Whenever I reread the Bible, I ask God to make it fresh as if reading it for the first time. I love the truths God brings to my attention that I overlooked or need to be reminded of again. God directed Noah to do something, and Noah obeyed, which is stated a few times in Genesis. Sometimes we read these powerful declarations we make up our minds that this could only be true of biblical characters as if they are fictional men and women. They are not; they all had natures like ours, as James says of Elijah. They fail, they succeed, they fear, they struggle, and later we will see the more relatable side of Noah when he gets drunk and screws up. God saw the righteousness of Noah, who walked in obedience to Him, and that, too, should be relatable.
Luke 6:46 "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" Jesus rebuked his disciples and taught them the difference between the wise man who obeys and the foolish who does not. The parable Jesus taught was in such a way to encourage his disciple's obedience was possible. If you are like me, excuses can run rampant for why I cannot always do what Jesus says. It's easy to blame my humanity and see its weakness as an acceptable excuse.
Romans 6 reminds us that our humanity makes us susceptible to sin, but we do not need to be a slave to it.
Romans 8 reminds us that our choices are walking in our flesh, leading to sin and death. Walking this way will continue to be an excuse for many disciples who fail, not often walking in obedience. We also have the choice to walk in the Spirit and gain freedom and victory as we abide and live in Christ.
2 Corinthians 12:9 reminds us God supplies us with Grace in our weakness. This Grace is usually only seen as we trust, even in our struggle to believe, but we walk in faith, asking God to help us in our unbelief, expecting God to meet the moment's need.
These and other passages tell us we have even more than Noah. There is nothing we face that can make us choose our flesh; we choose not to walk by faith, and in so doing, we choose to fail. Not walking by faith is the only thing that causes our failures. There is no reason for this because God's Word gives us many passages that let us know we can walk faithfully. Even Habakkuk says, "The just say walk by their 'faithfulness.'"
Maybe no one has encouraged you before that Jesus expects his disciples to do what he says. He would not demand it if it were not possible. On our own, it is not. First comes faith, then comes Grace, then comes the Holy Spirit's power. God will not just make it happen but will meet us with quickness in our weakness if we trust Him. We too can have the testimony, "Then God said... So (put your name here) went..."
Let's commit to no more excuses.
Comments