Category: devotional

I used to enjoy taking weekend walks with people so I could show off my prowess in identifying the birds we saw.  It was great for my ego when people would say, “Wow, you sure do know a lot about birds.”  Actually they could not have been more wrong.  While I did know the bird’s names, I knew nothing about the birds.  All I knew is what we call them in America and if I had been in another country often those birds are called something else.  I was a fraud.  We can know the names of lots of people and not know anything about the people themselves. A name is merely a random identifier attached to someone by their parents before their parents really knew them.

The same is also true about some people’s knowledge of Scripture.  They can quote all kinds of verses and be very impressive.  But once you really get to know them you realize they don’t know much about the author of Scripture.  God is merely a name of a being who is to them a stranger.  Jesus talked about these people in Matthew 7.  “By their fruit you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”   They know the name but they don’t know the attitude, the love, the passion to be like the one they speak of so freely.  They are as fraudulent a Christian as I was an ornithologist.

James, Jesus’ brother, wrote, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 26, 2012

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We got another four inches of snow last night.  I saw one of my neighbors  shoveling his driveway.  I was concerned for him.  He looks to be about my age and we all know that old men should not shovel snow.  I don’t.  It costs me about 30 dollars each time and we have had a lot of each time.  It might have cost me 300 dollars this winter.  It seems like a lot of money but when one puts it into perspective who wouldn’t spend 300 dollars not to have a heart attack.  I am told your heart starts to hurt for lack of oxygen.  Something has blocked its flow.

Jesus is the oxygen for mankind.  Our hearts hurt for lack of Jesus.  It is subtle at first but each time the pressure gets worse until the elephant steps on your chest.  The elephant has certainly stepped on the chest of mankind.  The news is filled with so much devastating pain.  It ranges from individual murders to mass murders by governments trying not only to attack their neighbors but sometimes as we see their own people.

Jesus really is the breath of life.  He started in Genesis when He knelt in the grass over Adam and breathed into Him life.  It happened again for Jarius’s daughter and on the highway for the son of the widow of Nain.  He is life itself.  In John 11 Lazarus’ sisters said, “If you had been here our brother would not have died.”   You know – they were right.  But the important thing He came.  And when Jesus comes life comes.  Oxygen comes. The pain goes away because He is everything He said He is.  He is the resurrection and the life.

Written by Roger Bothwell on March 1, 2011

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When I was learning how to read I enjoyed the Sunday morning funnies, Al Capp’s Li’l Abner was one of my favorites.  One of my favorite characters was Marryin’ Sam.   He was on the cover of Life magazine in 1952 because he presided over the wedding of Li’l Abner and Daisy Mae.   Marryin’ Sam was especially busy on Sadie Hawkins day when the not so fleet-footed men got caught kicking and screaming by the brides-to-be.  Sam charged two dollars for a wedding service but his fee was negotiable.

By now you are wondering why I am talking about Marryin’ Sam.  Well, I kept thinking about him all afternoon because I presided over two weddings.   One was at 12:30 p.m. and the other at 3:30 p.m.   It was a grand day filled with wonderful music, pretty flowers, great food and lots of friends.

In Revelation 19 we are promised a prominent place at the greatest wedding of all time.  “’Alleluia! For the  Lord God Omnipotent reigns!  Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, ‘Write: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!'”

Now that’s a wedding.  Jesus is the bridegroom and we are the bride.  We are showered with gifts (see Ephesians 2) and angels will provide incredible music.   Best of all we don’t have to pay two dollars because the extravagant cost of this wedding was covered at Calvary.   I can’t wait!

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 11, 2009

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Winter has come to New England.  My yard is white and according to the weatherman it will get even whiter in the morning.  Someone needs to tell our rosebush.  I would think the chill in the air would be enough communication, but we have three nice red roses.  They are out of place.  I’m going to guess that there have been times in your life when you felt out of place.  Perhaps you under dressed for an occasion.  Others showed up in suits and you showed up in blue jeans and a t-shirt. Perhaps people were partying a bit more than you wanted to.

I have always been fascinated by some of the events Jesus attended.  He certainly raised the eyebrows of the establishment because of the company He kept. “Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”  Luke 15.  We often talk about how wonderful this was that Jesus made Himself vulnerable by doing this, but I wonder if there were not times when He was uncomfortable where He was.

I am sure Jesus must have been repulsed by the behaviors of many people.  Yet, He never stopped loving them.  That is so amazing.  How does one grow to the point where we care about people who make us feel out of place?

Written by Roger Bothwell on December 9, 2009

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The basic tool of statistics is the bell curve.  It describes a group of data.  It depicts the mean, the mode and the median.   Is this starting to be boring?   Be patient with me.  Knowing this information can enable us to make good decisions.  Let’s use smoking as an example.  If we look at a large group of smokers and a comparative group of non-smokers, the mean of each group can reveal to us a host of useful information which should enable us to make good choices.  Smokers on average die several years before non-smokers.  Smokers on average fall ill to a number of diseases non-smokers do not.

But someone will say, “I know someone in their nineties who has smoked two packs a day for 75 years.”   That person is an outlier, someone outstanding from the group.  They are the exception to the average.  They are not the rule.  The same is true with seat belts.  We can all tell the tale of the person who was saved because they were thrown from the car.  That person is also an outlier.  The average person who is thrown is killed.   The average person who is encased in their seat with the airbag does much better.  It is like buying a lottery ticket.  The average person loses.   It is the outlier who wins.  Most of us want to be an outlier.  However it is important to know there are outliers on the negative side of the bell curve.   Those are the ones struck by lightening.

Now that I have said all this I must mention Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to the world.”

The mode, mean and median of the antediluvian world didn’t get in the ark!

Written by Roger Bothwell on February 17, 2009

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About twenty-five years ago we swore off frozen pizza.  This afternoon while at the grocery store I said, “Surely they have gotten better after all these years.”  So we selected one with a famous name thinking that was a good choice.  If anything it was worse than I remembered.  Maybe this one was left over from the batch I ate from twenty-five years ago.   We should have paid attention to our old rule.

Sometimes my students try to tell me that certain standards are old and don’t apply in the 21st century.  Why is it that I have this feeling that if there were a good moral reason for something fifty years ago there is still a good moral reason today?  Because we change does that mean everything changes?

Maybe we didn’t have a good reason years ago.  I have this idea that something is only wrong if it is harmful.  If it isn’t harmful, it isn’t wrong.  Does the passage of time erase the harmful effects of certain behavior thus making it okay?  Perhaps the issue is we did not think it through fifty years ago or maybe we did and we forgot our reasons thus making it necessary for us to think it through once again.

Written by Roger Bothwell on November 30 2008

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Ever so slowly I am aware the muscles around my new knee are strengthening. Little by little I continue to use less pain medication.  I actually can now sleep clear through the night without being awakened by a sharp stab in a bone violated by metal fasteners.  I hold a small plastic container in my hand filled with oblong white pills, each with the ability to numb the reality that my leg was violated by sharp instruments and now is home to a strangely shaped contraption.

Should I or should I not take this pain pill?  If I take it I will cease to ponder my leg.  If don’t I will not move as I should thus slowing down the healing.  Is the pain a curse or a blessing?   Does the pain tell me to take care or does the pain merely make my day miserable?   Pain warns us that something is wrong and needs attention.  Pain also destroys the quality of life.

Then there is psychological pain that can be so excruciating that we become unaware of physical discomfort.   It too warns us that something is wrong and needs attention.  Guilt is a form of psychological pain warning us of our need for help.  Guilt can be one of life’s worse pains. Self-incrimination and the recognition that we are the cause make it all the worse.

Jesus is the balm.  We have not the competency to remove the stains from our soul.  Only one who bore our guilt and transgressions can do that for us.   “If we confess our sins He is able and willing to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 27, 2008                            rogerbothwell.org

It was one of those miracle days.  Every traffic signal I approached was green.  I just soared through town as if I had a police escort.  You most likely have also had such a trip but you know it is rare.  Of course there are those days that compensate for it.  All the lights are red and ten minutes is added to our journeys.  Sometimes we complain about life’s obstacles.  We have goals and dreams and things get in the way and slow us down.  We wanted to be on the fast track and were not.  However, the obstacles could be unrecognized assets.  They force us to slow down and look around and re-evaluate where we should be heading.

I got my BA and MA in four years.  Why?  It was stupid.  But I was in a hurry.  I wanted to get out of the seminary and quickly save the world.  The result was many of my courses where done as quickly and with as little effort as possible.  The result being that I paid for an education I didn’t get.  I needed someone or something to slow me down.  There were no red lights.  It was all green. The red lights came later in life.  It was then that I got a real education.

We have all heard the expression “slow down and smell the roses.”  It sounds so trite we fail to see the inherent wisdom.  Jesus waited in the carpentry shop for thirty years.  He watched his neighbors and relatives and learned about people.  He was not a man in a rush.  Two years into His ministry He did not go to Passover because they were waiting to kill Him.  He took another year.

Written by Roger Bothwell on October 11, 2013

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When I say there are over 1000 acorns buried in my front yard I seriously am not exaggerating.  In the 15 years we have lived here I have never seen such furious squirrel activity.  They are so busy you can almost walk up to them without them ceasing their labor.

If Solomon had seen my yard, instead of talking about ants he would have talked about the labor of squirrels.  They have reminded me that I do not yet have all my firewood cut, split and stowed for the winter so I better get busy.

Preparing for the future is one of Jesus’ messages to us.  The parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25 is a prime example of our need to think ahead. Five of the young ladies missed the feast because they failed to prepare.

It is true Jesus told us not to fret about the future.  He assures us that God will care for us with more care than He does for the birds and flowers, but by the same token God has also given us better brains than birds and flowers.  He does expect us to use them.

Preparing for the future is using our energies to strengthen our characters, minds and souls.  Just as exercise strengthens the body so does time spent in the Word strengthen us for spiritual combat.   Being ready means being prepared to face down any temptation that comes our way.

Written by Roger Bothwell on  Oct. 7, 2008

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Ever since she was a puppy she has loved to swim.  Of course, she’s a lab.  For thirteen summers we have gone to a gorgeously beautiful New England lake where she tirelessly retrieves sticks.  Just mentioning the lake launches her into a dancing barking frenzy of delight.  That has not changed.  But something has changed.  That old gray muzzle holding a stick has a hard time getting out of the water and up onto the bank.  I used to throw the stick out as far as I could but now just enough distance to get her back wet is far enough.  The strength in her back legs is going and they tremble now as she waits for the next toss.  She won’t give up.  She begs for one more time over my protests that enough is enough.  As I look into her not so clear eyes I see her say, “Please, please, just one more time.  This might be my last time to come here.”  And so I toss it in the water close enough for me to jump in if I have to.  When we got home she got an aspirin wrapped in a slice of American cheese.

Getting up in the morning will be difficult.  She is beautiful in her old age. It is difficult to see old friends age. When I see them I remember what they were.  But we must never fail to see beauty in every age.  Young is usually just pretty.  Old can be beautiful.

I said “can be” because beauty is the fruit of what’s inside.  Old is not necessarily wise or lovely, it all depends on what has been growing through the years.

Written by Roger Bothwell on July 30, 2008

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