"And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not!" Jeremiah 44.5
I think that one of the most serious errors into which I keep falling, is the one of thinking that I can earn God's favour - the idea that somehow God owes me something. It is one of those errors that is mostly unconscious. If you asked me, "Does God owe you anything David?", I would answer with Paul's great exclamation, "By no means!" And yet in practice I keep falling in to it. The reason I know that is my tendency to disappointment, discouragement and disillusionment.
All three are 'dis'-s. They are about an appointment being missed, a courage being lost, an illusion being shattered. They all speak about something being found to be false. But when it comes to God, what is false?
Is it God?
As I was reading Jeremiah 43.1-44.5 the other day I was struck that that was the conclusion of two people after the victory of the Babylonians and the flight to Egypt. The first person is actually the people as a whole who had fled to Egypt. They had decided to go back to their idol worship because they were disappointed with God. They had stopped their idol worship during the siege of Jerusalem, but in their words, "since we had left off making offerings to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine." In other words being faithful to God hadn't delivered for them, so they turned away from obeying his word. They certainly think that it is the Lord's fault.
The other person was Baruch. Baruch is another hero of the book of Jeremiah. He is Jeremiah's right hand man. But here he is rebuked. His is a different story. One of constant faithfulness to the Lord in the face of trouble, persecution and personal danger - and he is tired and discouraged. Serving the Lord has just brought trouble. So, he complains and laments, and the Lord rebukes him.
I tend to scoff at the first group - their turning to the Lord was no real turning at all. The direction of their life remained the same - their own comfort. They were still at the centre. The Lord is just a means to an end, a service provider and so their worship of him was not true worship it was merely flattery. Not all worship of God, is true worship of God.
Baruch though is much more unsettling. He's like Job. His case seems strong. I know that I fall into this: when I see that following Jesus makes many things harder; when I struggle that a Christian who seems less deserving than me enjoys greater success in his or her ministry.
Both make the mistake of thinking that the 'dis' is a result of a failure on the part of God as opposed to a failure on the part of the expectation. The reason I remain faithful to God is not because he has promised to make my life better, make me great, but because he is God. If I believe the former, I will suffer a lifetime of 'dis'-s The reason I am a Christian is not because it works for me, but because it is true. Once I get that, I am ready to hear the other part of what God says to Baruch - the promise of his protection and salvation.
I have a great reward to look forward to. For now though, God calls me to follow and serve him, not for reward, but because he is God, because he is true, because nothing else is worth worshipping.
Unfortunately lots of people fall for the deception that the Christian life will bring earthly riches. This is touted by the "pastors" of the so called mega churches. But when things in life work contrary to what the false teachers proclaim, the selfish ones will fall away.
ReplyDeleteSo, what you say is quite true. We must follow God because He is God. Because of His attributes and what is to come.
It's helpful to remember what Paul said about some devoted followers receiving earthly blessings whereas other saints would have to wait for their reward:
Hebrews 11: 35- 40
35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning;[a] they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground.
39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Keep posting insightful articles, it's encouraging whenever I blog posts that promote the word of God.
- healthy_blogging