Tag Archives: Heart

Chapter-a-Day

Diagnosis I Didn’t Ask For

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With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
James 3:9-10 (NIV)

Wendy and I were on our way to worship this past Sunday morning. We were having a conversation about an individual who had made some major mistakes in leadership which led to many painful and widespread consequences.

“They were worthless at the job,” I said as I drove.

“Let’s say they were ‘incapable’ at the job,” Wendy said softly but directly. “No one is ‘worthless.’”

She was so, so correct.

“I’m trying to be more careful about the words I use when speaking of others,” she then added.

I immediately apologized and accepted my error. I need to be more careful with my words.

This episode in the car with Wendy happened amidst the final editing process of my upcoming book. In the process of editing my original manuscript, my editor pointed out a similarly painful observation. She noticed that I at times used harsh language when I wrote about certain individuals I had encountered along my career. She felt it was important enough that she point it out to me.

“I know your heart, Tom,” she said to me. “And, this is not the person you want to be. I knew you’d want me to be honest about what I’m seeing.”

Ugh. I have a blind spot.

Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Some mornings as I read and meditate on the chapter I have to dig deep to mine what God has for me in the text. Other mornings, it simply jumps off the page and slaps me across the face.

That was this morning.

Most of today’s chapter James focuses on the power of the tongue. It’s such a small part of our physical whole yet it has disproportionate affect. James likens it to the rudder of a ship as it can steer me in the wrong direction. He likens it to a spark that can unleash a wildfire of conflict and controversy I didn’t intend.

As I meditated on it this morning I likened it to a living cardiogram — my words revealing symptoms of heart trouble. Harsh, rash words about others are indicators that bitterness, anger, and contempt have been building up inside like plaque in my spiritual arteries.

And so, I find myself sitting here in the quiet knowing there are some things I need to do.

First, I need to take some time for introspection. I need to ask God to help me take an honest look inside at where some ugly thoughts and feelings about others have been building up inside me.

Next comes confession. As I discover where that build-up of bitterness is hiding and with whom I’m harboring ill-will, I need to use my tongue to honestly speak it out loud to God and members of my inner-circle with whom I know I am safe and am surrounded by love and grace.

Finally, I need to be accountable. A diabetic constantly monitors their blood-sugar to watch for signs of a problem. I need to better monitor my words, especially when I’m speaking about others. Once again, my inner-circle are my best source for that assistance.

I have discovered a problem.
I have been given a prescription.
Now — by grace — I must take the medicine.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
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Chapter-a-Day

Open Heart, Open Hands

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If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need.
Deuteronomy 15:7-8 (NIV)

It is Christmas Eve Day as I write this in the quiet of my home office. Wendy and I will prepare for the arrival of family this evening. It’s the start of what will be eleven days of festivity and celebration.

Sometimes on this chapter-a-day journey there are moments of unmistakable and unexpected synchronicity. So it is with today’s chapter. Moses speaks to his children and grandchildren, reminding them of God’s heart, and God’s ways. He speaks that they might not only hear them, but embrace them, live them, and pass them down through the generations.

Today’s chapter comes with a simple but physical metaphor.

We can live with open hearts and open hands,
or we can live with clenched hearts and closed fists.

Moses then speaks of God’s open-hand prescription for His people:

Cancel debts every seven years.
Release servants who have indentured themselves to survive.
Do not send anyone away empty-handed—fill their hands generously.
Set apart the firstborn and firstfruits for the Lord, for dedication and celebration.

Along the way, God provides some attitudinal warnings:

“Do not be hard hearted and tight-fisted…” (vs. 7)
“Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought (when considering whether or not to lend): ‘The seventh year, the year for cancelling debts, is near.’” (vs. 8)
“Give generously…without a grudging heart.” (vs. 10)
“Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free…” (vs. 18)

I have learned over six decades of this earthly journey that generosity is not first a financial issue, but a heart issue. It is, perhaps, the most accurate barometer of spiritual health. Open-handed generosity is a sign that I have internalized two essential spiritual truths.

First, that God has been generous. Moses has been reminding his children and grandchildren of this for fifteen chapters. It is God who approached your ancestors and made a covenant. It is God who showed up and made Himself known. It is God who delivered you from your chains. It is God who has made you a promise. It is God who has led you, protected you, and provided for you.

God’s message through Moses is this: “I did not release you from your physical chains only to watch you shackle yourselves with spiritual ones.”

Second, that nothing I have is mine. I brought nothing into the world. Every earthly thing I think I possess or own will be left behind. Everything I think I possess or own flowed to me from God, and everything will ultimately flow back to God. When I am generous, I am being generous with God’s things. The more God has a hold on me, the less the things of this world have a hold on me. A hard heart and tight fists are a sign that both are bound by unseen spiritual cords—quiet chains I might not even realize are there.

Which brings me in the quiet back to Christmas Eve Day.

It is God who so loves that He gives—generously—His one and only Son.
It is God who shows up to reveal Himself to us.
It is God who shows up to cancel our eternal debts.
It is God who shows up to free us from our spiritual chains.
It is God who does not leave us empty-handed, but fills us with His Spirit and every good thing.

At Christmas, God provides an eternal object lesson of what Deuteronomy 15 is all about.

The proof of receipt is not in a church membership certificate, but in my joyful extension of that selfless generosity with every one every day.

Open heart. Open hands.

Freedom.

Taking the rest of the week off to celebrate. See you on Monday, Dec 29.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
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Chapter-a-Day

The Story We Tell With Our Lives

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Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (NIV)

As my family’s unofficial historian and pastor, I’ve become a repository for old family bibles.

“What should we going to do with great-grandma’s bible? Anyone want it?”

“Nah! Give it to Tom.”

Yes, I will take it. The first thing I will do is look to see what it contains besides the pages and the printed text. When a Bible is well-used it collects things. Ephemera of all kinds gets stuffed in the pages. It’s fascinating what people choose to keep. Handwritten notes are often found scribbled in the margins. It can be a window into an ancestor’s head and heart.

In my Bible there is a photograph. I don’t even remember putting it there. I think it randomly surfaced and I just shoved it inside the cover of my bible because it was convenient in the moment. It’s still there years later. The photograph is of my daughters and me at the breakfast table. They are about eight or nine years old and are eating their breakfast. I’m sitting there right where they found me when they got up, bible open. I’ve been doing this early morning meditation thing for a long time.

Today, our grandson Milo celebrates his eighth birthday. A generation has come and gone since that photograph in my bible was taken. When Milo comes to visit, his room is across the hall from my home office. Like me when I was his age, Milo is a morning person. So, amidst my quiet time I will hear the pocket door to my office slowly slide open and Milo will slide up on Papa’s lap. Just like my daughters used to do.

I could sit in today’s chapter for a long, long time. It is Moses at his most intimate and loving as a patriarch of his people. Remember, Deuteronomy is Moses’ final deathbed message. Today’s chapter is a loving father and grandfather’s heart fully open and on display.

Moses begins with what is known as the Shema in Jewish tradition. Shema means “hear” in Hebrew. This verse is recited morning and evening. It’s sung, whispered, shouted, taught to children as soon as they can speak. It’s what Jesus referenced as the greatest commandment. Love God with all your heart, soul, (Jesus added mind) and strength. God is one – not just a monotheism – but the unifying center of reality. Nothing exists outside of His oneness.

Moses begins with the Shema — the heartbeat of Israel. Then, like every wise elder, he moves from proclamation to formation – from hearing to teaching. Moses tells every Hebrew to share their family’s story with every child: Slavery, God’s deliverance, the miracles, the mess in the wilderness, God’s faithful provision, and the gracious promise and prosperity of the Promised Land.

“Tell them the Story,” Moses urges his children, “So they can trust the Story.”

Later in his message, Moses urges his children to action: “Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you…”

James echoes this same sentiment in his letter to Jesus’ followers:

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
James 1:22 (NIV)

As I meditated on these things in the quiet this morning, I found myself focused on two intertwined thoughts.

First, the Hebrew word for “heart” intimates far more than just emotion. It is the wholeness of my inner self. It is the union of mind, will, and desire. To love God with my “heart” is to let Him sit enthroned on my decision-making center.

Second, I recognized that there is a flow to what Moses commands. The words can’t get from the ear to heart or hand – nor can they can’t be shared with the mouth – without passing through the mind. Perhaps that’s why our Lord added “mind” to the Shema.

Ear —> Head —> Heart —> Mouth/Hands/Feet

Along my life journey, I’ve observed individuals for whom the word has completely by-passed the heart. They hear the word. It enters the brain as plain text, rules, and religious commands. The hands might obey in legalistic fashion. The mouth regurgitates the text in heartless, rote, religious obedience.

But there’s no heart in it.

The words aren’t just laws, commands, and decrees. When channeled through grateful and believing hearts they’re paths to life, abundance, and longevity in all that God is providing in the future to which He is leading.

Here in the quiet, I find myself staring back at the photo of me at the table with my young daughters, my bible open to whatever chapter I was meditating on in the quiet that morning. I find myself looking forward to the next few weeks and the next time Milo slides open the pocket door of my office and staggers in on my lap, my bible open to whatever chapter of Deuteronomy we’ll be on that day. I look forward to sharing the Story in whatever way flows in our conversation.

My mornings in the quiet, this chapter-a-day trek, isn’t religious obedience. It’s my heartbeat. It’s my spirit breathing. It’s nourishment for my soul that fuels my day. It’s my personal embodiment of the heart of the Shema.

And so, I will tuck the photo back in my bible along with the other ephemera that I’ve mindlessly collected over the years. Perhaps one day a great-grandchild or great-great grandchild will inherit it. Perhaps it will whisper to a future generation about the pattern God established through Moses:

Hear the Story. Trust the Story. Tell the Story.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Promotional graphic for Tom Vander Well's Wayfarer blog and podcast, featuring icons of various podcast platforms with a photo of Tom Vander Well.
These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
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Chapter-a-Day

Final Message

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Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you.
Deuteronomy 4:1 (NIV)

There is a seriousness about Life that takes stage whenever Death is standing in the wings. I’ve experienced in hospitals and the rooms of hospice. I’ve observed it in homes where families tend to their loved one’s final days. The seriousness can take many different forms, but I find that they are always holy moments.

I find it important as I meditate on the chapters of Deuteronomy to remember that this entire book is one of those holy moments. Death is standing on the banks of the Jordan River in wait for Moses. Moses is ancient. His body is decimated with age. His face is lined with the stress of decades of leadership. Deuteronomy is Moses taking the face of his people lovingly in his withered hands and looking them in the eye one last time. These are the words of his deathbed.

“Listen,” he is whispering with final breath earnestness. “No. Really listen to me.”

When Moses uses the word “hear” it is the Hebrew word shema. It is more than auditory reception. Shema is listening with your heart as well as your ears. It’s hearing channeled into action. It is listening that love transforms into obedience. It’s the same Jesus asked whenever He said, “Those who have ears to really hear, hear this….”

Suddenly, the words of today’s chapter have another layer of meaning. They are the love-filled plea of the man who has given everything to lead his people. I don’t just want to read the words. I want to shema what Moses is communicating in this holy moment as I see Death standing in the background along Jordan’s shore.

Guard the appetites of your heart. Moses begins with a plea to his people to guard their hearts. They serve a living God. They’ve seen what He can do. They’ve heard His voice though they saw no form. There is no form that can adequately represent His being. So don’t fashion idols for yourselves and bow down to animals, or people, or the sun. Don’t give your love and devotion to things that can never love you back.

Be ever aware of God’s nearness. God is with them. He’s pitched His tent in the center of their camp. He goes before them. He goes with them. He is not god up above somewhere. God is always right here, right now.

Remember. Remember. Remember. Moses repeats the word over and over again.

Remember the fire on the mountain.
Remember the voice with no form.
Remember the covenant.
Remember who rescued you.
Remember who claimed you.

Memory is a mentor. The moment you begin to forget you are one step closer towards being lost. Then Moses prophetically foresees that his children, whom he knows all too well, will indeed lose their way.

Home awaits every prodigal. He wraps up his message by reminding them that no matter how far they wander, no matter how badly they lose their way, God is waiting. He’s not waiting with crossed arms but arms that are open. It doesn’t matter what distant pig stye they find themselves mired in. If they, like the prodigal, will seek Him with all their heart they will find Father God there on the porch at home with his eyes glued to the driveway. He just waiting to welcome the prodigal home and celebrate His lost child’s return.

I feel a weight in my meditations in the quiet of my home office this morning. Placing my feet in the sandals of a child of Israel standing along the Jordan River listening to Moses’ heartfelt final plea gives the words added potency. Suddenly the message is more meaningful. Life suddenly gets more serious whenever Death is near.

The neighbor’s diesel pick-up truck has begun to idle across the street. It’s my daily reminder that it’s time to move out of the quiet and into all that awaits me on the calendar and task list of the day. Thankfully, I’m unaware of Death being anywhere nearby today. Nevertheless, I head out with the heart of Moses’ message informing how I want to go about whatever awaits me.

Have a great day, my friend.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Promotional graphic for Tom Vander Well's Wayfarer blog and podcast, featuring icons of various podcast platforms with a photo of Tom Vander Well.
These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
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Chapter-a-Day

I Choose

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The next day Moses entered the tent and saw that Aaron’s staff, which represented the tribe of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.
Numbers 17:8 (NIV)

This past week, I have been enjoying the fruit of our little herb garden here at Vander Well Manor. I’m happy to report that I have not only managed to keep our little garden growing, but it’s even yielded some abundance! I’ve had lots of Jalapeno peppers which I’ve been dicing and adding my queso. I also used parsley and basil in making a homemade almond salsa verde which we’ve used on both grilled chicken and grilled salmon. It was really good.

When God began talking to the Hebrews about His dwelling among them, He boiled things down into very simple terms: life and death:

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NIV)

Along my spiritual journey, I’ve come to realize that this is a great way to summarize the entire Great Story.

God is a wellspring of life.
Creation
Order
Fruitfulness
Abundance
Resurrection
Contentment

Evil rejoices in death.
Destruction
Chaos
Infertility
Scarcity
Decay
Discontent

When reading the ancient texts, I’ve learned that it’s important to pay attention to how things are ordered (God loves order).

In yesterday’s chapter, a massive rebellion breaks out against Moses and Aaron. It begins with a man named Korah and 250 leaders who attempted a leadership coup. By the time all was said and done “the whole Israelite community” had joined in the discontented grumbling. The consequences of standing up and rebelling against what God had ordained was swift judgement and death for the 250 instigators.

In today’s short chapter, God instructs Moses to have the head of each tribe bring a wooden staff to God’s traveling tent Temple with their name engraved on it. Aaron brought the staff for the tribe of Levi. Moses placed all twelve inside the tent overnight. By morning, nothing had changed about eleven of the wooden staves. Aaron’s however, had not only budded, but it had blossomed and produced almonds.

What in the world?!

A few thoughts about God giving the Hebrews this metaphor:

First, dead wooden staves do not sprout, let alone do they produce fruit. The miracle of Aaron’s rod not only provides the Hebrews with an undeniable sign of God’s choice of Aaron and his son as priests, but His miracle reminds them that it is God’s choice. Aaron’s staff was no different than any of theirs. God’s choice was not based on Aaron’s merit, but on God’s gracious choice intended to bring life and blessing through Aaron to everyone in the community.

Second, the miracle stands in contrast to Korah’s rebellion in which discontent led to conflict, chaos, and death. Quietly, God’s swift miracle restores order and brings fruitfulness. Jewish scholars have long observed that almonds are among the earliest to blossom. God’s metaphorically reminding the Hebrews of a truth that God’s chosen King, David, would so poetically and lyrically phrase:

For his anger lasts only a moment,
    but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
    but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Psalm 30:5 (NIV)

Finally, God’s miracle reminds the Hebrews of what He’s been telling them from the beginning. He is the God of Creation, who is all about life and abundance. Before the miracle, God told Moses that the staff He chose would “bud.” Aaron’s staff did far more than that. As Jesus, God’s Son would later tell us, “I came that you might have life in abundance!”

So in the quiet this morning, I’m simply reminded that I choose.

With my choices each day I am choosing one or the other. I can make choices out of discontent, envy, anger, and pride that lead towards perpetual disorder, conflict, and chaos in life. Or, I can make choices out of faith in and obedience to the way of Jesus in which love for God and love for others leads to contentment, order, gratitude that is fruitful and life-giving for myself and everyone around me (like an herb garden!).

What does my life say about the nature of my choices?
What do my choices say about the condition of my heart?

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Promotional graphic for Tom Vander Well's Wayfarer blog and podcast, featuring icons of various podcast platforms with a photo of Tom Vander Well.
These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
A collection of wooden staffs, representing the tribes of Israel, displayed in a tent setting.
Chapter-a-Day

“How Not to Be a Dick”

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“How Not to Be a Dick” (CaD Matthew 6) – Wayfarer

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 6:1 (NIV)

My buddy Nathan is a senior in high school this year. When Wendy and I got married, she was the last of her “Golden Girls” friends group to get married, but none of the five of them had babies at that point. At our wedding rehearsal dinner, Nathan’s mom told the girls she was pregnant. Nine months later, Nathan was born. Wendy and I have enjoyed being a part of his life. His mother blames Wendy and me for instilling in him a love for baseball. I had the honor of mentoring him in his profession of faith. It’s hard to believe that in a few months we’ll watch him graduate from high school.

When Nathan was entering adolescence, I read a review in the Wall Street Journal of a clever little book by Meghan Doherty called How Not to Be a Dick. It’s a brilliant parody of the old Dick and Jane books that schools used to use to teach kids reading. Doherty uses the parody to teach young men some of the basics of how to be respectful and capable young men as it relates to being around others, girls, and adults. We gifted it to our young friend.

As I read the middle chapter of Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” this morning, my heart and mind continued to notice the contrast between His instructions and the instructions God gave His people through Moses in Leviticus. Once again, I couldn’t help but notice that there are plenty of “dos” and “do nots” but they are different.

Take for example some of the “dos” and “do nots” from Leviticus 18 contrasted with Jesus’ “dos” and “don nots” from today’s chapter:

God in Leviticus: “Obey My laws and follow My decrees.”
Jesus: “Seek first [God’s] Kingdom.”

God in Leviticus: “Don’t have sex with family member, including in-laws.”
Jesus: “Don’t brag about how much you give to the poor.”

God in Leviticus: “Don’t take your wife’s sister as a rival wife.”
Jesus: “Don’t give showy public prayers to be seen by others.”

God in Leviticus: “Don’t sacrifice your children on the altar of Molek.”
Jesus: “Don’t worry about your life, clothes, needs, or future.”

Can you see the contrast?

Leviticus was like a Dick and Jane primer helping little children figure out some of the spiritual basics of life like my five-year-old self trying to figure out how to phonetically sound out words and read a simple sentence. Jesus in His sermon on the Mount isn’t calling for strict obedience to the parent’s household rules or dealing with prohibitions of incest and child sacrifice. Jesus is talking about choosing in to a hearts desire for the things of God and more addressing spiritual issues of the heart like sincere faith, doing things with right motives, and developing faith as an antidote to fear. It’s as if Jesus is addressing a humanity moving into adolescence how “not to be a Dick.”

In the quiet this morning, I’m thinking about entire churches I know who perpetually treat their members as children as if they are spiritually learning how to read. They approach life with black-and-white rules of morality, lord over people like strict parents hovering over toddlers they expect to be naughty, and punish disobedience with tactics of fear, shame, and the threat of being ostracized. God, however, calls on me to be “mature” and Jesus moved beyond such spiritual basics to address deeper matters of the Spirit and my heart’s motives and intentions.

As a child, I learned to obey behavioral rules because my parents demanded it. As an adult, I learned to avoid certain behaviors to avoid the painful consequences while maintaining other behaviors simply because I know they are the right and healthy things to do for myself and others.

As Paul put it in his letter to the followers of Jesus in Corinth: “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”

In other words, somewhere along the line I graduated from learning how to read about Dick and Jane, to choosing not to be a Dick.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Chapter-a-Day

Bringing it Together

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Bringing it All Together (CaD Lev 12) – Wayfarer

“‘On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised.’”
Leviticus 12:3 (NIV)

As we’ve been making our way through this ancient instruction manual for the newly appointed priests of the ancient Hebrew people, I’ve alluded to the fact that God is doing something new with His people. He heard their cries from slavery. He approached Moses and then the people. He delivered them from slavery. And now He is establishing a formal way of daily living in community with them.

But, it didn’t start here.

The relationship between God and the Hebrew people began with Abraham back in the book of Genesis. God called Abraham and made a covenant with him. At the time, God prescribed a physical sign of that covenant which would make Abraham different as I addressed in yesterday’s post/podcast. That physical sign was circumcision, the removal of the foreskin of his penis. This sign was passed on through Abraham’s descendants Isaac, Jacob, Jacob’s sons who became the patriarchs of the twelve Hebrew tribes that God delivered from Egypt, the very people who are now going to live in daily community with the God of their ancestors.

The ritual of circumcision prescribed on the eighth day (remember that the eighth day symbolizes “new things come”) was performed with a knife made of flint rock. What God had done through His covenant with Abraham, He is now codifying as part of what He is doing through the ritual system for the Hebrew people. What “was” is being brought together with what “is.”

Yet, with the Great Story, God is always about “was, and is, and is to come.” (Rev 1:8, 4:8). As humanity matures, the Son of God, Jesus, comes to sacrifice Himself for the sins of the world and rise from the dead. Once again, “new things come.” What had been a physical sign for the ancient Hebrew people is transformed into a spiritual sign for all who are in Christ. Paul explained this to the largely non-Hebrew gathering of Jesus’ followers in Rome:

A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.
Romans 2:28-29 (NIV)

It began as a physical sign that would make them different from all other peoples, that all other peoples would see and know there is something different about these people and their God. Jesus transformed into a spiritual sign for all who would believe and receive. A priest with a rock knife cutting off the foreskin of a boy’s penis became Jesus the Great High Priest and the Rock of My Salvation doing spiritual heart surgery, taking away my heart of stone, and giving me a heart of flesh (Ex 36:26).

It’s also interesting to note that many Christian traditions transformed the eighth day ritual of circumcision into the ritual baptism of infants. This was largely built on a connection between the ancient covenant and the new. This is fascinating, as the only ancient covenant spoken of in connection to baptism in the Great Story is a covenant even older than the covenant of Abraham, the covenant of Noah (1 Peter 3:20).

So in the quiet this morning, I am once more blown away at how God perpetually connects all things together even as He perpetually recreates, with old things passing away and new things coming. Along my spiritual journey, this has developed within me a continuous spiritual posture:

Appreciation for what was.
Discernment for what is.
Expectation for what will be.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Chapter-a-Day

Best of ’24: #1 Filet-o’-Fish or Flesh & Blood?

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For the last two weeks, while Wendy and I have been away enjoying some warm weather, we’ve been counting down the top ten chapter-a-day posts/podcasts of 2024 (based on total views and plays). It’ s always interesting which posts/podcasts resonated with readers and listeners. Today is the #1 post/podcast from 2024. The chapter for Monday’s new series is at the bottom of today’s post.

Filet-o'-Fish or Flesh & Blood? (CaD Jhn 6) – Wayfarer

“Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”
John 6:26 (NIV)

The further I’ve progressed in my spiritual journey the more I have come to believe that today’s chapter contains among the most critical messages that Jesus uttered in His earthly ministry.

John begins the chapter with two of the seven signs he chose to write about as he thematically presents Jesus to his readers. First, Jesus miraculously turns a couple of loaves and a few fish into an all-you-can-eat filet-o-fish feast for a crowd of thousands. That night, as The Twelve are making their way across the Sea of Galilee in stormy seas, Jesus walks on water to join them. They end up back in Capernaum, Jesus’ base of operations on the north shore of Galilee.

Meanwhile, the crowd of thousands who enjoyed the filet-o-fish woke up the next day to find that Jesus was nowhere to be found. It was common knowledge that Jesus always returned to Capernaum, so the thousands decided to hoof it in that direction. Sure enough, they find Jesus teaching in the synagogue there.

The conversation that follows is what I find to be most critical. John had already made a point that Jesus did not allow Himself to be swayed by the fame and popularity His signs created amongst the crowds. Back in chapter two John wrote, “Jesus would not entrust Himself to [the crowds], for He knew all people.” That’s a key piece in understanding Jesus’ conversation with the crowd in today’s chapter.

The crowd begins by questioning the fact that Jesus had left them for Capernaum without telling them where He was going. Jesus responds by questioning their motive for following Him, and this is the critical piece. Jesus told Nicodemus back in the third chapter that “flesh gives birth to flesh and Spirit gives birth to spirit.” Jesus now unpacks how spiritually important that distinction really is. The crowds are focused, not on God’s eternal kingdom, but on their earthly appetites. Their focus is on making Jesus king and getting free fish sandwiches for life. Jesus is focused on helping people understand that He came, not to feed the stomach, but to feed the soul. “The Spirit gives life,” He says. “The flesh counts for nothing.” He tells the crowd that from that point on, the only feast He will be providing is his flesh to eat and his blood to drink as he foreshadows His last supper and the sacrament of Communion which He will eventually leave for His followers.

I find the progression of the crowd’s attitude to be telling. It is so like a crowd. They move from eagerly seeking out the trending Jesus to trying to manipulate Him into more free food (vss 10-11) to grumbling about Him (vs. 41) to turning on one another and sharply arguing (vs 52). Eventually, the crowd walks away and stops following Jesus (vs. 66).

As a disciple of Jesus, this entire episode calls my own motives into question. Why am I following Jesus? Why do I go to church? Why would I wear the label “Christian?” Show? Spectacle? Tradition? Family Pressure? Duty? Obligation? Keeping up social appearances? Living up to someone else’s expectations? Being a good example to the kiddos? Community?

As I meditated on the crowd begging for more free lunches, I couldn’t help but remember the hated Samaritans who only needed to hear Jesus’ words and they believed. I think there is something about the Samaritans being the suffering and persecuted outcast that identifies with Jesus’ true mission which was not to be an earthly king feeding His posse’s earthly appetites, but to be a suffering servant sacrificing flesh and blood to bring eternal spiritual provision to starving, emaciated, and dying human souls. “The crowd,” on the other hand, were Jesus’ own people, and they failed to get it. John already foreshadowed this in his epic prologue: “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”

In the quiet this morning, I find myself pondering Jesus’ continuous message to His most intimate followers:

“They hate me. They will hate you, too.”

“Get ready for persecution.”

“In this world, you will have trouble.”

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. “

“They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.”

This begs the question: Am I a filet-o-fish follower, or am I a flesh-and-blood follower?

It’s a question worth pondering. Jesus made it abundantly clear that the answer makes a difference.

Monday’s Chapter: Leviticus 1

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Chapter-a-Day

Best of ’24: #8 Transformation

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For two weeks, while Wendy and I are away enjoying some warm weather, I’ll be counting down the top ten chapter-a-day posts of 2024 (based on total views and plays). It’ s always interesting which posts resonated with readers and listeners. The chapter for tomorrow’s post will be listed at the bottom.

Transformed (CaD Ezk 11) – Wayfarer

I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 11:19 (NIV)

I got to bless a friend yesterday. A few weeks ago a mutual acquaintance told me how blown away he was by a conversation the two of them had. “Tom, the person I spoke with is not the same person I knew ten years ago. He’s changed!” It was a compliment of the highest order. One friend saw in the other friend the life transformation that happens when God’s Spirit indwells a willing heart. What a cool thing.

The life of John the Apostle is another wonderful story of transformation. When Jesus first meets the fisherman and his brother, they are brash men. When a village refused to let Jesus and His disciples into the town, John and his brother suggested to Jesus that He call down fire from heaven and burn the village and all the people in it. Jesus called the pair “The Sons of Thunder” for their quick, unbridled tempers.

A few years later, John is a different person. No longer “Son of Thunder,” John has become “the disciple Jesus’ loved.” That love had a transforming effect in John’s life. It is John that Jesus chooses to give the responsibility of caring for and loving His mother after His death. John’s letters repeat the importance of love over and over and over again. Late in life, the aged John reportedly said nothing but, “Little children, love one another” repeatedly.

In today’s chapter, Ezekiel’s vision, which began back in chapter nine, comes to a conclusion. Zeke, having seen God’s judgment and anger cries out and asks God if He is any of His people will survive. God responds with a promise that a remnant will survive. Exiles like Zeke will return to Jerusalem and Israel. God then gives Zeke a fascinating metaphor, telling the prophet that He will put a “new spirit” into them, “remove their heart of stone,” and “give them a heart of flesh.”

One of the powers of metaphor is that they are layered with meaning. The Hebrew people had spent 400 years in slavery in Egypt, and Egypt was a popular place to flee in times of trouble (e.g. Mary and Joseph took flight to Egypt with baby Jesus to avoid Herod’s wrath). So the beliefs and customs of Egypt were known.

The Egyptians believed that the heart was used to judge a dead person’s worthiness for the afterlife. During the mummification process, the heart would be literally weighed. A heavy heart, weighed down with guilt and shame, would not make the cut. Those who heard Zeke’s prophetic word, would have recognized that “a heart of stone” was not a good thing. To this day, we understand that a hard heart is a bad thing.

When God says He’ll remove the heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh, there is hope of a new life. It is a beautiful picture of the transformation that occurs in the life of Jesus’ disciples. Paul wrote that anyone who is in Christ is a “new creation.” Old things pass away and new things come. The rock-hard heart is replaced with a heart of flesh, pumping new Life into the person.

In the quiet this morning, I reflected on the transformation I’ve felt in my own life over the course of forty-plus years as a disciple. Like John, like my friend, I can look back at things I felt, things I did, and things I said and feel ashamed for all of it. I’m so grateful to God that my heart has increasingly softened and I don’t feel, act, or say the things like that any more. I pray that God continues my spiritual heart-replacement therapy as long as I am on this earthly journey. I never want God’s transforming work to end in me. Ten years from now I’d like to have someone say, “Tom’s not the person he was ten years ago! He’s changed.”

Tomorrow’s Chapter: Romans 8

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!

Chapter-a-Day

Refreshment

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For they refreshed my spirit and yours also. Such men deserve recognition.
1 Corinthians 16:18 (NIV)

“Oh! That was such a good night!” Wendy said to me as we began our daily nocturnal preparations.

Our guests had arrived at 5:30 that evening. The agenda was simple. We would hang out here at the Vander Well Pub. We put out some simple happy hour appetizers which comprised of an assortment of leftover charcuterie elements from Christmas. I poured a round of drinks.

The next thing I knew, it was almost 11:00 p.m. and our guests were saying for the third or fourth time, “We really have to go.”

It was a conversational five-hour deep dive into one another’s lives. Children, grandchildren, conflicts we each were facing, family challenges, work challenges, marriage challenges, and our hopes for the new year. There was seemingly no subject that was “off the table” and things flowed so naturally and organically that no one even looked at the clock for hours.

“Oh! That was such a good night!” Wendy exclaimed.

Our souls had been refreshed.

Good friends. Good leftovers. Good drink. Good conversation. Simple.

When was the last time your soul was refreshed?

Many years ago I remember a business trip with my boss in which he prompted a long conversation about a verse in one of Paul’s letters that no one ever talks about or quotes. It was Paul’s letter to Philemon in which he writes:

“Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.”

We talked for hours on that car ride about what it means to have your heart “refreshed” and how we can be “refreshers” of other’s hearts. I have never forgotten that verse and that conversation. As soon as I read Paul’s words this morning about Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus who delivered the Corinthian’s letter and “refreshed” his spirit, I immediately thought of the heart refresher Philemon. I thought my boss and our car ride conversation. I thought of our evening with friends just a couple of weeks ago.

As I sit in the quiet this morning and think about that night, it strikes me that there were no gifts given, there was no entertainment, and no one looked at their phones. There was, however, honesty, vulnerability, and a willingness to share with one another knowing that there would be no judgement, only love for one another and a desire for the best for one another. In a world that seems hell-bent on presenting a consistently sanitized and idealized image of ourselves and our lives online, it’s refreshing to have friends with whom we can be our challenged, flawed, and broken selves while experiencing an honest exchange of love and grace.

The truth is that I need my heart and soul refreshed on a regular basis.

I’m so grateful to have people in my life who do so.

I pray that I consistently do so for others.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!