"…I
am with you to deliver you," says the Lord. —Jeremiah 1:8
God promised Jeremiah that He would deliver him personally—
“…your life shall be as a prize to you…” (Jeremiah 39:18). That is all God
promises His children. Wherever God sends us, He will guard our lives. Our
personal property and possessions are to be a matter of indifference to us, and
our hold on these things should be very loose. If this is not the case, we will
have panic, heartache, and distress. Having the proper outlook is evidence of
the deeply rooted belief in the overshadowing of God’s personal deliverance.
The Sermon on the Mount indicates that when we are on a mission
for Jesus Christ, there is no time to stand up for ourselves. Jesus says, in
effect, “Don’t worry about whether or not you are being treated justly.”
Looking for justice is actually a sign that we have been diverted from our devotion
to Him. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it. If we
look for justice, we will only begin to complain and to indulge ourselves in
the discontent of self-pity, as if to say, “Why should I be treated like this?”
If we are devoted to Jesus Christ, we have nothing to do with what we
encounter, whether it is just or unjust. In essence, Jesus says, “Continue
steadily on with what I have told you to do, and I will guard your life. If you
try to guard it yourself, you remove yourself from My deliverance.” Even the
most devout among us become atheistic in this regard— we do not believe Him. We
put our common sense on the throne and then attach God’s name to it. We do lean to our own understanding,
instead of trusting God with all our hearts (see Proverbs 3:5-6).
and
There is no allowance whatever in
the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not
produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual
life in keeping with our religious profession. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1465 R
No comments:
Post a Comment