Scholar's Snare

The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God. (1 Cor 8:2-3)

I sometimes hear Bible teachers who sound like they have it all figured out. They teach their interpretations as fact and it seems there is nothing in the Bible that puzzles them. Pride is a snare for these men. You can hear their pride in the way they speak of other interpretations and those who teach them. As a teacher and a discipler of others I want always to stay humble. I must remember that the Bible is infallible but none of its interpreters are – including me.

There is another snare in this focus on learning. It is that learning about God may become a substitute for loving God. Too much focus on the life of mind may drive out the desires of the heart. My passion must always be for God, and not for any idea or doctrine. I want to know him better, love him more, and follow more closely in his footsteps. When we love God, what we need to know will be made clear to us – which may be a whole lot less than what we’d like to know. When we love God we will find ourselves loving others. This is the life to which we are called. Not a sterile academic perfection but the gospel lived out in sacrificial love. Lord, forgive me for those times when I have been more concerned with being right than with being good. Teach me humility and compassion. Amen.

Show Him You Love Him

The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (1 Jn 2:4)

These are hard words. Whenever I read 1 John I always want to rush past this verse because I do not like to think about what it says. It is too convicting. Now I know that no one can truly live a sinless life in this fallen flesh of ours, so it is reasonable to assume that John is talking about whether our lives are characterized by obedience or not. But does that really make me feel any better? Is my life characterized by obedience? And not just my actions, but my words and my thoughts as well? John holds up a standard for loving God that reveals my love for him to be a weak and pitiful thing. I can take this two ways. I can shrink back in despair, knowing I will never lead a sinless life, or I can take up the challenge and rise with a new determination to demonstrate my love for God. I will rise up! Lord, I am committed to obeying you as best as I am able, because I love you. You have shown your love for me in your awesome sacrifice on Calvary. Can I not obey you, even in the little things, even in my thoughts and words, to show my love for you? Lord, remind me when I come to the crossroads of sin and obedience that only one choice will demonstrate the true nature of my love for you. Amen.

Peter and Jesus

Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. (Lk 22:54)

We remember Peter for being the disciple who denied the Lord three times, but the wonder of it is that he was even there at all. When Jesus was arrested by the soldiers the other disciples ran away. Only Peter and John followed. Peter followed because he could not bear to be parted from Jesus, but when challenged he denied even knowing him. Peter’s love was great but his courage was weak. I want to love Jesus the way Peter did. We remember his moment of weakness. Let us not forget his heart of love.

Talk Is Cheap

Many a man claims to have unfailing love, but a faithful man who can find? (Pro 20:6)

It is always so much easier to proclaim my undying love and faithfulness to God than it is to actually live it. Living it is the messy part. Church is fun, but the hard work begins on Monday. (Metaphorically speaking, that is. It can sometimes be difficult to keep a holy attitude even at church!) I keep thinking there is some secret to living the Christian life that I haven’t yet uncovered – something that will unlock hidden reserves of willpower and strength. I know that God is my strength, and the Holy Spirit who dwells in me is all powerful. But he is gentle and, alas, awaits my true surrender. It is finally my choice – to choose God over my flesh, to choose his way rather than the world’s way. But God must empower me to choose, or I will ultimately fail. The father of the demon-possessed boy said to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mk 9:24) And so I can say, “Lord, I choose you; help me not to waver!”

Let Nothing Come Between Us

If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. (Ps 66:18)

When I choose sin, when I cling to my sins, when I cherish them more than God and am unwilling to give them up, I am building a wall between myself and God. God wants my heart. He wants to be my first love. When I give my heart to something else, how can he act as if nothing has happened? How would it glorify him to answer the prayers of an unrepentant sinner? Lord, I don’t want anything to come between us. I repent of my sins. I want you, first and most. I love you, Lord.

Desiring God

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Ps 63:1)

What a tremendous picture of seeking and desiring God. Lord, I want to desire you this much. I want to seek you as urgently as I would seek water in a desert. Lord, increase my desire to know you. If I were dying of thirst you can bet my thoughts would never be far from water. In the same way, I want my thoughts to always be for you, Lord.

Single-Minded Devotion

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Ps 37:4)

I want to truly and comprehensively delight myself in the Lord, by which I mean to seek only him, his Kingdom, and his righteousness and to be filled with the joy of his presence at all times.

Seek him  =  know him
Seek his kingdom  =  glorify him
Seek his righteousness  =  be like him

So it’s really all the same thing. This is just what One on One is all about. When the desire of my heart is just to know him, to glorify him, and to be like him, I will surely receive it and be filled with joy. I can’t believe I just said “surely” but it’s true. If I delight myself in the Lord (i.e. make these my life goals) it will happen. I have confidence in God and not myself. I will eat and be satisfied at the table of the Lord.

A Yearning Heart

I know that my Redeemer lives…How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19:25,27)

In the midst of Job’s misery and his anger and frustration at God, he never cursed God (2:9-10). But far more than that, Job’s heart continued to yearn for God. He never lost his faith in God as Redeemer. He was mad at God because he seemed to be acting out of his character, but he never doubted what God’s true character is.

Dead in All the Wrong Ways

I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. (Rev 3:1b)

This hits uncomfortably close to home. For the past couple of years I feel like I have been going through the motions. No outward sign of any overt sin, but inwardly a poor attitude and little commitment. This One on One with God study has really helped me refocus on living for the Lord. I want to be dead to sin and alive to Christ! (Rom 6:11)

As in the Beginning

Yet I hold this against you: you have forsaken your first love. (Rev 2:4)

It seems inevitable that our initial ardor will cool somewhat over time. We see this almost universally in new believers. It is also our common experience in other human relationships and interests. Are we being asked to overcome this universal tendency? I’m not so sure. I think what we need to recover is not the emotional high we first experienced when we came to know Christ, but the depth of our commitment. True Biblical love is not an emotion but an act of the will to honor and serve another. In that sense, too, we have often forsaken our first love. We have let the cares of life and its distractions draw our focus and commitment away from God. Let us in that sense return to our first love. With passion, yes, but more importantly with devotion and single-mindedness of purpose, let us recommit ourselves to God our Savior, who loves us with an everlasting love.

Why Obey God?

This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. (1 Jn 5:3)

John puts it so simply: love God = obey God. Why do we obey him? Because we love him. Why do we not obey him? Because we don’t love him enough. If I am passionately in love with him I will want to obey him. And it won’t be too hard because God has given us his Spirit. The same power that overcame death in the Resurrection can overcome the world in me. If only I truly love him. I have set myself the task of knowing him more deeply and intimately. Out of that intimacy comes an ever-increasing love for God that impels me to obey, and to do so joyfully, empowered by his Spirit. That’s what it means to be a true disciple.

The Measure of Love

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. (Jn 14:21)

By this measure my love for Jesus is a poor, half-hearted thing. John makes the connection between love and obedience so clear, and yet we tend to overlook it. But isn’t it wonderful that our salvation does not depend on obedience? We are not obeying to save our souls. We obey solely as an expression of our love for God. Lord, increase my love for you!