day no. 15,690: charity requires someone to work

"If the comer is a traveler, assist him, so far as ye are able; but he shall not stay with you more than two or three days, if it be necessary. But if he wishes to settle with you, being a craftsman, let him work for and eat his bread. But if he has no craft, according to your wisdom provide how he shall live as a Christian among you, but not in idleness. If he will not do this, he is trafficking upon Christ. Beware of such men. But every time prophet desiring to settle among you is worthy of his food. In like manner a true teacher is also worthy, like the workman, of his food. Every firstfruit then of the produce of the wine-vat and of the threshing-floor, of thy oxen and of thy sheep, thou shalt take and give as the firstfruit to the prophets; for they are your chief-priests" -- The Didache, J.B. Lightfoot translation

A traveling minister shall be given room and board, but not indefinitely. Within 2-3 days, he needs to either become part of the community or move on. He must either get to work and earn the bread that was previously provided to him as a guest or get to stepping to where he wants to end up. But if he becomes part of the community, he must begin to contribute to it. He belongs to the family so he helps with the dishes. He is no longer a stranger in need of hospitality, but a member in need of contributing something back.

Charity requires someone to work. In order to have something to give, someone must have extra. A Christian is one who receives God's work on their behalf as their only hope of salvation and right standing before God. This faith is then demonstrated by doing for others what God has done for them. Along with a new heart and the help of His Spirit, the Christian discovers an impulse from God to provide for others. The Christian becomes like Christ in working for the benefit of others.

No Christian would seek to make his living off of merely being a Christian. Christians in vocational ministry understand their calling as work. They are paid to disciple, study the Scriptures, preach, counsel, etc... but they don't expect a paycheck for simply being a part of the body. Being a Christian isn't a job, it is a delight. We obey God because we want to and His commandments are not burdensome. Expecting someone to pay you for being a Christian is what the Didache calls trafficking upon Christ. Beware of those who would do this and the temptation to become like this.

day no. 15,689: our diets should not make us want to die

"Thou, Almighty Master,
didst create all things for Thy name's sake,
and didst give food and drink unto men for enjoyment,
that they might render thanks to Thee;
but didst bestow upon us spiritual food and drink and eternal life through Thy Son.
Before all things we give Thee thanks that Thou art powerful;
Thine is the glory for ever and ever."
-- The Didache, J.B. Lightfoot translation

Food and drink were meant to be enjoyed. God made food and drink. He designed their tastes. He gave men taste buds that could distinguish different flavors. Food is good and meant to be enjoyed. God also gave us bodies to steward. But if our diets end in us despising food, we are doing it wrong and something is out of proportion to its created intent. Our diets should not make us want to die. 

Romans 14:17

For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost

God gave us minds to think with and hearts to thank with and all that passes through our mind, mouth, heart or soul can be received with gratitude because He is full of grace and withholds from us no good thing. By eating the fat and drinking the sweet, we train ourselves to agree with God that life is good and living an occasion for celebration.

1 Timothy 4:4-5
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

day no. 15,688: we huddle in order to break

"As this broken bread was scattered upon the mountains
and being gathered together became one,
so may Thy Church be gathered together
from the ends of the earth into Thy kingdom;
for Thine is the glory and the power
through Jesus Christ for ever and ever."
-- The Didache, J.B. Lightfoot translation

Grain is gathered and ground in order to be brought together as bread. Bread is a gathering of grains. Once gathered into one loaf, it is blessed by being broken. The reason bread is made is in order to be broken. It gathers in order to be scattered again. Just as Jesus was broken on our behalf, so we are broken on behalf of others.

God gathers in order to scatter. He breaks a thing for the blessing of everything else. What ends up broken is better than it was before. It is brought together in order to be better scattered. The end of the thing is better than its beginning. Bread is grain gathered, but broken bread is grain recommissioned. We huddle in order to break.

day no. 15,687: ancient politics

"Thou shalt not murder a child by abortion nor kill them when born, thou shalt not covet thy neighbors goods." -- The Didache, J.B. Lightfoot translation

Few things could better describe the progressive impulse than death and envy culture, both of which are prohibited by God in His Word and are directly here refuted in one of Christianity's earliest teachings, The Didache. 

It is interesting that The Didache specifically clarifies that abortion and infanticide are examples of murder and that these would specifically be followed by an admonition against covetous envy. Abortion and Socialism defy God's Law. Socialism is institutionalized envy and Abortion is institutionalized murder. Those who promote either do so in direct defiance of God's Law and the clear teachings of the early church. Murder is murder, even if it is an unborn child. Envy is envy even if it is being done by the government. No one can pass a law that nullifies God's. Even if murder is declared health care and envy is declared redistribution, it is still murder and envy; and no caveats are provided by God with respect to the murder of the unborn or the pillaging of  your neighbor's fruitfulness.

day no. 15,686: balm in Gilead

“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—

prophet still, if bird or devil!—
Whether Tempter sent, or whether

tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted,

on this desert land enchanted—
On this home by Horror haunted—

tell me truly, I implore—
Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—

tell me—tell me, I implore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.” 

- Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven

When revisiting this poem back on 4/30/2020, my mind attached itself to the sentiment above. I performed a search and located the source from which Poe borrowed this phrase.

Jeremiah 8:21-22
For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

There are two kinds of despair. One kind is being without a balm which you are convinced could heal you if you only had it; the other kind being unsure if such a balm even exists. If you know and believe hope is out there, you despair its absence, but hope in its eventual presence. But if you doubt its existence, you despair of its absence without hope. To miss a loved one is to wish them back, but the Christian hopes in going to them, whereas the unbeliever has no hope of ever seeing them again.

2 Samuel 12:23
He is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.

Proverbs 13:12

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

day no. 15,685: the soul of the world

"In a word, what the soul is in a body, this the Christians are in the world. The soul is spread through all the members of the body, and Christians through the divers cities of the world. The soul hath its abode in the body, and yet it is not of the body. So Christians have their abode in the world, and yet they are not of the world. The soul which is invisible is guarded in the body which is visible: so Christians are recognized as Being in the world, and yet their religion remaineth invisible. The flesh hateth the soul and wageth war with it, though it receiveth no wrong, because it is forbidden to indulge in pleasures; so the world hateth Christians, though it receiveth no wrong from them, because they set themselves against its pleasures. The soul loveth the flesh which hateth it, and the members: so Christians love those that hate them. The soul is enclosed in the body, and yet itself holdeth the body together; so Christians are kept in the world as in a prison-house, and yet they themselves hold the world together. The soul though itself immortal dwelleth in a mortal tabernacle- so Christians sojourn amidst perishable things, while they look for the imperishability which is in the heavens." --  The Epistle to Diognetus, chapter 6, J.B. Lightfoot translation

The man who gains the world and loses his soul is a fool. Whatever you gain in trade for your soul cannot be yours. If your soul belongs to someone else, whatever you have, isn't yours.

Mark 8:36

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

The world seeks to save itself and loses its soul in the process. It ignores its soul and loses its ability to retain ownership of anything

Matthew 16:25

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

A man seeking to preserve his body yet paying no attention to his soul will end up having both of them taken from him. He does not know the value of what he had until it is no longer his and too late to retain it. What he failed to value in life cannot be redeemed by regret after death. A soul scorned will be avenged.

day no. 15,684: buying the field for the sake of the treasure

While reading the John MacArthur Handbook of Effective Biblical Leadership, I came across a message by Phil Johnson titled The Extent of the Atonement where he referred to an illustration Curt Daniel gave regarding Matthew 13:44 which says, "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

"Buying the field ensures that the man buys the treasure. The treasure was the object and the aim of his purchase. The treasure was the reason for His great joy. The treasure was the reason He made this deal in the first place. But He did not purchase the treasure only; He purchased the whole field... That is a very clear statement that there is a universal ramification of the atonement. Christ's death, in some sense, purchased Him an exalted position of lordship over all. There is a true sense in which Jesus purchased the whole world in order to get the treasure, the church."

Jesus bought the entire field, but He pays particular attention to the treasure buried in it. The whole field is benefited by being owned by Him, but the treasure benefits especially.

1 Timothy 4:10
To this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe

The treasure is dug up and unearthed out of its darkness; it is lifted and exalted up from the ground. It is resurrected to see the light of day. It is brought into the Master's home and elevated to a position of honor. It is treasured because it has particular value. The entire field benefits in general because of the particular love the Master has for the treasure.

"We believe that by His atoning sacrifice, Christ bought some good things for all men and all good things for some men." -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon

In other words, we can fully expect the world to be improved and benefited by the grace of God for the sake of His elect. For the sake of the especially, everyone experiences salvation. The salvation of the one, however, is qualitatively different from that of the other. The field is saved from being under the deed of the previous possessor, but the treasure is possessed by the new owner in a way that the field isn't. The treasure is saved in a way that is unique. It too is no longer under the deed of the darkness, but it is delivered from it in ways manifestly different than the dirt that was dug up along with it. The Treasure Hunter rescues the prize from the ground and carefully brushes the dust off of the object of His pursuit, but He does not attend to the dust as it falls. 

"The design of God in the atoning work of Christ pertained primarily and directly to the redemption of the elect, but indirectly and secondarily it included all the blessings of common grace." -- R.B. Kuiper

God provides for many when providing for the elect. Many ate bread in the desert and drank water from the rock and were led by fire by night and a cloud by day and were saved from Pharaoh and from slavery in Egypt who would not enter into the promised land. For the sake of the elect, many are blessed. For the sake of the saved, the whole world is baptized and the flood of His goodness covers the entire landscape. No one can escape some of His grace. Just as He promised not to flood the world again in wrath, He did promise to flood the world with grace. And everywhere we look, we can see the sea is rising and His tide is coming in.

Habakkuk 2:14

The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.