For the past several days I’ve been thinking about the way God has
worked in my life to make me more like Christ. There was a long period of time
(probably most of my life) when I thought that my biggest sin problem was
behavioral. I thought if I could just master the bad habits I would feel good
about my growth in faith (I’m still working on that). But then I began to
realize that even if I could avoid the outward behaviors, I still thought about
them and desired to do them. As Jesus clearly said, behaviors come from the
heart (Matt. 15:19).
So I figured if I could clean up my thoughts and pray for heart
change, I would be all set. (I’m still working on that too.) But I’ve also
found that some of my thoughts are rooted in wrong beliefs. There are areas
where I have chosen my interpretation of Scripture based on what I want it to
say and what requires the least amount of change in my life. Just this week I
was convicted by my pastor’s sermon that God has complete authority over His
creation, and it is not my right to decide what I think Scripture should mean.
God’s Word doesn’t talk in terms of “fairness” or “rights” when it comes to stating
what is best for us. Sam Allberry made this comment:
“God’s commands are not arbitrary… David says in Psalm 19 ‘The commands of the Lord are radiant.’ His commandments are radiant because He is. And so when we can see His goodness and radiance through what He says, it doesn’t mean we find it easy to live by His ways, but we start to want to.”
God’s Word is only wondrous and radiant to those who are
willing to submit to it, and I find that He brings new facets to light only
when I’m ready to hear it, believe it, and act on it. When I refuse to submit
to the Word, my heart is hardened until some later date when God arranges
things (sometimes painfully) such that I have no other options. There have been
multiple times when I’ve had to repent and say, “OK, God, I was wrong because I
didn’t want to submit to Your Word. I wanted to do things my way and I
convinced myself that was okay.” And often those times have come as a result of
the Word of God being preached clearly and boldly in a way that I can’t ignore
the Spirit’s promptings.
I know that those who argue with God (even unknowingly) will
eventually lose the argument. Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, you are
truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you
free” (John 8:31-32 ESV). This is not a one-time event, but an ongoing
experience of abiding, learning, and finding freedom.
Alistair Begg made this comment in a sermon on Daniel 9:
“When God is really at work in this kind of heart, the mature Christian ‘o’er his own shortcomings weeps with loathing’ …The longer I go in my Christian life, the more I’m aware of what a sinner I am… The nature of sin confronts me far more today than what it did before, driving me again and again to the Gospel.”
We often grow up with an idea that behavior is all that
matters, and if we can act like good Christians we must actually be good
Christians. Some nominal Christians never get beyond this point. As we mature
we begin to realize that behavior isn’t everything and that God is concerned
about our hearts. He doesn’t just want to change our actions but our thoughts,
our beliefs, our priorities, and everything that is contrary to His perfect
will. His process of sanctification is unending, and each step leads to another
step, and another, and another. I sometimes wonder what the next step is for
me, but then decide that it’s better not to know. Surrender comes at the end of
a battle, not before it starts. What I do know is that He is the Good Shepherd,
and He will take me through each valley to greener pastures if I will just
follow Him.
“The precepts of
the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are
radiant, giving light to the eyes” (Psalm 19:9 NIV). “Open my eyes, that I may
behold wondrous things out of Your law” (Psalm 119:18 ESV).
© 2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are
copyright free from pixabay.com.
