Category: devotional

One of the greatest verses of Scripture is I Corinthians 13:2.  “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.”

We have all seen great scholars able to answer any theological question.  Perhaps we ourselves are excellent students of the Word able to give Bible studies without any media devices to project texts on a screen.  We have been taught to go from text to text building doctrine and feeling good that we know “The Truth.”  There is almost a temptation to think that truth saves.  The more we know, the surer is our grasp on eternal life.  Being “righter” than some other group means we are closer to the Kingdom.  While I certainly do not want to put down on study and properly discerning the Word of truth, it appears that Paul does not think this is the most important aspect of being a follower of Jesus.

I am under the impression there will be many great scholars lost.  Truth is important.  But truth does not save.  Jesus saves.  When we allow that to happen wonderful changes begin inside our being.  Selfishness begins to transform into care for others and relationships change.  Characteristics of God go from bud to blossom and people are blessed by our presence.  Rules are replaced by principles and as Paul intimates, if I have love I’ve finally become somebody.  And who is that somebody?  That somebody is the best thing in the universe.  We become sons and daughters of the living God.

Written by Roger Bothwell on Sept. 2, 2008.

Photograph by Sebastian Voortman.

Spring of Life, St. Helena, CA 94574

Yesterday’s tomorrow is a grand day.  I do not know what today’s tomorrow will bring because life has a way of surprising us.   As for today’s yesterday, that is gone and we cannot undo it.  It is so important to learn to live in the now.  The Psalmist said it so well in 118:24.  “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Research reports to us that most people live for the future not enjoying and appreciating the now.  We plan our lives ahead and set goals that become the primary focus of our being.   As we drive to appointments we plan and practice what we will say upon arrival at our destination.  I don’t believe this is the life to which Jesus has called us.  While it is important to look forward, to have goals and look for the second coming, it is also very important for us to realize the benefits of being in God’s Kingdom begin now.

Eternal life begins when we accept Jesus as the Lord of our life.  In John 5:24 Jesus said, “Verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”   If we now have eternal life let’s begin to enjoy it.  Let’s savor each day and the forgiveness and grace that removes the stress of the future.  The future is cared for by the loving God who rules over all things. Today is a good day. Today is a day so rich that others will want to have what we have. It is the finest evangelism possible.

Written by Roger Bothwell on September 9, 2008.

Spring of Life, St. Helena, CA

While blowing leaves this afternoon I thought of my postman.  This is a never-ending task.  Tomorrow there will be more leaves in the yard and my postman will have another bag of mail to deliver.  Actually he will have two because today was a holiday.  In a way it is also like asking Jesus to forgive our sins.  Tomorrow there will be a new batch.  They just keep coming.  So the question rises, “Is it all futile and why bother?”

Actually in all three cases it is far from futile.  Removing the leaves prepares the yard for springtime flowers and a nice green lawn.  The postman brings all manner of important items to people.  And getting rid of today’s sins enhances real character development.  Far from being discouraged by today’s batch we can realize intense growth, which is very encouraging.  We recognize the old ones are not happening as often and the new ones come with a deeper understanding of what new heights God is taking us.

The next time you become aware of a new sin in your life rejoice.   You have graduated to a higher level of communication with God.  You are making great progress in understanding yourself.   The day you don’t recognize a need for improvement is a dangerous day.  Self-complacency is a retreat into smug self-righteousness.  Now there’s a sin with which to deal.

“Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3:18

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 12, 2008.

Image by Stergo.

Spring of Life, St. Helena, CA 94574

I stopped on a country lane this weekend to witness an unusual act of kindness and intelligence.  A car had stopped in the lane coming toward me and the driver was out of his car and had picked up a beautifully marked snake that had been crossing the road.  Carefully he let it go in the long grass and summer lilies between the blacktop and an old stonewall.  Most people would have tried to run over it thinking they were doing a good thing.  It was nice to see someone go out of his way to do the right thing.

Sometimes we do the wrong thing thinking it is right but more often we just don’t do the right thing because it is not convenient.   That is one of the points of the story of the Good Samaritan.  The first two most likely thought they were doing the right thing because the wounded wasn’t one of them.  Recently someone told me a clerk in a religious bookstore refused to imprint the person’s name on a Bible because he wasn’t a member of the church that owned the bookstore.  That level of bigotry makes me shudder.

It wasn’t convenient to take the man to an inn and pay for his care.  Often it is not convenient to make that visit or phone call.  After all we are very busy.  We must keep up with our hectic schedules.  I especially think we get extra character development when we inconvenience ourselves for someone we don’t like.  Paul wrote, “Therefore if your enemy is thirsty, give him drink.  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 28, 2008.

Photo by Simon Matzinger.

Spring of Life, St. Helena, CA 94574

This evening I suddenly came to my senses as I realized I was in the midst of doing something really stupid.  I called a local pizza parlor to order a medium cheese pizza.  The female voice on the other end of the line said, “I’m sorry.  We don’t have medium pizzas.  We have small, large and extra large.  So I said, “Then you mean your large is your medium.”  “No,” she said, “Our large is our large.  We don’t have a medium.”  “But,” I said, “If your large is your middle size than it is your medium.” She then said, “This is a stupid conversation.  We do not have a medium!”  It was then that I realized I better shut up because you never ever want to antagonize someone who is going to prepare your food.  So I quickly said, “Oh, I see. You have no medium.”

Being stupid is something that happens to me with great regularity and I don’t think I am alone.   Surely the all time stupidest thing to do is to know about Jesus and just walk away.  The rich young man did so in Matthew 19.  The Bible says he went away sorrowfully.  At least he was smart enough to be sorrowful right away.  Most people who walk away don’t catch up to the sorrow until many years later when life falls apart and then they wonder what happened.

No one wants to be miserable.  So why don’t they believe Jesus when He said, “I have come that you might have the abundant life.”   Jesus doesn’t lie. He means what He says.  His way is the abundant way and best of all it is agift.    Perhaps the reason is they are watching so many of us who claim to have the gift.

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 24, 2008.

Photo courtesy of Lou Malnati’s.

Spring of Life, 901 Signorelli Circle, St. Helena, CA 94574

When I sit down to write, my dog heads for the kitchen wastebasket and soon returns with the largest envelope or some other paper product she can find. Snuggling up to my feet she then proceeds to turn it into a pile of confetti.  Night after night this occurs and night after night before I go to bed I get down on the floor and pick up the pieces of her handiwork. Or should I say paw and mouth work.

Why do I do this?  I could train her not to do it.  I could take it from her when she arrives at my feet.  But night after night I watch her make her pile of tidbits.  The truth is it does no harm and it is easy to clean up and it seems to make her happy.  Perhaps she thinks she is doing paperwork with me.

I wonder if some of the work I do is just as useless and God lets me continue because it makes me happy to think that I am doing something useful.  As long as I am doing no harm it is easy for Him to clean up after I got to thinking about this because not long ago I listened to someone tell of all the great things he had done for God and I wondered if they really were great outside the realm of his mind.  Perhaps it was jealousy on my part because I could not tell such great tales of accomplishment.

However, I do believe God has something great for each of us to do.  I pray God will help each of us to hear the “Well done” we read about in Matthew 25:21.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 29, 2008.

Photo by Tj Holowaychuk.

Spring of Life, 901 Signorelli Circle, St. Helena, CA 94574

At 3:30 A.M. my dog decided she needed to go outside.  Nice.  When this happens she rarely goes out and comes back quickly but takes the opportunity to absorb every night smell possible.  So I sit and wait.   This time my mind remembered Dagwood Bumstead.   I remembered when I was a little boy Dagwood would get up in the middle of the night and make one his famous sandwiches.  The thought crossed my mind, “Should I?”  Instead I remembered a can of freshly made peanut butter cookies.  I could get that in the dim light of all the kitchen’s LEDs.  But I also wanted a glass of milk to go with the cookie.  There was the problem.  If I opened the refrigerator door I would be totally awakened.  I was moving in a semi-daze.  The light in the fridge would seem like the sun.

Have you ever tried to scrunch your eyes really tightly so as to totally block out all light?   I scrunched as I opened the fridge and reached for the milk.  It didn’t work.  The light blasted its way through my lids. Ouch.  It hurt.  Just then the dog came back.  Next time I will make sure she is well walked before I go to bed.

It’s the light thing I want to mention.  God is light.  Try as hard as we might we cannot totally blind ourselves to His presence.  We can scrunch our brains so as to not recognize His reality.  But He sneaks up on us in the beauty of a flower or the complexity of our eyes as we look at the wonder of our children.  He is there.  We cannot hide.  Remember Jonah?!

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 3, 2008.

Photo by Daiga Ellaby.

Spring of Life, 901 Signorelli Circle, St. Helena, CA