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Isn’t There Some Misunderstanding? |
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’Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to Him, ’. . . are You going there again?’ —John 11:7-8 |
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| Just because
I don’t understand what Jesus Christ says, I have no right to determine that
He must be mistaken in what He says. That is a dangerous view, and it is
never right to think that my obedience to God’s directive will bring
dishonor to Jesus. The only thing that will bring dishonor is not obeying
Him. To put my view of His honor ahead of what He is plainly guiding me to
do is never right, even though it may come from a real desire to prevent Him
from being put to an open shame. I know when the instructions have come from
God because of their quiet persistence. But when I begin to weigh the
pros and cons, and doubt and debate enter into my mind, I am
bringing in an element that is not of God. This will only result in my
concluding that His instructions to me were not right. Many of us are
faithful to our ideas about Jesus Christ, but how many of us are faithful to
Jesus Himself? Faithfulness to Jesus means that I must step out even when
and where I can’t see anything (see Matthew
14:29 ). But faithfulness to my own ideas
means that I first clear the way mentally. Faith, however, is not
intellectual understanding; faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person
of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead. Are you debating whether you should take a step of faith in Jesus, or whether you should wait until you can clearly see how to do what He has asked? Simply obey Him with unrestrained joy. When He tells you something and you begin to debate, it is because you have a misunderstanding of what honors Him and what doesn’t. Are you faithful to Jesus, or faithful to your ideas about Him? Are you faithful to what He says, or are you trying to compromise His words with thoughts that never came from Him? "Whatever He says to you, do it " ( John 2:5 ). |