Meaningful Days: Developing Our View of God and His Ways

By Ryan J Weber

Meaningless! Meaningless! says the Teacher. Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.

Ecclesiastes 1:2

We do not need a rebuttal to the Teachers comment about everyday life (life under the sun), but we do need the proper perspective to understand his plea. Everything we seek and achieve and possess is indeed meaningless without a heart and mind set on Jesus Christ.

Meaningful Days is a source for developing that intricate, yet simple heart and mind-set. It offers encouragement to stop and consider Gods wonders and Word in all aspects of lifeto have a wholly Christian worldview. For when the Bible is our lens for viewing lifes norms, the meaningless-ness of them fully transforms; we see our ordinary, everyday life under the sun for what it truly is the prelude in our extraordinary, exultant, eternal life in the Son.

Each script in this Meaningful series begins with a historic event or holiday but moves thoughts beyond the common, trivial, and blas. The goal is to both entertain and challenge a reader/believer of any stripe, and those who sow effort will reap fruits that are ripe. If you dont accept this challenge, so be it, its your life to livebut the rewards of discipleship far outweigh the meaningless alternative.

Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

Hosea 14:9

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Feb 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512728606

Ryan J Weber

Ryan Weber is an author of the Matthean Order; educated as a certified public accountant, he is called to serve his Lord with both numbers and words. Ryan hails from Longmont, Colorado, and now lives in Falls Church, Virginia, with his winsome wife, Sarah, and their charming child, Selah.

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Copyright © 2016 Ryan J Weber.

Edited by Morgan Schneider.

Cover Photos by Michael McDonald.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5127-2859-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-2860-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016901352

WestBow Press rev. date: 2/12/2016

Contents

Preface

Introduction

1   In the Shadows

2   On the 12th Day of Christmas

3   Societal SHIFT+F7

4   Brought Amor

5   Doe Over

6   Rise and Shine

7   I. Iota

8   My First Love

9   Older Than Dirt

10   I Tell You the Veritas

11   Gotcha!

12   Beg Your Pardon

13   A Tale of Two Structures

14   Expectations

15   The End Is Near …

16   Yeah, but …

17   Nutshell

18   A Penny for Your Thoughts

19   Ethereally Memorable

20   Who’s Your Daddy?

21   Equal Plights

22   ImageIn That

23   Dependence Day

24   Peace Out

25   Remember Me?

26   God It?

27   Neurotic Errs

28   It’s a B…eliever!

29   More Than Apparent

30   Ring, Ring, Ring

31   HOW TO: Be Mean!

32   Tossing BackWords

33   Going into Labor (Day)

34   Labor Day-After

35   Pardon ME

36   The Colors of Fall

37   Do the Math

38   Cusp of Jo

39   If Only

40   Over 99 Billion Served

41   Discover Thee

42   The Love Note

43   Perfect Piece

44   Election Day

45   An Eponymous Donation

46   Annoying Reminder

47   Myth Buster

48   TGIF

49   I’ll Drink to That

50   Give UP!

51   Deep Thoughts

52   Knot in Ties

53   Happy ThanksReceiving!

54   O Aspen Tree

55   Now Departing …

Appendix A: Meaningful Challenge

Appendix B: Meaningful Checklists

Acknowledgements

About the Author

To Sarah – for kindling this fire

and fanning it into flame.

Micah 4:5, for ever and ever,

and ever.

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but

be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is –

his good, pleasing and perfect will."

– Romans 12:2 (emphasis added)

Preface

The spiritual saint never believes circumstances to be haphazard, or thinks of his life as secular and sacred; he sees everything he is dumped down in as the means of securing the knowledge of Jesus Christ. — Oswald Chambers

When you were a young child, someone probably taught you the lyric: Jesus loves me! This I know, For the Bible tells me so. This is most certainly true — the Bible teaches us all about Jesus’ sacrificial love and God’s undying commitment to His creation. But the question before us, now, is whether life’s events reinforce that love, or derail us with doubt. When we consider certain historical happenings and present challenges, do we feel the need to compartmentalize the secular and sacred, or do we see God’s hand gracing the entirety of our days? When we hear the final verse of Anna B. Warner’s song, do we say Amen! or Flimflam!

Jesus loves me! He will stay

Close beside me all the way;

Thou hast bled and died for me,

I will henceforth live for Thee.

In the winter of 2006, my family and I faced this very question: Do we live for Jesus, by trusting that He is with us every day, all the way? Do we have the spiritual saint’s providential perspective: a worldview where the Creator is truly working out all things for the good of those who love Him, where each intricate detail is a part of God’s grand design?

The circumstances we were dumped down in November 29, 2006, offered us plenty of opportunity for doubt. I remember the scene on that day, though most of what I call memories are really nothing more than residual clues— a CVS receipt for DayQuil that I found in my backpack, and on my closet’s sliding door mirror there loomed a 6-foot crack. What happened?

I’m not entirely sure – my body was taken to the Virginia Hospital Center’s ICU, but my mind was blank; for three days I lay there speechless and unaware, while my mother and friends stood there speechless and prayed with intensive care. The facts they were facing seemed so misaligned — How could this happen to a 26-year-old of sound body and mind? (How could this happen to my son? or How could this happen to my friend?) Who could answer their questions, or shed light on the circumstances, or at least offer a restless mother some consolation?

The doctors, after a thorough assessment, offered a couple of assertions: Medically speaking, a sodium deficiency sent me down to the ground and into a coma; and if not for my roommate’s timely response, either I would not be here today, or I would not be communicating and functioning in the same fashion. A powerful and sobering diagnosis indeed. Spiritually speaking, do we have an answer? Was God grabbing my attention by this providential intervening? Or was He reaching for my friends, my mother, or some other members of my family? Or was this for a people I don’t even know — could these events somehow serve someone beyond my social circle? Did God have a plan in circulation that far exceeded my imagination?

The answer is: Yes. Though I didn’t have any Heaven Is for Real visions during my comatose state, I did awaken with a compulsion to henceforth live for Thee and expand my confession. I wanted to share my rejuvenated faith and joy with my family and friends; to encourage those who already know Jesus as their Savior, and make His presence known to those who don’t. And, so, in the fall of 2007 I began writing and sending these scripts and Scriptures via email to this targeted group, while intently praying they would trigger more replys and forwards than deletes.

My writing style changed (matured?) during those eight years of emails, but my message remained the same. Truth be told, it wasn’t a conscious decision to be so consistent; it wasn’t until I compiled this collection that I caught on to its cohesiveness (and caught on to the affirmative answer from the Almighty). I was taken aback when I realized the two most prevalent topics I’ve indexed in this Meaningful book are Christ (26) and discipleship (30) — that, my friends, is the Gospel message! Christ saved us, and we love and honor Him with a life of discipleship: obedience to His commands, and servitude and discipline in the face of life’s demands. Thou hast bled and died for me, I will henceforth live for Thee.

The Bible ceaselessly states this vital message in various ways. As an example, take a look at these snapshots from the Apostle John’s inspired gospel and epistle:

John 15:13-14: [Christ:] Greater love has no one that this, that he lay down his life for his friends. [Discipleship:] You are my friends if you do what I command.

1 John 3:16: [Christ:] This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. [Discipleship:] And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

There is a direct link, a cause and effect. The Apostle John reiterates this same truth very succinctly: We love because he first loved us (1 Jn. 4:19). And Oswald Chambers, the preacher and esteemed Christian thinker, correspondingly concludes: My life as a worker is the way I say ‘thank you’ to God for His unspeakable salvation.

There is no denying this twofold teaching that God and His workers are continually beseeching. There is no sanctification (good works, holy living) without justification (Christ’s work of forgiving), and there is no proof of justification if we remain aloof of sanctification. We are prone to overthink and overcomplicate this simple truth, until we return to the one pivotal element of this twofold cycle – the incomparable riches of God’s grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus (cf. Eph 2:6-10). In other words, as elsewhere stated by the Apostle Paul, the key is: Christ, who is your life …. Christ is all, and is in all (Col. 3: 4, 11). It is Jesus Christ who saved us, and Jesus Christ who summons and sustains us.

There is value in keeping Christ and discipleship as separate topical categories for the sake of this book, but in our Christian lives it is always Christ expressed in discipleship. Indeed, the key to a life of meaning and fulfillment — what we are all assuredly striving for — is not compartmentalism, but thoughts, words and deeds perpetually propelled and concentrated on Christ.

I believe the greatest challenge for an individual of any generation was — and is — to find and maintain focus on this one thing, as Jesus Christ so eloquently reiterated to His friends (cf. Lk. 10:42). We may think ourselves unique and prime for excuses — being pulled in multiple directions and being inundated with information — but as the book of Ecclesiastes continually reminds us, nothing is new under the sun. The same question that these early Christians asked themselves is the same question you must ask yourself: What is my focus? What is the overarching incentive for everything you undertake, the motivation for every day to which you awake, the baseline viewpoint for all the intel you intake?

Rest assured, if we want to rest assured, then that pivotal question is more of a who than what, and the answer must be: Jesus Christ. Not only does the Bible tell me so (cf. Jn. 14:1-6), but experience does as well. For when life doesn’t go as planned, when bad things happen (as they inevitably do) – when you or someone close to you gets injured or worse – Christ is the glue that keeps your peace intact.

Indeed, peace isn’t gained by being industrious or intelligent or introspective but by having a firm Christocentric perspective. Consider the events of my life already described, and how my mother found a peace that transcended all rational understanding (cf. Php. 4:4-7). She wouldn’t wish that trial upon anyone, yet she saw the value. In both the adversity and recovery, she had the opportunity to see God’s hand at work in this handiwork. Her faith in God was not weakened by the experience, but enhanced.

This God-fearing, Christ-concentrated woman was refined by the fire, and empowered to strengthen others — including her son. She continually cheers on my writing ventures, encourages me to be reflective, and helps me keep all of life’s meaningful events in the proper, you guessed it, perspective. She wants me to remember this circumstance that I (we) were in, because she wants me to keep securing the knowledge of Jesus Christ, to see where God’s hand has been.

And so, to walk me through those valleys and peaks, she gave me her notes from those two and a half weeks. They don’t fully describe her emotional state, but they do describe her spiritual state, which directly impacted my physical fate. On December 5, 2006, the day I was upgraded from the ICU to the medical floor, she reflected on all that had transpired, and sent this perceptive and praiseworthy message to our collective relatives and friends:

"… as he came out of his sedated state, he was fairly cognizant, but did not speak. We were told it could take a couple of weeks or if there was brain damage, it would take time to determine that. But let me tell you that God heard and answered our prayers and I have seen miracles happen every day since I got here. … God’s love and care has been amazing!!"

Whether your life has seen trauma that you’ve had to tarry, or it’s full of days that are common and ordinary: I pray that your focus is in the right place, and that this Meaningful book guides you into God’s grace.

"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."

— Colossians 3:2-3

Introduction

There is a reason for every activity, and a lesson to be learned from every creature and brook, fauna and rock, every mountain and sunset, every event and statement. And as I survey my many lessons learned under the sun, you reap what you sow would probably rank number one.

It’s an observable and obvious analogy about cause and effect; and it reminds us that the little things of life – our daily routine, effort, attitude and perspective – we must refine and protect. When we think about our activities and relationships, or the lack thereof, do we do it with a mind set on things above? For if we are to grow into our salvation, we first must sow proper concentration. Faith comes by grace, it’s the seed that God has planted; but feeding that faith can’t be taken for granted.

"You can never become a Christian by thinking, you can only become a Christian by receiving something from God; but you must think after you are a Christian." — Oswald Chambers

The goal of this Meaningful book is to engage you, the reader, with wit, insight, and emotion; to spur you on to thought-provoking, sanctified living. The goal is to make each of your common days and holidays a holy-day; to see the extraordinary in the ordinary; to gain a perspective that both successes and blunders are opportunities to stop and consider God’s wonders (Job 37:14). The goal is to make the Bible your bible – for when the Bible is our lens for viewing life’s norms, the meaningless-ness of them fully transforms.

This book is meant to be marked up. Jot your thoughts, write your insights, even scribble your quibbles. And use the checklist(s) to record all the scripts that you’ve explored. They can be read