There’s an old story about some scientists who got together and decided to tell God that they didn’t need him any longer. They could now save and transplant organs and tissue. They could even clone people. Needless to say, God was impressed so He proposed a test. “Why don’t you create a person the same way that I did with Adam and Eve?” The scientists responded with, “Yes, we’ll do that.” So they set to work and dug up some dirt. God said, “Stop! Get your own dirt.”
That’s the way a lot of people hold their belief in God. They’re really smarter and can come up with a better idea. Or, maybe, that God has outlived his usefulness and man can take it from there. That is, until God tells us to come up with our own dirt.
Believing should be more than just temporary or something that people outgrow. It’s far more than that. It’s realizing that God really does hold this universe and all that is in it in His hands. It really is His dirt and He’s the one that created it, too. Just thinking about it is profound.
Proverbs 19:3 says, “The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the Lord.” God, in his great wisdom, looks down into the hearts of man and knows only too well what is there. Thankfully, “God so loved the world…” or all would be lost and their would be no salvation for anyone. Like Pastor Josh said, “Regardless of what man does God has a plan and He will do what is right and good. God is wise to know the difference between right and wrong.”
Proverbs 14:9-14 speaks to fools and clearly points out people who are slack in their faith in the Lord. Proverbs 3:5-10 is the flip side of that. They are well-known verses to all who believe that God is who He says He is. It begins with “Trust in the Lord…”. Jesus adds strength to these verses with his answer to the scribes question “Which is the first commandment of all?” It’s in Mark 12:30-31. Jesus says the first commandment of all is to love the Lord with all you heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Proverbs 3 enlarges on this idea. Verse 5 opens with trusting in the Lord with all your heart and not to rely on yourself. Verse 6 says to accept the truth of God and He will lead you. Verse 7 is to not think more highly of yourself than you do of God and to give Him the reverence He deserves. If you do, verse 8 explains that as health is to our body so, too, fear of the Lord serves as our spiritual strength.
The last two verses, 9 and 10, merit more attention. These have to do with wealth and how it is used. Story one is about a wealthy family who owned a very expensive vase. One day their two-year old son got his hand stuck in the vase. Try as they might, they couldn’t get his hand free. Finally, the father took a hammer and broke the vase. What was so important that the two-year old stuck his hand in the vase? There was a penny in the bottom of the vase. Something far greater was lost over a penny.
Story number two is about a sailor marooned on an island. The natives brought him to their village and made him king. Why? Because they had never seen anyone like him. He found out that he would be king for a year and they would banish him to a deserted island to die. The king decided to have the natives build boats, plan fruit trees, and build a palace on the deserted island. When the year was up, he would live in a paradise. He laid us his treasure in paradise.
What is done with what one has makes a difference.
That’s the way a lot of people hold their belief in God. They’re really smarter and can come up with a better idea. Or, maybe, that God has outlived his usefulness and man can take it from there. That is, until God tells us to come up with our own dirt.
Believing should be more than just temporary or something that people outgrow. It’s far more than that. It’s realizing that God really does hold this universe and all that is in it in His hands. It really is His dirt and He’s the one that created it, too. Just thinking about it is profound.
Proverbs 19:3 says, “The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the Lord.” God, in his great wisdom, looks down into the hearts of man and knows only too well what is there. Thankfully, “God so loved the world…” or all would be lost and their would be no salvation for anyone. Like Pastor Josh said, “Regardless of what man does God has a plan and He will do what is right and good. God is wise to know the difference between right and wrong.”
Proverbs 14:9-14 speaks to fools and clearly points out people who are slack in their faith in the Lord. Proverbs 3:5-10 is the flip side of that. They are well-known verses to all who believe that God is who He says He is. It begins with “Trust in the Lord…”. Jesus adds strength to these verses with his answer to the scribes question “Which is the first commandment of all?” It’s in Mark 12:30-31. Jesus says the first commandment of all is to love the Lord with all you heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Proverbs 3 enlarges on this idea. Verse 5 opens with trusting in the Lord with all your heart and not to rely on yourself. Verse 6 says to accept the truth of God and He will lead you. Verse 7 is to not think more highly of yourself than you do of God and to give Him the reverence He deserves. If you do, verse 8 explains that as health is to our body so, too, fear of the Lord serves as our spiritual strength.
The last two verses, 9 and 10, merit more attention. These have to do with wealth and how it is used. Story one is about a wealthy family who owned a very expensive vase. One day their two-year old son got his hand stuck in the vase. Try as they might, they couldn’t get his hand free. Finally, the father took a hammer and broke the vase. What was so important that the two-year old stuck his hand in the vase? There was a penny in the bottom of the vase. Something far greater was lost over a penny.
Story number two is about a sailor marooned on an island. The natives brought him to their village and made him king. Why? Because they had never seen anyone like him. He found out that he would be king for a year and they would banish him to a deserted island to die. The king decided to have the natives build boats, plan fruit trees, and build a palace on the deserted island. When the year was up, he would live in a paradise. He laid us his treasure in paradise.
What is done with what one has makes a difference.
