by Eric Holter on June 10, 2006
“So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’”
Luke 17:10
The context for this exhortation toward unassuming, obligatory service is Jesus’ command to forgive – even the same person seven times in the same day. Because I am forgiven so much and so often, withholding forgiveness or presuming that my forgiving is a big deal is laughable. When I forgive it’s no great shakes – I’m only fulfilling my most basic obligation as a forgiven sinner.
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by Eric Holter on September 5, 2005
“…Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; and you will eat the plants of the field; by the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:17b-19
Even as God cursed man in righteous judgment, His was mercy mingled with His verdict. Humanity was judged and cursed because of their failure to obey God’s command. Adam and Eve were ejected from the garden where they had enjoyed fruit that grew from plants and trees that God Himself had planted. The curse took away their abundant provision and forced them to pound dirt and tangle with thorns, through sweat and hard toil, for food. And the curse remains to this very day. Difficult toil and frequent hardships are common occurrences.
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by Eric Holter on June 10, 2005
“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”
Romans 8:20-21
I live, now, on Crawford Dairy Road. The place lives up to its name. There are fields on either side of my house and tall dear corn growing across the road. Crawford Dairy rolls and gently bends past a farm house and then slips behind the tall North Carolina pines that frame our skyline. In the evening the lightning bugs launch themselves by the hundreds to dance the night away. I am captivated. Yet, as I sit on my porch soaking in this a pastoral place, I consider that the same idyllic scene has been played out for hundreds, even thousands of years. The snapshot is indeed beautiful. Yet as I think about the corn, I remember that it grows there by the sweat of a farmer’s brow. He tills, he sews, he waits, he harvests. Next year he’ll do it again, and the next year, and the next, until he comes to the end of his days. Then his sons will serve of the land as he did and his father did and his father’s father before him. The dance of the lightning bugs flickering above the corn is also futile. For they launch, dance, mate, and die, only for their offspring to do it again.
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by Eric Holter on January 15, 2005
“…You will all fall away, because it is written…”
Mark 14:27
Jesus states, “You will all fall away, because it is written….” Peter strenuously objects, as do all the disciples. Nevertheless, as it is written so shall it come to pass. As much as Peter does not like it – and at the moment when he hears it he cannot conceive of it – he will, with all certainty, deny his Lord. It is impossible for it not to happen. It is written – it is in print, the ink has dried. Peter’s refusals and denials do not change the fact. It was ordained by God and recorded in His word. “I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.”
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by Eric Holter on August 20, 2004
“… and with Him is abundant redemption.”
Psalms 130:7
Not just redemption – though that would be more than I deserve, but abundant redemption. This redemption is so abundant that it delivers us, and then adds to deliverance an unimaginable inheritance. Lord, I’m so glad that you did not just save me and then leave me to myself, but that you saved me and granted to me a rich inheritance in Christ. Lord please help me to recognize and appreciate those parts of my inheritance that have been given to me now; forgiveness, freedom from sin, power from your Spirit, gifts to serve and glorify your grace, love and fellowship with the saints, promises that ensure that all things will work together for my good, inexpressible joy even in the midst of trials and sorrows, and so much more.
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