Orange Moon “To Not See, To Not Hear, To Not Touch”

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe...

 

"To Not See, To Not Hear, To Not Touch"      

 

 

   In our present life, seeing, hearing, and touching the Lord Jesus Christ in physical terms would greatly hinder and even harm our walk with the Lord.

 

   "We walk by faith, not by sight" (II 5:7).

 

    Many years ago, in a church discussion with several believers, a young man made the statement, "If I could see the Lord Jesus Christ like the disciples saw Him, I would walk with God a lot better."  I tried to be gentle in my response because the fellow meant well and his perspective certainly seemed true.  "Actually," I said, "the disciples reveal to us that in our present life, not seeing, hearing, or touching the Lord leads to a greater response of faith and faithfulness."  I proceeded to chronicle the frequent failures of the disciples when the Lord Jesus was visibly, audibly, and tangibly present with them, from fear, to boastful arrogance, to dismissal of others, and finally to Mark's sad indictment regarding the disciples' cowardly flight at the time of their Master's suffering and death:  "They all forsook Him and fled" (Mark 14:50).  

 

   "Contrast this," I continued, "with Biblical historians' belief that after the Lord left them, every disciple other than John (and Judas, of course), eventually gave his life in martyrdom for the Lord Jesus.  This supplies much evidence that in our present earthly lives, not seeing the Lord provides a better foundation for faith and faithfulness than seeing Him offers."

 

   It does.  At this time, we need to not see, to not hear, and to not touch.  There are many reasons for this, the first simply being that this is the path our Heavenly Father calls us to walk in the current dispensation.  If we needed open confirmations of His presence and involvement, surely He would give them.  "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).  Instead, He supplies the non-seeing, non-hearing, non-touching highway of holiness that grants rich opportunity to discover our Lord's heart as we walk by faith.  Of Moses it was said, "He endured as seeing Him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27).  The same will be true of all who realize and accept the present benefit of seeing, hearing, and touching with our hearts rather than our senses.

 

    Space does not allow consideration of other reasons that it is best we presently "walk by faith, not by sight."  However, one bears mentioning as we conclude our consideration, namely, our flesh is so prone to misuse of spiritual realities that we would inevitably manipulate sight, sound, and touch in ways that would not honor our Lord.  We would end up forsaking rather than following, as did the disciples.  The day will come when this is not the case, that day when "we shall be like Him" in spirit, soul, and body (I John 3:2).  This is not that day.  No, this is the day for trusting the God we cannot see, but who is presently all the more real because we cannot.  We honor our Lord greatly by such faith, and although we will know Him much better in the realm to come, it remains true that some glories of His heart presently offer themselves to our hearts in ways known only because we cannot see, hear, or touch.

 

"We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."

(II Corinthians 4:18).

"I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel."

(Isaiah 45:3)

  

Weekly Memory Verse

    And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life."

(I John 5:11-12)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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