Highways to Zion

Blessed are the men whose strength is in thee, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. Psalm 84:5

In the United States, freeways are often named for the city in which they terminate. this is reasonable, for the destination of the road is of primary importance to travellers. A highway derives its value from its ability to help people reach their destination. Not only the size of the entryway and width of road are important, Jesus warned, but whether the road leads to destruction or to life. Korah's sons, who gave us Psalm 84, wrote of highways that are available to each of us, heavenly highways that take us to Zion. Pilgrims along the psalmist's heavenly highway will one day appear before God. the destination is secure.

But it is not only the destination that is important; how our time is spent on the trip is also of some value. As the highway of Psalm 84 passed through an uninviting, sorrowful valley, it brought abundant blessing. travellers on the heavenly highway need never be alone. God offers companionship to all who pass this way, and this companionship gives comfort. 'Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death', Kind David wrote, 'I fear no evil; for thou art with me; they rod and they staff, they comfort me' (Ps 23:4)

Just what are these 'highways to Zion'? We can equate them with the timeline of our life and relate that to the New Testament injunctions to 'walk worthy' and 'walk circumspectly'. But I am not sure that this is what Korah's sons had in mind when they wrote the 84th Psalm. They wrote of highways in an individual's heart, and they associated this with having strength in God. Ours is not a pitiful pilgrimage to get to God; we are on a joyful journey with him.

Someday, I shall live with God. that destination is secure. But even now, as I live on earth, I share personally with him day by day. Within my heart, I have highways of communication with him, and he has supply routes to provide for me. Whether at home or in a foreign land, my task is simply to keep the highways open.

Further reading: Ps 84:5-7. Mt 7:13-14. Heb 11:1-16.

PRF

Grateful Shade

He bore our sins in his body on the tree. 1 Peter 2:24

'He that betaketh him to a good tree has good shade' wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1866. And all through the toilsome history ofour race mankind has sought relief and strengthening in the shade of trees that were not only good but great, having shade that was both deep and farspread. Two such were the tree of Cos, the plane tree under which the great Greek physician, Hippocrates, is said to have gathered his pupils to teach them, and the tree of Calvary, on which the Lord Jesus was lifted up to die.

Some years ago the President of the Australian Medical Association, Sir Angus Murray, referring to the tree of Cos, wrote, 'The grateful shade of this tree on the tiny sunbaked island in the Aegean Sea spread far beyond any confmes ofwhich Hippocrates and his pupils knew or even dreamt.' he was thinking, of course, of the Hippocratic tradition, which has influenced Medicine for good, both clinically and ethically, over the succeeding centuries.

Those who raised the rough wooden cross on the Hill of the Skull would not have thought ofit as a tree. To Rome it was a gibbet. But it was a tree to Peter (Acts 5:30, 10:39) and to Paul (Acts 13:29). Among the Jews, after execution by stoning, a body was sometimes hung on a tree and was regarded as accursed (Gal 3: 13. Dt 21:22-23). It was ultimate shame. Yet for the joy that was set before him Jesus endured the Cross, despising the shame (Heb 12:2). He bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness (1 Pet 2:24).

We in medicine may well be thankful for the grateful shade ofthe tree of Cos. But the shadow of the tree of Calvary calls for inftnite gratitude as it stretches backwards and forwards, far into eternity, giving grateful healing shade to all who will come into its shelter. It is the tree oflife. How often do we say 'thank you' for it -- not only with our lips but in our lives?

Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand,
The shadow of a mighty rock
Within a weary land.
Elizabeth Clephane

Further reading: 1 Pet 2:20-25.

RRW

Numbering our Days

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

Youth is a most vital time of life. Goals and decisions are made then which affect the whole future. Changes can be made later, but are harder, and statistically much less likely to happen.

First, we can lose so much by default, especially as a senior medical student or a young doctor. The demands of the job, or study, the irregularity of the hours and the resulting chronic fatigue at times, all tend to disrupt regular devotional life and worship and cause spiritual and social isolation.

Against this background, the young resident may become easy prey to temptations common to man, such as sexual laxity, making money the main goal, and power through the pride of professional prestige. Also, there is the particular onslaught of the behaviourist world, now waiting to grasp the mind or at least weaken the faith of the isolated and overworked.

I have been saddened over the years to see the number of keen Christian medical students who, by the time they reach their place of influence for Christ, have fallen prey to these various temptations, especially money making. They may not have renounced their faith, but they have forfeited most of their usefulness as active Christian doctors whose life and quality of care draw people including patients towards the Lord.

Secondly, I have been saddened by those who, perhaps because its superstructure was second-hand, have renounced their faith. Someone recently said to me: `I'll come to Christ in my time'. Unfortunately we may become so entangled that we can't find the way back just when we want to do so.

I would implore all young Christian doctors and students reading this to maintain a total commitment to Christ, keep up a devotional life, and have regular prayer and discussion with an older Christian through this difficult period of life when the whole direction of the future is almost certainly laid.

Lord, so teach me to number my days that I may get a
heart of wisdom.

Further reading: Ps 90:12. Heb 12:15-17.

DAB

Biblical Case Histories: Moses Aphasia

Moses said to the Lord, `I am slow of speech and tongue'. Exodus 4:10 (NIV)

A debilitating condition, which any one of us is liable to develop from time to time, is Moses aphasia. This was the affliction which Moses produced when God told him: `I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt'.

Moses was obviously scared stiff. The phobia was on him -- Pharaoh-phobia. He tried delaying tactics -- questions, questions, questions. God had all the answers.

Then the unhappy man had what he must have thought was a brilliant idea. He played his trump card:

Moses said to the Lord, `O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue'.

Then came the Lord`s reply, and Moses must have wished that his alleged aphasia (we may call it that) had been complete and that he had not said what he had said. He had really put his foot in his mouth.

The Lord said to him, `Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or dumb? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now g; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say'.

But Moses said (he must have had Pharaoh-phobia badly), `O Lord, please send someone else to do it'.

Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses and he said, `What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well...You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do'.

The defences were now down for Moses. His aphasia was swept aside. His Pharaoh-phobia was swallowed up in a new confidence in a God infinitely greater than Pharaoh. Moses went out to become one of the greatest leaders in history.

If we are suddenly smitten with Moses aphasia in some challenging situation, it is as well to remember what our Lord said to his disciples when they were faced with the prospect of very daunting threats (Lk 12:12): `the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say'.

Blessed Spirit of God, teach my kind, tough my heart and
loosen my tongue, that I may speak the truth faithfully
and in love.

Further reading: Ex 3 & 4.

RRW

Righteous Anger... or is it? #2

A soft answer turneth away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1

The mother of the second patient had the misfortune to ask for a home visit on a very busy Monday morning. My surgery had finished one and a quarter hours late, and there were twice as many visits as normal to be done. I already knew this particular Indian family to be a hypochondriacal bunch, and after examining the boy at home I found no abnormality to explain his rather vague symptoms. As I was about to explain that I thought nothing serious was wrong, the boy began to recite some further symptomatology in my right ear while the mother commenced firing into my left. I felt really angry with the pair of them and curtly told them I did not consider the visit necessary, and if she wanted the boy seen again she could bring him down to the surgery. Almost as an after thought I gave them a form for a blood count `just to prove that there is nothing wrong with him' and then walked out. Imagine my embarrassment when the result came back showing a grossly elevated sedimentation rate! My anger had almost led to a missed diagnosis.

Although scripture indeed says `Be angry but do not sin...' (Eph 4:26), I suspect that 99% of the times when we are angry we are actually sinning too! Certainly we never read of the Lord Jesus losing his temper. In the much misrepresented incident of the cleansing of the temple it is clearly stated that Jesus made the whip of cords himself. This must have taken some time, and Christ's action was therefore premeditated, planned and thought out, and not a sudden burst of anger as is often suggested.

Never is there any hint of anger expressed by Jesus towards those who came to him for his healing, and we would do well to follow his example in our relationships with patients. `Love is not easily angered' (1 Cor 13:5 AV). So if we are, it is a sure indicator that we need to know more of God's love shed abroad in our hearts.

Lord, show me what it really is that makes me angry and
convict me of sin every time that it is my self-interest
and not your glory at stake. Make me more tolerant of
others than of myself and help me to discern the real
need that may lurk behind a barrage of whining complaints.

Further reading: Jn 2:13-17. 1 Cor 13:4-7.

TGS

Righteous Anger... or is it? #1

But God said to Jonah, `Do you do well to be angry?' Jonah 4:9

A few weeks ago I became demonstrably angry with two patients in as many days (very unusual for me!), but both of these incidents taught me some valuable lessons.

I was angry with the first patient before I had even set eyes on him! It was a weekend, and I was requested to do a home visit way out in the countryside many miles from the town in which I practise. For weeks I had been trying to convince the other partners that we should have all outlying patients removed from our list, and nothing had been done about it; and now, here was yet another such patient who couldn't get to the surgery.

I was fuming through every mile of the narrow country lanes; and when I finally reached the village, I had no map of the area and twice had to stop in the biting January wind to ask for further directions. When I eventually found the house, I was in no fit state to have compassion on the sick! A cursory history and examination was followed by a strong recommendation that since the patient was so seriously ill he should change his doctor to someone more local. This was greeted with considerable hostility, as well it might for, unknown to me, he had been a patient of the practice for 22 years before recently moving out of town. I quickly stifled his objections, however, by telling him I had only his best interests at heart. But even as I said it, the Spirit of God pricked my conscience saying, `Really it's your own best interests you have at heart. You are resentful that you had to drive such a long way and you will be late for lunch'.

My righteous indignation was exposed for what it actually was -- self-centredness -- and it had led to hypocrisy and lying to a patient.

Lord, save us from the prejudice that makes up its mind
before knowing the facts, and the hypocrisy that blames
other people and `takes it out' on them when the fault
is really our own. Give me more of the selfless love of
Jesus that gives others the benefit of the doubt and meets
their need at whatever inconvenience to myself.

Further reading: Jo 4:1-11.

TGS

The Stands are Full

With all these witnesses to faith around us like a cloud, we must run with resolution the race for which we are entered. Hebrews 12:1 (NEB)

Today you must run another lap in the race of life. Maybe you're tired and dreading to run. Or perhaps you are discouraged or depressed and wonder how you can ever manage to put one foot in front of the other. Or perhaps you feel that you are running in a dry desert, alone, where no one cares or sees, unheralded and unsung.

Well, it's not like that. Actually you are running in a great stadium. The stands are filled to capacity with thousands of onlookers (a cloud of witnesses); and believe it or not, they are all cheering for you.

Take a quiet look at some in the stands -- mean and women who have run before, with success, because of their faith. There's Moses -- remember the Red Sea, and Abraham -- remember Isaac and the ram. And there's Joseph -- remember the prison, and Rahab -- the wall, and David -- Goliath, and Daniel -- the lions, and Paul -- the prison, and Luther -- the door, and Livingstone -- Africa, and Elliot -- the Aucas.

Look carefully, you may see some from your family, your church or your medical colleagues there. You are not running alone, in a desert or a vacuum.

Finally, look carefully again. In a special place, apart from all the other thousands, sits One who has also run before and conquered. In his hands are nailprints. His brow is scarred. He was tested in all points like you, but never sinned. He endured the cross and despised the shame. he is vitally interested in you and your race. He is encouraging you on.

So think of him...; that will help you not to lose heart and grow faint (Heb 12:3).

Well I know your trouble, O my servant true,
You are very weary, I was weary too;
But this toil shall make you someday all mine own,
And the end of sorrow shall be near my throne.
J M Neale

Further reading: Heb 11:1-12:3. Phil 3:12-14.

ROS

Blindness of Heart

I counsel you to buy from me ... salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. Revelation 3:18

The poet, Robert Burns, sitting one day in church, saw a louse climbing up the back of a lady's bonnet. The lady was unaware of the louse's presence. In a subsequent piece of verse Burns apostrophized the louse in good round Scottish dialect, berating it for its impudent intrusion on `sae fine a lady'. Then, mindful of the lady's unawareness, he concluded:

O wad som Pow'r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!
It wad frae monie a blunder free us
An' foolish notion:
What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us,
An' ev'n Devotion!
That lowly but ambitious louse -- that ridiculous Pediculus -- has long since gone its way. But the poet's thought remains. Unfortunately the gift `to see oursels as others see us' is one that few of us naturally possess. One reason for this is perhaps essentially practical: unless I have eyes in the back of my neck, I cannot easily see the louse on the back of my bonnet. And I may be reluctant to look in the mirror. The louse, however, will be there just the same.
Reluctance to look in the mirror of truth, or to remember what we see there, is a tragic form of voluntary blindness. God holds up the mirror of his Word to us, so that we may see our blemishes and come to him to get them put right. It is foolish then to be voluntarily blind, like the person who `observes himself and goes away and at once forgets what he is like' (Jas 1:24). We are then in the pathetic state of the lukewarm church at Laodicea, which did not know that it was `wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked' (Rev 3:17).
God loves his people too much to want us to be like that and offers a remedy, a salve to put on our spiritual eyes so that we may see, and so know what is wrong with us. He can then deal with it firmly but in love. We are only fooling ourselves if we think that he will ignore it. Beware the louse on the back of your bonnet. Whether or not others see it, God does.

Deliver me, Lord, from blindness of heart, and so quicken
my conscience that I may see myself as you see me.

Further reading: Jas 1:22-25. Rev 3:14-22.

RRW

Discipleship #3 - A Cross is for Crucifixion

He said to them all, `If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me'. Luke 9:23

`Let him take up his cross daily'. This further command can only be fulfilled by one who has accepted yesterday's condition of discipleship: `Let him deny himself.' There is no discipleship without the cross, and throughout the New Testament it is clear that death is the pre-requisite of life. `Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit' (Jn 12:24). It is obvious that the disciples who first heard these words had little idea of the shame and suffering that the cross would mean to their Master and themselves. Before the end of their lives they had come to understand their Master's words to the full.

Jesus said that the cross must be taken up. This means that it is not imposed upon us, but something that we voluntarily take up. And it must be taken up daily. It is a temptation to us, who have become `conformable to his death', to come down from the cross -- as it was to him at Calvary.

The cross has been for so long the symbol of the Christian faith that its real significance has often been forgotten. Yet our Lord's words have clear meaning for disciples everywhere and in every age. to some, to take up the cross means physical death. To all, it means living a `dying life' -- we are to `present our bodies a living sacrifice...which is our spiritual worship' (Rom 12:1).

Campbell Morgan summarises the meaning of cross-bearing: (i) refusal to compromise with sin, (ii) bearing the consequences of sin in others, (iii) the uttermost of compassion. And the reward of crucifixion? That I may know him and the power of his resurrection! (Phil 3:10).

O cross that liftest up my head
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life's glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

George Matheson

Further reading: Phil 3:7-14.

GNG

Discipleship #2 - Denying myself - how much?

He said to them all, `If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me'. Luke 9:23

Our Lord in his pattern for discipleship lays down two explicit conditions, the first of which we consider today: `If any man would come after me, let him deny himself'. Phillips' translation gives the words more emphasis still: `he must give up all right to himself'. There is no escape from this obligation to those who are committed to follow Jesus Christ.

It is easy to think of self-discipline simply in terms of the more socially unacceptable sins, and to overlook indiscipline in our personal habits and thinking. Yet we are told to `lay aside every weight and the sin which clings so closely' (Heb 12:1). We all too readily accept and condone our own shortcomings as an inevitable part of human nature. The mite in someone else's eye is much more obvious than the beam in my own, and I tolerate and excuse in myself what I condemn in others. Self-denial we often see in the traditional terms of alcohol, tobacco and questionable amusements, but it goes far deeper. Is it not true that many of our ambitions, desires, choices, leisure activities and decisions are centred in ourselves and our own selfish interests? The result is a boastful self-confidence like that of Peter the day before our Lord's crucifixion, to be followed by just as catastrophic a fall -- a denial not of ourselves but of our Lord.

Jesus gave us the pattern of self-denial. `He humbled himself and became obedient unto death' (Phil 2:8). And the reward of denying ourselves? `Whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it' (Lk 9:24).

Measure thy life by loss and not by gain
Not by the wine drunk but by the wine poured forth.
For love's strength standeth in love's sacrifice
And he who suffers most has most to give.

Further reading: Lk 14:25-33.

GNG

Discipleship #1 - Following - How far?

Discipleship (1) -- Following -- How far?

These words came at a crucial time in the experience of the disciples. Their initial response to the magnetism of Jesus had progressed to a deep personal devotion. They had returned from a tour of evangelism, when they had been given special powers of healing and exorcism, and they wanted to share their exultation with Jesus. Then came his question in verse 18 as to who he really was. Peter spoke for them all when he expressed their conviction that he was the Christ, the Son of God.

It was at this point that he took them into his close confidence. To be a disciple would not just be a success story. He began to unfold what the future held for him -- swift rejection and a cruel death, followed by the resurrection. To follow him would lead them the same way and would mean identification with him in it all. However little they understood it at the time, the words, `If any man would come after me' in this context meant a committal for life, for a wonderful purpose it is true, but at great cost. Christ needed these men to take up his cause there and then, however costly, that they might be his representatives after his ascension.

Christ's words come with equal force and authority to us as his disciples today. To commit ourselves to following him is no insurance against calamity nor any easy perspective, both in the long term and in the daily round and common task that await us today. And the reward of following? Then as now it is constant fellowship with him. `Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved' (Ps 16:8), for he has promised: `Be assured, I am with you always, to the end of time. (Mt 28:20 NEB).

O Lord, when thou givest to thy servants to endeavour
any great matter, grant us also to know that it is not the
beginning, but the continuing of the same unto the end,
until it be thoroughly finished, which yieldeth the true
glory; through him who for the finishing of thy work laid
down his life, our redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Sir Francis Drake.

Further reading: Lk 9:18-26, 57-62.

GNG

No Time to Eat

There were may people coming and going, and Jesus and his disciples didn't even have time to eat. Mark 6:31 (GNB)

Does this sound familiar? Perhaps it reminds you of a busy casualty or outpatient department, with too many patients and not enough staff. It might remind you of such a crowd in a third-world country, with not enough doctors to handle adequately all the people clamouring for medical attention. You have seen the reproachful looks they give you when you take time off for something to eat, knowing that this will mean a longer wait for them. But you know that you need to eat to keep going. `Does anyone really care about me?' you wonder, and feel tempted to indulge in a little self-pity.

Yes. Someone care! What's more, he understands from experience what it is like. The Lord Jesus knew what it was like to have so many people seeking his help that he and his disciples just didn't have enough time to sit down and enjoy a decent meal. They needed to `get away from it all', and even there the crowds followed them, and there were more demands on their time and energy.

Is this your experience today? Then remember that the Lord Jesus does understand; it's an experience that he has been through. Wherever you may be as you read these words, lift your heart to him in prayer and ask his help for today.

Lord, I thank you that you know from experience what it is
like to have so many people clamouring for your help that
you did not even have time to eat. Lord, you know what
today holds. Give me your grace to cope with whatever
tasks and experience today holds for me.

Further reading: Heb 4:14-16.

JWMcM

Living at Peace

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Romans 12:18

Very nice, too, but what about people who really get on our nerves? Most of us could compile a little list -- people we have to live with or work with, perhaps in hospital, like that bossy ward sister, that critical or (worse still) patronising administrator, that impossible senior surgeon (ugh!), that inept junior. They'd none of them be missed, as it says in The Mikado. But Paul says we should live at peace with them -- so far as it depends on us, or as much as lies in us (AV). His qualification is interesting and provides the sort of `back door' we like to have (but not abuse). Paul probably needed it himself sometimes. He was a very positive person.

Moreover, there are occasions when peace at any price is not good enough. Those occasions will not be when our own personal pride or dignity is affronted. The Lord Jesus did not care about that sort of thing. Nor should we. But it may be right and necessary to fight when the interests of another person are at stake -- a patient for whom we have responsibility, a vulnerable junior member of staff, someone who is the victim of malicious gossip.

Even here, of course, there are ways and ways of doing it. The soft manner (Pr 15:1) can be more effective than the cutting comment that gives us malicious pleasure. Love is always part of the requirement. Jeremy Taylor said three centuries ago, `It is no great matter to live lovingly with good-natured, with humble and meek persons; but he that can do so with the forward, with the wilful, and the ignorant, with the peevish and perverse, he only hath true charity'. Happily, as C S Lewis says, loving our neighbours does not necessarily means thinking them nice. There are much better approaches, such as William Law's advice: `There is nothing that makes us love a man so much as praying for him'. And just another thought: could it possibly be that other people find it difficult to live peaceably with us?

Give to me, Lord, the grace to be patient as you were
patient; that I may bear with the faults of others, and
strive at all times to root out my own.

Further reading: Rom 12:14-21.

RRW

My Shepherd #2

I shall not want. Psalm 23:1

There are lots of things that I want: to be ready for the ward-round, to climb the ladder, to keep my temper, to take a half-day, to have a lot of friends, to get out of the rat race and to have a bigger car. Oh! yes, and to be a better witness. It is untrue to say that I don't want anything. Our error is to equate wants with needs, but this is a toddler attitude. David's more mature concept is of unlimited provision available rather than any imperiousness of appetite: I shall not want for anything rather than not wish for anything. `I shall lack nothing' (NIV).

The Good Shepherd has endless resources (Phil 4:19). He also has great career plans (Jn 10:27). He is totally aware of our practical needs (Mt 6:25, 32). He cares about all our needs (Jas 1:4).

In the technological society the waiting is taken out of wanting: whether a cup of coffee, a biochemical profile or a trans-continental 'phone-in, we only have to press the right buttons and the deed is done. Not so with the shepherding. To watch a flock of sheep is to see the conflict between each sheep's longing for its own way and the shepherd's intention for them all. They may become bewildered, panic or make a dash for freedom, unaware that he is trying to lead them to better pastures or safe shelter. How much easier for all concerned when they have learned to fall in with his plans! The pursuit of a wisp of dry moorland grass is a very small ambition, and it is sheer folly to bleat after that when more verdant pastures are waiting. Learning to trust and obey does involve waiting -- for us, learning to wait upon God.

Doctors are often impatient by nature. The pressures of over-work and of life-threatening crises mingled with the subservience of patients and high expectations of other team members, can lead to an arrogant and hasty approach to others, conducive neither to good patient care not to a good team spirit. Tests of patience come in many guises: the intrusive 'phone-call, the opportunist consultation (`while you're here, doctor'), the blocked drip or the over-booked clinic -- we each have our own last straw. In time, we may learn to use each as an opportunity to run to the Shepherd, choosing to stay close to him rather than running wildly out of control. Then we shall have daily exercises in seeing how he can, and does, lead towards calmer waters. Then a more cohesive spirit will invade the team, patients will perceive a more restful attitude and we shall learn that when requests are made according to his will, he really does supply. I shall not want.

I nothing lack if I am his and he is mine for ever.
H W Baker

Further reading: Phil 4:6-19.

JG

The Inner Nature

Therefore, having this ministry ... we do not lose heart ... What we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake ... But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power b

Paul's constant preoccupation is with the work of God in the heart of the believer. As doctors our constant and proper preoccupation is with what he refers to as the outer nature, this body which begins to deteriorate so early in its biological history. This preoccupation can easily induce in us a despondency. No matter how successful our treatment may be, no matter what marvels of surgery may be performed, the body is inexorably wasting away. Two-year survival, ten, twenty, what's the difference? It will soon be gone.

But this outer man, which we examine and explore in a hundred ways with hand and eye, needle, scope and imaging, is not to be written off as of no account. Only while it serves the owner can he pursue this pilgrimage, this quest. It alone affords him the opportunity to receive new life for that inner man which through an eternity must fire his resurrected body. It is on the basis of `things done in the body' that we shall be judged. The marvel is that for the Christian the winter of senility and the dark night of death are not the end of the road -- rather they are the beginning of the best of all. Then, that inner man which by God's Spirit has been nurtured within the believer will be clothed again with an incorruptible body, perfectly fitted to take up that new life in the presence of God where Christ the perfect man has already gone.

Hear then Paul's word of encouragement:

We do not lose heart... We look not to the things that
are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things
that are seen are transient, but the things that are
unseen are eternal (2 Cor 4:1,18).

Further reading: 2 Cor 4:1-18.

AMB

Praise that is Costly

I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm 34:1

After a hard day it is very easy for us to forget the many Biblical injunctions to praise God. Hebrews 13:15 talks about a `sacrifice of praise', and there is a sense in which through the tensions and fatigue of the day, any effort to praise God is a sacrifice. Though we may not share all the sufferings of Job, we often find praise an effort.

A few Sundays ago, I went to church in a bad mood, tired because the children had been awkward. I was having problems with a housing transaction, and a paper I had been trying to write that week had proved very difficult. I found I couldn't join in the signing before the service, nor pray, until the minister, as if aware of my mental turmoil, challenged me to `render a sacrifice of praise'. I accepted the challenge, and following prayer I found a real release in praise. The tensions went, and that night I slept better than I had for a week.

We don't have to sing at the top of our voices to praise God. Try reading Psalms 104, 107 or 145 to lift your thoughts from your immediate concerns. The Westminster Confession reminds us that the chief end of man is to glorify God, and although our lives can be a silent witness, he delights in our audible praise.

Practise praising God when everything goes wrong! `I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing' (2 Sam 24:24).

I'm happy when everything happens to please,
But happiness comes and goes;
While the heart that is stayed on Jesus the Saviour
Ever with joy o'erflows.
Happiness happens, but joy abides
In the heart that is stayed on Jesus.
H H Lemmel*

Heavenly Father, forgive us for our lack of desire to praise
you as we ought. Subdue our anxieties and help us to
remember your daily mercies to us; turn our minds to you
and let our ordered lives confess the beauty of your peace.

Further reading: Ps 107 & 145. Phil 4:4-6.

TAG

* Reproduced by permission National Christian Education Council.

I have begun, so I will finish

`I have begun, so I will finish'*

During one's year as a house officer, it is easy to feel that one's Christian faith will not survive. The pressures can be such that the necessary discipline of Christian living becomes squeezed out of daily life. But God's word reassures us that our salvation depends ultimately on him and not on us.

It was he who began the good work in us, his Holy Spirit who opened our eyes to our sin and need of a Saviour, calling us to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn 6:37). He indwells us and will work in us that which is pleasing in his sight, equipping us for his service (Eph 2:8-10). We may wander from the pathway, but in his mercy he brings us back. His hold on us is greater than our hold on him.

Certainly it is our responsibility to co-operate with him in his gracious work. We may delay the fulfilment of his purposes, we may, by our selfwill, even miss his work, and he will bring it to completion however long it takes and however costly the process. In `the day of Jesus Christ' the final reckoning will be made, and on that day not one of his sheep will be lost.

What from Christ that soul shall sever
Bound by everlasting hands?
Once in him, in him for ever,
Thus the eternal covenant stands.
John Kent.

Further reading: Jn 10:22-30. 1 Pet 1:3-9. Heb 13:20-21.

JHCM

* words familiar to British Television viewers

Bottom of the Pile

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Philippian

The final common pathway is an idea beloved of physiologists and practical reality to the houseman, who finds he is the administrative cornerstone of his firm. If he fails to inform theatre or the bloodbank that their services will be needed, if he keeps Casualty waiting, or fails to persuade X-ray to part with vital films for the ward round -- or, worse, does not return them afterwards -- he can call down upon his head the wrath of almost every group of hospital staff. Often their irritation is justified, and then there is no cause to complain. But sometimes it feels as if they are taking the opportunity to hand out abuse simply because they know the houseman cannot answer back. Resentment can easily build up if after five or six years of training -- towards the end of which the student has achieved some seniority and respect, culminating in the excitement and satisfaction of passing Finals and at last becoming a doctor -- he begins work only to find himself a glorified technician -- not a clinician, but a `dog's body', an unappreciated organiser of trivia, and the target of everyone's bad temper. Disillusionment and depression are not far away, and it is not unusual during these early days for a houseman to be so frustrated as to wonder why he took up medicine at all.

It is a relief to realise that at times the complaints are not directed personally at the houseman, though he may be the recipient. In a hospital, the demands on people's expertise, emotions and energy sometimes become excessive, and they take it out on the person who is nearest and least able to hit back.

More importantly, though, there is a parallel with how Jesus must have felt. He deliberately chose a menial lifestyle, and endured regular and unjustified abuse. The houseman is the most junior and least experienced member of a medical team, but Jesus was God -- far above any humanly authoritative figure. And he endured it with and for love. And we have the mind of Christ.

Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as though deservest;
to give and not to count the cost; to fight and not to
heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to
labour and not to ask for any reward save that of
knowing that we do they will.
Ignatius Loyola.

Further reading: Col 3:12-14. 1 Pet 1:18-24. Ps 43.

PIMA

Light

Jesus said: `I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life'. John 8:12

I can almost guarantee that, sometime today, you will need a good light. There is nothing more annoying than to smile cheerfully at a patient, ask her to open her mouth wide and say `Ahh', and then find that the torch which you have produced with a flourish from your pocket, doesn't work! Her throat may be inflamed or healthy, the back of her tongue may or may not have cancer. But if you can't see it you won't know.

Light shows things up for what they are, and this is one of the most compelling of our Lord's meanings when he describes himself as light. At the beginning of John's gospel (Jn 1:5) we read: `The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it'. Of course darkness has never overcome light -- it never could. But it is good to be reminded of the fact. Just as an inflamed swelling and deviated uvula will flash into prominence the moment your torch works, so the Holy Spirit will stir your life with the reminder of something which you ought (or ought not) to have done. But remember, in Christ, diagnosis and cure follow hard on each other's heels. As you remember the fault, admit it to him, ask his forgiveness, and do anything specific which is needed to put it right. To live like this, keeping short accounts with God, is to respond to his light. It is, in fact, to `walk in the light'. To live like this is to have light and life, and to avoid the misery, pitfalls, and timewaste of walking in darkness.

There is a second, very important, area of meaning. Jesus wants to use you today, as his light (Mt 5:14-16). In contrast with your own position, you will meet many people today who prefer darkness (Jn 3:19) (though they would never put it like that!). they would rather not know the uncomfortable truth. But Jesus plans to shine into their hearts and lives. Please make sure your battery and bulb are working well -- and be ready. Show people today, by the way you treat them, that Jesus loves them. If they ask you why you are like this, tell them. Words spoken about Jesus to those who really want to know are a very powerful, very accurate and well focused light.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you are light. Keep me on
the right track today, shine in the dark places of my heart
and help me to show your light to other people.

Further reading: 1 Jn 1:1-10. 2 Cor 4:1-7.

JT

The Way #2 - The Master of the Way

Jesus said `Therefore go ... And surely I will be with you always to the very end of the age'. Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

Members of an expedition setting out on a tough journey are fortunate indeed if they have a good medical officer who, in addition to declaring them fit before they start, goes with them on the way. For those whose feet are set on The Way, Jesus Christ, the Great Physician, is just that. He is there not only to declare them fit for the journey and to be with them as they travel, but also to be their Leader over ground which he has already travelled. He is in every respect the master of the Way.

As we grow to know the Master, we need to remember certain things about him.

He is God: he is described as `the visible expression of the invisible God' (Col 1:15 JBP).

He is Man: he knows and understands all the temptations and problems of our life (Heb 2:14-18; 4:14-16).

He is Saviour: he loved us and gave himself for us (Jn 10:11; Gal 2:20).

He is the coming Judge (2 Tim 4:1) and the One towards whose glory the whole creation moves (Phil 2:9-11; Eph 1:20-23; Col 1:15-20).

And yet he calls those who follow him friends (Jn 15:14-15) and brothers (Heb 2:11).

It is no wonder that Paul said: `I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord' (Phil 3:8).

Most merciful redeemer, Friend and Brother,
May I know you more clearly,
Love you more dearly,
Follow you more nearly
Day by day.
Richard of Chichester.

Further reading: The references quoted are all worth looking up.

RRW