“But when the Pharisees had heard that He (Jesus) had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test Him. ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’” Matthew 22:34-40
We have been spending time these past three weeks examining evidence for the assertion that God is more glorified, He is seen as more valuable in the person who not only sees Him but also rejoices in Him. I have written elsewhere that for many Christians, Jesus is Savior and Lord, but He is not a delight nor a treasure, nor is He someone they routinely go to as a friend. Many are content to know Jesus only from a distance, and this attitude belittles His worth. A friend is someone you want to be around a lot, not someone you merely tip your hat to once a week.
That said, let us begin an examination of avenues through which we can better see Him and rejoice in Him, ways through which fervor for Christ can be kindled. This will not be an exhaustive list, and today we will focus on just two.
#1 Know your Bible well and stock your brain with specific texts that point out the supremacy of God over all competing attractions. For example;
Psalm 34:8, 37:4, 63:3, 68:3, 73:25, 84:10, Philippians 1:21, 3:7-11, Matthew 13:44 and the verses above.
Take these texts and others like them and know them deeply. Remind yourself of them often by committing them to memory, and wash yourself in them everyday. Paul calls us to “. . . be transformed by the renewal of your mind,” and getting the Bible into your brain must happen before it diffuses maximally at the level of the heart and then courses through the bloodstream, affecting everything for good.
#2 Live a life of consistently immediate prayer. When for example unbelief rings your doorbell and demands an audience with you, don’t let it into your house and then give it a seat in your living room as you go to the kitchen to prepare tea. Instead, call for help and pull the door closed behind you. Let’s say your visitor is depression or greed or lust or laziness or gluttony, and he begins to seduce you with words like, “No one understands you like I do. I care for you. Let me come in and we’ll talk awhile.” Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “. . . take every thought captive to obey Christ . . .” If Christ were in your house, would you prepare tea and cookies for this kind of “friend?” If He seems like He’s in the basement, call!!!! “Jesus I need You here right now; I can’t seem to get the front door closed. Help.” It makes sense to call right away and loudly if you’ve got trouble at the front door with nasty folks you deep down don’t want in your house! It doesn’t make a lot of sense to allow them in, see them build a new and ugly addition to your house, have you despise it a short time later, and eight months down the road ask Jesus to come out from under the basement freezer to deal with the problem. Why not call Jesus before the architects of misery, the joy robbers, get inside the house?!
The habit of immediate prayer is immensely helpful and it is immensely faith-building when Jesus comes to fight for you.
Tbc . . .