Thomas is learning about the importance of listening. Since his brother, Timothy, was born, his mom and dad have been more distracted and he’s adapted by taking advantage of their divided attention. I noticed that his mom and by extension, his Poppy and I, have had to consistently repeat ourselves just to get his attention. Trying to explain intangible concepts to a toddler, who all at once knows everything and not quite enough, can be both exhausting and exhilarating. I stumbled upon a story that caught his attention this week, a story that Jesus told to His critics. Two brothers, let’s call them Thomas and Timothy, were asked by their father to work in his fields for the day.
“The first son replied, ‘I’d rather not.’
But afterward, he deeply regretted what he said to his father, changed his mind, and decided to go to the vineyard.
The father approached the second son and said the same thing to him.
The son replied, ‘Father, I will go and do as you said.’
But he never did—he didn’t go to the vineyard.
Tell me now, which of these two sons did the will of his father?”
They answered him, “The first one.”
Jesus said, “You’re right.”
Matthew 21:29-31 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/mat.21.29-31.TPT
I’ve repeated that story several times this week to Thomas in teachable moments. My goal is to marry listening with obedience, hearing with action. I hold up two fingers and remind him that first, he must listen when his mom and dad speak to him and acknowledge them with a yes sir or yes ma’am as they’ve requested. Then as I wrap my left hand around the two extended fingers on my right hand, I remind him that saying yes ma’am or yes sir means doing what he’s asked to do the first time. He gets it and he’s doing better after only a week.
“Children, if you want to be wise, listen to your parents and do what they tell you, and the Lord will help you.
For the commandment, “Honor your father and your mother,” was the first of the Ten Commandments with a promise attached: “You will prosper and live a long, full life if you honor your parents.””
Ephesians 6:1-3 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/eph.6.3.TPT
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/2ti.3.16-17.NIV
Matthew includes Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba in his recorded genealogy of Jesus before the Virgin Mary enters God’s storyline. Mary’s purity is vouchsafed by God to Joseph because Jesus is to be called the Son of God Most High. (Luke 1:32) Likely most of the unnamed Hebrew mothers in the lineage of Messiah were betrothed and married in the usual way, culturally speaking, purity intact. Each was just as much a part of God’s plan to bring the Christ to birth in the exact place and time God intended, yet only four are mentioned. The backstories of the four border on bizarre and finding their names in holy writ here, in the family line of Messiah of all places, speaks loudly of redemption, beautiful, complete, of the “for nothing is impossible with God” variety, and I, for one, and beyond grateful!
Ultimately, where you started out was not your choice. The apostle Paul, speaking to the leadership council at Athens, attempted a summation from pre-creation to the resurrection. He named almighty God as our Creator who wants to be known and Jesus, His Son, in and through whom all things were created, as the one Way to be reconciled to God. He points back to Adam as our common ancestor and forward to Jesus as our Savior, thus tying all humankind together under God’s sovereignty.
“From one man he made all the people of the world.
Now they live all over the earth.
He decided exactly when they should live.
And he decided exactly where they should live.”
Acts 17:26 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/act.17.26.NIRV
Since God chose the times and places that we would live, many have attempted to place blame on God, on circumstances, political, financial, and the like, and on parentage, all in an attempt to justify their own actions and decisions, but God’s Word is clear.
“And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.”
God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else.
Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.
These desires give birth to sinful actions.
And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.”
James 1:13-15 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jas.1.13-15.NLT
We also have a common enemy.
“Be alert and of sober mind.
Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
1 Peter 5:8 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/1pe.5.8.NIV
God’s role is wholly opposite. He is above reproach. He gave His Son as the price for our redemption. He gives His presence and power as indwelling Spirit to us as His adopted children. All the days of my life were written down in His book before even one of them came into being. (Psalm 139:16)
“As for us, we have all of these great witnesses who encircle us like clouds.
So we must let go of every wound that has pierced us and the sin we so easily fall into.
Then we will be able to run life’s marathon race with passion and determination, for the path has been already marked out before us.
We look away from the natural realm and we focus our attention and expectation onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection.
His example is this: Because his heart was focused on the joy of knowing that you would be his, he endured the agony of the cross and conquered its humiliation, and now sits exalted at the right hand of the throne of God!”
Hebrews 12:1-2 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/heb.12.1-2.TPT
Where you come from is beyond your control. Where you’ve been may have been by choice but maybe not. The choices of others are often imposed on us as children or even as adults unaware, but taking stock, taking personal responsibility is the first step of a lifelong journey with Jesus. Think back to Rahab, a prostitute living literally in the city walls of Jericho. Somehow she had seen and heard enough to understand the fear of the Lord and she hid Joshua’s spies.
“No wonder our hearts have melted in fear!
No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things.
For the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.”
Joshua 2:11 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jos.2.11.NLT
“The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn’t her action in hiding God’s spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing and doing—what counted with God?
The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse.
Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.”
James 2:25-26 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/jas.2.25-26.MSG
You see, faith and actions work together. Your actions make your faith complete. (James 2:22) Where you end up is your choice starting now. Don’t risk waiting for the ninth hour to decide for we are not promised the next breath. Nothing is certain in this life. Accidents happen. Diagnoses take us by surprise. Violence is rampant. Even if you live to a ripe old age, life is but a vapor.
The four women and Mary and you and I were born into a God-ordained place and time. You and I, like these ladies and every unnamed Israelite mother in Matthew’s genealogy, like every person who will ever live in the spotlight or in anonymity, have the selfsame choice.
“The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him.
He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.
But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.”
John 1:9-13 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.1.13.NLT
“But if we freely admit our sins when his light uncovers them, he will be faithful to forgive us every time.
God is just to forgive us our sins because of Christ, and he will continue to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/1jn.1.9.TPT
Amen is a beautiful word that extends every prayer rather than ending it. Its literal meaning is akin to what Jesus taught His disciples to pray, and further, what He prayed in the garden on the night of his arrest. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Not what I want, Father, what You want. So I say amen! I want what You want, Jesus. Let it be with me as You say.
“Then Mary responded, saying, “Yes! I will be a mother for the Lord!
As his servant, I accept whatever he has for me.”
Luke 1:38 TPT
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