Skip to main content

One Is Never Enough

               He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 8:3)

 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:31-33)

Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; (II Peter 1:4-6)

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (I Corinthians 13:4-8a)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control… (Galatians 5:22-23)

          Scripture tells us that we were made in the image of God. Satan’s temptation to Adam and Eve - and to the rest of us on a daily basis – was to be “like the Most High.” We’re even told that we are supposed to imitate Christ and that His image is to be formed in us. But when someone tells you to be like God – in what way do you think about being like Him? I suspect that one attribute or another likely comes to mind. I further suspect that love or power is likely to be the attribute in question.

          But as we look in Scripture, we find that one thing is not enough. We can’t live by bread alone. We’re not to seek only His kingdom or His righteousness along, but both His kingdom and His righteousness with such needs as food, drink, and clothing also acknowledged. If we are to love, we face the fifteen components of love in I Corinthians. Even the gift of the Spirit is comprised of nine facets in Galatians. In II Peter, we’re commanded to add five things to add to our faith.         

          Returning to the idea of a military recruit. They are issued clothing and equipment, but they are not handed these things and told to go have fun. They are taught how these items are to be cared for, maintained, worn, and used. And being taught isn’t enough. They are inspected, required to practice, and tested. And it’s not one test and they’re done; they have to maintain their proficiency. Can you imagine a soldier who thinks it sufficient to have nicely spit-shined boots, but never bothers to practice shooting or clean his gun?

          Sigh, why can’t it be simple? But as we consider the armor of God, we face the same challenge. It is not enough to wear the belt, or the breastplate, or the helmet, or the boots, or the shield, or the sword. One simply won’t do. The reason is simple even if the situation is not. If we wear the belt, we have nothing with which to fight. If we have the Word of God memorized but have no faith, what good is it? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more