“ …. Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.” —Matthew 14:27-32
There are actually two examples of Jesus asking the disciples to do something that they were incapable of doing themselves. The other was feeding the multitude with 5 loaves and 2 fish. Do you have trouble doing what God has asked you to do? It might be as simple as loving other people. Come to think of it, that wasn’t a request it was a command. Anyway, God knows that we have feet of clay – are mere mortals – and try as we might, we can’t meet His expectations on our own. What ever God asks us to do requires faith and spiritual power. We all too easily translate the spiritual into the natural and imagine that we just have to try harder. I participated in some training years ago that required me to climb a log tower, crawl out on a rope suspended 40 feet above a river, hang from the rope when I got to the middle of the river and request permission to drop. There was a cargo net between the tower and the river bank in the event that you fell off of the rope before you reached the drop point. I remember one of the men – not me – tried 5 times and fell off the rope 5 times before they stopped him from climbing up the tower the 6th time. For him, the task was impossibly difficult. Climbing that tower unsuccessfully is a picture of me trying to do what God has told me to do in my own strength. Impossible – doomed to fall short (pardon the pun).
Most of us spend a lot of our lives trying to be good Christians. The right habits, the right friends, faithful in church attendance – like there is a magic formula. Those things are good. They are important. But they are not the most important. The most important is our relationship with the Father and out of that relationships springs everything else. It is possible to have the right habits, friends, and be faithful in attending church – every Sunday and your heart be far from God. It is possible to …..
“…. have a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” – 2 Timothy 3:5
What will happen is that you will live a life that is pleasing to men, but not to God. God looks at the heart. Don’t be half-hearted. Be careful Christian who you trust.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.” – Proverbs 3:5-8
By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone
No comments:
Post a Comment