by TA York

The First Commandment of Hearing.

We often view the Ten Commandments as a static list of rules carved into stone. But if we skip straight to the prohibitions, we miss the most vital part of the entire passage.

Take a look at how Exodus 20 begins:

And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” (Exodus 20:1-2)

Verse one is arguably the most important sentence in the text. Without it, the commandments that follow lose their foundation.

The crucial takeaway here is simple yet profound: God spoke.

What do you do when a person of absolute authority speaks? You don’t just nod and move on. You stop, listen, and comprehend. It forces us to ask ourselves: Who is God to you? Is He worth listening to? What is the purpose of our listening?

Learning the Hard Way

I remember what happened when I didn’t listen to my own father growing up. There were immediate consequences—scoldings, discipline, and various forms of correction. I imagine many of you have similar memories of your own parents.

Eventually, I learned a lesson the hard way (many times over, to be honest): Listen the first time.

Ultimately, that discipline bore good fruit. Learning to listen to authority built a strong work ethic in me and instilled a willingness to go the extra mile.

In the original Hebrew, the word used for “spoke” implies a declaration made with absolute authority. God wasn’t making a casual suggestion to the Israelites; He was declaring truth. He expected them to listen not just with their ears, but with their hearts.

Rescue Before Rules

Biblical morality is never about earning God’s love; it is our response to already being loved and rescued.

God does not say, “Obey me, and then I will rescue you.” Instead, He says, “I have already rescued you. Therefore, here is how we are going to live together.”

The Ten Commandments are not a license for rigid legalism. They are a roadmap for how to love.

We see this same emphasis on listening throughout Scripture, most notably in the Shema (found in Deuteronomy 6:4 and referenced throughout Jewish tradition). In the ancient Near East, life was fragmented. People prayed to one god for rain, another for fertility, and a different one for war.

But the Shema cuts through that noise: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

The author entreats the reader to listen closely. It defines God’s unique identity before launching into the command to love Him with all our heart, soul, and strength. Faithful Israelites prayed this twice a day as a constant, urgent reminder to listen.

Why Do We Need Constant Reminders?

Why is Scripture so repetitive about this? Because humans have a strange habit—and I am absolutely included in this—of drifting away.

As a father, I know this cycle all too well:

• Me: “Did you take out the trash?”
• Child: “Oh, I forgot.”
• Me: “Please do it now.”
• Child: “Just give me five minutes to finish this game.”
• An hour later: “Take out the trash.”
• Child: “Oh, I forgot!”

If our kids do this over simple chores, can we really blame God the Father for having to repeat Himself to us over and over again?

In the New Testament, Jesus addresses this exact human tendency. In Luke 11:27-28, a woman in the crowd calls out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”

Jesus pivots her statement immediately: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

Jesus links hearing and obeying directly to blessing. But how exactly does He bless us? Ephesians 1:3-4 gives us the answer:

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”

This means we can experience a deep, supernatural peace in our souls, even when the enemy attacks from all sides. Have you ever felt that kind of love before? A calm assurance in the middle of terrible circumstances? That is the fruit of a life tuned into God’s voice.

Cutting Through the Cultural Noise

God is constantly speaking to us, yet we have to ask: Are we listening? Where are our priorities? Have we fully surrendered to Him, or are we still compromising with the world?

When we press into the bosom of Christ and fall deeply in love with Him, obedience stops feeling like a chore. It becomes a willing, joyful response. Jesus broke our chains and brought us out of modern-day Egypt. Because of His sacrifice, we owe Him our everlasting loyalty. We even owe Him the spiritual legacy we pass down to our children. Isn’t the King of Glory worth listening to?

Unfortunately, modern society is meticulously designed to break your focus. We are bombarded by constant digital distractions and cultural noise. With a split focus, it is impossible to hear the “voice of one crying out in the wilderness.” We can’t even understand the Bible properly when the volume of the world is turned all the way up.

My dad used to tell me, “There are two ways to learn: the easy way and the hard way. Which one do you choose?”

The Bible, the wisdom of our elders, and an adherence to Scripture represent the easy way. Walking down any other path makes life incredibly hard.

God is speaking. Is His Word going in one ear and out the other? Are we treating the Bible like a casual novel, or are we treating it like what it truly is—an instruction manual and a lifeline to heaven?

Through Jesus’ suffering, our bondages are broken and our place in heaven is secure. In return, He deserves our absolute attention, love, and loyalty. No one else lines up.

He deserves it. So let’s lean in… and listen.

God bless.

by TA York

We love to look for patterns in life. If you study the first chapter of the Gospel of John, a very clear three-part pattern emerges:

• Verses 1–18: We learn who Jesus is.
• Verses 19–42: We learn who we are (or who we can be).
• Verses 43–51: We find the most critical piece of the puzzle—following Jesus.

But before we dive into the theology of John 1, let me take you back to when I was 19 years old.

3,500 Feet and a Leap of Faith

When I was 19, I was a bit of an extremist. I also happened to be terrified of heights. So, naturally, I decided the best way to handle that fear was to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.

After a brief training period, our group headed out to a small landing strip. We piled into the plane, sitting directly on the floor. To make exits easier, the double doors of the aircraft had been completely removed. As the plane took off and circled higher and higher, it would bank left, giving us a direct, unfiltered view of the ground below.

My heart began to race, pounding violently against my chest. Are these my last moments on earth? I wondered. After all, I was about to put my absolute trust in some nylon cloth, a few strings, and air—elements I couldn’t even see.

When we reached 3,500 feet, the jumpmaster took my static line (the cord that automatically deploys the parachute) and hooked it to the U-bolt on the floor of the plane.

Then came the words: “Get ready.”

I scooted over to the open doorway and forced my legs out into the wind. They were instantly whipped backward toward the tail of the plane. My life flashed before my eyes. My heart was sprinting, and my breath came in short, panicked bursts. I was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack.

Suddenly, the jumpmaster tapped my shoulder—the go signal. I screamed and threw myself out of the aircraft (which, by the way, is exactly what you are not supposed to do).

As I counted down, I felt the chute deploy. My legs swung up, and the deployment sleeve neatly settled into place, keeping the lines from tangling. I reached up and grabbed the steering toggles.

Did I suddenly feel safe because the chute was open and I was floating? Absolutely not. My life was still hanging by a contraption I knew very little about. A voice in my head kept whispering, What if I just fall right through this thing?

Then I remembered the jumpmaster’s advice: “If you want to have some fun, let go of one toggle and pull the other down to your waist.”

I tried it. It was the strangest sensation—the entire world began spinning around me, while I felt perfectly still. In skydiving, they call that a corkscrew.

Against all my fears, I made it to the ground alive.

Part 1: Discovering Who Jesus Is

My terrifying leap reminds me of the journey laid out in John chapter 1.

In the first third of the chapter, we learn the truth about who Jesus is. When a person truly discovers Christ, repentance is usually right around the corner. Who in their right mind would deny an offer of heaven from God Himself? Only a fool.

Once we accept that truth, the faith journey begins. The door opens, and we step through it.

Part 2: Discovering Who We Are

This leads us directly into the second theme of the chapter: Who are we?

This has been the defining question of humanity since the beginning of time. When people lack a true identity, they often turn to things that manufacture a false one: drugs, alcohol, violence, sex, money, or fame.

The worldly mass media encourages a false identity. TV, games, etc. that spew out garbage of what a man and a woman should be.

In John 1, the Levites approach John the Baptist and ask him point-blank: “Who are you?”

It’s the ultimate conversation starter. The world loves to talk about itself. We measure each other by our titles—doctor, lawyer, executive. We value people based on their college major, their job description, or their level of worldly importance.

Yet, John the Baptist had discovered a profound reality. His response was essentially, “I am nothing! Jesus is ‘I AM’.”

Here is the secret: when a person finds Jesus, they find the grandest identity available in this life. They found themselves through Jesus. No misunderstanding, countless people have finally found themselves only after they surrendered to Christ.

Part 3: The Call to Follow

Finally, we reach the third theme: following Jesus.

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” (John 1:43)

Jesus went out of His way to find Philip. For Philip, this direct invitation was deeply appealing. His heart was likely already prepared for that “tap on the shoulder.”

But imagine if Jesus had given Philip a realistic preview of what that choice would cost him. Imagine if He said, “Well, Philip, you’re going to travel to a Greek city in modern-day Turkey, where you and a fellow apostle will be tortured, stoned, and crucified upside down. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Anyway, follow me.”

In the original Greek text, the phrase “follow me” in verse 43 implies a continuous action: keep following me, and do not stop.

When you follow Jesus, you don’t get to pull over for ice cream. If Jesus turns right, you don’t get to turn left. You can’t speed past Him and say, “I know the way, Jesus, you follow me!” Following Him requires complete, radical obedience. And fortunately, He left us a travel guide: the Bible.

Shortly after his own call, Philip found Nathanael and invited him into the story with three simple words: “Come and see.”

Nathanael was skeptical. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” he asked. But he was also sincere in his search for truth. When Jesus saw him approaching, He gave Nathanael the surprise of his life: “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

Astonished, Nathanael asked, “How do you know me?”

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree…”

Worth the Risk

Do you realize that Jesus sees you, too?

He sees us in the moments we question Him. He sees us in the moments we fail. Yet, our God has promised never to leave us or forsake us.

So why do we doubt Him? Why do we routinely place more faith in the “string, cloth, and air” of this world than we do in the Creator of the universe?

Years ago, I risked my life jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, trusting a piece of fabric to save me. Today, I place my life into the hands of Jesus Christ. The stakes are much higher, but He is an identity, a purpose, and a Savior truly worth living—and dying—for.

God bless.

by TA York

The Fragile Gift of Words:

What is the true purpose of language? Is it merely to express our feelings, share our lives, and bring a sense of harmony to one another?

To understand its weight, imagine what would happen if you took language away entirely.

Picture seeing someone you are deeply attracted to—how would you get their attention? How would a man ask for a woman’s hand in marriage? How would we develop technology, collaborate to build homes, or even learn to grow food? What would our thoughts even sound like? Most importantly, how would we pray and communicate with God?

Imagine a world without words. No lullabies, no “baby talk,” and no soothing whispers from a mother to her newborn.

In the 13th century, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II set out to create exactly that. Driven by an intense, borderline obsessive scientific curiosity, he conducted what is now remembered as one of the most infamous—and cruel—psychological experiments in human history: The Language Deprivation Experiment.

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The Monarch and the Silent Nursery

Frederick II was not your average medieval monarch. Nicknamed Stupor Mundi (“The Wonder of the World”), he was a polyglot, a scientist, a skeptic, and a man centuries ahead of his time in terms of empirical inquiry—yet entirely untethered by modern ethics.

According to the chronicler Salimbene di Adam, Frederick wanted to know what language children would speak if they grew up without ever hearing a single spoken word. In the medieval mind, language, identity, and the Divine were inextricably linked. This wasn’t just a linguistic quest; it was a direct, dangerous probe into the origins of speech, the nature of the soul, and the literal truth of the Bible. His goal was to uncover the “natural,”uncorrupted language of humanity.

To achieve this, infants were taken from their mothers at birth. Nuns and nurses were instructed to care for the babies’ physical needs—bathing and feeding them perfectly—but they were strictly forbidden from speaking or cooing to them.

These children grew up facing only stoic, expressionless faces. There was no laughter, no sound, and no shared emotion. Their environment was a vacuum of absolute linguistic silence.

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The Tragic Result: The Silence of Death

Frederick’s hypothesis was that the human mind possessed a built-in linguistic default setting. He expected that once the children reached speaking age, the “original” language of humanity would spontaneously flow from their mouths. He waited to hear Hebrew, or perhaps Latin.

Instead, the experiment yielded a dark, tragic truth.

The children never spoke Hebrew. They never spoke Latin. In fact, they never spoke at all.

“But he laboured in vain, because the children all died,” Salimbene wrote. “For they could not live without the petting and joyful faces and loving words of their foster-mothers.”

Modern science now recognizes what Frederick inadvertently proved: severe emotional neglect and a lack of sensory and linguistic stimulation lead to “failure to thrive” and, ultimately, death. Human babies do not just need milk and warmth to survive; they need connection, touch, and language.

Without love and communication, the human spirit simply breaks.

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The Biblical Connection: Eden and Babel

Why was Frederick so obsessed with finding this root language? To understand his motivation, we have to look at the Book of Genesis.

1. The Primordial Language of Eden

Before the Fall of Man, Adam and Eve walked intimately with God. According to Genesis 2:19, God brought the animals to Adam “to see what he would call them.” Whatever Adam named them became their name.

For centuries, theologians argued over what language Adam spoke, with many believing Hebrew was the original, holy tongue through which God spoke the universe into existence. By stripping away human culture, Frederick believed he could bypass the “corruption” of history and tap back into the pristine, pre-Fall language of Eden.

2. The Shadow of the Tower of Babel

The second connection is the story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11). Scripture tells us that the post-flood world “had one language and a common speech.” When humanity proudly attempted to build a tower to the heavens, God intervened:

“Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” (Genesis 11:7)

Babel explains why our earth is fractured into thousands of languages. Frederick II’s experiment was essentially an attempt to reverse-engineer Babel. He wanted to bypass God’s judgment, cut through the linguistic confusion, and rediscover the singular, unifying language of early humanity.

Yet, for man to undo what God has done is an impossibility. In trying to isolate the language of the soul, Frederick II only proved that the human soul cannot exist in a vacuum.

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The Echoes of Silence

Language is not an innate piece of software waiting to boot up in isolation; it is a vital social lifeline.

Even when spoken words are absent, humanity finds a way to connect. As someone who used to translate American Sign Language (ASL), I have seen firsthand how beautiful and expressive non-spoken language can be. Deaf individuals communicate profoundly through their hands, expressions, and posture. The drive to connect is irrepressible.

Without language, even our internal minds suffer. A study published by the National Library of Medicine highlights how a lack of language severely impairs memory and reasoning. I recall a person once describing their experience before learning to communicate: “I had no memory of things before I was taught to speak. Just fog…”

The Bible presents language as a sacred gift from God, used to create, to name, and to connect. When Frederick tried to isolate that gift from human love and community, the system collapsed. The babies didn’t speak the language of God; instead, they returned to the silence from which they came.

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The True Purpose of Language

If language is a gift, how are we meant to use it? Scripture gives us a clear directive:

• To Praise His Faithfulness:

“I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations…” (Psalm 89:1-4)

• To Spread the Gospel:

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15)

• To Maintain Fellowship with the Creator:

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

Our true, ultimate purpose with language is to praise and worship the living God of heaven and earth. It is to pray without ceasing and to share the transformative gospel of Jesus Christ.

Let us fill our mouths with praise for the One who gave us the gift of words. Use your voice to build up, to love, and to do good things.

God bless.

by TA York

Option 1: Healing the Fragmented Soul:
Theme: Moving from survival to emotional restoration.

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” — Luke 12:48

In the classic film Ben-Hur, there is a poignant scene where Judah Ben-Hur sits by a river. He dips his hand into the water, takes a few sips, and shakes off the excess. In that moment, his memory flashes back to his time as a slave on a forced march. He was dying of thirst until a merciful man brought him water. Reflecting on the weight of his survival and the pain he endured, Ben-Hur states, “It would’ve been better if I’d dumped the water on the ground and died.”
Self-loathing and internal suffering are heavy burdens. The wounds within the soul can last a lifetime.

I was physically abused as a child. While the physical scars faded years ago, the agony of rejection remains. Being told by my parents that I would always be “useless” and “worthless” left a lingering echo. I went to Jesus for healing, yet for a long time, I couldn’t even describe my “feelings.” I could recount the events and recite the theological answers to the problem, but I couldn’t tap into the emotion. I was, and in many ways still am, deeply hurt.

There have been many days where I prayed a prayer similar to Ben-Hur’s. I wished for a “do-over,” or felt it would be easier to just “pour the water on the ground.”

A wound this deep requires more than a bandage; it requires surgery and a blood transfusion. To find peace, I must lay my life on the altar as a living sacrifice, allowing God to cleanse my conscience (Romans 12:1, Hebrews 9:14).

The revelation is this: Because I am hurting, I find it difficult to trust others. It is hard to open my heart and love them the way God loves me. Healing isn’t a simple task, and it certainly isn’t “fun.” But it is the only path that truly releases the soul to God.

Option 2: Through a Broken Lens:
Theme: Breaking the cycle of spiritual blindness and reclaiming your identity.

Imagine the moment the tribes of Israel were released from Egypt. It was a time of electric excitement. For the elderly, it was a season of relief; the back-breaking hardship of slavery was finally over. For the youth, it was a grand adventure into the unknown. None of them had ever known life outside the borders of Egypt, yet here they were, exploring the wilderness with God as their guide.

Many of us equate this Exodus with our “first taste” of Christ. I remember the incredible joy I felt when the Holy Spirit first fell upon me. But have we ever considered the cost?

While watching the 1956 film The Ten Commandments, I began to think about the “other side.” I thought of the Egyptians who suffered because of one man’s hardened heart. Pharaoh was spiritually blind, and his blindness cast a shadow over his entire nation.

John 1:10 says, “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.”

Often, we see our lives through a skewed view. I used to think of myself as a “minor character” in the story—never the lead. Do you feel the same? Do you feel unworthy of the spotlight? The truth is, Christ has written a story specifically about you. In His kingdom, you are a main character, provided you follow the “Script” (the Word).

Think of a camera with a shattered lens. What does the finished product look like? The images are fractured and split; nothing is in focus. This is how the world views reality—skewed and broken. Just as a cracked cell phone screen drives us crazy until we replace it, a broken spiritual perspective makes everything feel “off.”

Our past experiences create our identity. When we believe negative lies, we view God and ourselves incorrectly. Jesus is willing to let us “wrestle” with understanding Him because He wants us to seek Him out—not just through our own effort, but through the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and the accountability of our brothers and sisters.

When I was spiritually blind, I inadvertently hindered others from coming to Christ (like Pharaoh blinded all the Egyptians). But 2 Chronicles 7:14 gives us the key: “If my people… humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin.”

If you want your family and friends to find Jesus, seek God completely. Take off the mask and get real with Him. You don’t have to do this alone—discipleship and accountability are vital. Sometimes, we need someone on the outside to help us see what is happening on the inside.

God Bless

by TA York

The Geometry of the Heart: Navigating What We Treasure:

We spend our lives in a constant state of pursuit. From the moment we enter the workforce—or even earlier, in the classrooms of our youth—we are taught that the “good life” is a collection of milestones. We collect degrees, accolades, possessions, and experiences. We treat life like a gallery, carefully curating a collection of “treasures” we hope will define us.

But there is a fundamental flaw in the earthly gallery: the roof leaks, the security system is faulty, and the exhibits are biodegradable.

The Two Treasures: A Scriptural Foundation:

In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus provides a diagnostic tool for the human soul:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven… For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

The math of eternity is simple but piercing. If you treasure what is temporary, your heart will eventually be broken, because your treasure is destined to break. In five, ten, or fifty years, the things we sweat and toil for will be cast aside. The car becomes scrap; the fashion becomes a “vintage” curiosity; the house requires a new roof.

Then, in Matthew 13:44, Jesus flips the perspective:

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”

This is the great exchange. It isn’t a chore to give up the “earthly” for the “heavenly.” It is a joyful transaction. When you find something of infinite value, selling your “all” doesn’t feel like a sacrifice—it feels like a bargain.

Defining the Deposit: What is “Treasure”?

To understand what Jesus is asking of us, we have to look at the language. The Greek word used here is thesauros (θησαυρός). It is where we get our English word thesaurus.

1. The Repository of Knowledge;

Originally, a thesauros was a storehouse or a repository. Just as a thesaurus is a wealth of knowledge contained within a book, a treasure is something we “store up” for future use.

Interestingly, in some cultures, even a casket or an urn is viewed as a treasure chest—a final repository for what was once a living, breathing wealth of soul. Consider the strange case of Charlie Chaplin. After his death in 1977, his body was famously stolen from a Swiss cemetery and held for ransom. For eleven months, his family lived in the tension of a stolen “treasure.” When the body was finally recovered, his widow, Oona, had the casket reburied in a reinforced concrete vault. To the world, it was a macabre news story; to the family, that casket was a treasure to be protected at all costs.

2. The Trap of Hoarding;

The second facet of thesauros involves the act of collecting—which can easily slip into hoarding.

I remember volunteering with a church youth group to help a woman clean her home. It was a sobering sight. Boxes were stacked to the ceiling; newspapers and magazines from decades past created narrow canyons through the rooms. It wasn’t just “clutter”; it was a crisis. The Health Department had given her 90 days to clear the home before it was condemned.

As we hauled box after box to the curb, she wept. To us, it was a health hazard—a firetrap of dusty paper and decay. To her, every scrap was a “treasure.” This is the danger of the earthly heart: we begin to find security in things that are actually suffocating us. We cling to the “trash” of the world because we have forgotten what real gold looks like.

The Foot Washer and the $20 Tip:

If earthly treasure is “stuff,” what is heavenly treasure? It begins with an encounter with the Living God.

In John 13, we see the Creator of the Universe kneeling. He takes the basin and the towel and washes the dirt from the feet of his disciples. When He comes to Peter, Peter resists. It feels wrong. It’s a breach of protocol. But Jesus insists: “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

Imagine standing there, staring into those loving eyes, hearing Him say, “You are clean.” What is your reaction? In our world of “tit-for-tat,” our instinct is to pay for the service. We want to reach into our pockets and offer a $20 tip. We want to prove our worth through our works, our “goodness,” or our religious performance.

But Jesus doesn’t want your earthly currency. To Him, the gold of this world is the pavement of heaven. It is “garbage” in the light of His glory. He doesn’t want your money; He wants your complete heart.

The Incomprehensible Love: A Different Kind of Treasure:

Human love is often a transaction. We love to the extent of our understanding. We give love with the unspoken expectation that we will receive something in return—validation, security, or affection.

We ask ourselves:

If I fail, will their love lessen?

If I stop meeting their expectations, will their heart change?

In the world, the answer is often “yes.” This is why families split and friendships dissolve; the “treasure” of the relationship was based on the “performance” of the person. People think, “There must be a better love somewhere else,” and they move on.

But Jesus’ love does not lessen. He died in the most dehumanizing way possible. The prophet Isaiah tells us that He was so marred He was barely recognizable as human. This is the “treasure” He spent to buy us. He looked at the “field” of humanity, saw the treasure hidden within us, and “sold all He had” (His very life) to buy the field.

He hides us in His “bosom of love.” To Him, we are the treasure. He doesn’t need our works to love us; He already proved His love on the cross. And here is the incomprehensible part: He loves us so much that He would do it all again just for you.

The Thirst of the Soul:

On the cross, Jesus made one of His final statements: “I thirst” (John 19:28).

The soldiers offered Him sour wine on a sponge, but I believe this thirst went far deeper than physical dehydration. Jesus had emptied Himself—spirit, soul, and body. He had poured Himself out in the Garden of Gethsemane, in Pilate’s court, and along the dusty road to Golgotha.

If you have ever given a major presentation, taught a class, or performed publicly, you know that feeling of being utterly drained. You feel “hollowed out.” Now, multiply that by the weight of the sins of the world. Jesus was empty because He had given everything away to buy His treasure.

There is a song from 1972 that says, “I would give everything I own, just to have you back again.” That is the heart of the Gospel. Jesus gave everything He owned—His glory, His comfort, His blood—just to have you back.

A Call to Respect: The Danger of the Edge:

While God’s love is infinite, it is not a license for apathy.

I once stood at the edge of the Grand Canyon and watched two men—tourists from Germany—taking photos. One man climbed over the safety railing, pretending to dangle from the edge for a “cool” picture. They had no fear. They didn’t realize that the winds in the canyon can shift in a heartbeat, sweeping the unsuspecting over the cliff to their death. They were in a place of majestic, terrifying beauty, yet they treated it without respect.

I see this same attitude in the modern church. People say, “I believe in God; I treasure Him,” yet their lives show no evidence of His lordship. They continue to live in patterns of self-destruction—drugs, immorality, and bitterness.

To “treasure” God is to treat Him with the reverence He deserves. You cannot claim to treasure the King while spitting on His decrees. We must “wake up, oh sleeper.” The “great wind” of eternity is coming.

Final Reflection:

What are you storing in your storehouse today?

Is it the “newspapers and boxes” of earthly anxiety?

Is it the “ransom money” of worldly status?

Or have you recognized that you are the treasure Jesus died for, and in response, made Him your ultimate treasure?

The field is bought. The price is paid. Where will your heart be?

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

How does your current “collection” of priorities reflect the value you place on Christ?

God bless!

by TA York

The Lavish Love of the Father (1 John 3:1-3)

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”

The “great love” John describes is not an abstract concept; it is Jesus Christ, sent directly from the Father. Salvation isn’t something Jesus merely tried to offer—He accomplished it. It is a finished work, and our role is simply to receive it.

This love isn’t a family heirloom passed down through DNA, nor do we obtain it via “spiritual osmosis” from our parents or by simply sitting in a church pew. Many attend church without ever truly accepting Jesus as Lord. Being a “child of God” is a personal identity, distinct from being a “child of the world.”

I’ll be the first to admit I am not a perfect husband or father. I still struggle because pieces of the world remain in me. However, God’s love doesn’t mean He overlooks sin. On the contrary, a Holy God cannot coexist with sin. To bridge that gap, God became man in Jesus Christ. He set aside His heavenly crown to experience the human plight—hunger, betrayal, and pain—so He could truly understand us. This is Agape love: a pure heart that faced every temptation yet remained without sin.

The Tie That Binds

In my own home, between my wife, my three children, and my son-in-law, we have six different sets of life experiences. I am often misunderstood because my perspective is shaped by my specific past, including my pains. Just as it’s hard for me to explain my experiences to someone who hasn’t lived them, God knew that to truly have compassion for us, He had to live among us.

I grew up with parents who were legalistic—not necessarily in a religious sense, but in their rigid demand that things be done “their way.” There was little room for grace or mercy. I was determined to raise my children differently, yet I still fall short. I am constantly returning to the Cross for forgiveness because I am still learning to be Christ-like.

Empathy Born of Suffering

The world may not value my suffering, but God uses it. As children of God, we gain a unique sense of empathy. I’ve found that my past pain allows me to “feel” for others in similar situations.

The Power of Words:

I once shared a verse with a young woman who grew up under constant shame. When I told her that both Jesus and I loved her with Agape love, I watched her entire countenance change. She found peace.

The Power of Touch:

I remember hugging a homeless man who began to cry because it had been years since someone had hugged him. Because of my own past experiences with homelessness, I didn’t smell the dirt; I only saw a person to be loved.

The Power of Jesus:

Luke 5:12-13
12 “While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.

Every child of God MUST experience Jesus personally. We cannot rely on someone else’s faith; we must each come to the realization that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. That there is absolutely no other way to the Father, except through Jesus.

Walking with Godly Friends (v. 2, Luke 5:18)

In verse 2, John addresses us as “dear friends.” Friendship is vital to the Christian walk. In Proverbs, we see that healthy relationships require four pillars: Trust, Truth, Transformation, and Tenderness. If one is missing, the bond weakens.

Luke 5:18 “ Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus.”

We see this in Luke 5:18, where men carried their paralyzed friend to Jesus. This is the model for the Church. Godly friends act as “iron sharpening iron.” They carry you when you are “lame” or wounded by life, bringing you to Jesus through prayer and non-judgmental support.

Hebrews 3:13
“ But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”

Note: Not everyone is meant for your journey. Some people may be distractions from your specific assignment. Letting them go doesn’t mean they are “bad,” it just means you are prioritizing your walk with Christ.

Practicing Righteousness (v. 4-10)

1 John 3:4-10
4 “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.”

John is clear: living in Christ is the key, but it is the hardest part of the faith because we are bombarded by the world’s values. We see it everywhere—from the cost of Bibles versus secular books to the content on our screens. The world focuses on the “here and now,” but God gives us Toshiyah (wisdom and resourcefulness) to look ahead.

God used this wisdom to help my wife and me. Though we didn’t initially qualify for a home, He taught me how to manage our finances and pay off massive bills for roofing and plumbing. I am learning to live in Christ, but it isn’t easy.

“Practicing” is the key. Just as an athlete or a soldier practices their craft, we must practice “right standing” with God. We may not be sinless, but through practice, we should “sin less.”

The Vine and the Seed

John 15:1-4
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

In John 15, Jesus calls Himself the Vine. To bear fruit, we must be pruned, which is often painful. But that pain produces endurance. 1 John 3:9 tells us that God’s “seed” remains in us. However, a seed only grows if it is watered and cultivated.

We must help each other grow and be quick to cast out any “seeds” of unforgiveness or hatred. John likely outlived the other apostles just to emphasize this one final point: Learn to love. It is a long, difficult process to love other sinners just as we have been loved, but it is our highest calling.

God bless!