We must genuinely respect God’s will. As a man after God’s own heart, David could be counted on to trust God’s wisdom implicitly, carry out God’s instructions faithfully, and depend on God’s help humbly. We must choose to have the same character.
Since the old self never relinquishes its desires except when forced to do so, it will never find Jesus’ yoke “easy” and His burden “light.” So the old self must die and a new self must come to life. We must be “crucified with Christ.”
It is true spiritually, as well as physically, that growth requires the exertion of effort. It is inconsistent to say that we want to grow but do nothing in our actions to produce growth. Passivity only breeds weakness and leads to stagnation.
We misappropriate the truth God has revealed to mankind when we make it merely the grist for intellectual debate. When we study, we ought to be looking for “obeyable” information. To study for any other reason than obedience is actually dangerous.
Is the complexity of our talk about what God’s will “might” be a substitute for action in regard to what our conscience already knows? God has not only spoken; He has spoken clearly. What is needed from us is a little less talk and a lot more action.
The tempter seeks to destroy us by deceiving us and drawing our will away from God. And if we allow our hearts to be turned against God, we allow evil to gain another victory. But we can make the choice to give our hearts to God instead!
What is true in time will be even more true in eternity: “There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God” (Cleland B. McAfee). Heaven is to be a place of “sanctuary” in the very truest sense of the word — a place near to the heart of God.
It is faith, based on reasonable conclusions drawn from credible evidence, that propels us forward in our discovery of God. We should be careful, but having been careful, we should also be optimistic. There is good reason for us to be confident.
If we’ve not been as alert to God as we should be, it’s urgent that we wake up. And the biblical injunction to wake up presumes that we can do so. The Light necessary for our spiritual enlightenment is already shining (John 8:12; 1 John 2:8).
We long for a perfect relationship with our Creator. This deep yearning that refuses to go away, even when we’re most completely enjoying this world, should not be denied. What we’re needing is something much more than anything that is in this world.
