“For this commandment which I command you today is not too
difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.
It is not in heaven, that you should say ‘Who will go up to heaven for
us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say
‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we
may observe it?’ But the word is very
near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.” Deut. 30:
11-14
God has left us without excuses. He has given us His Word, clearly and easily
understood. He didn’t hide it or put it
out of reach so that we had to search for it or have someone else interpret it
for us. He has written it down for us,
and then He lived it for us.
We have
many excuses for not living our lives the way we know God would have us
live. We’re tired. We’re shy.
We’re broke. We don’t know what
His will for our lives is. It’s
hard. The whining becomes an
overwhelming litany that we have used for so long it springs automatically to
our lips. But it’s not the truth.
The truth
is that God has made His word immanently accessible to each of us. He has made His word clear, and has not
hidden how He wants us to live. He
wanted to make sure it was clear, so He came to earth as one of us, and gave us
an example of how it could be done. He
placed His word in our hearts and on our tongues so that we could obey.
We
have the choice. We can live
by faith, reflecting the image of the Son, or we can continue to wallow in
excuses, being defeated not by Satan or the powers of hell, but by our own
weakness. We win this battle “not by
might, not by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord”. As we conform to the image of the Son, making
each decision by modeling it after His character, depending on His strength to
succeed, we live by faith. It is simple,
and yet the hardest choice to make. We
must be vigilant, making each choice consciously and deliberately.
We cannot
live by the Word unless we know the word.
Without study and meditation on the Word of God we leave ourselves
defenseless, floundering in a sea of uncertainty. We cannot make choices based on the character
of God unless we know the character of God.
God has made His word abundantly available to us. Every Goodwill Store has several copies for
sale, most hotel rooms come furnished with one, many Christians would give one
to any one who asked. You have questions? We all have questions. Ask. Ask your pastor or your Bible
study leader. Ask me. But ask.
Give up your excuses. Reach out to God and ask Him to help You live
His way. You’ll be glad you did.
“If you confess with your mouth
Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you
shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness,
and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in
Him
will not be disappointed.’”
Romans 10: 9-11
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