Week 20: Day 4: There are two different kinds of people who take vacations. There are those who have to fill it up – every minute is doing this or that or the other. They have to be seeing something, doing something, etc. When they get home they need a vacation from their previous vacation. These people concern me. Then there are those people who don’t care how long it takes to get to the destination. They stop and smell the roses along the way. They could be content to be in bed all day in their pajamas or by a beach reading a book. They just know that they arent working and they are simply enjoying the presence of those around them or the presence of that location in their lives. These people have learned something about relationships that the others haven’t yet. What is it that you want? What is it that you really desire? Do you desire a quick fix? That’s what both the Pharisee and the Easy-believers want. They just want an answer and their lives can continue. They really don’t want to be bothered by all of this relationship talk. They don’t want to hear what God really desires for their lives. They don’t want to hear that God requires the sacrifice of all you want to be replaced with all of what He wants. They want to continue to do it their way - whether through blind obedience (where the focus is on their good works) or through a continual denial that God expects us to obey and become perfect even as he is. In Easy-believism the believer is required to only accept Jesus and nothing else matters. All the blessings and rewards God has to offer are yours and he does everything for you. There is no sacrifice you have to offer, there is no expected change in your behavior. I mean, we can’t be perfect, so trying is just all about ‘works’ and we know we’re not saved by those, so why try? This is the same mentality as our opening example of Columbus sitting in the harbor. God hadnt placed on his heart to sit in the harbor; he had placed on his heart to cross that sea! The funding of that trip was only the first step that God expected of him. Columbus would have been hanged if Spain had found out he wasted their money like that. The ‘saving’ of your soul is only the first step that God expects from us. He now expects that this grace he so freely gave to you is used! If you don’t use it, you make a mock of it, for its purpose is to be used. And by ‘used’ I specifically mean in his will. Paul warns that to continue in sin and ‘access’ his grace is blasphemous. “God forbid” we do that. Grace isnt intended to be a continual well for you to continue in sin. Grace is to help in your time of need – it is to give us the power and ability to DO God’s will. God’s will is that his kingdom comes on the earth. His kingdom is pure and undefiled. It is not filled with people who can’t control their habits or their natural desires to satisfy their own flesh. God’s grace is intended to change you into the person he wants. He doesnt want fellowship with someone who doesnt know him in his heart. It is one thing to know about God, but something altogether different to know his heart. You don’t find out about God’s heart by simply checking off lists of obedient acts. You definitely don’t know anything about his heart if you continue in your sin because that is what breaks his heart. And so what we find, once again, is that God desires fellowship with us. He wants so desperately to go to work with you, to go on vacation with you and help you raise your children, get married and retire (and not necessarily in that order!). But in all those things, he wants you to want to be with him! For most of us – we still just want him along as long as he’s providing justification for our current life. We only want him along as he validates our life. We only want him as a convenience – just like our microwaves and TVs. It’s instant gratification and both the Pharisee and the Easy-believer keep true faith and love at arm’s length because true faith/love is patient. The Pharisee and Easy-believer are anything but patient. I read a recent article about why kids leave the church. Their conclusion was that weve watered down the message so much that theres really no difference many times between church and a good old-fashioned womens society movement. And that my friends is horrible and I mean no disrespect to the womens society movement! If our kids cant see that Jesus Christ has made and is making a difference in our EVERY DAY LIFE, then Jesus Christ is just like an OTC - good for when you need him, but worthless to help you overcome the source of that illness. Youre only treating the symptom. The Jesus Christ I know wants to heal the source and create a NEW PERSON in him.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 03:52:58 +0000
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