08/26/2020
How secure is the foundation of our faith? Did we profess Jesus Christ to be our Lord in order to gain eternal life? Did we become acquainted with Him in our quest for a miracle, or life while neglectIng to establish a true relationship with Him? Do we recognize His face without knowing His heart, or dining at His table? Do we want to become His bride without knowing Him as the groom?
““Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”
Luke 6:46 ESV
I have a friend who retired from a local utility company where he had worked for quite some time. During his years there he had come to know many people, and they would go to lunch, laugh, and work together... he called them his friends. Then he retired, and all those “friends” he once had suddenly stopped calling him, or wanting him to go to lunch with them. We talked at length about this, and I told him a truth that escapes so many of us... we often call people our friends who are actually just our acquaintances, or associates. We mistake familiarity with friendship. This is true in our faith as well. We can recognize who Jesus is, and even be with Him every day, without truly knowing Him intimately, obeying Him, and being transformed into His image. We can call Him Lord, friend, and master, when in fact He is actually our means to an end; of receiving miracles, provision, or eternal life, and we never really became close to who He is... or transformed.
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
Colossians 3:12-14 ESV
So when we retire from His presence to go about our day to day chores, we mustn’t return to those things that were our gods before we knew Him; if we do this then suddenly the eternal life we were hoping for, and that we had been pursuing so wantonly, is seen for what it actually is... just another false god. Suddenly we find that Jesus is not really our Lord, and as His Church we are not His bride, but in both instances we are just using Him as a means to an end. We can see Jesus, and even follow Him without knowing who He is...
“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 16:13-17 ESV
Peter knew who Jesus was, not because He pursued Him for eternal life, but because he loved Him enough that when he disappointed Him by denying Him... he wept. The first commandment given to Moses identifies how we are to be in faith. We aren’t engaging with God, and Jesus Christ to earn rewards, but out of our love for Them. The rewards we receive are simply gifts lavished on those who are already loved ones, friends, and family... they are not the price paid to secure those traits from us, but gifts of love.
““If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
John 14:15 ESV
So how secure is the foundation of our faith? Let’s pause here before the Lord, and examine why we have come. If we are here out of a deep and abiding love for Him, then let’s pray to Him, praise Him, and worship Him, but if we are here for what He can give us then let’s either fall to our knees weeping in contrition, and seek His forgiveness, or walk away... because we don’t know Him, and He doesn’t know us.
“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
Matthew 7:22-23 ESV
Pray:
Father, thank you for the love that you have for us, and for the love you expect in return. Thank you for our relationship that is far more than being acquainted with one another, but is founded in a deep and abiding love that causes us to obey your commandments, and weep when we have disappointed you. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who wishes to know us completely, and desires that we come to know you as well. Praised be your name for all that you do for us, but hear our prayers, even in your silence, because our love for you is not predicated upon your gifts to us, and our profession of faith is forthcoming always. Have mercy upon us Lord when we place our desires above our obedience, or our fear of death before our love for your Son Jesus. Even for an instant this breaks your heart, and separated us from you... have mercy on us, and hear our cries for forgiveness. Great are you whose grace abounds, and who welcomes home the contrite who have seen the error of their ways. Lift us Lord to sit at your table forevermore, not because we long for eternal life, but because we can’t imagine a moment without you.
Rich Forbes