Ruminating

After yesterday’s events in our nation’s capitol, I was “locked and loaded” with my digital pen to write my take on it. My wife encouraged me otherwise. As is so often the case, she offered this word of wisdom—“Wait.” Wait for emotions to subside and clearer thinking to emerge. Wait until people are likely more willing to listen.

The scenes yesterday both shook me and saddened me. As I wrote earlier this week, I knew passions were high, even among Christians who supported President Trump in the presidential election. Throngs were traveling to D.C., among them at least one person I know personally, to both protest the election results and to pray for our nation. Both, I might add, are activities protected by the U.S. Constitution. What I didn’t expect, never even imagined, that a crowd would breach the Capitol Building and a Trump supporter would be shot and killed as she tried to break through a door inside the building.

It would be so easy, and as was my intent this morning, to write out my thoughts. However, after my wife’s suggestion, actually more a plea, I felt her words were divinely inspired. It soon occurred to me (again, perhaps by divine leading) that in the aftermath of yesterday’s events, rumination on God’s Word was the best course. And during my Bible reading this morning, I found myself reading the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. Even before my wife’s intervention, I had decided that I would read these words every day for a week to ruminate, or meditate, on them. To let them soak in deep in my soul.

I want to invite you to do the same for the next seven days. Commit to read Matthew 5-7 every day and ruminate on the words of Jesus. If you go to my website, you will find on the home page the words, “applying faith to life.” This has been the theme of my ministry and my life for a long time. I haven’t lived it out perfectly by any stretch, but that has been my goal for myself and others. As Jesus clearly states, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:8) In other words, our faith is to produce fruit in our lives—the fruit of the Spirit which the Apostle Paul describes as, “. . . love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23a)

This type of fruit is described in the Sermon on the Mount. Before we post our opinions on current events or our views on the political moment in which we find ourselves, it might be best to ruminate on our Lord’s words first. Applying faith to life is allowing the Word of God to penetrate our hearts in order to realign our priorities, our opinions, and our lifestyles to the will of the Lord.  Spending time with the Sermon on the Mount and meditating on it is an excellent place to start. Will you join me? I believe it is a crucial step in changing our discourse and lives as a nation.

© Jim Musser 2021 All Scripture references are from the New International Version, 2011.