Monday, July 3, 2017
Make
it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with
your hands, just as we instructed you before.
Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you
will not need to depend on others. 1
Thessalonians 4:11-12(NLT)
One of the
troubles with being very unfamiliar with the Word of God, (especially during a
crisis), is that we can stretch God’s book to fit what we want, rather than understand what God is really saying.
I heard the
story about a man who had never even opened a Bible, but had heard God will
lead you if you read the Scriptures. He
didn’t know where to start, so he just looked Heavenward and asked: God,
if you’re up there, show me the way to do what I should. With that he flipped the pages open and
looked at the first verse his eyes landed on:
Then Judas threw
the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself. Matthew 27:5(NLT)
Well…that
seemed rather harsh, so he tried one more time, fanning the pages like an open deck
of cards; this time his eyes fell on the last part of Luke 10:37:
Then Jesus
said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”(NLT)
The man
decided the Bible was not for him!
Now, while
that’s silly, I’ve known some people to take that kind of approach, although it’s
much more sophisticated…and full of unbelief.
It’s where you ask God for something in prayer that’s filled with “thees”,
“thous”, and “wherefores” – and, when it doesn’t happen to your satisfaction,
you conclude God doesn’t answer your prayers.
Besides
being silly and unbelieving, it’s also not very honest to go into prayer
knowing that if you don’t get what you want you’ll bail on the idea that God
ever listens…or worse, that He even exists at all. But if you honestly believe in God at all,
the asking part of
prayer presupposes that God can give an answer
as He deems is best for you. Isn’t that
why Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane about his impending ordeal:
My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering
be taken away from me. Yet I want
your will to be done, not mine. Matthew 26:39(NLT)
Praying in
accordance with God’s will should be the goal of every believer and follower of
Jesus Christ. But you cannot know that
will unless you’re willing to spend time getting to know Him. That means studying His Word…not just
flipping it open and hoping for the best every time a crisis appears on the
horizon.
If that method
of “discipleship” had any merit, I would have been quite disturbed when this
morning’s text showed up:
Make it your goal to live a quiet life… 1 Thessalonians 4:11a
(NLT)
After all,
I just called the doctor’s office about what time to show up Monday for surgery
on my vocal cords!
For You Today
The
Bible is not a magic book; rather it is a love letter, expressing God’s will
and way for our lives so we can learn how to come close to Him.
NOTES
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