01/27/2019
How do you choose to go about your day? Do you adhere to the scripture which says “pray without ceasing” and contemplate your prayers, wondering when God will answer, no? Then perhaps you contemplate the nature of God and Jesus Christ all the day long, still no?” Well, do you think much about them, and your faith at all? We each have a way and an intensity with which we approach our faith... how do you go about yours? Maybe you are predominately a thinker, a sturdier, a doer, or, God forbid, someone who just blows the dust from his faith on Sundays and Holy days.
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.”
Romans 8:5 ESV
When the angels announced the birth of Jesus there were three immediate reactions to the news that are recorded in scripture. First there was the “doing” reaction of the shepherds. They immediately wanted to DO two things... see the baby, and then tell everyone about what had happened to them, and this baby that had been born. This is the seeing is believing, and then “doing” something method of faith, and I would guess that these shepherds spent the remainder of their lives repeating the story of the angels and telling people about the Christ Child.
“When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."
And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.”
Luke 2:15, 17 ESV
The second reaction was one of deliberation; these were the “Thinkers.” They asked themselves questions such as “Have these shepherds lost their minds?” or, “Can this possibly be true?” Then on the verge of belief they probably exclaimed... “How is it that this is so?” Thinkers take the facts, and then briefly contemplate them as they reach a conclusion. I am certain that some of these chose to believe, while others did not. Some had proof there was actually a Baby and believed the shepherds, while others looked at the Baby, and chose not to make the leap of faith concerning who He was. They determined that He couldn’t be the Messiah, and remained rooted in the law, and those things that they had always practiced... after all, this was safer in their eyes.
“And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.”
Luke 2:18 ESV
Finally, there was Mary, who listened to all that was said by the shepherds, and then quietly pondered their story. She took what the angel had told her when he announced she was chosen to give this birth, the dream that Joseph had that made her his wife, what Elisabeth had told her, and now what these shepherds said, and then she studied on them. Mary was a “Studier.”
“But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”
Luke 2:19 KJV
Do you recognize yourself in any of these descriptions? Maybe you are a mixture of them? Perhaps at different points in your journey of faith you were one or the other? Maybe you started out in disbelief, and then something happened in your life that caused you to think, and made you decide to believe, then you entered into a marginal period of Sunday worship as a doer, and if you studied on the Word, your faith finally began to grow along with your understanding.
My question for you today is a rather simple one... “Where are you now in your approach to faith, and what is the intensity with which you are pursuing it?” Sometimes we reach a certain stage in our spiritual development and get stuck there. Is this you, or are you steadily moving along... growing in faith with each step you take? Now that you have hopefully answered this question for yourself, I encourage you to dwell on the will of God for you. I challenge you to keep moving further from your worldly life, and deeper into a spirituality that will eventually allow you to see God’s plan and will for you.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 12:2 ESV
So, don’t spend all of your time on worldly pursuits. Don’t deceive yourself by thinking you are spiritual simply because you spend your day thinking about your prayers, and what you want to ask God for next. This is about your desires and not His. Don’t do things as you try to please God with your actions alone... you can’t earn your own salvation. What I am saying is this... Don’t simply think about Jesus, without doing the things He says, without studying the Word of God so that you will come to know Him, and finally, I reminded you to form a real relationship with Him so that you will come to understand what has been given you by God’s grace, and come to know God’s will for you.
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
Colossians 3:1-2 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for leading me steadily into relationship with you. Thank you Lord for first calling me to believe, and then prodding me along as I have sought to become closer to you each day. Hear my cries when I am lost in sin, send your Son Jesus for me in your mercy and grace to redeem me, let me ask the questions of you that baffle me, reveal your Word to me and give me understanding by your Holy Spirit so that I can understand your will for me, and Merciful Father, strengthen me, providing me with the gifts I need to do your will, and answer your call. Give me wisdom Father, and make me like Mary who kept the things of you in her heart and contemplated them. Let my mind dwell on you always, and my prayers forever be in conformance to your will, and part and parcel of our relationship. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who raises me in faith, even as a child is raised to manhood by his earthly parents. Hear my praise and worship as it rises from me, and receive the glory that flows from your efforts in my life and faith. Great are you my God, my Father... yesterday, today, and forevermore.
Rich