love and hate
by Tom Felten

2 Samuel 13:1-20
Suddenly Amnon’s love turned to hate, and he hated her even more than he had loved her (2 Samuel 13:15).

There’s definitely a fine line between love and hate. I read of a wife who was so fed up with her husband’s cheating that she said, “I didn’t want to divorce [him], but I wanted him to die.” The adulterous husband said of his bride: “I didn’t love her. I wanted a divorce.”

A disturbing account in the Bible reveals just how fast affection can turn to rejection. One of David’s undisciplined sons had fallen deep in lust with his beautiful half-sister Tamar (2 Samuel 13:1). His obsession led to a severe case of love-sickness and a really sick plan: Amnon decided to take Tamar’s love by force (2 Samuel 13:2,5). He “grabbed her and demanded” that she sleep with him—calling her “darling” (2 Samuel 13:11). Tamar resisted, but her brother overpowered her and raped her (2 Samuel 13:12,14). And just like that “Amnon’s love turned to hate, and he hated her even more than he had loved her” (2 Samuel 13:15). Tamar went from being darling to being despised.

What we see in Amnon’s horrific actions is reflected in many troubled marriages: the sin of selfishness. The young bride (see first paragraph) recognized her husband’s selfish ways. But she made a wise decision. “Instead of praying that [my husband] would fall back in love with me, I started praying that he would fall in love with God.” In time her husband’s cold heart began to melt. He did fall back in love with God and his wife once again. They now share a relationship deeply rooted in God Himself.

John wrote that “anyone who keeps on sinning does not know [God]” (1 John 3:6). But if we turn from our selfish sin and choose love, “God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us” (1 John 4:12).

Turn your relationship from hate to love by loving God and leaving selfishness behind.

our daily journey

one lost coin
by k.t. sim

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Luke 15:8-10
Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin (Luke 15:9).

Where’s that brown envelope I left on the kitchen table?” I asked my daughter. “On the dining room table,” she said. It wasn’t on that table, so I began a frantic search throughout the entire house— from the kitchen to the bedrooms—for the misplaced envelope. Even the trashcans weren’t spared from the scrutiny. What was the big fuss over a lost envelope? Inside were two $1,000 bills.

Many sermons have been preached about the lost sheep (Luke 15:3-7) and the lost son (Luke 15:11-24). Being the shortest of the three stories, the lost coin is often overlooked.

A woman had lost one of her ten silver coins. She lit “a lamp and [swept] the entire house and [searched] carefully until she [found] it” (Luke 15:8). One silver coin (Greek drachma) is worth about 30 cents (US) today. Like the Roman denarius (Matthew 20:2), however, it was the equivalent of one day’s salary for a common laborer. The loss of a day of pay would certainly warrant a deliberate, extraneous, relentless search. So when the woman recovered her lost coin, she called all her friends and neighbors together for a party. The recovered coin had significant value, and now it had been found!

Most of us would sweat the loss of 8 or so hours’ pay. The woman in the parable did, for she knew the value of the coin. It was precious to her.

We’re of great value to God—more than we can imagine. He spares no effort in searching for those who are lost (Luke 15:8-10), and He takes great delight when He finds us (Luke 15:9). Recovering you and me is a source of great joy to Him (Luke 15:10)!

our daily journey

today
by Jeff Olson

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Hebrews 3:7-15
You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God (Hebrews 3:13).

The film Dead Poets Society introduced me to an old phrase from a Latin poem: carpe diem. It means “seize the day,” an urgent call to live life to the fullest, getting the most out of each and every day. Generally speaking, it’s good advice, especially for those of us who to tend to live passively and watch life pass us by.

The writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews also focused on the urgency of “today” (Hebrews 3:7-15). Drawing on that tragic time in Israel’s history when its people fell into decades of unbelief and rebellion in the wilderness, he impressed upon his Christian readers a sense of the urgent when it came to their walk with God. In light of what happened to the Israelites in the Sinai desert, the writer of Hebrews exhorted his readers to be careful not to make the same mistake and to warn each other while it is still “today” (Hebrews 3:13).

Like the Israelites, Christians can let sinful unbelief linger in their hearts. Left unchecked, it will eventually harden them toward God. While it’s still “today,” while there’s still opportunity, that is, Christians can spot unconstrained unbelief in themselves or others and do the right thing. Genuinely concerned Christians can offer others the kindness of their involvement and can present loving, truthful feedback that will sound the alarm about the perils of sin’s deceitfulness.

The writer of Hebrews is not encouraging Christians to meddle. He is, however, encouraging us to first “listen” to what God’s Spirit is telling us about any unbelief lying around in our own hearts (Hebrews 3:7). And he’s calling us to be involved in each other’s lives so that we can caution a fellow Christian whose heart is in danger of becoming hardened towards God.

our daily journey