There is a lot happening in the coming year, the election, economic excitement and of course, the end of the world ;-}. We move through the Nativity celebrations and move into the New Year with expectations good and/or bad or both. Some of us move forward with confidence others no so much. It’s the time of making resolutions about how we will live our lives for the next 365 days.
Now resolutions are all well and good but we have to keep James 4:15 in mind. We also must apply this much more broadly than we usually do. Certainly we apply it to our own goals and plans but we must also accept that the leaf that falls to the ground on second after midnight on January 1 does so by God’s will. We will do this or that; this or that will happen, if the Lord wills.
It is His sovereignty, righteousness and love we must trust in. Nothing happens outside of His sovereignty. He is in utter complete control. His plan will not be diverted, twisted of hindered and everything that happens has a place in His will. God is indeed in charge.
Having said that, I also have to say that nothing depends on us. The key word there is depends. Within His will, His laws both natural and spiritual you and I have a place and a part but nothing we do or don’t do will deter His plan.
Let’s not scheme and fret and plan and plead about the coming year. The election is certainly an important event but whatever the outcome it is His plan that we trust in.
We, like ancient Israel, seem to looking for a deliverer. We want our world to be our way and we want to find that person who will make it our way. This is not, has not been and never will be God’s plan. He has sent His Deliverer who has fulfilled His ministry and now simple awaits the Father’s command to return.
Is it not interesting that much of the conversation is about the religion and/or morality of the candidates? I think it is. With rare exception (very rare indeed) politics and the faith cannot go hand in hand. Politics is the art and science of compromise – our faith does not allow for compromise.
I hate to draw fire but it really does not matter, in the context of the Kingdom, who is in power. Those seeking power do not do so for pure, good, holy motives. People seek power to rule over others – to control them. That is God’s roll – His is the power; right?
Until our country was established the world was rules by kings and queens, hereditary rules whose power was considered absolute and ordained (read “allowed”) by God. They, whether they knew it, liked it or were even conscious of it were under His sovereignty.
That does not mean they submitted to Him. Few rulers, even in Judah and Israel did that. It simply means that He is mightier than they. They did not rule (for the most part) as servants of God and Christ but rather as those who assumed that because of their position they knew best and what they did was best – period.
It’s no different today.
Those in power – elephant, ass or duckbilled platypus – are neither servants of God nor servants of the people. They are, in the end, servants of the rulers of this world. The designations Christian, Jew, Moslem even Atheist and Humanist are all sullied by being applied to these men and women.
Why don’t we “get it?” Jesus said that His Kingdom was not of this world. Therefore, neither is ours. We are to do good works not for the purpose of making the world a better place (that cannot happen) but rather in humble gratitude and submission to Him.
It all began long ago:
But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." And Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, "Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. (1Sa 8:6-8) . . . . .
READ THE WHOLE PASSAGE
. . . . And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day." But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, "No! But there shall be a king over us, (1Sa 8:18-19)Not being willing to return to Egypt the people decided to be like their neighbors and create that same conditions in the Promised Land that they lived under in Egypt. Samuel makes it very clear that to live under the power of a man (king or elected officials) was to choose slavery to the one holding power. The insult added to injury for us is that whereas God appointed the ones who would enslave Israel we on the other hand pick ours. The sad thing is that it does not matter which person(s) you enslave yourselves to – slavery is slavery. If the “government” has power – you do not.
I don’t know that I’ll even vote this coming year. I’ve lived long enough and studied history deeply enough to determine that it does not really matter, it really doesn’t. There are indeed two “golden rules.” We know God’s but man’s we tend to forget, “He who has the gold, makes the rules.” When will we accept that we are slaves to those with the gold (power)?
Pessimistic? Negative? Duhhhhh, you betcha! At least about this world and the powers that rule this world. I also firmly believe that we have to accept and live with the fact that the world hates “us.” Hates!!!!! Get it? I hope so.
In the coming year I am drawn to study and share the truths and lessons found in the work of the prophets of the Old Testament. We tend to pick and choose what we study there and in doing so we miss the big picture. It’s a picture of what happens when we choose to be ruled by men and not by God. Yes, we HAVE to render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s but this is primarily because Caesar will imprison or kill us if we don’t. Rendering to Caesar is only a quasi-religious obligation because we do not battle flesh and blood and because God uses even the most corrupt of rulers to work His will.
The revolution through which our country was founded was one of economics and not religious issues. It was not some holy crusade. Nor, and I’ll take the heat, was it motivated by biblical truth. If indeed we as believers are to, “honor the king,” what right did we have to rebel? We simply exchanges one form of slavery for another. We sowed the wind and we are beginning to reap the whirl-wind.
I hope you’ll follow our journey. I don’t know what we’ll learn or how it will change our lives (if at all) but there are lessons to be learned, warnings to be heeded and hope to be found in the words of God from the prophets. As Satan closed the ears of Israel to the dangers and evil of having a King so too has he done to us even though we choose our King and his minions every two or four years.
Power corrupts and that corruption corrupts all it touches. The rulers in this world are under the influence of the rulers of this world:
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Eph 6:12)
No comments:
Post a Comment