Diversions

You may have heard the quote from Robert Murray M’Cheyne, “I have discovered that the seed to every known sin dwells within my heart.” Have you ever considered that in your own life? And if you recognize that to be true, as I believe it is of every human being, have you considered the great grace and mercy of God that we don’t act on every seed of sin that we could? Just prior to God’s judgment of the world in the Flood we read, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5 ESV). Although the Flood destroyed many evil people, it did not remove evil from the earth. Two chapters later, although God promised not to send another such judgment, He still said, “the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (8:21). It is only by God’s sovereign control over mankind that sin is restrained at all.

John Owen, in Overcoming Sin and Temptation, lists some of the Scriptural examples of God preventing sin from being carried out:

• Pharaoh’s army was wiped out by the sea as they tried to overtake the Israelites (Exodus 14).
• Sennacherib’s army was destroyed by an angel of the Lord so that Jerusalem would be delivered from him (1 Kings 18-21).
• The people of Babel were made unable to understand one another’s language so they could not complete their act of pride (Genesis 11).
• The men of Sodom were struck blind so that they could not seize Lot (Genesis 19).
• Joseph’s brothers intended to let him die, but God arranged for him to be sent into Egypt instead, where he eventually was able to save their lives (Genesis 37-46).
• Peter was delivered from prison and from Herod’s revenge by an angel (Acts 12).

We could add Jonah, David and Nabal (1 Samuel 25), Abimelech and Sarah (Genesis 20), and many others. Psalms 57 through 59 reveal some of the ways God intervenes to control evil, by letting people fall into their own traps (57:6), breaking their teeth and blunting their arrows (58:6-7), trapping them in their pride and consuming them (59:12-13). Though people often ask why God allows evil, the fact is that He prevents evil more often than not. Owen writes,

“If we will look to our own concerns, they will in a special manner enforce us to adore the wisdom and efficacy of the providence of God in stopping the progress of conceived sin. That we are at peace in our homes, at rest in our beds, that we have any quiet in our enjoyments, is from [God] alone. Whose person would not be defiled or destroyed—whose habitation would not be ruined—whose blood almost would not be shed—if wicked men had power to perpetrate all their conceived sin?” (349).

Not only does God restrain evil in the unconverted world around us, but He restrains it within our own hearts and lives.

“When you have conceived sin, has God weakened your power for sin, or denied you opportunity, or taken away the object of your lusts, or diverted your thoughts by new providences? Know assuredly that you have received mercy thereby. Though God deal not these providences always in a subserviency to the covenant of grace, yet there is always mercy in them, always a call in them to consider the author of them” (351).

God may send an arrow of conviction to the conscience. He may remind us of His love and mercy and kindness. He may bring to mind the blood of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. He may reveal the shame and reproach of sin. His methods of working in us are unlimited. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). 

But still we may not always pay attention. We may perhaps ignore His Word and forget His grace. We may choose to submit again to our old slave-master sin. Yet for the believer, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1), because “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

My Way, Your Way, God's Way

Christians disagree with whether there is a specific spiritual gift of evangelism somehow distinct from the office of evangelist or apostle (Ephesians 4:11). (Here’s one such article.) Regardless of one’s interpretation, it is certain that all Christians are called to be witnesses for Christ and to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8). However, each of us have different ways and means of sharing our faith with others. Chuck Smith wrote in Why Grace Changes Everything:

“There are people who are thrilled to talk to strangers. They get bored just sitting at home and they can’t wait to strike up conversations with people they’ve never met. That is their nature. It’s natural for them—and that is the key… Not everybody in the body is the mouth, however, and the mouth couldn’t operate effectively unless there was a brain behind it and feet to carry it where it needed to go. We should not feel guilty because we do not have the same ministry or effectiveness as others. The body works as a unit, and God is the one who has assigned each of us our place in the body…

“When you are doing what you love to do, it is not a work. You are not in a shop. You are not laboring in a factory. Your activity is the fruit of relationship. When the love of God fills your heart, all you want to do is talk about Him: His Word, His goodness, His love. You don’t go around looking for brownie points just because you have been doing what you like to do. You don’t look to be rewarded for what is natural to you (even though God will reward you for the fruit that comes forth from your life). You do it because you want to do it, because it is your nature to do it, because God has put it in your heart to do it. The fact is, you feel as if you would die if you didn’t do it…” (ch. 6).

I found that to be an encouraging word. I’m not one itching to go out and talk to strangers, but I must write my blogs, and I live and love to share my faith and the truths of Scripture in this way. Other people would rather do anything but write.

Evangelism can become burdensome if we think it has to be done a certain way or we have to meet certain goals. We may get discouraged if we find ourselves unable to do it the “right way” or fail to say what we think we should. Or conversely some people may become proud if they find great success and wonder why others struggle so much with it. Despite repeated reminders of God’s grace toward us, I think we all are inclined to drift back into legalism when it comes to any of the spiritual disciplines. In his book Seculosity, David Zahl wrote:

“The law classifies and categorizes. It tells us clearly and confidently where we stand… [A] religion of law promises functional salvation to those who live up to its demands, expressed more often than not in the should’s and ought’s we infer from our shared ideals… There’s a fundamental problem with all religions of law, in whatever form we encounter them. The problem does not reside in the content of the law itself. The problem resides in the human heart: knowing what we should do or be does not give us the ability to do or be those things… The law never has and never will inspire what it commands, at least not in any comprehensive or lasting sense” (164-165).

“What makes Christianity a religion of grace, ultimately, is its essential revelation: of a God who meets us in both our individual and collective sin with a love that knows no bounds, the kind of love that lays down its life for its enemies. It is not a roadmap to engineering spiritual enoughness but the glorious proclamation that on account of Christ, you and I are enough—right now, right here, before we do or say anything. That is to say, Christianity at its sustaining core is not a religion of good people getting better, but of real people coping with their failure to be good” (176).

Christ has already met all the demands of the law for us. There is nothing we must do to gain His approval. If our motivation for evangelism is a desire to measure up to some standard, whether our own or someone else’s, it will not last long and probably won’t bear any real fruit. Bob George commented in Classic Christianity,

“After having led hundreds of people to Christ as a businessman, I found myself losing interest in talking to people about the Lord… [When] you have lost the joy of your salvation and have begun sharing Christ out of habit, competition, or just plain duty, there is no relish in it and not much to keep you going. After all, what can you say? ‘Become a Christian and be miserable like me’? …What was once the overflow of my experience of God’s love had become just an external performance. I was totally committed to God’s plan, true—but I had strayed from the God of the plan… Well, I was tired of it… I’m no longer trying to change the world or anything else. I am content to let God work through me to produce whatever results He pleases” (27-28).

Our church has had some helpful training on evangelism this summer, but some people like me may be feeling a false sense of guilt for what we’re not doing and perhaps don’t desire to do. The good news is that God loves us and will continue to love us even if we never say another word. Our role as branches is simply to abide in the Vine (John 15). We don’t have to work at producing fruit, but if we are abiding in Him the fruit will come as He works in and through us. (However, if there is no fruit and no desire to produce fruit, one should question whether they are actually attached to the Vine at all.)

He doesn’t call any of us to be Billy Graham or Charles Spurgeon. He already worked through them. He calls me to be me, and you to be you, each of us with our unique personalities and gifts. I share my faith in the ways that are most natural and enjoyable to me. My way is not your way and my words are not your words. Saving faith is ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit. God doesn’t need any of us to work for Him, but He will produce fruit through all who truly belong to Him.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5 ESV).

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

24 / 6

During our regional Family Camp last week, we had a class discussing Matthew Sleeth’s book 24/6: A Prescription for Healthier, Happier Life, regarding our need for a regular Sabbath rest. It was interesting to hear the different perspectives on the feasibility of resting one day each week. Most of us in the world of employment, whether secular or church, find it hard to stop for a day each week. We spend 40+ hours in the office and the remainder of our time is spent catching up on the chores of home and family. But that was not God’s plan for us.

“The Ten Commandments were not a curse; rather, they gave freedom to those who possessed them. They defined the borders of the Hebrew world. Within those borders there was freedom—freedom under the law. We have a tendency to circumvent the intent of good laws, resulting in more rules being added. Sabbath was meant to protect the worker and to set the stage for a celebration of God. If our day of rest becomes a set of rules, then the celebration and the joy are easily subtracted” (39).

As I was thinking about our modern loss of Sabbath rest, I observed a few things from Scripture, some of which were mentioned in Sleeth’s book. God set the pattern for the Sabbath (Genesis 2:2) and reiterated it in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:11). He did not rest because He was tired but because He is holy. In the wilderness God sent manna only six days a week (Exodus 16:23-29). God provided for His people so that they could rest on the seventh day. God hasn’t changed. Will He not provide for us as well?

In the New Testament Jesus declared, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28 ESV). Although Jesus ignored the Pharisaical additions to the law, He did not ignore the Sabbath. “As was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day” (Luke 4:16). Even many non-Christians will agree that Jesus was a good person and moral example, and yet those who are called by His name are often quick to ignore His example when it comes to the Sabbath.

But what came to mind and convicted me were a couple Scriptures from the early church:

“And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need” (Acts 2:44-45).

“He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God” (2 Corinthians 9:10-12).

Like most people probably do, I had always thought about these verses in terms of financial support and physical resources, but what if we expand it to include the resource of time? We each have 168 hours in every week, but how we use those hours varies tremendously from person to person. Some are frantically rushing from task to task, while others enjoy a leisurely pace. We may all be familiar with the 90/10 rule in churches and other organizations—that 90% of the work is done by 10% of the people. If Christians are all members of one body and “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:7ff), then shouldn’t we each be contributing our fair share of time? (Note that I did not say “equally,” because each member is unique.) If I have more flexibility in my time, are there ways I can help someone else who is struggling to keep up? Conversely, if I am falling behind in my commitments, who can I ask for help? What tasks am I doing that I’m not gifted for?

I’ve talked with people who work in their church’s nursery out of a sense of obligation, not joy, and it makes them miserable. I’ve also talked to pastors whose church members get offended if they aren’t present for every life event or if they try to share the load with their deacons or elders. It seems to me that if the Body of Christ were functioning as it is supposed to, we would all be able to take a weekly Sabbath rest. We’ve fallen into the trap of believing that ministry is the job of a few paid people, that what I do outside of the church building is my own business, and that my time is my own to do with as I please. We are all ministers (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). We are to love one another (Romans 12:10-11), serve one another (Galatians 5:13-14), and bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2). We are to be good stewards of the short time God has placed us on this earth, and He’s the one who told us that Sabbath rest is not only good but holy. How can we work together to make that possible for every member of our local body?

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:10-11a).

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Brokenness, Surrender, Holiness

Following are several quotes worth pondering from Brokenness, Surrender, Holiness: A Revive Our Hearts Trilogy, by Nancy Leigh DeMoss:

“Broken men and women don’t care who finds out about their sin; they have nothing to protect and nothing to lose. They are eager for God to be vindicated. David’s response when confronted with his wrongdoing was that of a humble, broken man. And his was the heart that God honored. Again and again, God’s Word reveals that He is not as concerned about the depth or extent of the sin we commit as He is about our attitude and response when we are confronted with our sin” (52). “But once we have really been contrite and humble before God, it will not be threatening to be humble and honest with others—we have nothing to lose, no reputation to protect—because we have died. The broken person is willing to say, ‘Will you pray for me? I have a need in my life—God is dealing with me in this specific area’ ” (94).

“Because God is holy, we must be holy. And here’s the good news—because God is holy, we can be holy. If you are a child of God, the Holy God lives in you. He is the standard for your holiness, and He is the source of your holiness—He is your righteousness. He can wash your unholy heart with the blood of Jesus and make you clean—so the world will know what He is like… To be holy is our created purpose. It is our destiny. And it will be the outcome for every true child of God and for the entire body of Christ” (293-294).

“As Christians, we have not been left alone to deal with our sin. God has graciously put us into a body of believers who are called to look out for one another and to stand together against the enemies that would threaten our holiness. This family—the body of Christ—is a vital provision God has given to help us in our pursuit of holiness. This is why it is essential for every believer to be in a committed relationship to a Christ-centered local church. Many believers today think nothing of jumping from one church to another every time they find something not to their liking. In fact, a growing number of Christians don’t see the need of plugging into a local church at all. Some are disillusioned with their local church experience. They think they can have an independent relationship with God or that their spiritual needs can be met simply by plugging into the Internet. Being disconnected from the local church, for whatever reason, is a dangerous way to live. Not only do these ‘lone rangers’ miss out on the blessings of functioning within the context of the body of Christ, but like lone sheep away from the safety of the flock and the watchful care of the shepherd, they are vulnerable to predators of every sort” (344).

“We have tiptoed around Old and New Testament passages that proclaim the holiness of God, His hatred of sin, and His wrath and judgment against unrepentant sinners, preferring to consider only references to His mercy, grace, and love. We have promoted a ‘gospel’ that says it is possible to be a Christian while stubbornly refusing to address practices or behaviors we know are sinful. We have accepted the philosophy that it’s OK for Christians to look, think, act, and talk like the world” (368).

What more can be said?

“Surely that man must be in an unhealthy state of soul who can think of all that Jesus suffered, and yet cling to those sins for which that suffering was undergone. It was sin that wove the crown of thorns; it was sin that pierced our Lord’s hands and feet and side; it was sin that brought Him to Gethsemane and Calvary, to the cross and to the grave. Cold must our hearts be if we do not hate sin and labour to get rid of it, though we may have to cut off the right hand and pluck out the right eye in doing it” (J. C. Ryle, Holiness).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Replacing Darwin

This post is for my science-minded friends, though I think others may enjoy it as well. I just finished reading Replacing Darwin: The New Origin of Species, by Nathaniel T. Jeanson. (It almost makes me wish I’d continued my biology studies after college, but God had other plans.) Jeanson shares a lot of research that has been done in the years since Darwin wrote On the Origin of Species (1859), and his conclusions point strongly to a young earth model that aligns with Scripture. The following are just a few quotes to illustrate his argument.

“Like the 18th century, the scope of species diversity in Darwin’s day was a fraction of today’s variety. In 1859, the scientific community had no knowledge of the majority of species we have now documented… Since 1859, we’ve had time to reevaluate his picture—much more time than he had to propose and appraise it… Furthermore, the Internet makes information sharing faster than ever before” (ch. 1).

In 1865, “Gregor Mendel… solved the paradox of family trees… One of the first discoveries that Mendel made was the discrete nature of genetic information… Mendel’s experiments demonstrated the fact of particulate inheritance rather than blended inheritance… Together, the discovery of unit factors, of dominant and recessive traits, and of the segregation of genetic information began to define clear rules for the ways in which traits behave each generation… For reasons unknown, Darwin appears to have been unaware of Mendel’s work. Conversely, for equally unknown reasons, when Mendel died in 1884, his discoveries died with him, not to be resurrected until the turn of the century” (ch. 2).

“Prior to the 1950s, Mendel’s unit factors had been renamed genes… The origin of traits now seemed to be just a matter of understanding the origin of genes... By the late 1960s and 1970s, the first complete DNA sequences—the genomes—from various species were trickling in… In the 1960s, DNA was detected elsewhere—in a different sub-cellular compartment termed the mitochondria… When Darwin wrote On the Origin of Species, he had no knowledge of the genetic processes… No one had any idea how many DNA differences divided species. In fact, the DNA sequence of our own species wasn’t solved until 2001” (ch. 3).

“If Darwin had no knowledge of genetics, how could he write a book on the origin of species? …Fossils don’t directly record genealogical relationships… Similarly, geography doesn’t directly record inheritance… Finally, anatomy and physiology have a nonlinear relationship with DNA sequences… The problem with inductive reasoning is that there may be multiple explanations for an observation” (ch. 4).

“Over the last few years, one of the most critical genetic observations came from analysis of DNA sequences, not between species, but within species… In the parent-offspring pairs... the offspring contained DNA sequences that could not be traced to either parent… [They] didn’t just document the fact of mutation. They also measured the rate. Since the reported units of measurement from these studies were mutations per generation, these experiments naturally had implications for the timescale over which DNA differences arose… The mtDNA [mitochondrial DNA] findings contained in this chapter called into question the entire foundation of the evolutionary timescale… [The] millions-of-years paradigm rests on the assumption that rates of change have been largely constant. Yet, in the field of genetics, the assumption of constant rates of change… yields a 6,000-year timescale, not an ancient one” (ch. 7).

“Unlike mtDNA, nuclear DNA has been much more difficult to compare across species… Too few results have been obtained to see a general pattern of what precise percentage of nuclear DNA differences are preexisting, and what percentage are due to mutation… [The] results that have been obtained thus far for the YEC [Young-Earth Creationist] model suggest that the majority—if not the vast majority—of nuclear DNA differences in species were preexisting [i.e. created at a point in time]” (ch. 8).

I’ll leave you to read the details for yourself if you’re interested. (I would recommend getting the physical book so his charts can be seen correctly.) You can also check out the Institute for Creation Research and Answers in Genesis. I’ll close by saying that his arguments have gone a long way in changing my own interpretation of our origins from a generally theistic evolutionary position to a more literal reading of the Creation narrative in Scripture. To use Jeanson’s analogy, we simply do not have all the pieces of the puzzle yet and we can easily misinterpret the picture from the pieces we do have.

“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it... Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well” (Psalm 139:6, 14b).

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© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Cover photo courtesy of Amazon.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

I Surrender

In her book Brokenness, Surrender, Holiness (a compilation of three books), Nancy Leigh DeMoss writes,

“Our will was opposed to [God’s] will. We were intent on going our own independent way, and as a result, were estranged from the God of the universe. Even when the Spirit opened our eyes to recognize our rebellious condition, we may have sought a way to bring about peace apart from surrender. We did not want to continue suffering the unpleasant consequences of our resistance, but neither did we want to lay down our arms. Then the message was sent to our hearts: There can be no peace until you are willing to accept My terms—unconditional surrender.”

And yet even when we have made a decision to surrender to Christ’s lordship, we often try to take it back later. We still desire to have control over our own lives. “I’ll surrender the parts I don’t like, but this part is still mine to do with as I please!” DeMoss shared what Josef Tson identified as a “shift from the call to full surrender, to the call to commitment.”

“Christian surrender means that a person lifts his or her hands and says to God, ‘Here I am; I surrender; You take over; I belong to You; You dispose of me!’ But this is America, the country of the independent people! This is the place of ‘Nobody should command me! … I belong only to myself! A call to surrender, and even more, to full surrender, simply doesn’t go well with such people. Therefore, the preachers… hit on the word ‘commitment.’ You see, commitment means ‘I engage myself to do something for you.’ or, even lighter, ‘I promise to do something for you,’ but I remain myself and I may keep my promises or not...

“[Bible translators] did not like the term ‘bondslave’ to be applied to people. Who wants to be somebody else’s slave? Therefore, they replaced it with ‘servant.’ Again, a reflection and demand of the independent spirit! In the Greek, ‘slave’ is doulos; ‘servant’ is diakonos. In the Greek Bible one never, never diakoneo to God—one never serves God; one only douleo to God—that is, one slaves to God.”

Many people have made some commitment to God, but their absence of any meaningful participation in the Body of Christ is one indication that they never surrendered to Him. And all of us need to surrender again and again as God reveals areas in our lives that we’re still holding on to. Just today I was reminded that if I want to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29), I must surrender my all rights over my life and my choices. I am no longer my own, for I was bought with the blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Therefore anything that stands in opposition to His lordship must be given over to His control. “Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and… put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22, 24 ESV).

Tson is correct that we in America don’t want to surrender to anyone. July 4th is known as Independence Day, but no one who belongs to Christ is truly independent. Actually, every living being is dependent on God, but Christians are the only ones who acknowledge our dependence on Him and willingly surrender to His control. Will we do so again today and tomorrow and every day to come?

“Father, I abandon myself into Your hands; do with me what You will. Whatever You may do, I thank You: I am ready for all, I accept all. Only let Your will be done in me, and in all Your creatures—I wish no more than this, O Lord” (Charles de Foucauld).

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

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© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Jesus, Draw Me Close

In John chapter 6 we read of Jesus feeding more than five thousand people and then withdrawing. The next day when the crowds sought Him out again He told them:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves… I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:26, 35 ESV).

We are often like the crowds, seeking Jesus to meet our felt needs rather than for a desire to know Him deeply. Sam Allberry wrote about this passage, “The greatest gift Jesus gives us… is Jesus. He is not the means to some other, separate end. The Bread of Life is not something else, with Jesus being the one who dispenses it for us. He is the prize.” Heath Lambert wrote, “They minimized Jesus and his work by seeing him as the source of only one good thing rather than cherishing him as the fountain for all life… You should come pursuing a full-fledged relationship with this sovereign King who saves, desiring to draw close to him in every way, and not just seeking to get your problems fixed” (142).

It’s not just unbelievers or young Christians who seek Jesus for the wrong reasons. Even those of us who’ve been on this journey for a while can lose perspective. Our prayers can become a shopping list: heal this person; save that one; bless our food; and, oh yes, I could use a little bit of forgiveness and freedom from temptation too. I know I’m not the only one to fall into this pit at times. It is all too easy to go through the motions of prayer and Bible reading without actually seeking God or interacting with Him. Alistair Begg often uses this short prayer at the beginning of his sermons: “Make the book live to me, O Lord. Show me Yourself within Your Word. Show me myself and show me my Savior, and make the book live to me, for Jesus’ sake.” That might be worth adopting for personal devotional times, though that too can become a meaningless habit.

How might our lives and our churches be different if we were truly and consistently seeking a living relationship with our Heavenly Father rather than seeking the good things He can give us? It is appropriate to be thankful for forgiveness, the promise of eternal life, and the blessings of life and family. But we may start to sound like little children at Christmas saying a perfunctory “Thanks!” while racing off to play with our toys. And yet children who only get periodic packages from an absentee parent quickly learn that gifts are meaningless apart from a loving relationship.

The Apostle Paul prayed for the Ephesians:

“[That] according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:16b-19).

The blessings of His riches are for the purpose of knowing the Father’s love—knowing the One who is love. We miss out when we settle on the gifts apart from the Giver. May we not stop short of knowing the best He has to offer—Himself.

“See what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are… So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 3:1, 4:16).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.