Is Your Cart Before the Horse?

1 Thessalonians 4:7-8

7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. 8 So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you.

These two sentences are actually the ending of Paul’s discussion on sexual immorality. However, I left them out of the last posting because I believe they can have more meaning than just applying to that one topic.

Verse 7 is a reminder of the purpose God has called us ALL to. He is referring to the process of sanctification he mentioned earlier. It is a process of living in the Way, living out our salvation. This is how we know we are truly saved, that our hearts and minds begin to change away from the world and towards God.

Re-emphasizing the fact that this is God’s truth, not merely the words of man, Paul reminds us that when we negate or reject it, we aren’t simply rejecting what man has said, but what God has said. Ironically enough, those that reject God’s word do so by saying it is man’s word. This, as anyone who has followed my analysis of the scriptures, frustrates me completely. We’ve discussed before that our belief and faith doesn’t get initiated by God’s word, but rather we read it because God has given us the belief. So, if we do not believe, then the bible is pretty much just a book. We need to ask God for His truth to be revealed to us and to guide us to His truth, in which comes the belief that the bible really is His Word. We put the cart before the horse, the horse runs into the cart, and then we lose hope and turn away. I feel this is why some people struggle with believing in God, they are looking for Him the wrong places and asking people instead of Him. Why not go to the source?

Anybody who knows me knows that I try my best to make “informed decisions”. As I began to re-establish my relationship with God, I prayed earnestly for Him to show me the truth. While I appreciated sermons and study guides and books, I decided that I didn’t want God’s truth tainted by manmade principles, motives, or perspectives. I wanted His Word, in whatever form it was. The result: studying the bible one line at a time. God removed all doubt that the bible was His word and I began reading it earnestly, seeking out what God was saying to me in it. It is amazing the things He reveals to us if we will just ask Him for direction instead of trying to figure it all out on our own.

Where are you looking for Him?

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