The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Keep Yourselves From Idols"
"Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God" (I Thessalonians 1:9).
"Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (I John 5:21).
Salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ begins by turning from faith in false gods. It continues by being aware we are still susceptible to the temptation after trusting in Christ. In our present existence, our flesh remains prone to diversion from "the living and true God." Thus, we do well to maintain a running discourse with our Heavenly Father, seeking His exposure of any trust and service we misdirect to dead and false gods.
"False gods" that tempt believers do not usually involve overt religious imposters. The issue rather concerns anything or anybody that diverts the trust of our hearts from the Lord Jesus. He alone serves as the peace, joy, and fulfillment of our innermost being. As my wife Frances says, "Having Him, we have all." Or, as the Apostle Paul declared, "Christ is our life" (Colossians 3:4). Do I view anything or anyone else as the rightful light, life, and love of my spirit? We do well to regularly ask our Father this question as we seek to keep ourselves from idols by looking to His keeping and correction. "Cleanse Thou me from secret faults" (Psalm 19:12).
This does not mean, of course, that we do not rightly enjoy and appreciate the "wonders without number" God provides for us throughout our lifetime that bring us happiness and the sense of satisfaction (Job 9:10). "The living God giveth us richly all things to enjoy" (I Timothy 6:17). It does mean, however, that we do not believe anything or anybody other than the Lord Jesus is essential to our peace and joy. He alone is with us always, and we could lose all things, but if He remains, we still possess the very Life of our lives. When we trusted Christ, we entered into this reality by believing that He alone could be the living Savior we so desperately needed. As we continue to trust Christ, we experience the reality by believing He alone can be the living fulfillment of our hearts. Indeed, for every human being regarding fulfillment, it is either Christ. Or it is nothing. "He is thy life" (Deuteronomy 30:20).
We will be sorely and frequently tempted to believe otherwise. Sometimes we will stumble from the path, never inevitably or excusably. But it happens (I John 1:8). Thus, we do well to seek our Father's searching and exposure of false gods that deceive us by offering things the dead cannot provide. Christ only. Christ always. Christ forever. The Spirit of God and the Word of God bear witness to the living and true God who alone fills and fulfills our hearts. May we take heed, and keep ourselves from idols.
"And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."
(II Corinthians 6:16)
Weekly Memory Verse
By Him all things consist.
(Colossians 1:17)
6291
No comments:
Post a Comment