I keep dreaming the same dream, that I am back working in the medical office.  As Dickens would say, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”  I can certainly say that I have no desire to go back to work.  I love retirement.  I fill my days with doing volunteer work, walking the dogs, tutoring my grandson, tackling small chores and enjoying being with my wife.  So, why do I keep dreaming about work?

My dreams are not as grandiose as those of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  His dreams were filled with the hope of racial equality.  While I’m sure that his dream was for freedom for all races, he most certainly had black people in mind. He grew up in a country where race discrimination was played out every day.

But discrimination wasn’t something new.  In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was not unusual to witness hatred or prejudice against Italians, Jews, Chinese, Irish and others, scrambling to climb into the giant melting pot called America.

I have vivid memories from my childhood of people (including my own family) looking down on the blacks who worked for us or sat in the back of our buses.  I remember feeling, not hatred toward, but fear of the Negros that I encountered because it was drilled into me that they were “not like us” and couldn’t be trusted.

Living in the South, I had no firsthand experience of spending time with a black person.  It has taken many years for me to understand their plight and to admire their strong faith and determination.  I also have observed that, just like whites, all races have their undesirables, those who remain or become angry, obnoxious or rude in their behavior to their brothers and sisters of a different color.

As much as I would like to say that racial issues are behind us, I am inclined to think that they will never be completely behind us, based on what I still encounter even here in the Bible Belt (go figure).  While I don’t agree with all of Dr. King’s views, and I don’t know the real truth about rumors of his lifestyle, I wholeheartedly agree with his message of God’s love and our reconciliation.

The love of God can only be real in our lives if others can see his love in us.  That means that we are to look upon others as our equals.  The Apostle Paul said that we should consider others above ourselves (Philippians 2:3).  Having come from a religious group, the Pharisees, he knew all too well what it was like to look down on others.

Paul followed the one who gave him a new heart, a heart of flesh, not of stone.  He learned from Jesus, the son of God.  Jesus told many stories that obliterated race boundaries.  His message was that of love, reconciliation and peace.

Give peace a chance.

The latest Christian craze is centered on the starting quarterback of the Denver Broncos, Tim Tebow. The son of baptist missionaries, Tebow brought his faith to light in the public sports arena by kneeling in prayer (caught on camera) and sporting decorative eye black (the black stuff rubbed under the player’s eyes) that displayed Christian messages or Bible verse numbers.

It’s not unusual for Christian athletes (or athletes who are Christian) to thank God for their touchdown, soccer goal, prize fight knockout or basketball win. But this thing is really taking hold.  Maybe it’s because the Broncos, who hadn’t been doing so well, turned their games around after Tebow started playing regularly.  He was their talisman.  God was on their side?

As for Tim, I saw a televised interview, in which he came across as a humble young man who just wanted to express his faith, not necessarily drawing attention to himself.  But that’s just what he got. Attention.  So much so that his Tebow-isms became fodder for sports writers, late-night comedy, Twitter and Facebook.

So what do you think?  Is it okay, even encouraging, that you pray in public and wear Jesus on your sleeve?  Didn’t Jesus teach us to pray in private (Matthew 6:6)?  For the record, Jesus prayed a lot in private, but occasionally uttered a public prayer.  He gave thanks for food (Luke 9:16) and even made a point of wanting the people to hear him talk to his Father when he raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:42).

I know that we’re not supposed to be ashamed of our Christian faith (Romans 1:16), but is it really necessary to pray out loud for your food in a restaurant? I’ve done so and have been approached, at times, by others at nearby tables who want to compliment our family/group on the boldness of our faith. But, seriously, doesn’t that just boost my ego?  ”Oh, don’t thank me; God gets all the credit.”

And what about kneeling in the end zone?  ”Thank you, Lord, for giving me this touchdown?”  ”Thank you, Lord, that I didn’t get mangled?”  What about the other Christians on both teams?  Did they not win because their faith wasn’t strong enough?  I don’t have the answer.  I’m just asking.

Jesus gave us two commands:  Love God.  Love your neighbor.  We can say that we love.  We can pray for love.  We can teach about love.  But until we DO love, until we SHOW love, then no amount of Christian advertising is going to make a difference.

I believe that he died that I might be like him — die to any ruling power in me but the will of God — live ready to be nailed to the cross as he was, if God wills it.

Now, I don’t expect that anyone in my lifetime is going to want to nail me literally to a cross. I know the disciples, and many of Jesus’s early followers, faced that threat, and some were indeed tortured and killed for the cause of Christ.  And I am thankful that I have never been put in a position of possibly having to recant my faith in weakness in order to avoid physical pain and/or death.  So can we still learn something from the death of Jesus that would be applicable to our daily walk with him?  Yes.

Jesus didn’t die because he couldn’t stop his attackers.  And he didn’t die because God was making him go through it.  He died because he wanted to go through it.  He wanted us to see him go through it. While his death was real and brought the same agony and emotions that we would encounter, the meaning of his death teaches us a greater lesson.

He died because it was God’s will.  He knew that God could remove him at any time.  But he also knew that God had a plan and a purpose.  Jesus’s role on this earth was to follow that plan and fulfill God’s purpose.  All of it was put into place for our benefit.

Each day we go through many life-and-death decisions.  I don’t mean “should I step in front of that speeding truck or not?”  I mean “Is this next thing before me what God wants me to do?”  What is he telling me?  My self may be leaning in another direction due to SELFishness. When Self persuades me to do something that will harm me or others, then Self must die.

Don’t worry.  It’s not a permanent death, because Self always comes back to life for the next challenge. This decision-making goes on for a long time until Self is gradually transformed into Will — God’s will.

I live in a free country where my belief in God and Christ does not come into conflict with a ruling power who can end my life or ruin my way of life.  But I realize that there are many Christians in other parts of the world where fighting daily temptations is the least of their worries.

What we may not realize, however, is that, by living daily to please God and saying “no” to the taunts of disobedience, we are supporting their cause.  We have joined with them in the body of Christ.  We also may not realize that, while they are facing physical threats for their belief, they are actually praying for our struggles daily.  This is because they belong to the same body of Christ.

The Apostle Paul wrote, “To me, the only important thing about living is Christ.  And even death would be for my benefit.”  Philippians 1:21 (ERV)

This hope and life/death dynamic is what binds Christian believers together the world over.

Or so it should be.

I believe that God or Jesus has a right to my absolute obedience whenever I know or shall come to know his will; that to obey him is to ascend to the highest point of my being; that not to obey him would be to deny him.

Is obedience ever bad?  Slaves are forced to obey, and employees are paid to obey. What would happen to such obedience if the conditions were removed?  Is complete freedom from obedience really what we want?  The world is divided into leaders and followers, with an apathetic portion of some people in between.

All can’t be leaders, and where would we be if there was no one to follow?  It seems to me that God has designed us to enjoy (or not) human interaction.  Children and soldiers obviously need firm direction. But what about the rest of us?  And what about our obedience to God?

God gave us ten commandments; they’re listed in the Bible (Exodus 20).  It’s a very concise list that helps us to address our relationship with God, our family and our neighbors.  From this list all laws are formed.

Jesus gave us one commandment:  LOVE.  It encompasses all of the ten from the Old Testament.  He has the authority to sum them up in this one commandment because he is God’s son.  He goes on to explain who we are to love:  God and everybody;  when we are to love:  all the time; and how we are to love: with all our heart.  That’s a tall order, which brings us back to obedience.

God knows that he can force obedience, but that doesn’t complete his love.  Voluntary obedience doesn’t even get it.  Only obedience out of love will bring true peace and happiness.

Obedience to earthly masters must be weighed against God’s standards.  Obedience to God doesn’t need to be challenged because he is perfect, and his commands will be true.  They are given so that we may become perfect in love.

But be careful.  If the voice in your head directs you to act contrary to the ten commandments or out of envy, hate or pride, then God has NOT spoken.

Jesus taught that we are to follow his commandments because, in so doing, we would be following his Father, and ours.  The Holy Spirit is given that we might be reminded daily the way in which we should walk.  Through the Spirit’s work, we are chastised, when needed, as well as encouraged and comforted.

But which comes first — obedience or love?  If we can truly love, then obedience is experienced without even thinking about it.  But not many of us can truly love.  Therefore, obedience, for the sake of obedience, is the way in which we learn to love.  Obedience without reservation.  Obedience without resentment.  Obedience that rests in the trust that we have of our heavenly Father.

For him to truly be in us, we must trust and obey.  There’s no other way.

I believe in Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, my elder brother, my lord and master.

Jesus is the reason for all seasons.  Not just for holidays like Easter, Christmas, etc.  He’s the reason for all joyful occasions, as well as times of hurt, depression or even anger.  He came to show us how to live, love and die.

He is the perfect son of God.  He is just like his Father — faultless and full of love.  While I struggle with many things in the Bible, I am more ready to accept the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the gospels.  I guess it’s because my heart tells me that they are true.  And they make sense.

I don’t think of Jesus as “another god,” as some Christians would protest to, claiming that Jesus and God are the same person.  The only reason that Jesus directed others to follow him is because he knew that, in so doing, we would be following God.  This was especially important to the Jews of his day, who had a very different image of the Almighty.

Jesus was continually focusing discussions on what his Father wanted from his children.  He taught us how to react and respond to each circumstance.  He gave us parables to show us the truth in earthly examples.  He also showed us how to give proper responses to questions, as well as to accusations.

He constantly reminded his followers that he only did and said what his Father gave him to do and say. He repeatedly established the Father-Son relationship for their (and our) benefit.  He tells me that I am God’s son.  That makes Jesus my brother — my older brother.

What a blessing it is to have a perfect older brother, since I am an only child.  What a privilege for anyone to have an older brother who doesn’t pick on you or put you down as the bratty little brother.

And yet I feel worshipful towards him, and that is at it should be.  He’s my connection to God, even though he has told me that I can talk to my Father directly.  Jesus is master of all that is good, and that makes him my master.  I feel secure with him.  I thank God for him.

It is Jesus’ hand that I look forward to taking, as he leads me to the loving arms of his Father and mine.