Yesterday one of our pastors spoke about the importance of
truth. He made it plain that no one can live a godly life unless what they
think and how they act is based on truth. He also defined truth as what God
says. Only God can know everything about everything. Ideas that look good to me
might not line up with the life of Christ (who is truth) and the principles of
His Word.
It was a thorough message that included the necessity of
humility. I must realize and admit my errors before God can line them up with
truth. He illustrated this with an actual plumb line. Truth measures my life
and if it does not line up, then I must seek God’s will and cooperate with Him
to make changes.
Most Christians know the children’s camp song about
building our house upon a rock based on a passage from Matthew where Jesus used
the idea as an illustration. Unfortunately, most of the song focuses on building
on rock or sand and compares it to being built on Jesus Christ. It misses the
point Jesus made:
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24, italics mine)
Hear His words and do them. This illustration is about building
on a secure foundation which is hearing and obeying the Word of God. It is the
only way to develop a secure life that can withstand the storms life brings.
Obedience is not mentioned in the child’s song even though some of the adult
versions include it.
Nor does that song mention ‘hearing’ Him in the first
place. Jesus challenges me to pay attention to His words in a world full of
noise and competing distractions.
I cannot say my husband is always good at hearing everything,
but he is good at hearing God. From hearing God speak in that or any other message,
he seems to grasp one truth and thinks about it for a long time. I’m more of a
scatter brain. I try to remember the entire message and wind up not focusing on
the parts I need to hear.
A solid rock or foundation is a good illustration, but
this time it was not the illustration that echoes in my heart. It was the way
the pastor applied it to all of life. I maintain that faith is practical yet he
further reinforced it with dozens of examples of how to line up my life with
the plumb line of God’s Word. By thinking of the Bible that way, the importance
of measuring all I do and think (and say) becomes clearer.
He also clarified the need to keep short accounts. Without
the humility that goes with confessing sin, I miss the negative power of
personal pride to erode and even wipe out the foundation of truth. All my
sinful ideas and responses to life have this “I can handle this myself” pride behind them. I jump into many
things without seeking the Lord’s instruction or blessing. Then I call on Him
to ‘fix’ the mess that didn’t need to happen in the first place.
^^^^^^^^^^
Jesus, thank You for empowering Your servants to find
strong principles for life in the Bible and then with clarity and grace help us
hear You and give us encouragement to do what we hear. I don’t get up in the
morning and plan on sin and crashing, but it does happen. I want to have a stronger
foundation that enables me to better withstand the storms and challenges that
come. Never stop teaching and reminding me!
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