04/19/2020
Have you been drawn, or called, to Jesus Christ? Perhaps you thought it was your Idea, and effort, that brought you to Him, or that it was the culmination of a happy set of circumstances that led you to know Him? Well friend, God is deliberate regarding our faith, and He calls to us for specific reasons, and to glorify Himself through us. For Him to have drawn you to Jesus He had a plan for you, and knew you fit perfectly into His will. How are you responding to His urging, or upholding your end of the promise you once made to Him?
“He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.”
1 Thessalonians 5:24 ESV
God calls us each to Jesus for specific reasons, and He honors those callings faithfully, and perfectly. We, on the other hand, are not always so faithful, and can willfully turn away from Him. We can wander away, and not follow Him for days, or years, on end, forgetting our prayers, or acting foolish like the Israelites in the wilderness were inclined to do, but in those days and years of wandering He never wavers, and honors His commitment to us... His faithfulness is perfect.
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—”
John 6:44-45 ESV
The author Thomas Wolfe wrote a book that was published In 1940 (after his death) titled “You Can’t Go Home Again”. It begins with the story of a fledgling author who writes a book based on the memories of his childhood home and then is confronted by the ire of its current day citizens. It speaks to the thought that when we try to return to our past it is never quite as we have remembered it.
““These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”
John 14:25-26 ESV
I lived in Augsburg Germany in the 1960s, and have a rather nostalgic memory of those years. I remember many things regarding my life there, but I was a child, and my memories are as tainted by my youth as the fairy tales I read back then. One day I browsed the internet and came across pictures of the neighborhood, and home, that I lived in there. It was not nearly what I recalled; it was smaller, there were more trees, fewer playgrounds, and the people looked so serious, and less friendly. Have you ever found childhood memories To be disappointing, and not at all as you recalled them?
So there is Some truth in the basis of Thomas Wolfe’s novel as it relates to our memories, and our lives, but God remembers perfectly, and although we might have wandered away for years, and remember the circumstances that drew us from Him in a certain way, His recollection is without error, and He is ready show us the truth in this lesson of our wandering, and to pick right back up where He was when we thought we had left Him... or He had left us.
“who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,”
2 Timothy 1:9 ESV
Sometimes we become disillusioned with our faith, or become angry because what we want, and what God wills, are at odds with one another. At other times we are hurting and rather than seeking to understand God‘s will in our suffering we blame Him for our circumstances and lash out at Him. There are many reasons why we might leave our faith, leave home, and many excuses why when we turn back towards God once more, we might even think we can’t go home again because what we remember in error no longer aligns with the truth we left behind. God however is infallible and patiently awaits to begin His work in us afresh, never having abandoned us the day our current lesson of wandering began.
“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.”
Romans 11:29, 32 ESV
So perhaps our intransigence regarding our faith, or rather its loss, has become entrenched in a faulty remembrance. Oh, we might recall a death, or a hurt, but the interactions surrounding these is most likely tainted by time, and our own faulty memories, and reasoning. God on the other hand awaits us to come to the conclusion that the truth is very different. We might find ourselves so hurt by those events, or pained by new suffering that we are forced to revisit our relationship with Him, and find Him anew... but however we find our way home He is there, and awaits us with open arms.
“I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”
Luke 15:18-20 ESV
So is life leading you to address a long held bitterness, or disillusionment? Maybe you are just In the midst of a spat, or find yourself being rather lax towards your faith; whatever the circumstance He is faithful to His calling, and awaits you with eagerness. He is standing there watching the road, and longing for your return. Are your eyes opening, and your memories taking on a new light? Are you ready to go home; not to the one you think you remember, but the one that actually awaits you in truth? God has called you to Christ, and in this He is faithful today... just as He was the first day He drew you.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your faithfulness, and for helping us with our faulty memories, or lack of understanding as it relates to our belief, faith, and relationship with you, and your Son Jesus. Thank you for your patience Lord, and for the infallibility of your Word, and the irrevocable nature of your promises and calling. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who stands firm, and never falters. Great are you whose faithfulness knows no end, and who awaits us when we have strayed, or lost faith, even to the fleeting instant of our final breath. Praised be your name Father for your mercy and grace, and for standing by the road awaiting our return... calling our name. Hear our voices from afar Lord, and though they might be argumentative, angry, or tearful in their disillusionment, speak to our hearts, and give understanding to our minds, that we might find our love for you renewed, and your love for us where we left it. Help us in our disbelief, reinvigorate our faith, and we will raise up our arms in prayer, and worship, forevermore.
“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
2 Peter 1:10-11 ESV
Rich Forbes