slave to sin and Satan. God paid the price of his redemption. Man is now obligated to meet God's terms of faith, repentance, and service if he wants to be redeemed. The word is not used here of man actually paying a price in money, goods, exchanging material things for the gold, raiment and ointment of V.18, but rather of his paying the price of renouncing Satan, repenting of sins, and consecrating to God in face of suffering persecution such as Christians must suffer for Christ (v.19; 2 Tim. 3:12)." Dake Bible, p.305.

Simon the magician thought he could buy religion, much like we think we can buy happiness. His mindset couldn't comprehend that both religion and happiness are byproducts of a greater search for God Himself. We won't get it simply because we want it. The minister or friend who tells us so is tickling our fancies and telling us what we want to hear. Human nature loves the gold but doesn't like to search for it.
What is free cannot be bought. The word simony developed from this wish to purchase spiritual offices. Simon Magus was ready to trade eternal life for temporal power and God's glory for his own personal fame. God advises us to "buy from [him] gold refined in the fire" with our earnest prayers, repentance and hunger for Christ's righteousness. This is the only price he asks for his love and forgiveness.



May 28

"You are the salt...of the world." Matthew 5:13.

Salt is both a seasoning and a preservative. We sprinkle spiritual salt on our anger to turn it into meekness; on our bitterness to change it into forgiveness; on our doubts to change them into faith; on our inclination to gossip so we may change this malignant habit into acceptance of others; on our restlessness so we may become content with life. The seasoning and preservative is found in God's Word, for it is here and here only that we find the code of conduct for our lives.

Jesus told His disciples and us in His Sermon on the Mount that His people are savors and saviors of others. Salt, to be effective, works quietly and unobtrusively. We go out into the world and act and speak with grace seasoned with the salt of compassion and encouragement. A wise word is spoken in reason as well as in season. Jesus also lamented salt less salt: "It is no longer good for anything..." Matthew 5:13. How it must grieve Him when we don't live up to the potential, the nobility, He has given us. "How the gold has lost its luster, the fine gold become dull!" Lamentations 4:1.

Therold gives an excellent description of one who has lost the flavor of Christianity: "The bane of the Church of God, the dishonor of Christ, the laughingstock of the world, is in that far too numerous body of half alive Christians who choose their own cross, and shape their own standard, and regulate their own sacrifices, and measure their own devotions; whose sacrifices do not deprive them of a single comfort from one year's end to another, and whose devotions never make their dull hearts burn with the love of Christ."


Pat Nordman ©