| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"No Reply" |
| Date: |
17 Jun 2007 10:02:05 AM |
| Object: |
Foolish and Slow of Heart? |
Foolish and Slow of Heart?
By T.M. Moore
Living by Faith Rather than by Sight
"O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have
spoken!" (Luke 24:25)
I suppose that to some people these words from our Lord's lips don't sound
very gracious. Besides, is that any way to talk to strangers? Here these
two friends have been spilling their guts, sharing their disappointment
and sadness at having had their hopes completely dashed by sudden,
unexpected events, and all this stranger can say in response is that they
are foolish and slow of heart?
In these more tolerant, pluralistic times, we are not accustomed to
hearing people speak with such frankness-except, of course, during
political campaigns (but then, it's always open season on politicians).
Evidently Jesus concluded that what He was hearing on that Emmaus road
revealed a serious problem and required a severe response. A fool, after
all, was one who either didn't believe in God, or who lived as though he
didn't. And to be slow of heart was tantamount to being, well, dead! Jesus
was saying to these two despairing disciples that they were acting like
unbelievers, like people who had no true spiritual life in them.
Their reaction to the events of recent days in Jerusalem was determined
more by the events themselves than by their understanding of the larger
economy overarching and guiding those events, a divine economy revealed in
all its glorious fullness by the prophets of the Old Testament. They were
living by sight, and not by faith, letting their lives be shaped by the
events they were experiencing rather than by the Word of God that makes
sense out of those events.
LIVING BY SIGHT RATHER THAN BY FAITH The problem with those Emmaus road
disciples was that they had allowed the events of the day to determine
their response to the experience of Jesus. They had hoped that He would be
the Messiah, the One to bring all the promises of blessing to the people
of God, to usher in the Kingdom and herald the Year of Jubilee. They had
gotten their hopes up, had allowed new visions to enter their minds, and
were rubbing their hands together in expectation of certain blessedness,
not long hence. And then He was crucified.
Here's the evidence that these two were walking by sight rather than by
faith. They had read the prophets, or at least had heard them read, all
their lives. They had seen and heard Jesus during the course of His
earthly ministry, enough to dare to hope that He might be the One the
prophets had written about, even as He Himself had claimed. But when
events unfolded contrary to their expectations, their faith in the
prophets and the Promised One failed, and they sank into disbelief,
dejection, and inaction. The attitudes, outlook, plans, priorities, and
actions of these two disciples were determined, not by the words of the
prophets, but by the works of sinful men. They had come to the conclusion,
in other words, that the works of sinful men were of more finality than
the words of the living God.
They were living by sight, not by faith.
This is the way many of us live today. We read the Bible, or at least hear
it preached. We have some sense of what they say about such things as
being transformed into the image of Jesus, living as witnesses for Him,
turning the world upside-down in His Name, building the Church in unity
and maturity, bearing fruit, pursuing holiness, exercising spiritual
gifts, and so forth. We know what the Word says. But the evidence of our
lives is that we don't believe the Word; rather, we live within the
restrictions, limitations, and guidelines of our contemporary world. Our
attitudes, outlook, plans, priorities, and actions are determined by what
we perceive the world around us will permit, or what our experience tells
us is possible, or what we see in other believers we know.
If we were living by faith none of those things that tend to keep us from
realizing all the promises of our calling as followers of Christ would
prevent us from knowing more of the full and abundant life He came to give
us. The events of our lives would not be defining of our behavior; rather,
they would merely present new and more exciting possibilities for the
outworking of our salvation for the progress of Christ's Kingdom.
A LITTLE TEST So, are you living by faith or by sight? Here's a little
test, five simple statements affirmed by many of the prophets of the Old
and New Testament. Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10-10 being the
highest rating-indicating the extent to which these statements are true in
your life at this time:
In the last days, the times in which we live, all of those who are
children of God will know the fullness of His Spirit and will proclaim the
Good News of His salvation to the world (Joel 2:28, 29; Psalm 107:1-3;
Acts 1:8).
In the last days, the times in which we live, the Church of Jesus Christ
will be the most influential institution on earth, attracting the
attention of the world through its holiness and love, and drawing people
from every nation to learn the ways of the Lord (Micah 4:1-5; Psalm
48:1-3; Matthew 5:13-16).
People who truly know the Lord delight in His Law, spending time in it day
and night, showing the fruit of increasing righteousness in their lives,
and living strong in their faith and in works of service to the Lord
(Psalm 1:1-3; Daniel 11:32).
Those who have received the Spirit of Christ increasingly evidence the
fruit of His indwelling presence, seek and exercise gifts in loving
service to others, are powerful witnesses for Jesus Christ, and aspire to
things beyond what they have ever dared to ask or think in His power
(Galatians 5:22, 23; 1 Corinthians 12:7-11; Acts 1:8; Ephesians 3:20).
Those who know the Lord love His Word, regularly meet Him there in His
glory, and are increasingly transformed by the indwelling Spirit into the
image of Jesus Christ as a result (Psalm 119:97; 2 Corinthians 3:12-18;
James 1:22-25). Add up your scores. What's your total?
If your total is 25 or less, then you are not realizing the promise of the
life of faith. You are not experiencing some of the most fundamental
things that Scripture promises concerning the life of faith. Something is
keeping you from what God has said can be true of your life.
Are you foolish and slow of heart? Are you living more by the evidence of
what you see around you each day than by the promise and truth of what God
has proclaimed in His Word? Most Christians know that the Bible teaches
the things outlined in our little test. But very few of us ever experience
much of this. We're just too busy. We don't know anyone else who's ever
lived like this. We're certain the people at our workplace or in our
neighborhood would look askance at this kind of thing. Our church has
never been a place that people flock to because the Law of God is taught
so plainly and compellingly there. All our experience tells us that, while
these things are neat to think about, and maybe even to hope for, we don't
really expect to realize them in our everyday lives.
And so we plan our lives, establish our priorities, and prosecute our
daily affairs more in conformity with our experience than with what God
promises in His Word. And, to the extent that we do this, we are living by
sight rather than by faith. We are fools, and slow of heart to believe the
prophets.
GETTING ON TRACK Happily the two disciples with whom Jesus conversed on
that lonely road did not remain stuck in their unbelief. As they listened
to Him explaining the Old Testament, and as they communed with Him in the
intimacy of a meal, their hearts were warmed, their eyes were opened, and
their tongues were unloosened so that they proclaimed the Good News of
Jesus to the other disciples.
If you're living more by sight than by faith, there's a relatively simple
solution. First, make sure you really know the Lord Jesus, that you truly
understand how thoroughly and profoundly His story is told throughout the
Scriptures, and the full meaning and implications for you of His perfect
life and atoning death. Make sure you are committed to Him, resolved to
follow Him wherever He leads, and determined to be obedient even unto
death, if need be.
Then become a more fervent and consistent student of His Word. Make time
each day to read, meditate on, and study the Scriptures. Let them shape
your attitudes. Let the Word of God focus your outlook and counsel you in
forming your plans. Let the Scriptures teach you the right priorities-what
to seek, how to live, how to use every opportunity for advancing the rule
of King Jesus. And let the Bible guide your daily practice, even if it
means you begin to turn your own world upside-down in obedience to Him.
Learn to live by faith! Never let it be said that you are foolish and slow
of heart to believe the Scriptures! Let the life of Jesus flow through you
as you meet and encounter Him day by day, and yield your steps in
obedience to His rule. Resolve to stop living by sight, and begin to
discover the liberating joy and power of living by faith.
FOR REFLECTION How did those Emmaus road disciples show that they had
resolved to live by faith, and not by sight? What would that look like in
your life?
T. M. Moore is a fellow of the Wilberforce Forum and dean of the Forum's
Centurion Program. He also serves as principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe,
a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic tradition. T. M. is editor of the
series, Jonathan Edwards for Today's Reader (P & R), the latest volume of
which is Pursuing Holiness in the Lord. His latest books are The Legacy of
Patrick and The Law of God: A Compilation (both from Waxed Tablet
Publications). He and his wife and editor, Susie, make their home in
Concord, Tenn. He can be reached at nacurragh@aol.com. All Scripture
quotations are from the English Standard Version (Crossway).
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| User: "Denis Loubet" |
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| Title: Re: Foolish and Slow of Heart? |
18 Jun 2007 10:37:12 AM |
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"No Reply" <nr222_a@shotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1107ud.nom.19.1@news.alt.net...
Foolish and Slow of Heart?
By T.M. Moore
Living by Faith Rather than by Sight
So pluck out your eyes and live by faith, don't let me stop you.
--
Denis Loubet
dloubet@io.com
http//www.io.com/~dloubet
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| User: "raven1" |
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| Title: Re: Foolish and Slow of Heart? |
17 Jun 2007 10:40:53 AM |
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On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 15:02:05 +0000 (UTC), "No Reply"
<nr222_a@shotmail.com> wrote:
A LITTLE TEST So, are you living by faith or by sight? Here's a little
test, five simple statements affirmed by many of the prophets of the Old
and New Testament. Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10-10 being the
highest rating-indicating the extent to which these statements are true in
your life at this time:
Why the ***** would you ask these questions to atheists?
--
"O Sybilli, si ergo
Fortibus es in ero
O Nobili! Themis trux
Sivat sinem? Causen Dux"
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| User: "Christopher A.Lee" |
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| Title: Re: Foolish and Slow of Heart? |
17 Jun 2007 10:22:06 AM |
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On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 15:02:05 +0000 (UTC), "No Reply"
<nr222_a@shotmail.com> wrote:
Why didn't you just say you are a stupid, nasty, in-your-face
cross-posting boor and save yourself both time and bandwidth?
[off-topic and irrelevant ***** snipped]
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| User: "Kurt Nicklas" |
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| Title: Re: Foolish and Slow of Heart? |
18 Jun 2007 10:45:59 AM |
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On Jun 17, 11:22 am, Christopher A.Lee <c...@optonline.net> wrote:
On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 15:02:05 +0000 (UTC), "No Reply"
<nr22...@shotmail.com> wrote:
Why didn't you just say you are a stupid, nasty, in-your-face
cross-posting boor and save yourself both time and bandwidth?
[off-topic and irrelevant ***** snipped]
You forgot to call him a liar, Christopher.
:snicker:
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