by Randal Matheny

I stepped into the new year and -- whoosh! -- it was like hitting a carpet on a slick floor. Some of the important stuff, like getting back to exercising, are still waiting on the sidelines.

All the time, I'm thinking, "This year is not going to be the blur that 2002 was. I will the clock to slow down."

• So yesterday I locked the office door, sat down in my Christmas-present chair, and promptly took a nap.

• When I got home, I picked up the Robert Louis Stevenson novel Micah mentioned he had read for a school report. I'm almost through it, and we're discussing some of its points.

• Vicki and I have plans next week to go see the next Lord of the Rings movie.

I was gone this past weekend in a quick trip to teach another Total Transformation course. Last week, an invitation from Rio de Janeiro for next month. Sermons, Bible classes, courses, articles, emails, letters, visits.

All the stuff of life. All good stuff. Mostly stuff that will bless someone's faith and life.

But stuff that can get out of control, and, while I'm helping other lives, my life can whoosh by and disappear.

To serve with sanity, that's the trick. To not lose one's touch with the Lord. Time to breathe deeply, soothe out the furrowed brow, watch the slow march of clouds across the sky.

Time to write a poem. Time to sing. Time to meditate on the Word.

Time to be like Jesus.

"In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there" (Mark 1:35, NASU).

Jesus never whooshed. This year, neither will I.

by Randal Matheny

You've heard it said we should hate sin but love the sinner. It's true. The phrase expresses an important truth. But not the whole truth.

The word of God presents two, and only two, positions one may assume before his goodness: submission and rebellion. The Lord rewards submission with blessings, with good, with his presence. He also brings upon the rebellious his due: punishment and justice.

So we should not be so surprised at these words:

"The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity. You destroy those who speak falsehood; The Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit." Psalm 5:5-6

He who does not gather with the Lord, scatters. He who scatters receives his full wrath. And he who gathers rejoices, because the Lord defends his cause with victory.

Can Only God Hate?

But the Lord may hate perfectly those who sin, but we should not, you say? Read again.

Not only does the faithful say, "I hate the work of those who fall away" (Psalm 101:3).

He may also rightfully declare, "I hate those who are double-minded, But I love Your law" (Psalm 119:113).

And even more telling,

"Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies" (Psalm 139:21-22).

So what does all this mean? And how do we reconcile hating one's enemy with Jesus' instructions to love one's enemy? Are these railings merely a vengeful Old Testament spirit, while we must show New Testament grace?

Good Hate

Actually, we need both hatred and love toward our enemies. Now let me explain.

First, hating the one who does evil takes sin seriously. Is it really so easy to hate the sin and love the sinner? Can we divvy up a person and his sin? Sin is not some scab that can be quickly, albeit with certain discomfort, picked off to reveal the real person underneath. Sin is part and parcel of who we are. Even after recovery, we must say we are sinners (as per 1 Tim. 1:15).

Second, hating the evildoer is an expression of one's loyalty to God. His enemies are our enemies. In fact, they make themselves our enemies because we insist on submission to God. One cannot pray for the victory of God's cause without desiring the defeat of his detractors.

Third, we are not speaking of our character, but God's cause. Usually there is, in the context of hating the evildoer, a declaration of the writer's integrity (see Psalm 139:23-24) or a reverent appeal for help to observe the commandments (see Psalm 119:114-120). The question is not the perfect moral state of the faithful, but the perfect righteousness of the Lord's cause which he upholds. Hating one's enemy, properly done (and it can and must be done properly), takes into full account the only two positions possible toward God's goodness.

Fourth, hatred of the evildoer does not take justice into its own hands. It appeals to God. And while it waits for God's judgment, it works to turn the wicked from his way. It devotes itself to converting the rebellious into a soul submissive to the will of God.

I can appreciate greatly the sentiment to hate sin and love the sinner. But the Word goes beyond that easy phrase to enter fully into the Sovereign Lord's cause and work ceaselessly that his justice may come to all, in every place.

by Randal Matheny

We'd been suspecting it for a couple days.

Vicki woke up this morning at 6:15 to go walk. At least, she thought it was 6:15. She consulted her little timer-clock for which she is known around the world (well, almost) and discovered it was only 5:45.

Our trusty clock-radio sitting beside our bed had gone haywire. It was running fast. And throwing everyone who consulted it out of kilter.

If you thought 2002 whizzed by, maybe your inner clock has gone haywire. Removing age as a time accelerator, you may still be wondering where last year went.

The answer may be in our wacky clock-radio. Like it, you stepped up the pace.

You overcommitted yourself, shorted your nights, your family, your God.

You don't need more time. You need less do, less go, less busy, less hurry.

I keep saying "you." To keep from saying "I." After all, it's my clock-radio.

"Live life, then, with a due sense of responsibility, not as men who do not know the meaning and purpose of life but as those who do. Make the best use of your time, despite all the difficulties of these days. Don't be vague, but firmly grasp what you know to be the will of the Lord" (Eph. 5:15-17, Phillips).

by Randal Matheny

Ever notice how, as Christmas nears, people get all mushy and sentimental? I do, too.

I remember my parents taking us into town just about every year to see the Christmas lights. Especially in one of the classier neighborhoods. Since Paragould didn't have but 12 to 14 thousand in those days, it didn't take us long. But it was a great memory. We did that as family.

These warm feelings, I now know, are programmed into us. Nothing wrong with that. It would be nice if we'd program good feelings into a lot more things in life. Would make the day-to-day living a lot more pleasant.

But there are a lot of people for whom Christmas is a nightmare.

No happy carols. No nice presents. No close family relationships. No warm feelings.

Also, a programmed response. And nothing wrong with that, either.

Which goes to tell me that, as nice as I think Christmas is, and as much as I want it to be a wonderful time for everybody, Christmas is not the jumping-off point for a great life.

A few days ago, one kid wrote a poem. He would look up at the first star and wish for ... peace, happiness, banishment of poverty.

Pretty vague stuff. A long shot. A melancholy Christmas wish.

There are people who think of Christ during Christmas. I don't know if those thoughts can be turned toward a truer picture of the Lord and eventual obedience to him. But I'll try.

Because I know that, not Christmas, but Christ can bring everyone the warmth of God's presence.

by Randal Matheny

The year draws to a close. At least one thing we may be able to finish. 2002!

Reminds me of an online personal essay journal whose editor asked the question of writers: Which are harder, beginnings or endings?

I wrote her an almost-four-line response:

 HARDER

 Why, I'm surprised that you would even ask
 Which is, by far, the harder writing task:
 To start or end. For all that ply this craft
 Agree that, of the two,

One of my great difficulties is finishing all the wonderful projects I start. Perhaps we need to revise that old saw that says, "Nice people finish last," and make it read:

 Nice people finish.

All this reminds us of a line from Solomon's Ecclesiastes, where he got a few things right, including this idea:

 The end of a matter is better than its beginning;
 Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of
   spirit. (7:8, NASB)

Read all the quotes circulating the Internet, and you'll find most people are more interested in the ride than the destination. I suspect that's another diabolical plot to make people forget that eternity is around the corner.

Sure, I want to enjoy each day as it comes, but my days are numbered, so I want to look forward to One Eternal Day. One complete, unending joy.

Well, that's the end of my faith I'm looking for, as 1 Peter 1.9 says, the result, the outcome, which he explains as "the salvation of souls." Mine. And, I hope, yours, too.