Hi, I'm Joni Eareckson Tada asking, “How easy is life for you?”
Well, welcome to "Joni and Friends" where you will not often hear me talk about how easy life is. Rather, I'm the person who’ll be quick to tell you how difficult it can be, how hard it can be. But the harder things get, isn’t it interesting the more our society tries to take the pain out of it all. Don’t be depressed – get medicated. Don’t put up with those wrinkles – try Botox. Don’t hobble on bad knees – get a replacement knee. Don’t color your eyebrows – get them tattooed. Don’t worry about picking up groceries – get them delivered. You don’t even have to shop in a mall; just order what you want online, right? It’s all about convenience.
Speaking of which, just look at the convenience of a direct deposit for your paycheck. Nowadays, you can take the pain out of paying bills by arranging for your bank to pay your mortgage… even set aside money for Christmas. Or get your credit card company to pay your water, gas, or electric. All the hard choices are made for you, right there, without you having to resist the temptation to spend or blow your budget or put off paying bills till next month.
Some say it sure would be nice if the Christian life worked that way, but I'm here to tell you it doesn’t. Never was our life in Christ intended to be convenient. Instead, God intends it to be inconvenient. Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 3 tells us that God intends, He causes us to hunger so that we might know what’s in our hearts. Because sometimes what’s in our heart isn’t very conscientious and, we'd love to overspend; we’d love to buy on impulse, or blow the budget. And the Bible wants us to recognize that about ourselves. So God will place in our path all sorts of appealing obstacles. He's not tempting us; no, the book of James tells us that God tempts no one to sin. But he will test us, so we might see how weak-willed we are, and how much we need His guidance and grace.
I think one of the best hallmarks of Christian maturity is the Spirit-blessed ability to resist the temptation to spend it now, eat it now, buy it now, wear it now. That's the way children are, right? – they can't wait for Christmas; they want it now, "Mommy, I want it now!" But First Corinthians chapter 14, verse 20 says, "Do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature." Children are into instant gratification, but thinking adults in the faith see the value in delayed gratification. Those who are mature in the faith understand that pleasures are in the right hand of God, and he often withholds those pleasures so that we might learn how to rule our hearts, tame our appetites, and control our desires… saying ‘no’ to the flesh and ‘yes’ to the grace of God.
To help you with this, especially as we turn the corner into a new year, I’ve got this really beautiful 12-page laminated foldout on an overview of the Bible, both Old and New Testament. It gives you the background on each book, the theme, the key verse for the book, who wrote it, why, and much more. This is a great study guide; something you want to keep handy in your Bible. And this is the perfect time to have it as you plan your Bible reading program for the new year. Just visit my radio page at joniandfriends.org and ask for your free copy – it’s really a great book to have handy. Remember, the Bible says, "in your thinking be mature." And it's my prayer that in 2012, you'll keep saying ‘no’ to the flesh and ‘yes’ to the grace of God!
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