Tag: faith

Faith Like Jello

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Three Translations of Joshua 3:5

  • Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.”, NIV 

  • Then Joshua told the people, “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.”, NLT

  • Joshua told the people, ” Make yourselves acceptable  to worship the LORD, because he is going to do some amazing things for us.”, CEV

 

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The three translations of the same verse in Joshua each contributes a thought that adds to the whole.  Very often we need to make a comparison like this to speed our understanding.  There is a common theme of spiritual preparation.  Also anticipated is a direct intervention by God Himself.

Joshua is charged with not only the physical, but spiritual condition of the people.  He has sensed that God is going to amaze everyone, and He is on the verge of taking this mass of people through the river and into the Promised Land.  This will be the fulfillment of an awesome covenant promise.

Joshua has taken the initiative.  He declares the need of the people to prepare.  They are about to be led by God.  He builds anticipation for the grand things imminently approaching.  But the Israelites have got to prepare.  They must get ready.  Effort needs to be made. 

We have a strong tendency to see God’s promises apart from our efforts to prepare for them.  We think God saves us by grace.  But a faith that doesn’t work, cannot save.

“We are not made righteous by doing righteous deeds; but when we have been made righteous we do righteous deeds.” –Martin Luther

We cohabit with a Holy God who is like a strange roommate insists on sharing everything.  (Everything He does, in some way He does for us.)  “He picks up the tab” for everything!  Joshua, on the other hand, has 12 hours to get Israel ready.  The people must adjust.  He declares that everyone make themselves decent, to cleanse themselves from sin and give themselves to God.  Israel must do some things to get ready.

We must not enervate our faith to turn it into some religious jello— a blob with no backbone.  Our faith must work, and sweat.  If it doesn’t, we are in trouble.  I’m thrilled to be saved by grace through faith.  It is a precious marvel to me.  But I must remember that the grace that saves is a grace that works.  I don’t want my faith to be jello faith.  I want it to be a living faith.

“As in the candle I know there is both light and heat, but put out the candle, and they are both gone.”  Unknown

Photo: The Way Things Are

A perspective we need, it enables us to look at our existence here on earth with some assurance.  Everyone you meet today is first and foremost a “soul” making their way to heaven.

Come, Follow Me

“He said to another person, “Come, follow me.”

   The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”

 But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”

Luke 9:59-60

 

Considering this whole passage must bring us to the place of seeing God’s Will as supreme.  He asks for a complete and comprehensive obedience.  We can never entertain a lesser commitment.  Following Jesus, as His disciple will radically alter our priorities and change our relationships.  Irrevocably.

There was a negotiation of sorts taking place.  This would-be disciple was trying to be reasonable.  His heart appears to be already in harness.  Being Jesus’ disciple was what he really wanted.  But, there was this slight problem, it really seemed logical and definitely prudent and sensible.

Yet Jesus doesn’t negotiate with him.  He does not accept the argument of reasonability and propriety.  The call to walk out discipleship requires a whole-hearted, full-bore dedication to Jesus Christ as Lord.  Everything must be adjusted.  And nothing is ever the same.

Have you dictated to Jesus what is reasonable?  Are you adjusting discipleship to your own terms of what is appropriate?  This particular passage in Luke 9 has implications to us today.  A rock was thrown into the pond, and the ripple is still being seen and felt.  Simply put, we are being called to authenticity.  We cannot reduce discipleship to fit our personal desires.

Will we adjust?  Will we sell out to the Kingdom’s supremacy?  To be a concert violinist requires intense effort and commitment.  A professional athlete takes his training to a level that is unbelievable to the average person.  Both have a dedication to their calling.  Can we just assume that something less is considered to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Please re-examine your thinking.  I certainly do not want to condemn or judge.  But I am afraid that we are using discipleship without considering what that really means, and we entertain a definition that somehow defaults to an acceptable level.  Are we really that willing to undergo an adjustment that is nothing less than radical transformation of our faith?