Perhaps you can relate to this situation. Years ago I received a phone call that began with the caller saying how much they valued my knowledge, judgment and opinion, then asked if I would be willing to help them. I said I would. They proceeded to describe a situation in some detail. The issue seemed fairly straight forward and I offered my advice. However, as I spoke they interrupted several times to tell me why they thought my advice was wrong! Finally I asked, “Why did you call me? You clearly already have your mind made up.”
Jesus asked a very pointed question in John 3:12 that is important for all of us to think deeply about. “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”
How often do we argue with God or believe we know better? Oh, I doubt that we would use that language to describe our responses, but that’s what we do.
Martha said she believed Jesus was the power of the resurrection (Jn 11:27) but tried to block him when He went to raise up Lazarus!
Jesus said it’s better to give than to receive (Acts 20:35), but what do our actions show that we really believe to be true?
Jesus said that our soul is worth more than the value of the all the possessions in the world (Mat 16:26), but do we spend our greatest efforts on our soul or our “stuff”?
Jesus said if we won’t forgive other people for what they do to us then we will not be forgiven when we sin against God (Mk 11:25-26), but we live holding grudges without any concern for our well-being.
You see what I mean? We might not call God a liar with our words, but by our actions we often show that we don’t believe God really knows what He’s talking about!
So we’re back to the Lord’s question we started with: if we’re not going to believe the words of Jesus about the things of life around us all the time, then how can we really trust His words as they relate to eternal life and judgment?
Paul’s words to Titus of the hypocrisy of some Christians in the 1st century should be taken to heart, Titus 1:16, “They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him.”
- Tim Orbison
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