And The Last Shall Be First

My wife and I spent Saturday in Pleasant Prairie, WI watching our niece graduate from high school. It was a good day. She is the last of her generation in our family to graduate but she is first in out hearts on this special day in her life.

It was interesting to watch all the students march in. Some had decorated their caps with the initials of the colleges there were going to be attending in the fall. Others used to moment to make fashion statements with their shoes - the only visible portion of the clothes there were wearing under their graduation gowns. Some ladies wore sandals, others wore 4-inch heels! The guys mostly wore tennis shoes on their feet - each one had different colored shoes laces though. Each student, although they had dressed basically the same, they still wanted to make themselves stand out in the crowd.

Is that who we really are? Do we like to stand out in a crowd? We certainly seem to like taking a lot pictures of ourselves. Are we that important that others simply cannot wait to see the images of us we have created? Or do we have the kind of personality that likes to blend in and not be noticed? We do not like having our pictures taken. Would we rather just go unnoticed in the things we say and do?

There were many speeches given about being the best and about being proud of accomplishments. I was grateful to hear several of the speech givers thanking God and asking His blessings on the students. But most were about pride and being successful and getting ahead in the world. Only thing is, Jesus tells us just the opposite.

"16 So the last will be first, and the first last.” - Matthew 20:16

When the kids walked into the gymnasium at our niece's graduation, the A's walked in first and the Z's were last. The first were first and the last were last. But when they exited after graduation the last went our first but that soon stopped and corrected. "We must exit in an orderly fashion. We simply can't have these students thinking for themselves!" Ha ha!

There are so many things that our school system, and our society in general, have totally wrong. Instead of placing an importance on being first, I believe we should consider being last.

Earlier that day, as our niece was getting ready, my wife asked her about some of the medals she was wearing around her neck. The last one she described caught my attention. It was for community service. "We get this one for doing 100 hours of community service."

See what I mean? The first shall be last and the last shall be first. There is a lot to be said about being last. Jesus likes it when we become last. Re-read Matthew 20:16, Jesus also wants us to be losers. Another counter-cultural concept from our King. But it's true.

"39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." - Matthew 10:39

Confused? Don't be. It's easy. It is good to work hard but we must know WHY we are working hard. Are we working hard to get ahead in life? Or are we working hard to help someone else? Are we working our butts of for monetary gain? Or so we can use the extra money we make to help someone in need?

I guess the real question for these graduates is "Whom will you serve?"

And Last Shall Be First - 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games

Drama

Boys fighting with each other over possessions, girls gossipping behind closed doors, people talking trash about each other, women stealing another woman's boyfriend, men dumping their girlfriends for something more attractive. Sound like your local high school or workplace? It sure does! Yet all these examples of drama were taken right out of the The Bible!

There is a lot of drama in this world. There is drama EVERYWHERE!! I'm not talking about what we see on the stage or the screen, although there is plenty of drama there too. No, I'm talking about our daily lives. There is drama when we wake up in the morning, drama when we get to work or to school, and there's drama when we hang out with our friends at night. Drama, drama, drama!! Isn't there anything we can do about it?

I was reading my Bible recently when I came across a book that was filled with good advice about how to combat drama in our daily lives. Check it out!

1. Be grateful in your struggles - "2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." - James 1:2-4
2. Learn from your experiences - "5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." - James 1:5
3. Avoid temptation - "13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed." - James 1: 13-14
4. Listen before speaking - "19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires." - James 1:19-20
5. Get rid of the bad - "21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you." - James 1:21
6. Live like you'd like to be treated - "22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22
7. Treat everyone the same - "My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism." - James 2:1
8. Love everyone - "8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right." - James 2:8
9. Speak only encouraging things - "7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison." - James 3:7-8
10. Don't brag about yourself - "14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice." - James 3:14-16
11. Be content with what you have - "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight." - James 4:1-2
12. Never think you are better than anyone else. - "6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble." - James 4:6
13. Don't bad-mouth anyone - "11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it." - James 4:11
14. Always be helpful - "17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them." - James 4:17
15. Don't complain - "9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!" - James 5:9
16. Be patient with others - "10 Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered." - James 5:10-11
17. Always be truthful and keep your word - "12 Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear - not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned." - James 5:12
18. Have compassion for others - "19 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins." - James 5:19-20

Wow! That's quite a list! Here's a question for you. How would it be with no "drama" in our lives? Hmm. Pretty nice I'm thinkin'. Hey, if these things work, if we tried them out for a few days would it be worth it? Would people actually notice a change in us? Would we suddenly find ourselves with more friends than we did before? Simply by honoring God? It's worth a try! Be courageous! Listen to the sound of God's voice. You will be blessed! :)

The Sound of Your Voice by Third Day