Stepping in the Light

“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Galatians 4:4-5

There was a certain time when Christ was to be born. The coming of the Messiah was awaited for hundreds and thousands of years. The people of Israel grew weary of waiting and many times were in despair, but God knew exactly when that time would come. Jesus came to redeem us from our sin and to free us from the consequences we deserved for breaking God’s law. He came exactly at the right time, and He accomplished exactly what He came to do. This is a tremendous blessing for all of us who have been born after the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ to know that we can have redemption through His blood.

In a similar fashion, God has a plan for each of our lives. He has placed us here exactly at the right time in order for us to accomplish the work that He has for us to do, but we must be willing to make ourselves available to Him. Romans 12:1 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Jesus knew why He came and was careful to do His Father’s will. God has placed us here to share the love of Christ with everyone we can. Pray that the Lord will enable you to encourage someone today.

“Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” Galatians 3:6-9

Abraham was not perfect. There were many times that his faith was weak, and there were times that he did things that he should not have done, but Abraham is definitely revered in the Bible as a righteous person. He has been called the friend of God, the father of the faithful, and the father of the nation of Israel. Generation after generation has looked to him as the ultimate example of faith, but he definitely was not without fault. In the passage above, we see that he was counted righteous because of his faith. Perhaps the greatest example of faith in Abraham’s life was when he took his son Isaac up the mountain to sacrifice him on the altar as God had instructed. Abraham and Sarah had waited for so many years to have the son that God had promised to them, and now God had commanded Abraham to sacrifice him. Abraham’s faith had faltered at times in the past, but that day he demonstrated that he believed that God would keep His promise. We need the same kind of faith. God has promised us salvation through the shed blood of His Son Jesus Christ. Our faith must rest upon God’s promise in order for us to be counted righteous.

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

Jesus died on a cross in order to pay for the sins of the world. When Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ,” did he mean that he was alive or dead on the cross? We see the answer in the next phrase, “nevertheless I live.” We can understand Paul to mean that he was dead. How could he be both dead and alive? Paul was referring to what we call the old nature and the new nature. We are born with our carnal nature, the flesh, but we receive the new spiritual nature when we are born again. II Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” We often apply this passage to the things we do, but it isn’t limited to our actions. It says, “all things are become new.” The attitudes and desires of the new creature are different as well as the actions. In our text above, Paul was saying that his carnal nature was dead, but his new spiritual nature was alive. In Romans 6:11-12 Paul said, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” Paul is telling us that the way to conquer sin is to count ourselves among the dead in the flesh, but alive to God spiritually. This is what it means to be crucified with Christ.

“In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.” Ecclesiastes 11:6

The instruction in this verse is about consistent, thorough, indiscriminate effort. The picture this verse brings to mind is one of a farmer who has a very large field that needs to be seeded. Some parts of the field will bring forth more abundantly than others, but when the field is freshly plowed it all looks the same. The farmer cannot always tell by the shades of color in the dirt which areas will be most productive this year. If he could, he might be tempted to skip the areas that will not bring forth much fruit. In life, we can’t always tell which endeavors will be successful. We go from one responsibility to the next, not knowing which will be productive and which will fail. Solomon is telling us that we need to give our best to each task all day long because we never know which one will bring forth a great result.

Jesus used the example of a sower to teach us about sharing the gospel with others. In His parable, the sower sowed everywhere, even on the pathways. When we go out to share the gospel, we should share it with everyone. We need not look at a situation and try to predetermine whether the people will be receptive to the plan of salvation. There is no way to tell who will listen and receive Christ, so everyone needs to hear.

“Say not thou, What is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.” Ecclesiastes 7:10

Is there a time in your life that you would like to go back to? Perhaps there was a time in your youth that you would like to revisit. Occasionally, I hear people talking about the “good old days.” This discussion usually includes things like the price of gasoline, the price of milk, or when a certain interstate highway was a dirt road. Solomon said that this kind of talk was not wise. There are advantages and disadvantages to every time period in the history of mankind and every phase of our individual lives. Our tendency is to point out facets of life from another time that seem to have faded away and have been replaced with things that are less desirable, less enjoyable, and less advantageous to our purposes. This seems reasonable on the surface, but the problem is that we are ignoring all of the negative things that have been replaced with positives. We are overlooking all of the great reasons to be alive today. No matter what we do, we cannot travel back in time to the “good old days.” They are gone. The only time we have is the present, the only day that we have is today. God has given us this day for a reason. It will present us with opportunities that we could never have experienced in the “good old days.” We must endeavor to please God and serve Him today, because it is the only day that we have. We ought to thank God for the day He has given us and revel in the good things that we enjoy now.

“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” II Corinthians 12:7-10

Paul described a physical ailment with which he suffered as a thorn in the flesh. He said that God sent it to him to keep him humble. Paul prayed that God would remove the physical problem from his body, but the Lord spoke to Paul and told him that His grace was all that Paul needed in order to keep going. The Lord told Paul that he did not need to be healed and that his physical suffering had a purpose. God said that His strength and power were made perfect in weakness. When Paul was weak and feeble, it allowed the power of God to work through his life. Paul said, “When I am weak, then am I strong.” We worry so much about our weaknesses, and we think that they will keep us from accomplishing God’s will in our lives; but just the opposite is true. God wants to work through our weaknesses so that He can receive the glory for everything that is accomplished.

“I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.” Ecclesiastes 1:14 King Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived (I Kings 3:12).

God used him to write the book of Ecclesiastes. The title of the book means “The Preacher,” and Solomon refers to himself in this way in the book. He explores the meaning of life and gives some rather dogmatic opinions regarding his observations and experiences. In the verse above, he asserts that he has seen everything “under the sun.” In other words, “I have experienced all that mankind can experience; therefore, I have a clear understanding of how things are and what makes them the way they are.” His words possess a singular confidence in his ability to analyze the human condition and give commentary that everyone should be required to take into consideration. Some of what Solomon had experienced was a result of poor choices that he had made. He violated the requirements for the kings of Israel set forth by Moses in Deuteronomy 17:14-20 on several counts. By his own admission in Ecclesiastes 2, he had lived completely for himself and had not withheld anything from himself that he wanted. After living this way for many years, his conclusion was that everything under the sun was vanity. Nothing was fulfilling. Nothing he tried had made him happy. It seems that God wanted us to know that He gave more wisdom to Solomon than He would ever give to any human being so that we could understand that living for ourselves can never truly satisfy.

“Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” Proverbs 30:5-6

The word pure here carries with it the connotation of the refining process used in working with gold and silver. When these metals are purified, it increases their value, strength, usefulness, and desirability. The refining process for these metals takes time and effort; therefore, the value of a pure gold coin is much greater than a piece of gold jewelry that has other metals mixed in to strengthen the metal alloy. The scripture says that “every word of God is pure,” not that it is being purified. In other words, it is completely true, with no error mixed in. That makes it totally reliable for us. That is why it says that God is a shield to them that put their trust in Him. You can depend upon God’s Word being true. One reason that we know God’s Word is true is that He is omniscient. God knows everything, and He is perfect; therefore, He cannot make a mistake. If you pick up any science textbook, it will contain mistakes because it was written by human beings. No matter how intelligent the professors who wrote the book were, they could not possibly know every fact that related to their subject before they began to write. After a number of years go by, the book will need to be replaced because we will have learned more about science. God’s Word is pure because He knows everything, and His Word will never need to be revised. You and I can rely completely upon the truth of the Bible.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” II Corinthians 10:3-5

We are constantly enveloped in a spiritual battle. As Christians, our enemies are the world, the flesh, and the devil. Our carnal nature pervades our thinking to the point that we cannot depend upon our own thoughts, even after we are saved. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Therefore, we cannot trust our own thoughts completely, but we must constantly compare them with the Word of God. Paul said in Romans 8:6-8, “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” We must be extremely careful about what we allow ourselves to think. Paul said in the passage above that we must cast down or destroy every imagination that is against God and bring every thought into obedience to Christ. This should be our plan of attack every day. It is a constant process because we are sinful creatures by nature, but it is a weapon that is “mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.”

“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” II Corinthians 9:6

In context, the Apostle Paul is speaking specifically about giving financially to the work of God; but he is utilizing one of the laws of nature as an illustration. When planting seed, the rate of return will vary based on factors like soil quality, temperature, sunlight, and rainfall; but you will always reap in proportion to the amount you sow. The more you sow, the more you will reap. If you like the result of reaping and you want to reap more, then you must find a way to sow more. You must somehow obtain more seed and invest more effort, energy, and time in the process of sowing the seed. Paul was pointing out that this particular law of nature also applies in the spiritual realm. If you want God’s financial blessings, you must learn to give. In Luke 6:38, Jesus said, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” This applies to giving to those in need as well as giving to the work of God. If you want to see souls come to Christ, you must go out and share the gospel with the lost. If you want to see Christians grow in grace, you must work to share the truths of God’s Word with them in a way that they can understand them and apply them to their hearts. Determine what it is that God would have you to sow and sow bountifully!