New Thoughts (4/3/02-4/5/02)
"God deals with us as with rational creatures, and will have us so deal with Him." Thus writes Matthew Henry. This is great assurance to one such as I. God never asked that I set aside my brain when I followed Him. No, He asked that I start using it for real. He asked that I start thinking reasonably and rationally as I never had before. We tend to talk of our belief as blind faith, but that's not really true. It's faith with eyes wide open. It's faith based on very reasonable and well-reasoned understanding of the case God has presented. When we have studied what He has revealed of Himself, when we have learned the truth about how far He has been willing to go to make His love for us understood, when we see how much He has been willing to go through to save us from ourselves, it is only reasonable, it is thoroughly understandable and right, that we would devote ourselves to Him.
It was one thing for us to have pursued such deadly ends as sin in our ignorance. One can understand that a child that knows no better may run out into the street when there is traffic. But to continue doing so when the consequences have been not only explained but also experienced! As Mr. Clarke declares, we must be mad fools to continue in our sins with such understanding! How else shall we explain our willingness to pursue and wish for evil for ourselves? This is truly irrational. This is unreasonable. To know His love and respond to it with all the love we have is the truly reasonable course. Surely, when once we understand the God who is revealed in Christ, there can be no other reasonable reaction!
Surely, as God reveals to us who He is and who we are, we must recognize that the corruption we have lived in for so long has spread through everything - every portion of our body has been affected, every thought and whim of our mind has been affected. But God comes with an assurance for us. He is offering a sanctification that is just as thorough as our corruption has been. He doesn't stop at cleaning up our minds. Nor does He settle for only cleaning the outside. It's a thorough work that He seeks to do, and being as it's Him who seeks to do so, we are assured that it is a thorough work that will be done. We can fight Him or we can help Him, but if He wills it, it will be done. Thank You, Lord!
So, here we are with this reasonable reaction to God's efforts on our part. What does our reason tell us we must do? How shall we devote ourselves to Him, now that we realize this is our most sensible desire? We cannot devote ourselves to Him except we know what He considers pleasing. Fortunately, we have His own Word to declare to us what He considers pleasing. Our task, as we see from Ephesians 5:10 and 5:17, is to learn from what He has declared, what it is that pleases Him. Our task is to know His will so that we will no longer be foolish! There's a revelation for us, if we still need it! We, in this age of technology, think we are terribly smart, yet God's verdict remains much the same. The wisdom of the world remains foolishness, for it leaves the real problems unsolved and unconsidered. The real problems are all one: we by and large continue to refuse to know God's will, and we continue to attempt to thwart what little we do understand of His will. The world continues trying to live as though God was not, but He is.
For those of us who have devoted ourselves to Him, then, there is no proper choice of action we can make other than to test everything by His will. This seems simple enough, no? Every decision we make should be checked to ascertain that it accords with His will. Seems simple, but practice shows that it is incredibly difficult. First, it requires that we expend the effort it takes to understand His will as He has revealed it. We cannot hope to succeed in this if we will not study His word, and learn from it what He desires. Even after we have succeeded in doing this, however, there remains the difficulty of training our own willful nature to stop and think. We are men of action, we are people that never stop for directions until we are left with no choice. God is calling us to be men of wisdom, to start by seeking out the directions.
Does this mean we must drop what we're doing, and search through the Bible every time any choice must be made? I think not. Does this mean we should refuse to decide on a course of action until and unless we 'hear from God' on the subject? No. That's no better than visiting your local fortune teller. The point is to follow the directions Scripture has given you already. God tells His people to contemplate Scripture wherever they are, to have the Word on their doorposts, on their wrists, anyplace where it can be at ready access, whatever it takes to be constantly reminded throughout the day of what He has already declared for us. Why does He say to do this? Simple. His purpose in this is to so permeate us with His will that we are not paralyzed by every choice, that choosing what His will would desire of us is second nature to us. This is God's goal for every one of us. This is what it means to have His word written on our hearts. There will remain sufficient situations that will require that we actually stop and prayerfully consider what is the best course. There will remain sufficient situations that will require that we devote some extra time to studying Scripture to understand the path God desires. But this devotion to His will is to be our strength, not an obstacle to our way.
This devotion to His will requires that we be a sacrifice such as Paul has described. Our desires, our rights, and our will must be given up in favor of His will. It is only thus that we can live in righteousness. This is not simply a matter of avoiding sin, nor is it simply a matter of external conformance. Conforming in act, while still rebelling at heart is not devotion, it's the act of a slave. No, both body and soul must be committed to Him. Both body and soul must be presented to Him for active use in His service. It is to be a complete devotion. No sacrifice was ever acceptable to God from which a portion was held back, and it's no different for us today. If we are keeping any part of ourselves for our own purposes, then we have not given Him all. If we have not given Him all, then we have not really given Him anything. All that we have and all that we are is all that we must give to Him. And, after all, all that we have and all that we are is solely because He gave it to us in the first place. Even delaying, when we know what ought to be our course, is to give Him less than all, for He gave us our times.
"We are temple, priest, and sacrifice," writes Mr. Henry. A quick study will show that each of these required sanctification and cleansing. Each of these was required to be kept holy, separated unto God. The Holy of Holies was for God's use alone. Even the priest was allowed but a single visit in a year. That Holy of Holies, God has now declared to be in you, in me. It remains a place that is to be for His use alone. You and I are to be for His use alone.
The priest, having been cleansed, put on his priestly garments. These were designed to reflect the purity of the God he served, to reflect the majestic rule of the One true God. They were designed to remind both priest and people that God alone is Judge, that He alone would decide among the nations. They were designed to remind both priest and people that the priest himself was a man separated, "Holy unto the Lord." It was written across his very forehead, for all to read and remember. We are now the priesthood. Our lives are to stand as reflections of God's purity and majesty. Our lives are to stand as evidence of His just judgments. Most importantly, our lives are to reflect that fact that we are separated, "Holy unto the Lord." It should be written across every moment of our lives, for all to see and remember.
The sacrifice had to be perfect, free of any defect or disease. To offer God less than your best is unthinkable! In many cases, the animal which was to be sacrificed had been raised specifically for that purpose, carefully cared for and watched over until the day of offering came. Look back across your life. You, too, have been carefully cared for and watched over. I know that I can think back on many instances in my life that should have proven deadly or debilitating. I know several facets of my past that, in my estimation, should have left me too blemished for consideration. But God, in Christ, has chosen to repair those blemishes. God, even in those times when I wanted nothing to do with Him, even when I was His enemy in act and in fact, was watching over the pathways of my life, keeping me from harm, protecting me from myself and protecting me from others, until the day of offering came. He has indeed worked wonders to make sure that I came to that place in proper and acceptable form. Truly, we have been prepared for such a time as this.
This is also the work of the Holy Spirit in us, making certain that we are kept pure and sanctified, so that each day, as we present ourselves at the altar, as we give ourselves in sacrifice, that our offering will be acceptable and right. This, too, is the work of the Holy Spirit in us: that having offered ourselves, we are aided in hearing our daily instructions, we are aided in seeing the right course of action throughout each day, and having seen the course, we are aided in pursuing the course we see. By His aid, our spirit is cultivated, it grows to the fullness of the image of God. Barnes tells us that we must 'cultivate a spirit attached to God, and His kingdom and cause.' This, we cannot do except the Holy Spirit bring His aid to us. This, we cannot help but do, if we have truly devoted ourselves to Him.
The Wycliffe commentary notes that, "Christian living is simply being a Christian and acting as a Christian should in every part of life." This is a very simple concept, yet it is a task hugely difficult to perform. It requires constant diligence on our parts, for the Christian life is radically opposed to what we are in our own nature. It is radically opposed to the ways of the world in which we are called to live out this Christian life. We are called to lead by serving in a most self-centered world. We are called to be humble in the midst of a proud people. We are called to be righteous in a world that prefers its sins. We are called to be light in the darkness. We are called to stand out, not to blend in.
Indeed, Father, the instructions are simple. Live as You have told us to live. Yet, we find it so hard. The constant pressure against doing so daily overwhelms us, as we seek to live as You would have us. Would you come to our aid more quickly today? I know. You always have been there to assist, and You ever will be. Help me, rather, to avail myself of Your strengthening presence. Help me to heed Your guidance, to hear You calling out direction, and to follow. As I step into leadership today, show me how to serve. As I go into the world once more, help me to see how to be in but not of. I lose sight of it so quickly. Show me, my Lord, how to keep my light shining in the pure light of Your truth and love.
