day no. 16,444: we serve that to which we surrender

“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful.” — Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde’a godless take on temptation testifies to the tyranny of self assessment. Let's look to another Oscar for a more godly take...

“A man’s disposition on the inside, i.e., what he possesses in his personality, determines what he is tempted by on the outside. The temptation fits the nature of the one tempted, and reveals the possibilities of the nature. Every man has the setting of his own temptation, and the temptation will come along the line of the ruling disposition. Temptation is a suggested short cut to the realization of the highest at which I aim – not towards what I understand as evil, but towards what I understand as good. Temptation is something that completely baffles me for a while, I do not know whether the thing is right or wrong. Temptation yielded to is lust deified, and is a proof that it was timidity that prevented the sin before.” — Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

We are mastered by what we yield ourselves to.

2 Peter 2:19

While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

We serve that to which we surrender. Sin sets the hook of slavery with the bait of freedom.

day no. 16,443: duck duck gross

Duck duck gross, n. a game played by large families where one member passes their sickness along to the next member so that someone is always running and so that no one in the circle is ever safe.

Talking to a friend recently (3/12/22), I mentioned that we would be an abbreviated force on Sunday at church since some of my clan were still down and out with the crud. I mentioned how it began with me a few weeks back and then began cycling through the house from one member to the next like a game of duck duck gross.

Galatians 6:1

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

Sin, like sickness, can be contagious and in similar fashion, masking up or sheltering in place does not slow the spread.

day no. 16,442: contabulation

Matthew 7:24-27

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

I love words. So, when I saw my friend, Josiah's, recent post, I was not only excited to learn about a new word (contabulation), but also to learn that my old friend has taken to the love of words and treasuring thereof by reading through an old dictionary. Too many words have been put out to pasture and it is high time we leave the 99 to retrieve some of them.

Contabulation, noun - the act of laying with boards, or of flooring; the floor laid. (Webster's Dictionary, 1828)

Baseboards are a baseline. They provide a foundation for other things. A contabulation is the surface on which babies will crawl, meals will be prepped, love will be made, jokes will be told, toes will be stubbed, furniture will be scratched, and milk will be spilled. Lives are built on something, days are filled somewhere. Good flooring can be taken advantage of, but bad flooring cannot be ignored. It causes more problems than it solves. Good flooring, however, is easily an after thought. It is an after thought, however, because it was thought through first. 

The traditions, customs, and culture of our lives are easy to ignore if they are in tact and engaged. They become more obvious when they are off kilter or out of whack. We need to labor to lay down solid foundations so that we can have the fun of playing games on them. You cannot dance on a damaged floor. Watching your step may be akin to dance class, but not having to watch them is the fun and freedom of movement.

day no. 16,441: colonizing the future

“Parents bring up their children to be colonists at the proper time, planting families of their own. Consequently, each family is designed to be a culture — with a language, customs, traditions, and countless unspoken assumptions. God has made the world in such a way that children who grow up in the culture of the family are to be shaped and molded by it.” — Douglas Wilson, Standing on the Promises

Parents prepare the colonists of the future. The future will be inhabited by someone doing something and parents provide the citizens and the culture that will live there. The future is a foreign land. It is uncivilized and in need of Christ. It is a mission field. It's culture will be inherited by those we bring up in our homes. It's customs and traditions will be our daily routines. It's vernacular will be based on what we are saying to our children today.

"We (must) finally recognize the importance of the time we are called to invest in our children. Because it is a long war, it crosses generations. In a very short space of time, your children will join you in the line, and a short time after that, their children will join them. This means that we begin by fighting for our children, but we must end by fighting by means of them. We must do two things simultaneously—we must fight today’s battles, and we must recruit and train tomorrow’s warriors." — Douglas Wilson, The Neglected Qualification

The future is a battlefield. Christendom is not the only one laying claim to tomorrow.  The enemy knows that the beachheads are all around the corner as well. We fight for our children in order to fight along side them in order to fight through them and their children when we enter into eternity. So, we must fight now in order to have a future and we must train and raise up tomorrow's soldiers while they're still sleeping across the hall.

The future is Christian. It's colonists are cooing in our nurseries. Let us rise to the occasion and make them our mission field in order that they may join the meek who inherit the earth.

day no. 16,440: the wrong kind of strong

Proverbs 31:17

She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.

Feminine strength is a virtue, but it is not the same as masculine strength. It flexes in different ways. It is not the broad-shouldered ability to bear up under physical weight, but the diligent-armed ability to bear up under myriad tasks. 

Ladies, do not be the wrong kind of strong. You were not meant to have a six pack and ripped forearms. You were not made to bench press your way to success. You were not made to be a fitness model. You were not designed to be spent like a man. You were not meant to live below a certain percentage of body fat. You were not made to chase gains at the gym.

The amount of time and energy required to acquire those things is time away from what ought to be your priorities. You cannot learn to be a lover of husbands and children by spending the best of your strength on Crossfit and cardio. You cannot be strong for your tasks and you will never be as strong as a man is for his.

Additionally, that type of fit often ends or disrupts the menstrual cycle. Nothing could be less feminine then eliminating your period for the sake of six-pack. The wrong kind of strong keeps your from being or doing what your strength was uniquely made for.

Women were not meant to be hard. They were made to be soft. Men were made to be hard. They were not made to be soft. Hard women are in sin just as soft men are. Hardness and softness here not being limited merely to the musculature of one's body, but extended as a principle to the infrastructure of the entire person exhibited.

So, ladies: give up on the wrong kind of strong. Stop aspiring to fruitlessness. Stop envying those who looks like they've never had children. Stop spending your time wearing your underwear in public and admiring those who look better than you doing it. Stop pursuing the wrong kind of strong. It is a glaring weakness and the more you chase it, the harder it is for you to see it. Your vision for femininity is shrinking as your biceps are growing. Stop being a gym rat and become a home insteader.

day no. 16,439: you do not better your lot by belittilng another's

“Be content with thine own lot, if thou canst not better it, but do not look upon thy neighbour, and wish that he were as thyself. Love him, and then thou wilt not envy him.” — Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

Be content with what you have and work hard for what you want, but do not look long and hard at what your neighbor has as though it is what you need in order to be content. Do not go further and wish his fortune away for the sake of your envy. Your neighbor's success should not be the source of your discontent. Let God give as He sees fit and free your neighbor from your audits and your soul from its bitterness.

Romans 12:15

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

Envy turns this on its head by rejoicing when others weep and weeping when others rejoice. Envy gets miffed when its neighbors get what it wanted and gets a thrill out of seeing its neighbors deprived of what it desired. It would rather be assuaged by no one having what it wants than become grateful for a God who would give it to someone else.

All that to say, better your lot if you can and be content with the one that you currently have, but do not attempt to better your lot by belittling another's.

day no. 16,438: insufficiently selfish

“SELFISH, adj. Devoid of consideration for the selfishness of others” — Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary 

Selfish people are not sufficiently attentive to the selfishness of others. 

Philippians 2:3-4

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

In order to count others more significant than yourself, you must first consider what their selfishness would count as significant and then make sure that you don't forget to take that into account.

Ephesians 5:28-29

So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church.

A good husband is one who takes an interest in his wife's interests. He thinks about what he selfishly would desire and then seeks to provide that for his spouse. Unselfishness is not the opposite of selfishness, it is being selfish for selves other than just your own. It is knowing how to prioritize the priorities of others. It is taking an interest in someone else's interests. It is remembering what others never forget and keeping in mind what others cannot keep off theirs.