This morning I read a few verses that suggest God’s reasons for anything that happens. He promises to use all things for the good of those who love Him. This ‘good’ is that we be more like Jesus Christ. Yet there is more . . . He also wants us to be sanctified, meaning that we are ‘set apart’ for God.
I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. (John 17:15–19)Jesus set Himself apart for the Father, doing only what God wanted. He did this for the sake of His people that those who believe in Him might also know the truth and become wholly dedicated to serving God. This attitude of belonging to God and serving Him alone is part of what it means to be like Jesus. But there is more . . .
I do not ask for these (disciples) only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (John 17:20–23)Another aspect of becoming like Jesus is that the more each of His followers are like Him, the closer we are to one another and the more the world realizes that God sent Jesus and that God loves them. This is a major reason for God using ‘all things for good’ in our lives. We are to be one, have one mind on spiritual matters and one mind on our purpose — we are here to serve God. As we do, He keeps us informed about our task using His Word: “Sanctify them in the truth; Your Word is truth.”
Those who depart from the Word of God, Christian or not, step outside the unity that Jesus is praying about. They cut themselves off from truth and wander into error. This is what happened with the latest doomsday ‘prophet’ who ignored the Bible. God’s Word says, “No one knows the day or the hour,” but he predicted both, to his humiliation.
Can God use this? I think so. For one thing, those who know the Word of God are affirmed in our knowledge. If we have ever been drawn to these false prophets in the past, this latest gaffe should make all of us think twice about following someone who ignores what the Bible clearly says.
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Holy God, this prediction affected me only as a curiosity, for which I am thankful. I feel sorrow for any of Your people who have been duped, but know that You can use this to turn their hearts toward You. May they, and all others, become deeply interested in what Your Word actually says because of this. May they not shrug their shoulders and be turned off truth because this silly man led them astray. You will never do that. You want people to know what is true and have that truth change their lives, making them wholly consecrated to You. I pray for that unity that Jesus prayed for, and for myself. I want truth to always draw me nearer to You and to other believers. Jesus prayed for our absolute oneness with Himself — just as He was one with You. Some of us are far off it, even to be fooled by false prophets. However, I know that You will not leave us alone until we have that unity, just as Jesus asked.
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