Living – Page 18 – John Markum

Honor the Sabbath

Posted on July 23, 2011 by johnmarkum

In Exodus 20, God commands the people of Israel to “Honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” Ever since, there has been confusion as to what exactly He meant by that.

First of all, the word holy simply means “set apart.” And God even tells us in Exodus 20:11 the exact reason for telling us to “set apart” one day per week:

“For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day He rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.”

Bottom line: Don’t try to out work God. Take time to slow down, recharge, and focus on the important things. Like God, family, health, and your sanity.

By the time you get to the New Testament, the religious leaders of Jesus time had created hundreds of laws regarding how to “Honor the Sabbath.” When they find Jesus doing everything from healing the sick and getting food on the Sabbath day, they totally lose it! Jesus points out that any of them would pull their ox out of a ditch on the Sabbath, but they cry foul when Jesus healed a cripple man. How does that make sense?

In our crazy-paced, American, consumerism mentality, it is so easy for us to use busyness as an excuse for everything:

Sorry I didn’t make it to your wedding. I had to work.
Sorry I was late for work. I had a doctors appointment.
Sorry I was late for my appointment. My babysitter took forever to get there.
Sorry I need you to watch my kids early, I have a bunch of errands to run.

I’ve heard the full gambit of reasons that people put God on hold. But God doesn’t just want you to make time with Him a priority. He wants you to make time for yourself.

Do you have a regular, weekly day to escape the crazy break-neck pace of life? If not, how long do you expect to make it at this pace? Even if it doesn’t kill you, how much are you actually enjoying life, and all the gifts of God has given you to slow down and enjoy from time to time?

“Man was not made for the Sabbath day, but the Sabbath day for man.” – Jesus (Mark 2:27)

Take one day a week even if it’s not Saturday. Slow down. Appreciate what you’ve accomplished in the past week. Prepare yourself for the next week. God wants you to chill.

Blessings,

John

Dead Right

Posted on July 16, 2011 by johnmarkum

Have you heard the expression of being “dead wrong?” Dead wrong is not just having your facts incorrect. Dead wrong is being so blind to the fact that you’re wrong that you get argumentative, defensive, even belligerent about something, only to find out later that you were not even right to begin with. You end up feeling kinda stupid and ashamed for getting so fired about about something you didn’t even have right. You weren’t just wrong. You were dead wrong.

If there’s anything worse than being dead wrong, it’s probably being dead right. A friend I was talking to this week introduced me to the term, and it was a powerful thought. Being dead right is very similar to being dead wrong. When you’re dead right you have the correct information. Your facts are accurate. But because you know you’re right, you end up being more confident.

And so in an argument the person with the right answers or perspective makes stands that are not worth taking. They end up winning a battle but losing the war. Has this ever happened to you? You were right. They were wrong. The fight got out of hand and the other person walked away. You know you were right, but you still feel like it’s your fault. It might be because you were dead right.

This happens in marriages all the time. One spouse gets upset at something the other did/didn’t do. And instead of calling them out on it in a loving way that still shows care for the other person, they use their “right” position as a weapon to attack the other person. The end result? They end up dead right. Correct about their information. Incorrect in their approach. What was probably a simple situation now has great hurt attached to it. They said they were going to do the dishes and they didn’t. Now that you’ve humiliated them by verbally beating them up over it, the dishes are still dirty, and your wife/husband doesn’t want to even look at you. The dishes would have taken 20 minutes to clean. Now it’ll take several hours or even days to recover peace and harmony in your home.

You know what being dead wrong has in common with being dead right? You’re still dead. I would rather be wrong than dead right. Wrong happens. Wrong is fixable. Dead right is personal. Dead right stings. Dead right is not love.

Purpose in your heart now that you will refuse to be dead right. When some else has done wrong by you, you will seek forgiveness and reconciliation, and not character assassination of the other person. Decide that you will use your right position as an opportunity to help the other person, not break them.

Knowledge is knowing the right stuff. Wisdom is understanding how to use it.

Blessings,

John

Difficult People

Posted on July 13, 2011 by johnmarkum

Everyone I know has at least one person in their life that causes them an extra amount of stress, frustration, and even discouragement. Let’s face it… some people are just difficult. And chances are that you have a few in your life who are especially high maintenance. Let’s choose to refer to them as EGR’s (Extra Grace Required)! So what do we do about the difficult people in our lives?

Well first of all, let’s be honest about one thing. The term difficult people is redundant. For every EGR in your life, you are likely to be the same for someone else. Because we all come to the table with our own set of difficulties, pasts, weaknesses, and desires. Any time you get a mix of several people in one place (like church) with all of these factors in mind, there brews a concoction for stress, arguing, cliches, outcasts, and hurt feelings.

You see this early on in the school system with kids who never eat at that table because “we don’t talk to them.” And that mentality carries all the way from junior high straight to adulthood. I’ve even heard people use it as an excuse for not going to church: “I’m not going to some church with all of these people who are so [fill in the blank]!”

Complaining about difficult people at church is much like complaining about all of the sick people in the hospital. If you don’t like them there, where would you suggest they go? So I have put together what I feel are a few key thoughts for dealing with the difficult people in your life.

Remember that they are on a process of growing to be like Christ. Some grow differently than others, and some have different issues. Help them through it (Galatians 6:1-3) .
Deal with your own rough edges. If you are the one having most of the conflicts with people, realize that the common denominator might be you. Be humble enough to realize that there could be places where you need to grow. In other words, stop thinking of people who need to read this blog, and apply some of this to yourself first (Romans 2:1-4)!
Seek peace. Scripture encourages us repeatedly to be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), to accept an offense in order to attain peace (Colossians 3:13), and to do all we can short of sin to live peaceably with all people (Romans 12:16-18). Forgive when needed. Ask forgiveness when needed.
Choose your inner circle wisely. Just because they are part of your church family does not mean you have to be BFF’s (“Best Friends Forever” to those my generation or older). Stay closest to the people who lift you up and make you more like Christ (Proverbs 13:20), while not ignoring the others.
Don’t gossip. Just because you prefer some people less than others, does not give you permission to trash them to other people (Proverbs 18:6-7). In fact, do the opposite. Speak life about that person (Proverbs 18:20-21). Don’t be fake! But choose to build others up rather than tear them down. And don’t stress yourself over what others may or may not be saying about you. The truth always comes out, and the person talking smack always ends up looking much worse in the end.

God uses difficult people in our lives to grow us to be more like Him and to help others be more like Him also. Be gracious to them, even as God has been gracious to you. Remember: People are not our standard, Jesus is. Let’s focus on Him together.

Blessings,

John