07/01/2019
In our present time men look to find secrets concerning how Jesus Christ should be worshiped, or some new hidden way of looking at faith that would justify the way we live, but other than by imagined contriving there is no redefinition of truth... no justification for sin, or hidden grace.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Hebrews 13:8 ESV
We are inquisitive by nature, and seek incessantly. We are thrilled at new scientific discoveries, we like to solve mysteries, to come up with new cures for illness, and to better understand the universe we live in, which is why we feel that there must still be something in our faith that is hidden, or nuance yet to be discovered. In our desire to discover we really don’t know how to deal with steadfast truth, or unbending laws. We can become frustrated by the unchanging nature of Jesus Christ, the fact that sin does not have hidden corners in which we can hide, and that God’s Word is truth, and is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
“You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.”
Psalms 119:4-6 ESV
As much as we like the thrill of discovery we also need stability. We need the comfort of the unchanging, and the safety of the never ending. Even when we push against the unyielding foundation of our faith we find solace in the fact that it remains firm, and that it roots us in who we are; in goodness, love, and grace. When we change these things in ourselves; when we conjure up ways to adjust our faith, then we have changed who we are as people, and have not moved God or Jesus Christ an inch. When we do this we have moved far away from God, and lost our comfort in Christ. It is here in this place, when we look in the mirror, and dislike who is looking back , that we find we have lost our North Star... it is then that we ask “How did I come to be so lost, and how can I find my way once more?”
“"For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, 'How shall we return?'”
Malachi 3:6-7 ESV
As children, in good homes, our parents gave us rules by which we were to live. We were to brush our teeth, eat certain things, we shouldn’t fight with our siblings, we should tell the truth, go to school... there were many rules, and each one was meant to make us better. Yet, we pressed up against them, and challenged their very basis, and our parent’s resolve in them. Unfortunately, we do the same thing in our faith, and as adults. We are still not wise enough to see the chiseled goodness of certain rules... love your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength... love your neighbor as yourself... lying lips are abomination... do not covet... these are just some of the many truths we push against, and as we wander from them we wander from God, and it shakes us; losing our bearing in faith causes us to become unsatisfied with who we have become, and often results in depression, and in lives that have no joy, or peace left in them... we don’t like who we see any longer.
When I was away at college I was constantly challenged by new thoughts, ideas, and proposed beliefs. On occasion I was told that the things of faith that I had always held as truth were wrong. I was engaged in a constant battle as I tried to take in all of the knowledge and fact while throwing away those things of opinion, false conjecture, hypothesis, and some that were meant to change me from a man of faith into one of the world. I remember to this day how good it felt to come home during the holidays, and how it was like a breath of fresh air... I could relax, and felt safe from the onslaught. I could rejuvenate myself, and it was a quiet time when I could sort the truth and the things I knew to be foundational from the chaff of what I was being taught. For a few days I could rejuvenate myself in the unchanging faith and love of my parent’s home. It was like the intensity one feels while on the field playing a sport, and the release you would receive when the game was over, or you were rotated out of competition. We need home; we need those things that are unchanging, and we need a foundation that we can depend upon... this is our faith in Jesus Christ, and our firm belief in God. Jesus says it in these words...
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
John 5:24 ESV
So are we home? Are we in our place of spiritual comfort, and faith that gives us relief from the world and sin? Are we satisfied with who looks back at us when we look at our reflection in the mirror? Is our foundation firm, and does it give us peace and rest? If the answer to any of these questions is no then we have yielded to the world, and perhaps to our human nature that causes us to contrive falsehoods and call them true while seeking hidden truths of faith to justify our worldly behaviors. If this is you then it is time to go into your prayer closet, and renew your relationship with the one who has never changed, and who has been waiting patiently for you to come home. It is time to open the Word of God once more and read it as unchanging truth... not as a crossword puzzle. Are you in need of a trip home?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for being the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I thank you for the stability you provide me in a world that is frothing in change, and unsatisfied with anything. I thank you for your Son Jesus Christ through whom I come home to you, and find peace and rest in your arms. Help me Holy Father to remain firm in the foundation of your Word, and defend me against the attacks of Satan who attempts to convince me, as he did Eve, that your Word is mysterious or that there is nuisance to it as if it were a law in man’s courtroom. Give me comfort in the knowledge that even when my foot might slip, that you are waiting to catch me, and when I wander off your way... you are constantly calling my name from the doorway of righteousness... “COME HOME!” Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who is steady and sure. Great are you who gives me comfort and peace in your commandments, and truth. Honored are you by my faith, and obedience, and pleased are you in my worship and love. All glory is yours Heavenly Father, and your mercy and grace are my hope... your Son Jesus my everlasting promise of redemption, and your Holy Spirit the salve that heals my eyes. Praised be your name always, for you are my unwavering truth, and your Word my foundation.
“who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
1 Corinthians 1:8-9 ESV
Rich Forbes