Friday, July 8, 2016

Faith Finding the Path to Do Right

Friday, July 8, 2016

The Lord is good and does what is right;
    he shows the proper path to those 
who go astray.
He leads the humble in doing right,
    teaching them his way.
The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness
    all who keep his covenant and obey his demands.  
Psalm 25:8-10(NLT)
Sometimes the lines of right and wrong seem so blurred it’s hard to know what to do.  It’s something like the dilemma Indiana Jones[ii] faced in the film, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  To save his father, Jones had to cross a deep chasm connected by an invisible bridge; only unwavering faith that the bridge is actually there would make the bridge hold him up.  That step of faith saved the day.

Well, isn’t that nice…but that’s a fantasy movie; when does that work in real life?

The Psalmist says it works all day, every day, with unfailing care from above to those who place their faith in God.  He said when we go astray God gets us back on the right pathway.  He said humility towards God brings the kind of wisdom that will choose well. 

Now, so far this sounds like shopping for a magic wand to make my life better.  And there are countless people who approach the whole issue of faith that way; seed a little money – reap a big harvest.  Believe big – enjoy big blessings.  Life is good!  Many pyramid schemes and their cousins, the Ponzi fraud have been built on that kind of “faith”.

But see how different genuine faith is; the key is the first and last sentences of this text:

The Lord is good and does what is right;

Placing faith in God who is good; who does right!  There is nothing selfish about the nature of JHWH who is good.  Doing right is a 100% reality.  And then:

The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness 
all who keep his covenant and obey his demands.

Ahhhh…..back to obedience….I knew there was a catch!

Actually, that’s not as difficult as it may seem.  We tend to think (and probably rightly-so), that, with my track record, obeying God, and keeping covenant with Him is the hardest thing in the world.  But, it’s a matter of thinking properly that makes it uncomplicated.  Consider this syllogism of why faith is better and easier than disobedience and unbelief:

Major Premise:  God is a good God, always doing what is good and right.

Minor Premise:  A God who does what is good and right will do good and right to me.

Conclusion:  I need not fear a God who does me good and right 100% of the time. 

Now the deduction from this thinking is that I can choose without fear to love this good God, and be right in the center of Him doing good and right to me – 100% of my life.  What is complicated about that?

Oh, and by the way, He proved this is all true by doing the right and good of coming to save me at the cross.  He died for my track record of wrong and bad; he called it a New Covenant…a new relationship of eternal life.

For You Today

God doesn’t want today to be complicated; He simply requires us to turn towards Him to receive it; that’s the obedience part… it isn’t hard or complicated – it’s a matter of faith to step out on that invisible bridge, and it begins in your heart when you choose Him.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today…have a blessed day!

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NOTES
[i] Title Image: By Illustrators of Henry Davenport Northrop’s 1894 Treasures of the Bible [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
[ii] Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – watch the film clip here

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