Once upon a time a man lived in a little village that was overrun with skunks. This man was a good hunter and trapper and knew how to entice the skunks into cages. People would ask him to come and remove the skunks that denned up under their houses. He became known as the “SKUNKMAN”! He eventually charged a small fee for his services and most people were happy to pay him to take away the odorous little creatures.

One day, after removing the fifth skunk from a home, the homeowner asked what would happen if he didn’t pay. The SKUNKMAN said he put captured skunks into little cages and gave his clients thirty days to pay. If on the thirty- first day he had not received his money, all the skunks he had collected from under the non-payers home would be returned to the front porch. Needless to say, this policy was seldom enforced.

Our sins are like skunks, they seem to hang around and stink. Satan likes to bring them back to our door, over and over and over. He wants to shove our faces into our mistakes and shortcomings. He wants to keep us captive, ruminating over old failures. It is one of Satan’s biggest tricks, to get people to despair and think there is no way they can be “good enough” to be acceptable to God. The good news is that the price of our “skunkey” sins are paid for by the blood of the Son of God, Jesus Christ! Satan cannot bring back our sins for payment, they have been paid, in full!

“ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

“…and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” I John. 1:7

In past years the dinner table at our house frequently rang out with the words “eat your peas!”  We had the same plea of parents everywhere for our young ones to eat healthy food.  Things changed on the occasion my youngest daughter Chera flat out refused.  We spent the next hour proving our dominance over her by forcing her to eat them.  We left the experience exhausted and emotionally drained.  Then it occurred to us, the intent of our plea was to set a habit of good nutrition, it really wasn’t peas themselves that were the issue it was the benefit of the peas.  Life-long devotion to health was our primary goal, how nutrition was delivered was secondary.    We determined that it was impossible to achieve our primary goal if we forced the secondary.

Those who read scriptures from an “eat your peas” point of view find that God wants us to obey his commands (John 15:10).  So we immediately start looking for a command checklist of do’s and don’ts to obey.  Then we add traditions as commands to our checklist. We rationalize that if we force ourselves and others to obey everything on our checklist we will find the peace and love we seek.

Many of our church traditions today have adopted something similar to the original system of laws given by God to the Israelites.  Under that system of laws I understand that 613 laws were commanded including 248 dos and 365 don’ts.  The result of this system, generations of Israelites who couldn’t keep the commands and were not devoted to God.  They were forced to “eat their peas” and despised it.

Jesus fulfilled the old law and placed a new law “in our hearts and in our minds”  and made a new promise to believers.  “By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear. Hebrews 8:13 (NIV)

Like Angie and I did as young parents, if He wanted to, God could establish his dominance over us by forcing his commands.  But we would likely leave the experience despising Him more than loving Him.  By focusing on the secondary outcome of our love for God, that is, obedience to HIS commands, we risk missing the power of our primary goal lifelong whole-hearted devotion to God.

• Because God loves us, we love God
• Because we love God we do what pleases him
• Because Christ’s sacrificed for us we sacrifice for Christ
• Because we don’t HAVE to, we want to

The early church was dealing with this situation as Jews who became Christians were having trouble leaving their checklist of laws and traditions.  The church in Galatia was struggling to place relationship with God over rules, so Paul wrote this to them:

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.  The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself….”So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. Galatians 5:13-17

So what does God want from us?  The closest to a complete checklist under the “new law” is this:

• Love God more than anything else
• Love other people unconditionally

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV)

I want to be very clear to all Christians or those seeking the peace found in God through Christ.  Putting love of God above all other things does not give us the “freedom to indulge the sinful nature” as Paul put it.   He went on in the next sentences to give a test to discern if a life is lived “by the Spirit.”

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:19-25 (NIV)

The message is clear, if we love God with all our hearts there will be no room for things that are contrary to that love; the fruits of the Spirit will outflow from our hearts and we will bless those we love (everybody).  Not because we have to, because we want to with all our hearts.

See also 2 John 1:6, John 14:2, John 15:10, 1 Corinthians 7:19, 1 John 2:3

Suggested Twitter posts related to this article:

Jesus abolished the old law and placed a new law “in our hearts and in our minds.”  http://ow.ly/tGPV #God #Christ #Bible

Because God loves us, we love God http://ow.ly/tGPV #God #Christ #Bible

Because we love God we do what pleases him http://ow.ly/tGPV #God #Christ #Bible

The Christian checklist of commands:  Love God more than anything, live others http://ow.ly/tGPV #God #Christ #Bible

We love God not because we have to, because we want to with all our hearts http://ow.ly/tGPV #God #Christ #Bible

the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control http://ow.ly/tGRE #God #Christ #Bible

We love God we do what pleases him http://ow.ly/tGPV #God #Christ #Bible

Christ’s sacrificed for us we sacrifice ourselves for Christ http://ow.ly/tGPV #God #Christ #Bible

Because we don’t HAVE to, we want to obey God’s commands http://ow.ly/tGPV #God #Christ #Bible

You lied to me!  Perhaps one of the harshest sentences in any language is that one.  No one wants to be lied to, deceived, tricked or otherwise diminished by another.  The other day Rhoda and I were waiting for my daughter at her house when we noticed a hummingbird poised at my granddaughter’s basketball goal.  The goal is bright red and the little bird thought it had arrived at a great big red flower.  After a moment it was gone – after figuring out it was not a real flower.  It was one of those “ if only I had a camera” times.

Satan grows those great big red flowers for deceiving human hearts.  “…your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour…”. (I Peter 5:8 TNV).  He can also transform himself to make the real bad look real good.  “…for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light”. (2 Cor. 11:14 TNV).  Elizabeth Browning brilliantly depicted Satan’s nefarious ways in her poem, “Aurora Leigh”, when she wrote, “the Devil’s most devilish when respectable”.

How much trouble will Satan take to try to deceive us “hummingbirds”?  Whatever it takes. He only quits trying when we draw close to God.  When we stay close to the cross, he can’t come there. But, we must be ever vigilant.  In the book of Revelation, chapter 2, John says that some folks simply do not know the depths of  Satan. Yes, he is real and yes he wants “hummingbirds” to fall for the fake great big red flower.  He desires all to follow him, not God.

Watch our for the great big red flowers!  Several years ago I wrote a poem and I think it speaks to the issue of not being on guard against the wiles of Satan. In this case it ends tragically as it always will when one becomes a friend of Satan.

DONKEY FLATS

Two men met where two roads cross.

One man was old and one was young.

Where to, young sir?

Where do you go?

To Donkey Flats, sir.

Why there young man?

Men only go there when all is lost.

All is lost sir and I am lost too.

Everything is lost that I held dear.

Cards, drinking and women

Took wife, children and home.

So I’m going to Donkey Flats sir.

And I won’t be coming back.

Hummingbirds regularly come to our feeder outside the window to partake of the “goodie juice” we provide.  The feeder can be seen by Rhoda and me from our respective vantage points.  We alert each other as visitors arrive, usually unexpectedly, and they leave almost the same way.  One must be on one’s toes to see them, for hummingbirds don’t stay long.

We have noticed an interesting thing about hummingbirds.  When they approach the feeder and if a wasp is there, they don’t land, or if they do and see a wasp they quickly fly away.  Wasps like hummingbird feeders too and apparently like to sting the hummingbirds, or at least the hummingbirds think they do.  When no wasps are at the feeder, the birds land and drink away.  At this very moment, a hummingbird has come for its morning refreshment and refreshed itself.  Why did it stay?  Because there was no wasp there, it had no fear at the feeder!  The hummingbirds have a rule – wasp at the feeder – fly away – wasp not at the feeder – stay and enjoy the gift of the feeder.

Why can’t people be as wise as the hummingbirds?  Some not only don’t fly , in our case, don’t run from an obvious danger.  They fall for Satan’s overtures and often do not see the spider until they’re caught firmly in the web.  Shakespeare said in his great play, The Merchant of Venice, “There is no vice so simple but assumes some mark of virtue on its outward parts”.  If you have read my other works you know that I am a poet and like to use my poems to illustrate a point.  I would like to take that opportunity again in this essay and include a poem I wrote some time ago which I think is germane to today’s topic.

POKER MAN

Why do you condemn this, that’s in?

Why do you maintain it’s a sin?

Why do you stand so hard

Against a little game of cards?

You can’t prove it’s wrong to me

For I’ve closed my eyes and cannot see

That something is amiss

And I can’t hear the serpent’s hiss.