In my 1 Year bible reading (Leviticus 13) I came across some of the duties of a priest recently that made me wonder “Really”. This wondering has led me to this guest appearance from Inspector Clouseau… somehow I knew he would make his way into this blog sooner or later.

Priests had to look at people’s bodies, skin, and infections in order to diagnose whether or not they were ceremonially “clean” or “unclean.” This is an often overlooked detail in a Pastor’s job description. We are all Pastors as Christians called to serve, influence, and nourish the people God has placed into our lives within the Church and those far from God.

It makes me wonder if we were better at diagnosing the roots and symptoms of sin, pain, and disappointment how much more successful we would be in treating and overcoming the disease. If our relationships carried enough depth to reveal symptoms they would surely carry the source of healing too.

Hopefully this makes sense and was not just a weak attempt to get some ghetto Inspector Clouseau clip art on the blog.

The Bible says God desires obedience and not sacrifice. I am guilty of disobeying and then covering for it with doing good things that God has not directly asked me to do. I tend to think that has got to be annoying to God.

The fact is NONE of us need extra credit because Jesus already passed the sin test for us. His perfect score has become ours. When we strive for extra credit by “doing” to get noticed, feel forgiven, or justify our wrongs we are basically telling Jesus we would rather take the sin test than take his finished work.

Extra credit would simply be grace. Do we need it? Yes. Can we earn it? No. Grace comes to those who by grace receive the grade Jesus won for us on the cross.

We must simply focus on obeying and not picking and choosing what we want to obey and what we want to ignore for the purpose of inconvenience, laziness, or rebellion.  What God desires is important to me and He desires obedience.

I hated it when classmates would neglect their homework, not study for the test, and then do all the extra credit at the end of the semester to get their passing grade. Seemed like a bail out. God’s deal is even better though because you don’t have to work for the passing grade you have to receive it and then let Him lead you in a life of obedience.

So does God give extra credit? No. Jesus already received all the credit there is and we get what He received. So, YES…. but you can’t earn it…. only receive it…. from Jesus.

In honor of Valentine’s Day (although it seems like wives celebrate it as an entire week or at least expect us husbands to), I have been thinking about things that cost too much. Certainly, you know what tops my list…

1. Flowers on V-Day- I offered to buy my wife a rose bush, plant it, and then harvest enough bouquets for V day that I could give her a triple dozen and then sell the leftovers (cheaper than anyone else) and still cover my costs and make a profit. Seriously, I’m thinking of being a Day Trader on V day every year and maxing out stock the stock of 1-800 FLOWERS the morning of V day and then selling in the afternoon.

2. Procrastination- OVERPRICED. It charges my mind double because I can’t stop thinking about what I am procrastinating to do. A real creativity killer. I have an expense report that I have been thinking about for at least a week that is still waiting…

3. Unbelief- How much has that cost me? How about other people that I could have been used by God to help, bless, encourage? It hurts to think about.

4. Praise from Men- Its like flat pop. Looks so good but leaves you wanting upon the taste. It costs a lot with very little payoff. RIPOFF.

5. Resistance- Why do I resist God? Haven’t a clue. This not only costs too much it is also plain stupid. Why would I resist help from the wisest, wealthiest, kindestmost loving, being in the universe? Makes no sense.

6. Excuses- Instead of confessing sin, taking responsibility, and manning up it seems like excuses sooner or later wear us out.

7. Forgetting God is God- I feel like I overpay for this one more than any on the list. I try to make God like me instead of my becoming more like Him. EXPENSIVE to say the least. Seems like the world pays for this because Christians pass the bill.

8. Condemnation- Never being good enough will never add anything good to your life. I thank God that this has been paid in full on the cross when He paid for all of my sin, past, present, and future.

9. Trying to be right- This gets you nowhere fast and the price to get back where you started is steep. Always insisting on being right instead of embracing the connection we have in relationships is very costly.

10. Not reading the bible- Knocking off the dust from God’s word is the best decision you can make. Filling your mind with “what God is like” will make the short amount of time invested everyday in reading seem embarassingly cheap. Every time I read I get paid with encouragement, refreshing, guidance, help, faith, and love.

I love V day and my wife. Can’t wait to celebrate. Well worth the price of love. She’s the best.

So I am in a season of learning dependance. Dependance that attracts God. Dependance is a strength not a weakness. In fact, the bigger the need, the greater the dependance, the greater the joy. God gets more glory and has more fun meeting BIG NEEDS.

If I can focus on my need of Him, my heart will trust in Him, and then my life will experience Him. It’s really sad how little of God I have seen in my life over the past couple of years and the lack of His showing up is directly proportional to my lack of awareness of need for Him and hence dependance on Him. Jesus said “The Son can do nothing of himself” (John 5:19). Well said. He knew it. For some reason I haven’t.

It’s becoming really obvious how unimpressive, weak, frail, and needy I am. There is something liberating about knowing I am in dire need and God is attracted to it. Anyone want to put on a pair of depends for a day to drive home the point?… Didn’t think so. Me neither.

Cheers to being needy, dependent, and enjoying the fact that God enjoys it!

King David’s famous Psalm 23 states I will fear no evil for thou art with me.

So many people controlled by fear. Fear of getting cancer because there Mom has it. Fear of losing their job. Fear of losing their house. Fear of people not liking them or accepting them. Fear of failing.

King David’s fear of evil is not what cost him. Living comfortable in the palace and enjoying the blessing is what lead to his adultery, murder, and eventual death of his son.

Where I see so many people fall away from God is not when they have nothing and there back is against the wall but rather when God brings them out of the valley of the shadow of death and they begin to forget who they are and where they came from. Their blessing distracts them from the source of their blessing. As a result, they fall… usually really far and hard.

If we took our fear of evil and repositioned it to fear blessings we would use blessings to become even more generous and not selfish.