Scripture: Nehemiah 10:28-29, John 14:15-24
The world would tell us to “Be true to
yourself”. The problem with that mantra
is that very few of us actually know who we really are as well as what it takes
to be true to what we are still trying to figure out about ourselves!
But for those who have come to the realization that
it is our good and faithful God who we should be true to, you have learned that
the effort that is required has already become much more rational and obvious
for us. After all, we have an
instruction “book” that is already prepared for us (the one known as the Bible),
as well as the perfect example of how to live that kind of life (and that is our Lord Jesus!)!
The problem with the world’s approach to the issue
is that the truth that they introduce into our life is constantly changing, and
usually not for the better! But
isn’t it true that truth should be a constant and not a variable? As the theme for today’s message would imply,
the advantage of God’ truth is that it never has changed –it is the same
today as it was even before the moment of creation. How can being true to the Truth get any easier
to remember than that?
So, for God’s message today, let’s see, first of
all, how Nehemiah and the people of Israel approached this dilemma 2,500 years
ago, and then what the Lord Jesus did to make it even clearer for the world’s
people 500 years after that.
Read Nehemiah 10:28-29
It would seem
that no one was exempted from committing to strict adherence to the law – men,
women, and even children who were able to understand what it was that they were
pledging their lives to. Unfortunately
for the worldly masses of both that day and today, they don’t always see the
law, whether secular or divine, as being an absolute necessity for their
lives. And making a commitment, a
binding, a vow of faithfulness to any such concept is more than many are
willing to do, or even understand. The importance
of their own law is the only way that they subscribe to, and will be for
the remainder of their mortal lives.
Obedience to the only Truth removes all other
options from our decision-making process, and requires trust and faith in the One
who is asking us to accept this new way without exception, but never
without knowledge and understanding of what it is that we are committing
to! Admittedly, I would never suggest
that the Lord’s way will ever come to us naturally, without study and
consideration of the changes that will be necessary if we truly desire
to adhere to the way of God. But I will
say that it will all be worth our while when we confess that a relationship
with God will be far better than anything that the world can offer, or
even imagine!
But what does Jesus offer us if we do accept His
ways instead of the world’s alternative?
Read John 14:15-24
The offer that the Lord makes on our behalf is not
some unreasonable and uncertain benefit kind of demand, but rather, is a gift
of relationship through all time! And it
is that relationship that sets the entire process in motion through Jesus’
promise of love – of course His love for us has already been proven at Calvary,
and to make it complete only requires our love for Him in return.
And do we have to figure it all out on our own? Of course not! We have His word for our lives, as well as the
Holy Spirit to make it all clear and understandable. And why should we believe this Spirit? The Lord Jesus refers to Him as the “Spirit
of Truth”. The Lord is with us, His
Spirit is with us, His truth is with us, all of which is promised through the
bond that exists within our mutual love for each other.
And the world doesn’t have a clue as to what this
Truth is all about because a complete and divine relationship is the basis for
our knowing and accepting God’s truth for our lives. Love of Jesus is the key that unlocks the
door to the Truth of God, and obedience to the way of Jesus is proof that the
love that God has offered has been accepted and embraced in our lives.
We read that the other Judas asks the very question
that many folks ask every single day – which is “why can’t everyone on
the face of the Earth understand God and His way”? The answer is both simple and as unchanging
as it always has been – they still don’t love Jesus, and His teaching, as well
as the ways that He lived, and died, and rose again into a life that also
awaits the people who love Him!
In the passage we read 2 weeks ago from Nehemiah, we
read that when the people of Jerusalem heard the reading of God’s law and desires
for their lives, they wept! (Nehemiah 8:9) To be reminded of all that the Lord had set
down as the way they were to show their love to Him, and the fact that they had
fallen so short of deserving His love, was overwhelming for them.
Are we beginning to see a central theme of faith
here, as well as the path that leads us to the way of God? Jesus already told us that He, and He alone
is “the Way, and the Truth, and the Life, and that no one comes to the Father except
through Him” (John 14:1-7). With these words, the Lord is inviting all to
join Him in eternal life. Don’t you
think that binding ourselves to His word and way brings us a gift that far
exceeds anything that the world will ever be able to offer?
Don’t hesitate to claim eternity through Jesus today!
