In 1986, Janet Jackson came out with a song,” What Have You Done For Me Lately?” The refrain was thee plaintive question the singer asks of her boyfriend/husband. She complains that she deserves more than he is giving, and he isn’t putting enough effort into what he does give, which is little.
As a twenty-something married woman, I’d hang with my young married friends and bemoan how our husbands weren’t doing enough, or be jealous when another wife’s husband gave a thoughtful gift or flowers.
I think the song lyric What Have You Done For Me Lately is a good metaphor for the selfishness I’d exhibited against my husband before I was saved. Perhaps it’s a good metaphor for most unsaved people’s outlook on relationships, ‘what have you done for me lately?’
I was saved in my early 40s, and I’m grateful now the Holy Spirit dwells in me. He has changed me from the creature I was to the new creation I am. I ask a different question now, “What have I done for Him lately?”
Turning 60 makes me ponder the weight of time. My formerly pagan petty jealousies and indignant desires expressed in ‘what have you done for me lately’ seems so small now in the face of eternal devotion and worship of Jesus. I think, have I served Him well? (He will tell me at the Bema Seat). Am I wasting hours, days when I could be serving His people and His kingdom? (Answer: yes). Am I working out my salvation with fear and trembling? (Philippians 2:12).
I think of how Spurgeon, Calvin, Edwards maximized their time, devoting every single minute of their days to Jesus. I am so weak, self-absorbed. But I am glad I can ask a different question now. I am glad I can ask for forgiveness and it will be granted fully.
What a difference in perspective. Our new creation-worldview is a gift. Seeing eternity for what it is to us (blessed joy, eternal rest), understanding our selfless service is a gift made out of gratitude to Jesus, who suffered, died, and rose again for us. He is my all in all. What have I done for Him lately?
How can we know God unless He reveals Himself to us? The creation confirms His existence, but what does the creature know of His attributes, Person, or Power? Unless He teaches us about Himself, we will not know. God sent His Son Jesus to earth as a born-babe, to live the full life of sinlessness under the Law, and to teach us about Himself. He was prophesied to die as the atoning sacrifice, and then rise again to receive His people through His work on the cross. Grace abounds. Continue reading “Advent- Thirty Days of Jesus: Day 20, Jesus as the Teacher”→
It took me a long time to set up that shot. As the water was heating in the teapot, I got my camera and turned it on. I set the scene to Micro on the dial. I pre-loaded the zoom. I set the camera down nearby and poured the tea. I quickly grabbed my camera and posed the shot. Already the steam was dissipating! It goes so fast!
Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. (James 4:14).
I had my mid-life crisis early, at age 30. I had been abandoned by my adulterous husband of just a few years. I was starting out as teacher but also working two other jobs in order to keep our house, now my house. The mortgage was a millstone around my neck. I had zero time off, and if I had a few hours, I had to maintain the house, mow the lawn or clean etc. I looked around me and thought, is this all there is? Work to pay for a house I can’t even enjoy? I wasn’t saved then and I launched myself on what I call the Ecclesiastes portion of my life.
I feared death.
I feared not having accomplished anything by the time I’d died. I feared the Great Beyond. I feared that there was really no point to life, that we’re simply as the secular world insisted, a bundle of cells that grow, live, then poof, pass away, signifying nothing.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. ~Shakespeare’s MacBeth
Then I was saved and death and eternity no longer posed a problem, a puzzle, or a fear. I welcome it! I am joyous to finally ‘know’, thanks to the grace of God who gives me the Spirit, who illuminates my mind to the reality of Jesus.
However now that I ‘know’, I read the Bible. In it, James reminds us that our life is a vapor. Now, our life should signify everything, that is, Christ. Our lives take on more meaning than my unsaved mind could ever have known. Legacies pass away, family trees rot. Achievements pale. But for the woman in Christ, our lives are supposed to take on more eternal significance than ever, because we serve Jesus.
I turn 60 years old today. All my life elderly people have told me that life happens fast. That it goes by in the blink of an eye. I know this to be true, but now that I’m actually experiencing it, the rapidity with which life flashes by astounds me.
The other day at school, my second graders were asking me about the olden days. Relating memories I have of when I was their age, I became startled to think that these memories are over fifty years old, or half a century! Where did the time go? How is it that I have memories and life experiences comprising bundles of decades?!
Once I had become a child of eternal grace instead of a child of wrath, I lost my fear of the future. I can rest easy in the cradle of the arms of Jesus, knowing my future is secure and whatever He has planned for me on this earth or in heaven, it will be good. My only concern now is that I comport myself in ways that glorify His name, that make His name known, that share the Good News of His Gospel. The days that pass now lead me not to some dim and uncertain dark future, but to one of glory, light, and rest.
Sisters, it really does go by fast. If you’re single and not loving it, wait, the time will come when you will be married and looking back wistfully upon your carefree days. If you’re a young mom, hang on to the precious moments with toddler, before you know it he will be driving a car and nosing past your curfew. If you’re in chronic pain or suffer a debilitating disease, rest easy knowing this too shall pass, and sooner than we all think.
Did you know that when you look up “flower” in the Bible, rather than extolling its beauty, most of the verses tell how the flower fades, dies, and goes away? Like this one from Psalm 103:14-15,
As for man, his days are like grass; Like a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place no longer knows about it.
I marvel at the time, I am amazed at how Jesus put my life together. I am delighting in His promises for my and our future. I am looking forward to the future He has laid out for me, whether the number of my days is nearing its end or whether they will continue for a few more decades.
I am most glad that though I have an important decade birthday to celebrate, I am more interested in celebrating my Savior’s birthday in a few days. He parted the veil and entered the world in flesh as a baby. On December 25 we remember that momentous occasion. His life, death, and resurrection gives us an eternity where our ‘days’ will pass in peace and joy- with Him. And that is the best birthday gift of all.
The word does not occur elsewhere in the New Testament, except in the passage before us. The essential idea is that of bringing to emptiness, vanity, or nothingness; and, hence, it is applied to a case where one lays aside his rank and dignity, and becomes in respect to that as nothing; that is, he assumes a more humble rank and station.
In regard to its meaning here, we may remark:
(1) that it cannot mean that he literally divested himself of his divine nature and perfections, for that was impossible. He could not cease to be omnipotent, and omnipresent, and most holy, and true, and good.
(2) it is conceivable that he might have laid aside, for a time, the symbols or the manifestation of his glory, or that the outward expressions of his majesty in heaven might have been withdrawn. It is conceivable for a divine being to intermit the exercise of his almighty power, since it cannot be supposed that God is always exerting his power to the utmost. And in like manner there might be for a time a laying aside or intermitting of these manifestations or symbols, which were expressive of the divine glory and perfections. Yet,
(3) this supposes no change in the divine nature, or in the essential glory of the divine perfections. When the sun is obscured by a cloud, or in an eclipse, there is no real change of its glory, nor are his beams extinguished, nor is the sun himself in any measure changed. His luster is only for a time obscured.
Though the verse is literally speaking about King David, the relation of David to Christ means the verse also prefigures the preeminence of King Jesus. The throne, through David’s line, would last forever through Christ.
Gill’s Exposition says,
Also I will make him my firstborn,…. Or, “make him the firstborn”; make him great, as Jarchi interprets it; give him the blessing, the double portion of inheritance: so Christ is made most blessed for ever, and has all spiritual blessings in his hands; and is heir of all things, and his people joint-heirs with him. Christ is God’s “firstborn”, or “first begotten”, Hebrews 1:6, being begotten by him, and of him; … even him the Father promises to make “higher than the kings of the earth”; having a kingdom of a superior nature to theirs, and a more extensive and durable one; and even they themselves shall be subject to him; hence he is called “King of kings”, Revelation 19:16.
The King of Kings shall reign forever, His Kingdom shall endure.
I thought this may help others who are beginning to be stressed about the current national situation (all the things…you know what they are.)
Quarantine, that’s such a huge part of the irritation with all this going on, isn’t it? I’ve begun to lose patience with it all finally. I have to work hard every day more and more, to dispel personal irritations, vaporize complaints, stay positive, and keep my eyes on Jesus – and not the world.
I have read or listened to two items lately that have helped me quell the frustration. I pass them along to you in hopes that they may give you comfort or help in any way in dealing with any of the unfortunate external circumstances that may be pressing on you and your work, family, and life.
the-end-time.org 