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Song of Solomon 1:5-6, Various

The Eyes of Love

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 31, 2023

After extolling all the lovable characteristics of the man she loves, Solomon’s lover appears to apologize for things about herself that might seem unattractive. In Song of Solomon 1:5, she says, “I am very dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem,

like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.  Do not gaze at me because I am dark, because the sun has looked upon me.” It appears that her “darkness” is more a product of the sun than it is of her race. In contrast to the city girls of Jerusalem who live lives shielded from the sun, this girl is a country girl who is familiar with hard work and spends a lot of time outside. Palace princesses don’t spend a lot of time in the sun. She is a commoner. Maybe she is apologizing for her social status. Obviously, she’s not apologizing for her looks because she calls herself lovely. I think that she sees herself as “lovely” because her lover tells her that she is. Love is indeed blind. But love can change the way we see others and even the world. Hubbard writes, “The lover’s final delight in the one he has chosen matches the woman’s initial delight in being desired by him, despite her swarthy complexion. The joy of being cherished sparks an inner beauty that no cosmetic can imitate. That joy lends radiance to both persons in the Song.”[1]

Although it is surely a reference to human love for men and women for each other, one cannot miss the allusion to God’s love for sinners the same way. Many of the older commentators want to make the Song of Solomon strictly an allegory referring to God’s love for the church. I’m not sure you can do that, yet the comparisons are obvious. I wonder if Paul’s use of the idea can’t be found in his letters. Consider Ephesians 1:4 concerning God’s choosing us; he writes, “Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love. Some might argue that the last two words “in love” belong to what follows in verse 5, I can’t help but see it referring to God’s looking at us through the eyes of love and proclaiming we are blameless. The Bible makes it clear that we are sinners. We are not righteous or blameless, yet God bestows his love on us anyway. The last phrase, “in love,” might be translated as “by love” or “even “through love.” So God sees us as Saints. That’s a title given to all believers in the New Testament. The only possible way he can refer to us like that is that He is looking through the eyes of love when He looks at us. He loves us because we are “In Christ!.”

In our case, our “darkness” has to do with sin. I remember the wordless book that was used to teach children the gospel message at Martin Road Gospel Chapel when I first became a Christian. We would take our young boys to church, and they would learn a song based on the wordless book. It had different color pages. The colors were black, red, white, and gold. The song went like this:

Once my heart was black as sin,

Until the Savior came in.

His precious blood, I know.

Has washed it whiter than snow;

And in this world, I’m told

I’ll walk the streets of gold.

Oh, wonderful, wonderful day;

He washed my sins away.

 Living in this world under the sun, as Solomon writes about in the book of Ecclesiastes,  will indeed bring blackness to our hearts and souls. But God looks at us through the eyes of love. God “so loved” the world that He sent His son to pay the penalty for our sins and to reserve for us a place in heaven which he offers to each of us as a free gift. It’s a gift of God and received by faith alone.

[1] Hubbard, David A., and Lloyd J. Ogilvie. 1991. Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon. Vol. 16. The Preacher’s Commentary Series. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.

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Ecclesiastes 1:8, Various

Peace In A Frustrating World

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 30, 2023

Life is, as Shakespeare said, “Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” I expect he got that from reading the book of Ecclesiastes. It sounds a lot like what Solomon had to say about life being “vanity of vanities.” Although we live on the earth, it could not care less about us. It’s all meaningless. Like the old man river, it just keeps on going while we struggle and strain with life’s meaninglessness. We suffer, and the rivers, the winds, and the oceans pay no attention to us. It just keeps on and on and on. None of the things on earth pay any attention to us and our pilgrimage, along with its trials and hardships that all come to but one end: Death. Solomon finds many different ways of saying this, and in Ecclesiastes 1:8, he adds the ideas of our senses of seeing and hearing. He writes, “All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.” We are insignificant creatures who live their short lives amidst an uncaring world of repetitive cycles. We see it, and we hear it all, but there is no hope for us. Life is just a meaningless prelude to death.

 Man has so many different insatiable appetites. I must have more. This is true of everything in life. That’s what makes it so weary. We get what we want, and it doesn’t satisfy us for very long. One very rich man was asked how much money it would take to make him happy. He simply answered, “More.” Life, under the sun, is moving from one experience to another. Solomon is right, “all things” are empty and meaningless. The eye will never have reached the point where it has seen enough. The ear will never say it doesn’t need or want to hear anything else. The rich man is right. It will always take “more” in our day-to-day lives. But unlike the rich man, Solomon teaches us that we are to evaluate this truth and have it impact us in our daily lives.

The weariness and vanity of life are that it just keeps going like the rivers. This applies to seeing and hearing as well. The Handbook for Bible Translators says, “The eye is not satisfied means that there is no way that we can actually ‘fill up’ our eyes. It does not mean that what the eye sees will never give it pleasure and satisfaction. It means, rather, that the eye can always see things as long as we keep it open to look at them. In the same way, the ear can always hear things. It does not get ‘filled up’ so that it cannot hear anything more. The eye and ear are not like containers that can only hold a limited amount. In this sense, they are just like the sea—always able to take in more.”[1] Jesus not only fulfills the law on behalf of us sinners, but he also fulfills the book of Ecclesiastes’ insistence on the repetitive weariness of life. He told the woman at the well in John 4:13-14, “Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,  but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’” The Greek word for “eternal” carries with it the idea of “quality” as well as “quantity.” Later in John’s Gospel (John 10:10), Jesus says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” In a world in which nothing really matters, we will agree with the speaker in Ecclesiastes. There is no meaning or purpose to our lives, only the drudgery of a hopeless daily existence. There are good times, but there are also bad times. In the end, the bad times win out with our death. No wonder we live in a world with such stress. Sailor said, “Never before in the history of civilization have so many voices been raised to declare that all purpose and meaning has departed from the world. Thus, Angst – dread, fear, anxiety – finds many expressions.”[2] Unlike the rest of creation, God does care about us and has eternal plans for those who believe. God wants to give us peace, not angst. Paul tells us, “be anxious for nothing.” Instead we should trust God, who will give us a “peace that passes all understanding.”

[1] Ogden, Graham S., and Lynell Zogbo. 1998. A Handbook on Ecclesiastes. UBS Handbook Series. New York: United Bible Societies.

[2] Sailer, William, J. Creighton Christman, David C. Greulich, Harold P. Scanlin, Stephen J. Lennox, and Phillip Guistwite. 2012. Religious and Theological Abstracts. Myerstown, PA: Religious and Theological Abstracts.

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Proverbs 1:8-9, 1 Samuel 15:22

Obedience: A Thing Of Beauty

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 29, 2023

When God delivered the ten commandments to Moses, there was one of the Ten that had a promise associated with it. That’s the fifth commandment. It says, “Honor your father and mother.” Paul says in Ephesians 6:1-2, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” Then he quotes from the ten commandments and adds, “‘Honor your father and mother.’ This is the first commandment with a promise, that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Solomon understood this truth well and wanted his children to understand it as well. This instruction is the key to a happy and successful life. In Proverbs 1:8-9, he tells the children of every generation, “Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.” One modern preacher argues that the problem in America is that we no longer teach this truth to our children. “A Chinese man traveled in America for six months. When asked what impressed him most about America, he answered, ‘The way parents obey their children.’ In many homes, the father is not the head—just a figurehead. Disobedience at home will lead to disobedience in school and disrespect for authority. Children should be taught and even forced to obey their parents. You cannot begin too early to teach this important lesson.”[1]

But Solomon isn’t focusing on the consequences of rebellion so much as he is pointing out the beauty of honoring one’s parents and respecting them by hearing their advice and heeding their instructions. The whole key to the verse of Proverbs is “fear of the Lord.” That’s the beginning of wisdom which results in a happy and successful life. Disregarding, disrespecting, and disobeying parents is to disregard, disrespect, and disobey God. The fifth commandment promises good things to those who listen and heed their parent’s advice. “Here, it helps to know that when the Bible talks about living long in the land, it is not simply talking about how old people are when they die. The expression ‘live long in the land’ is a Hebrew phrase for the fullness of God’s blessing. It means to have an abundant life. Anyone who wants to live long and prosper should honor his mother and father.”[2]

Obedience is a beautiful thing. Obedient children get a garland on their heads and a pendant to wear around their necks. “What do those metaphors mean? A garland was a Victor’s wreath. In Chapter 4, the garland stands in parallel with ‘a beautiful crown’ (Proverbs 4:9). And a pendant is a chain around one’s neck as a mark of prestige. Think of an Olympic gold medal.”[3] Obedient children are beautiful to the world. This is true of obedient adults as well. God delights in those who regard His worlds, who respect His authority, and obey His instructions. Saul, Israel’s first king, had to learn this the hard way. Saul took it upon himself to offer the sacrifices that were reserved for only priests to offer. When Samuel found out about it, he confronted Saul. 1 Samuel 15:22 says, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.”

[1] Pentz, Croft M. 1979. Sermon Outlines for Special Days. Sermon Outline Series. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

[2] Ryken, Philip Graham, and R. Kent Hughes. 2005. Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

[3] Ortlund, Raymond C., Jr. 2012. Preaching the Word: Proverbs—Wisdom That Works. Edited by R. Kent Hughes. Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

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Psalms 5:7-8, 1 Corinthians 15:10

But For The Grace Of God

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 28, 2023

David talks about how God hates liars, murderers, and evil-doers of all kinds and how they will be excluded from the house of God in Psalm 5:4-6. Now in the next passage, Psalm 5:7-8, he expresses his own confidence in his relationship with God. He says, “But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.  Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.” In view of David’s own sinfulness, the key to understanding David’s confidence is found in the opening phrase, “Through the abundance of your steadfast love.” Even David seems to understand that any righteousness he might have is by the grace of God.

I just watched a news report where Laura Ingraham did an on-the-street interview with drug addicts on the streets in San Francisco. In one interview, an addict told Laura that she has no ability to say “NO” to her habit. The Fentanyl she was taking was the only thing that relieved the pains in her life, and there was no way she could stop using it. Life, to her, was unlivable without it! She had tears running down her cheeks as she confessed her total dependence on the drug. Laura hugged her, and when she was interviewed later, she said, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” I think Laura meant what David meant when he said that any righteousness he possesses comes only through the abundance of God’s steadfast love.

We often sing the famous hymn “Amazing Grace.” John Newton, the author, recognized how sinful he was as he referred to himself as “a wretch like me.” When we sing that hymn, we too should realize that the only goodness we might truly boast of is that which God has bestowed upon us through faith in His son, Jesus. I like what McCalip writes, “God’s grace is truly amazing, for the only real difference between a sinner and a saint is God’s grace. Every saint can say, ‘There but for the grace of God go I’ when he speaks of what might have happened to him had he followed the crowds and not the way of God. We should never reach the point of pride where we can’t acknowledge, as the hymn says, that God ‘saved a wretch like me.’”[1] Paul agrees with David’s assessment. He acknowledges his complete dependence on God as well in 1 Corinthians 15:10. He writes, “But by the grace of God I am what I am.” 

[1] McCalip, Steven Melvin. 2002. Where’d That Come From?. Chattanoga: AMG Publishers.

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Job 1:6, Various

Up Jumped The Devil!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 27, 2023

Job was a man of faith. He trusted God regardless of the circumstances in his life. When God withheld something from Job, he trusted God to have his best interest foremost in mind. When God allowed hardships, trials, and even death and sickness to enter his life, he held onto his conviction regarding the goodness of God. He wanted his children to love and trust God similarly, and he prayed for them every day that this would be the case with his children. However, there is an enemy. This enemy wants us to doubt God. He is called the “adversary” many times in the Bible. He comes into the story about righteous Job at this point. Job 1:6 tells us of his arrival, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.”

 The “sons of God” is taken to mean the good angels primarily. They are God’s servants. God sends them to help mankind in one way or another. Although Satan is a spiritual being like the other angels, his intention for mankind is not to help them. In the Hebrew text, “Satan” is “the Satan,” the article indicating a title rather than a name. Satan is a personal and powerful supernatural being. While some disagree, there seems to be no reason to identify this character as anyone other than the Satan, who appears regularly on the pages of the New Testament.” He’s the one that Peter tells us about. He’s prowling around like a roaring lion looking for those he might devour. He is the figure from Genesis three that brought sin into the world through the sin of Adam and Eve. He’s the figure described in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 who exalted himself above God. He made himself God’s adversary. He is the adversary of all mankind. John calls him the “accuser” (adversary) of the brethren. As we’ll see, Satan finds his joy in humanity’s misery, and he delights in our pain.[1]

As Cowles observes, “It is important for us to admit what everywhere revelation has taught us—that Satan is a real person; is the enemy of all righteousness. Indeed, it may be supposed that Satan is brought to view here, not merely to indicate to us his work among men and his moral attitude toward God and all the good but also to suggest one reason why God should permit these extreme afflictions to befall one of the best of men. This terrible scene of suffering might otherwise seem unaccountable even to the angels nearest the throne above. Moreover, God might deem it wise to permit a test case to show the devil and all his party how God can save his children; bring good out of Satan’s intended evil; and frustrate his schemes, to his own everlasting chagrin and confusion.”[2]

Things were going along fine for Job, and life was good.  He had seven sons and three daughters. He had 7000 sheep and 3000 camels and 500 oxen and 500 donkeys, servants galore, and everything that would make a man feel blessed and satisfied with life. Then it happens! It seems to come out of nowhere! The old saying “up jumped the devil” becomes a reality in Job’s life. Such suffering comes to Job that he begins to think he’s being “ghosted” by God. I’ve just learned the modern term “Ghosted,” which means “someone stops answering your texts or calls without explanation. This often happens out of nowhere. It can leave you feeling confused, hurt, and paranoid.” Not only is Job not being ghosted, but God also has his hands on the controls during the whole process, as we’ll see. We can be sure, at times when we might feel “ghosted,” that God is still there and looking out over the whole episode and will work things out for our good in the end! He’s really good at that!

 

[1] Allen, David L. 2022. Exalting Jesus in Job. Edited by David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida. Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference.

[2] Cowles, Henry. 1877. The Book of Job: With Notes, Critical, Explanatory, and Practical. New York: D. Appleton & Company.

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Esther 1:13-18, Various

Bad Advice

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 26, 2023

Alcohol and anger led the king to make a decision that he would regret his entire life. During his “open bar” party with the princes of his kingdom, Ahasuerus called for the eunuchs to bring Vashti, the beautiful queen, into the room with her royal garb so he could show off her beauty. I expect Vashti had experienced many times when the king showed her off as one of his possessions. She was probably tired of it. She refused to come. In his embarrassment, the king turned to his princes and asked for advice. In itself, this is a pretty good idea, except that they had all been indulging in an “open bar” and were all under the influence of alcohol. Well, you know men! We have to teach women their place, right? Well, that’s what his drunken companions told him. They were afraid their women would follow Vashti’s lead. Esther 1:13-18 tell us this story. The king asks the princes that were with him, “According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?” The answer is recorded as “Not only against the king has Queen Vashti done wrong, but also against all the officials and all the people who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. The queen’s behavior will be made known to all women, causing them to look at their husbands with contempt…; this very day, the noble women of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s behavior will say the same to all the king’s officials, and there will be contempt and wrath in plenty.”

This is horrible advice! But what’s worse is that a wounded ego can lead a person to accept bad advice. It looks like the ego of all the men at the king’s party were afraid of having their authority challenged. But when the ego gets involved, things can go wrong fairly quickly. Ego operates out of one’s own wants and needs. It seeks approval, appreciation, and adoration at all costs and often results in horrible decisions. A person who can recognize the role of ego in their decision-making will rule the world and have a happy life. The first verse in the first Psalm in the Bible praises the “one who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked.” But when egos are involved, it becomes impossible to distinguish between wise and wicked advice. The king’s advisors might have been aware of their king’s big ego, but they overlooked their own in their advice. In their desire to gain his favor, they feed his ego. Look it up! To feed one’s ego is “To do something that encourages or affirms one’s inflated sense of self-importance.” The men at the open bar party felt it necessary to put up a front of authority to show that they were no one to be trifled with. They elevated what should have simply been a domestic dispute to a national crisis.

There are other examples of kings who listened to bad advice in the Bible. Rehoboam got some terrible advice from his advisors years earlier, which caused the nation to divide. His young friends advised him to increase taxes on the people and to show he was not a king to be trifled with. Ahaziah was another king who listened to bad counsel. He was only 22 years old when he became king of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Unfortunately, he listened to the advice of his mother, Jezebel, and was led astray. When his father Ahab died, he brought his father’s counselors on board to help him. 2 Chronicles 22:4 tells us that Ahaziah “Did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father, they were his counselors, to his undoing.” Beware of advice that feeds the ego!

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Nehemiah 1:10-11, Jeremiah 32:26

Too Hard For God

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 25, 2023

Nehemiah did not try to blame others for Israel’s captivity in Babylon. Shifting from the third person to the first person, Nehemiah identifies the cause of the fall of Israel with the sins of the nation. He recognizes that Israel is in the situation it is in because of its own failures. He is part of the sinful nation and does not shy away from his identity with them and his accountability to God. Yet, he knows that the God who saved them from slavery in Egypt generations earlier was the same God he addressed today. He looked to God to “redeem” the nation again as He had done in Egypt. At that time, God heard the groaning of his people in slavery and acted out of his undying love for them. They were his own chosen people. Nehemiah rehearsed God’s previous redemption and asked God to hear their cry for help now. He acknowledges God’s compassion and mercy on His children and asks Him to intervene with the King of Babylon just as He did with Pharoah in Egypt. He does not ask for plagues, however, but for God to move the heart of the king to release His people and send them back to their own land. We see this in Nehemiah 1:10-11, “They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

 Nehemiah asked that God show his children favor once again through his omnipotent ability to work in the heart and mind of the king. If God can send hail, locusts, frogs, and other plagues to Egypt, He could surely move this one king. If God could speak to the Red Sea and make it part to allow the Israelites to escape their slave masters in Egypt, he could surely affect the thinking of this one king.  Smith says, “We do not know how many days Nehemiah made this specific request before the opportunity actually presented itself. One would assume that he focused on confessing sins for some days and that at some later date, he began to pray for God to use his own contact with the king to bring about a solution to the disgraceful situation in Jerusalem. Thus, Nehemiah believed God could influence the mind of a pagan king.”[1]

When we look at the world with all of its trials, troubles, tribulations, its heartaches, its problems, its calamities, and distresses, we sometimes ask this question: “Where is God? Why doesn’t He step in? Why doesn’t He do something?” And we look at our own lives, and we have problems on top of problems. And it seems that our problems have problems. And we wonder, “Why doesn’t God move? Is it that God is not able? Is the situation too big, too large, too strong, too difficult for God?” As Israel was facing the destruction of their city and temple, Jeremiah asked God similar questions with much weeping. Jeremiah, as you know, is the weeping prophet. But he tells us how God answered him in Jeremiah 32:26. It reads, “The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ‘Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?’” Jesus demonstrated his own power to work miracles on behalf of his chosen people as well. We see five thousand fed with a few loaves and fish. We see storms calmed on the seas. We see lepers healed, blind people receiving their sight, women with incurable diseases healed, and ultimately, we see Lazarus raised from the dead. Do you really think there is anything too hard for God?

[1] Smith, Gary V. 2010. Ezra-Nehemiah & Esther. Vol. 5b. Cornerstone Biblical Commentary. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

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Ezra 2:1-2, Revelation 3:5

Names On A List!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
August 24, 2023

As God had moved in the heart of Cyrus to enable the return of the Israelites to their homeland, Ezra spent some time writing a list of those that returned from captivity to take up residence once again in the promised land.  Ezra 2:1-2 tells us, “Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town. They came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, and Baanah.” This is one of the many passages in the Bible that I would skip over or just skim through. It’s a very tedious list of unpronounceable names with apparently no devotional value. There seem to be a lot of passages with lists of names, lists of materials, and lists of ritual duties that seem to be irrelevant to the modern mind. But it’s difficult to ignore the Apostle Paul’s statement in 2 Timothy 3:16 that teaches us that all scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for us. How are these names beneficial for us?

Beville says, “Such a manuscript is a historian’s dream and relatively rare. But it is the providential hand of God that has preserved it throughout the centuries, and what a marvelous account it is! Perhaps you have tried to trace your ancestry with a view to producing a family tree. Many people who engage in such a project find themselves frustrated by poor parish/church records of marriages, births, and deaths. Many more modern records are frequently lost, damaged, or destroyed. This comprehensive list is very precise in the detail it records and does not leave room for imaginative speculations. Such minutiae may appear insignificant or irrelevant, but the Holy Spirit has been careful to attend to detail. Therefore, this is not trivia; rather, it is the Lord’s list, which is recorded not only on earth but also in heaven! Rather than seeing this as a tedious catalog, we should see it as a scroll of honor.”[1]

Annually, the Navy would publish the list of names of all those who were advanced after taking the advancement exam. I remember the heartbreak I would feel after studying for several months and then finding my name was not on the list. On the other hand, I remember when the list for advancement to Chief Petty Officer came out, and my name was on it. There it was!!! “Charles E. Larsen” advanced from first-class petty officer to chief. I really loved seeing my name on that list. I still have copies of that list. They published the list in the Navy Times! It was a boring read for most people. But it was exciting for me because I was on it! My name was on the list, but advancement would not become effective for six months or so. I had to wait from October 1974 to May 1975 before I could change my stripes. But my name was on the list, and I knew it was coming.

Well, I have my name on a much more important list today. The Bible refers to it as the Lamb’s book of Life. I’m more secure on this list than on the Navy’s list. There are eight references in the New Testament to the ‘book of Life,’ and two of them refer specifically to the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb, Jesus Christ. Seven of the references appear in the book of Revelation. Those whose names are written in the Book of Life are those who belong to God, those who have attained eternal life.”[2] Revelation 3:5 refers to the book of Life in which the names of believers in the Lord are found. This verse also makes it clear that once a name is written in the Book of Life, Jesus promises that He will never blot it out, proving once more the doctrine of eternal security.

[1] Beville, Kieran. 2004. Exploring Ezra: The Secret of Spiritual Success. Exploring the Bible Commentary. Leominster, UK: Day One Publications.

[2] Got Questions Ministries. 2002–2013. Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.

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