Editor’s Note: The AMI QT devotionals for January 23-4 are provided by Christine Li. Christine graduated from University of Pennsylvania and currently lives and works in New York City. She attends Remnant Church in Manhattan.
Devotional Thoughts for Today
John 6:8-9, 11
“Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ’Here is a boy with five small barley loves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?’ … Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.”
During summer vacations, my gang of cousins and I would compete in earning money. We received pennies from our aunts for different chores— folding laundry, sweeping the floors, etc. When any one of us thought he or she had collected a sufficient amount, we would announce that we could treat the entire family to a pizza feast. One of my aunts would then take that cousin to the store: the cousin would pay with that hard-earned money, and our aunt would ‘fill in a little bit’ on the spot.
Looking back now, it seems unlikely that we earned much out of pennies. If we had been fixated on how little we were making, we might actually have been too discouraged to dream of providing dinner. Instead, our aunts probably footed the bill and let us experience the joy of being a breadwinner.
The boy in the narrative may have had a better awareness of how far his contribution would go—what could a couple loaves and fish do for a hungry crowd of thousands? No matter the context or situation, that kind of doubt is universal and appears whenever we have an inkling to serve. We, too, will never seem to have sufficient pennies or loaves.
Do not let your poverty be a reason to withdraw from serving, because the amount we bring cannot hinder God from His work. He, who created the known world out of nothing, is fully able to multiply anything we bring and desires for us to share in the joy of seeing His work accomplished. As He multiplied back then, He also does today. He can maximize and exceed your expectations for your time, resources, energy, and love.
Is there a task that you feel unequipped or unprepared for? Let us approach God humbly, realizing that our all-powerful, all-sufficient God truly desires for us to labor alongside Him. And let us approach Him boldly and expectantly, knowing that when we hand to Him what little we have, He will give us a front row seat to His power and His provision.
Prayer: Father, You are powerful and able, and I am weak and needy. Even though You do not need my contribution, thank You for Your grace that lets me work alongside You. Give me the faith and boldness to approach You when I bring so little to the table, and let me sing victoriously of how You provide in every situation.
Bible Reading for Today: Genesis 18-19
Whenever the late evangelist Chun Suk Lee, a physically imposing man, spoke, people listened; I certainly did in 1982 when he said to me, “God gave you the gift of language.” I had no clue as to what he meant.
I wonder how Jerry Rankin, then-President of the International Mission Board, felt as the vote was being counted. In 2005, the board members of this Southern Baptist Convention organization voted on whether to accept anyone who speaks in tongues as its missionary candidates. The board overwhelmingly decided against it. Rankin, who had been speaking in tongues for 30 years, couldn’t have felt too comfortable.
Surely, no likes to wait in line—especially for a long time. However, if we want something bad enough, we’re willing to put up with a sleepless night, shiver in the cold, and wait in order to get that thing—in my case (1980), it was to purchase a ticket to the Bruce Springsteen concert. But it was pure elation once I had the ticket in my pocket, even though it cost me a night’s sleep.
What’s harder than replacing Tom Brady as the quarterback for New England Patriots? Try replacing the father of a teenager girl. That’s the predicament an old friend faced when he married a woman with a daughter in the middle school. Unfortunately, to the daughter he was never more than an unworthy replacement—it didn’t end well.
Ironically, the Civil Rights Movement, led by Baptist minister Martin Luther King, wasn’t the most popular movement then, even among African-Americans. That honor was shared by the militant Black Panther Party that launched violence against the white power structure, and the Nation of Islam that aimed, not for racial desegregation, but a complete separation from whites. Its leader Malcolm X even called King a “‘chump’ and other civil rights leaders ‘stooges’ of the white establishment.’”
Over the holidays, I spent time with my extended family that included a little boy who is about to turn two. One activity he enjoyed was building with magnetic tiles. He made a tower taller than himself, but it was top-heavy and started swaying. We expected him to delight with glee when it fell over with a big crash; possibly tears when it fell over because his creation was no more. What we didn’t expect was for him to hang on to the tower, standing on his tiptoes to support it. He whimpered, on the verge of tears, because he clearly did not want the tower to fall and was holding it up with his own strength.
Over the holiday break, my husband and I visited Los Angeles with my parents. Our only non-food related destination was the Getty Villa, along the Pacific coast. It is a museum established by the late oil tycoon J. Paul Getty that showcases ancient artifacts from Greece and Rome. Among the many artifacts, we saw statues of household gods found in Roman empire from the first century. It was amazing to see what we had read in the Bible come to life before our eyes.
Seeing statues of golden calves, sacrificial altars and tangible likenesses of deities at the museum made me think of the things we bow down to in our modern day that may not be made of gold or wood. In our day, we can worship our careers, relationships, success in the eyes of the world as defined by money or approval, or even righteousness through religious duties. This happens when we let good things become the ultimate thing. It can happen when hard times that we don’t understand come our way and we decide God doesn’t know best, but we do. The Israelites struggled with this too, when they complained about their time in the desert and made the golden calf. Maybe we aren’t so different after all. Let us come to the Lord with humble hearts, asking Him to reveal our idols and the help of the Holy Spirit to return to our first love (Rev. 2:4)
Moody Bible Institute and Wheaton College are leading institutions of higher learning for evangelicals. So, upon noting that the New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman studied there, we would expect to learn a great deal from him. That, unfortunately, is not what you will get from Ehrman, who heads the religious-studies department at the University of North Carolina.
This isn’t a forum for an in-depth discussion, but many Christians have erroneous notions about the inspiration of the Scripture. While no one is certain about what inspiration exactly entails, it doesn’t mean superseding differences in each writer’s observation, depending on the perspective taken and culture. It is quite plausible that “Judas hanged himself and that the rope broke, causing him to fall” (Baker). Regarding the field, Judas, in effect, bought it since the chief priest purchased it with his money. Evidently, Matthew accentuated the tragic end of the betrayer (suicide) while Luke focused on its irony: Judas was the first to be buried in the accursed field. Had Ehrman been taught right, perhaps he wouldn’t have taken that fatal road.
The TV show 48 Hours deals with murders involving middle-class Americans who have good jobs and live in nice houses. Viewing just a few episodes is all it would take to notice two repetitive themes regarding whodunit and why. As to who, likely your spouse; as to why, money! In one episode, a young professional with an M.B.A. kills his beautiful wife, even shooting himself 4 times to make the police believe that it was a robbery gone bad. But once the police discovered the $2 million life insurance on the wife, they had the motive to go with his inconsistent testimony.
The Bible, however, gives a simpler reason why Judas “served as guide for those who arrested Jesus”: greed. After all, Judas said to Jesus’ enemy, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you.” By all account, “thirty pieces of silver” was a large sum of money then (as much as $15,000 today). An older John, recalling the events that occurred some 50 years earlier, wrote, “. . . [Judas] was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it” (Jn. 12:6). In other words, betraying Jesus for a small fortune was too good of an opportunity for this small-time thief to pass up.