As men we are called not to be wimpy, find me a wimpy man in
the bible? Let’s run down a list:
o
Kill a lion
o
Kill a giant
o
Build a boat, wrangle animals
o
Fiery furnace
o
Lion’s den
o
Rebuild a wall
o
Take a nation on a 40 year wilderness walk
o
Fight off all the tribes
o
Take on Pharaoh
Check, Check, Check…. There is no rhyme or reason to this
list. I just wanted to point out, none of these guys I would call wimps. And none
in new testament either, Jesus called fishermen, commercial fishing now is a
tough job, back then I am sure it wasn’t any easier. We make TV shows about it,
real men, doing real men stuff. John the Baptist was survivalist, Paul a
mercenary and a murderer. If you want what we consider to be tough men, the
bible has them in spades. (Truth be told
I feel kind of wimpy as I type this, I need to go take an ax to an oak tree and
feel manly for a minute or two).
What makes a man kill a lion, build the ark, step into a
fiery furnace, and stare down a Pharaoh? Belief, not belief in themselves but
belief in the Master they served. They came in the name of another, they acted
on behalf of the one that sent them. The messenger does not come with his own
words but with the words of the master.
As men (speaking in general for all men) we do not have a
belief. We have not developed the belief in another, belief in the one true
God, because society tells us that we are the most important. Culturally we see
society say you are more important than your children, wives, jobs, and friends.
Society says that our children are not our responsibility or if by chance they
are, its only financial. Wives, why? Don’t by the cow, get the milk for free.
Society says government should provide enough jobs and if they don’t, free
money for doing nothing, everyone deserves equally to have cash in their
pocket, right? And friends, friends are a number on a social site, got 500
friends and not one person to help drive you home from a doctor, but they all
like the witty posts you make……….am I getting the point across.
We are told to be tolerant of all, everyone is right,
nothing is our responsibility. God says not true. He calls all men to be the
manly men he has left us examples of in the bible. He calls us to be men who
believe in …….Him. In the truth that is God.
John 14:12-14 ESV
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will
also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I
am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the
Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will
do it.
As New
Testament men, Jesus says believe in me, do works in my name after my example,
ask in my name unto the Father. To live this we need to believe. We need to
believe all that he has told us and allow that to control and dictate our life.
Let’s go medieval
for a minute; we have all seen Brave Heart, who doesn’t want a broad sword,
right? So that is the kind of manly man we need to be to slay the enemy, so we
need a creed. What? What is a creed? Not the band…. I said medieval…. Creed,
meaning a statement of the basic beliefs that guide the action of a person or
group!
As men we are
to be leaders of our homes and children. We should set the example for those
the Lord places in our path. We need to have a creed, we need to study, determine
where we stand, put it down in writing. Refer to it when we are unsure of what so
next…… base our beliefs in God and who he has made us, and we will reflect him
in the style of a truly manly man!
