Isaiah 55:8-11 (NIV) 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
II Timothy 3:12-17 (NRSV) 12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13 But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
The Scriptures root our life in the truth of God so that we might stand strong and resistant to the pressure of false trends and continue in a steady course. There is the battle for the good life, the promise that more will make us happier and that we can live by bread alone and be completely satisfied. The battle is waged on many fronts, not the least of which is the human mind and heart.
The Scriptures also give us wings. All Scriptures are profitable for training in righteousness, that the people of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. Righteousness means putting things right. It means conforming life to the way God meant for it to be. Wielding the very power of God, we have been given wings to fly into the destructive storms that twist and distort life. Neither the size of the gale nor the audaciousness of the task should deter us. We have been given truth to confront the works of the lie, to cast out demons of self-interest, to exorcize false confidence in violence, to cleanse those possessed of the spirit of desire driving them to exhaustion, and to raise those who are dead in spirit and in conscience. Who is going to debunk the myths of materialism if not those who have learned to enjoy God’s gifts with gratitude. Who is going to know the things that make for peace if not those who follow the Prince of Peace. Who is going to assert God’s final victory over disease, death, fear, and pride if not those who have learned of God’s will from Scripture and seen God’s will fulfilled in the lives of God’s people.
We can resist with heart and mind, but slowly the message and the spirit of the Scriptures are invested in our lives and become a part of who we are, how we think, and how we act.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell
No comments:
Post a Comment