Living with Purpose
A Christian is always pressed into trusting God despite changing circumstances in their personal life. As far back as the Old Testament, outward professions of faith in God were tested by attacks of foreign armies and foreign gods. We live in a day when an outward profession of faith is a call for criticism and judgment by those who don’t like us. It’s easy to go to church and be nice when there’s no sacrifice or inconvenience. But God will not allow such comfortable religion to exist without allowing our faith to be tested.
There’s no guarantee we will have success in all the things we desire to do. And in the meantime, we all find our faith being tested. We must ask ourselves what it is we trust to give us happiness, security, and satisfaction in life.
External props of money, things, entertainment, sports, jobs, home, recreation, technology are sought out for the achievement of true happiness. The Christian must face each of these with the task of keeping them all in perspective. Christians commit themselves to the proposition that doing the will of God is a person’s highest duty and their supreme happiness.
Society tries to navigate our commitment to God whether it’s intentional or unintentional. Such were the conditions in the days of the prophet Jeremiah. The outward professions were there, but the people of God had slipped into a comfortable complacent kind of religion. They didn’t turn their back on God, but there was certainly a lack of concern for holiness and godly living.
“Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. Have you no respect for me? Why don’t you tremble (fear) in my presence? My people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned me. They do not say from the heart, let us live in awe of the Lord our God. Your wickedness has deprived you of wonderful blessings. Should I not punish them (the wicked) for this? says the Lord. What will you do when the end comes?” Jeremiah 5:21-31.
The message and description of the culture of that day could be likened to our present times. We know what we should do, but the attraction of the world tempts us to try and see if we can have it both ways. The signs reveal that there’s a tragic lack of true inner godliness.
Jeremiah called them “foolish and senseless people”. What made their condition so bad? It wasn’t ignorance. Neither is it that for us. It’s the willful rejection of the truth. God and His commandments have been passed down from generation to generation, from parents to their children.
The provision of God is so that we would know the way to love and obey Him. The Bible says, “You foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear!” We have every spiritual tool at our disposal for spiritual discernment and to know how to follow God. What has happened is our spirituality has been watered down or crowded out by society’s multi-faceted lines of communication and busyness. Our nation is guilty of giving God tokens of our time and attention. We think a Sunday School lesson or one preaching service per week is all we need to give Him. God deserves more than this! Much more!
Perhaps nothing is more tragic about people’s spiritual condition than their blindness and deafness to the reality of a Higher Power. Because a person doesn’t see and hear spiritually, they wind up in a “foolish and senseless” condition. You mustn’t fall in the so-called “heathen darkness”, rather step out into the light so that all can see that Christ lives in you. There are many people who have spiritual knowledge, yet they can’t grasp the spiritual implications. It’s not that people are stupid; they’re just willfully disobedient and choose to do their own thing.
A problem that exist today is that the internet, books, and articles by religious leaders tend to be accepted as truth by the public simply because the author or speaker has a claim as to religious knowledge and has religious authority by virtue of their position. This can be a dangerous assumption. A person can be religiously informed and be a great preacher, but still miss spiritual truth. Spiritual truth made alive in you is dependent upon whether we intend to do God’s will (John 7:17). With Christ, there’s no separation between knowing truth intellectually and living the truth in one’s life.
Rather than go through life ignoring God, practice the words of Hebrews 12:28, “We are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshipping Him with holy fear and awe.”
Above all, let your love for God overwhelm all that you think, say, and do. Allow the broken parts of your life be put together by God’s handiwork.
• This weekly column is written by Matthew Dobson. He’s the author of the newly released book: “Soldiers of God: A Bible Study guide for Spiritual Warfare”. Matthew can be reached by email: rmdobson@liberty.edu. He welcomes your thoughts concerning faith, belief, and Christian living.
