At Times Life is Like a Used Car Lot

As I approach the end of each school year, I prepare for my annual office renewal ritual.  Part of the ritual is finding the left end of my desk.  You see the left end is where projects, reports, investigations, reviews, assessments, etc., etc. that have been handed my way collect over the course of a year.  It’s always nice to start the summer with the opportunity to see that my desk actually has a non-paper surface.

I was shuffling through the stack (actually that’s a very kind way of putting it, it’s more like a potential avalanche) in preparation for the renewal ritual and I was struck by the fact that it reminded me of a used car lot.  Some of the assembled clutter were reports and projects that had never started.  Most were reports and projects that started and stalled . . . started and misfired . . . started and died.  Some were reports and projects that were ‘important’ but were just sitting there rusting.  And a couple were reports and projects that had started sometime ago and were barely running at the present.

Actually what bothered me the most was the amount of time from my past year that they represented.  Although some only represented hours; others represented months of work.  None were being pursued in the present.  Other ideas had come to mind and replaced them.  Other things, for whatever reason, had become more pressing and more significant.  Consequently, these were moved to the ‘used car lot’ end of my desk.

I was feeling a bit upset about the pile, the amount of time it had removed from my life, and those who had initially assigned the project to me only to move on to other ideas and projects.  Then I was struck by 1 Corinthians 10:31 “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 

“All” means “all.”  The Bible doesn’t tell us to do the easy things to God’s glory.  Or the things that make sense to us to God’s glory.  Or the things that can be done quickly.  Or the things that actually work out and are profitable.  The Bible tells us to do “all” things to God’s glory . . . even the things on the ‘used car lot’ end of my desk.

That thought has echoed through my mind in the days since the Holy Spirit first renewed it to my attention.  So once the renewal ritual starts, and I’m walking that pile to the shredder to be turned into confetti, I’ll do it to God’s glory.

Have any ‘used car lots’ in your life?  Do them to the glory of God.

A Lesson from a Toll Booth

A few weeks ago we were traveling to one of those family reunions that are put together in less than 24 hours.  This was a wonder in light of our inability with any amount of planning to get enough family members committed for an annual reunion.  We were going to my aunt’s funeral. 

We were at the end of the third day’s drive when we approached a toll booth.  It appeared to be no different than any of the other toll booths we had approached and ‘E-ZPass’ed our way through on the trip.  I double checked the signs to make sure we were in the correct lane.  I pulled into a lane with two cars in line.  The booths had traffic control arms that dropped for each car and rose once the E-ZPass signal registered.

As we came to a stop, the arm rose, and the first car left the booth.  The second car pulled up into position and stopped.  We pulled up and stopped.  And waited . . . and waited . . . and waited.  Finally an attendant came out to the car in front of us.  The driver rolled her window down.  The two conversed for a bit.  Then the driver looked into her purse, shuffled some things around, picked up her E-ZPass transponder, and handed it to the attendant.

As I watched the attendant take the transponder into the toll booth, I laughed to myself and at myself.  I fully thought the driver was going to hand the attendant money for the toll, not an E-ZPass transponder.  It was a welcomed laugh at the end of a long day on the highway.

It wasn’t until the next day that the lesson of that stop at the toll booth struck me.  As we went through our first toll booth of the day and I began to reflect on the events of the previous day, I realized that what we witnessed as very much like what Christ spoke of in Matthew 5.  It could easily be a contemporary equivalent of what Christ told his disciples.

In Matthew 5:14-16, He begins his instruction with a statement—v. 14a “You are the light of the world.”  Christ is simply saying here is the situation or condition that you must recognize.  This is not potential or prophetic.  This is positive, individual, and factual.  He follows that with a second statement—vv. 14b-15 “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.”  This is also individual and factual.  Light has a purpose—to illuminate.  Consequently, lights belong on hill tops and lampstands, not under baskets.  A covered light cannot fulfill its purpose.  Both truths are undeniable.

An E-ZPass transponder in a purse cannot fulfill its purpose.  It may be fully functioning, but if it is concealed it isn’t going to serve its purpose and the control arm will never rise.  Traffic will come to a halt.  An attendant will have to leave their booth.  The driver will be embarrassed (I assume).  And other drivers will be upset.

Christ ends this lesson with an admonition—v. 16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  Don’t hide our light.  Don’t limit your light.  Be a reflection of the heavenly Father in all you do and say.

As believers, we each have an E-ZPass transponder that will open heaven’s gates.  It is the salvation that we received through faith in Christ’s redemptive work on Calvary.  If we keep it in our purse or in our pocket, it cannot illuminate the world around us.  It cannot open the gates of heaven for all who need to enter.  So . . . “Let your light shine.”  And let it shine today.

You and Your Temper!

Proverbs 14:17 counsels us, “A man of quick temper acts foolishly, and a man of evil devices is hated” (ESV).

 This proverb warns of human anger and its results in relation to others, and it does it in a most interesting way. Notice that two men are identified in the verse, along with their distinguishing characteristics, and are then noted in respect to the effect of their actions on those around them.

The first man is short tempered, soon angry. In Proverbs 14:29 this same person is described as one who is of a “hasty spirit.” The idea, obviously, is that of one who is impatient, quick-tempered, or as we say, “has a short fuse.”

This short-tempered man “acts foolishly,” or “works foolishness” as the KJV renders it. “Foolishness” in Proverbs implies moral more than mental deficiency, and in Proverbs 14:29 it is the opposite of “great understanding” which likewise has moral as well as mental connotations. The “fool” in Proverbs is one who both lacks sense and is generally corrupt.

This first man then, by his quick temper, does things that are senseless and morally wrong. The sense seems to be that of explosive, unpremeditated violence. The proverb does not specify the precise reaction of those around him, but their distaste for him is clearly implied (17b). By his actions the wrathful man displays his own folly (14:29) and so is an unfit companion (22:24-25). He’s the kind of person whose company no one desires.

The second man is identified as “a man of wicked imaginations” or “intentions.” This man is one who, rather than being explosively violent, is one whose anger is not so visible. Rather, he quietly plots and schemes. His expressions of anger are more calculated and so more “hateful.” As the saying goes, he doesn’t get mad — he gets even.

So there are two men here, and both have a problem with anger and revenge. Just as the short-tempered man works foolishness by an anger that is quick and uncalculated; so the man of craftiness, although he displays his anger more subtly, is just as vengeful and contemptible. And so anger may show itself by an uncontrolled spirit which is quick to explode, or it may show itself in cunning and deliberate methods of retaliation. But both are reprehensible and despised.

And notice that neither man is very well liked in the community! In fact, they are disliked. People “hate” them, and do not want them to be around. It doesn’t seem to matter much how you vent your anger — in haste and violence, or by scheming revenge. The effect is about the same — no one will want your company.

The proverb, then, warns of two kinds of anger — the violent, explosive anger of a man with a short temper; and the cold, calculated revenge of an otherwise seemingly mild man. Both are foolish, and both are despised.

A man with an easily excited temper is foolish (Prov. 14:17, 29), troublesome (15:18), wicked (21:24, 29:22), and self-destructive (19:19, 25:28).

In contrast to the hot-tempered man is the man with a calm temper, the man who is able to control and even defer his anger (Prov. 19:11). Calmness of temper is a virtue that is both wise (14:29, 19:11) and profitable (15:1, 25:15), and it brings “glory” to a man (19:11) rather than shame and hatred. A calm temper shows a man to be wise (14:29). A quick temper shows a man to be a fool, and that man will be the friend of no one.

Likewise, a man who quietly and carefully devises his method of retaliation is also hated. Indeed, his wrath is more culpable, being due not to weakness but to willingness. Such a man is recognized as evil (Prov. 24:8), is hated by others (14:17) and God (6:18), and will incur condemnation (12:2 14:22). It is true folly.

By contrast, wisdom shows itself in self-restraint (Prov.12:16, 19:11), and such restraint evidences true greatness (16:32).

Both kinds of anger are senseless and moral foolishness, and both kinds are hateful. The wisdom which this proverb enjoins is that which brings a man to quell his wrath and live peaceably with all men.

We further learn from this proverb our need of Christ and his provision of the Holy Spirit whose it is to work in us self control (Galatians 5:22-23).