We are continuing to examine ways in which we can add fuel to the fire of our faith in God, arguing from the premise that God is more glorified by His glory being seen and rejoiced in, rather than by His glory merely being seen. This should be self-evident to every Christian, but it is not.
By whom would the sun feel most honored? By the casual observer who notes its glory as he whizzes down the freeway on his way home to watch Wheel of Fortune on his big screen, or by the person who takes out his lawn chair and watches the sun fall off the horizon, intoxicated by her beauty? If the sun could talk, how would it answer the question, “which of these two gets it? Which one values you most highly?” Easy answer. So it matters that we take maximal delight in God, not merely look in His general direction from time to time.
So the question then is, “What are some of the means that God gives us through which we can further stoke our passion for God?”
In our last session we considered the importance of immediate prayer and becoming very familiar with Biblical texts that declare unambiguously that God is to be rejoiced in by His people.
Today I would like to begin the study of how we can increase our seeing and savoring God by examining the importance of having solid Christian relationships. Several weeks ago I travelled from Chicago to Lincoln on the I-80, and as I made my way through a wind and snow swept Iowa, found the highway littered with close to 100 cars, the great majority of them . . . . . SUVs and pick up trucks. I wondered, “now why is that?” There I was in my ‘91 Camry DX (the DX stands for “doesn’t accelerate”) making it across Iowa just fine, but there to my left and right, on their sides and upside down, were all these, what shall I call them, . . . testosterone-laden vehicles. The finest example was a newer pick up that had passed me earlier in the day sporting the Texas Longhorn symbol splashed across the tinted back window. I found him later that day upside down a good fifty yards off the freeway.
What a metaphor for the way a lot of people, perhaps especially men, (including Christian men), do life. “My life is my life so don’t tell me what to do. I live by my own rules. Other people can slow down, but I don’t have to. Life and conditions will bend to accommodate me. I don’t make concessions. Don’t tell me what to do. I have four wheel drive.” The Christian life is not meant to be lived that way. The Christian life has other people in the cab, friends who will say, “Bob, you’re driving too fast. Slow down or you’re going to wreck.” Do you have people in your life who can speak to you like that, or do you keep people at a distance? I wonder how many of these SUVs and pick ups would have been spared the ditching had someone else been in the cab, someone the driver would have listened to? As Christians, we are meant to be in community. 1 Corinthians 12 says it like this;
“12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body Jews or Greeks, slaves or free and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”
We are to be in close community with one another, like the hand is in close community with the arm, and when we are, we find ourselves more inclined to listen to wise council and consider ourselves less highly, which is always good. Sticking with the pick up-in-the-ditch metaphor, it was telling that none of these vehicles could get out because there was no help nearby.
Proverbs 27:17 reads, “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another,” but notice that in this sharpening process, the pieces are very close together, or else there is no sharpening.
A second means for stoking fervor in God is being in the Word, the Bible, daily. This must come as no surprise to even the most casual Christian. God has revealed Himself in a book, and if we remain ignorant of what is contained in these pages, we will remain ignorant of God Himself, and all of our thoughts about Him will be little more than vague and vain speculations.
To be continued . . . .