My Unusual Journal
My Unusual Journal 51, Saturday, November 12, 2011, 10:58 PM
Let’s Return to the Old Paths
“Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.” (Jer 6:16 KJV)
I dislike sounding like a cracked record, but there are certain things that need to be said to God’s people again and again in this day of shifting standards and blurred lines of demarcation. We have to ask ourselves rhetorically, “Where indeed is the old path set out for us as Christians in an unchristian world; where is the good way in which we should walk?”
I am not a pastor and have no desire to be one. While I believe it to be an honorable calling that I would gladly choose to enter, I have no choice in the matter. Clearly God deemed that I did not have the “right stuff” to qualify me for the job and that settles the issue. But I have a pastor’s heart and it hurts me to see the lackadaisical way so many believers in Christ go about their Christian profession.
Apostle Paul was the consummate pastor. As a case in point, he had to reprove the dillydallying Galatians for their lack of commitment to the Gospel instead of relying on the works of the Mosaic Law. Paul was fully aware that this Holy Way, which is not a denomination but the path all Christians should follow (Heb. 12.14), requires dedication and commitment, perseverance and determination. They and we are missing the boat when we look on our Christian profession as just another “religion.” We are supposedly following Jesus who alone can save us. How are we going to be saved if we follow Him from a distance?
I am not saying these things to unfrock you or take away your salvation. It would be going contrary to what God wants of me if I preach to you fire and brimstone and consign you to hell. I am instead dedicated and committed to saving you and myself from that place or torment by seeing that we immerse ourselves in Jesus Christ and His doctrine. There is no desire on my part to “unsave” you. No, no. All I want to do is make sure you – we, that is – are enwrapping ourselves in Jesus Christ the only Savior of men and women.
It’s all right to hide behind the safety of Eternal Security, but how can Jesus save us eternally if we are walking a hundred yards behind Him? Certainly He can save us, but God never intended to save us from a hundred yards away. He wants us to be close to Him, so close we can hear and feel His heartbeat. In Jesus’ last prayer with His disciples He allowed for no long-distance discipleship. He prayed,
“Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through their word; that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us: that the world may believe that thou didst send me. And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and thou in me, that they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that thou didst send me, and lovedst them, even as thou lovedst me.” (Joh 17:20-23 RV)
This can scarcely be called long-distance discipleship. It bespeaks the warm, close, intimate relationship that Jesus wants with all of us. And tell me, you who can’t be bothered with the self-denial and rigorous regimen of walking close to Jesus: Do you have a sense of assurance when you are in desperate need of help from your neglected Friend? You know you don’t; and you also know you are a “sometimey” friend who is not truly a friend of God.
It is so foolish to neglect this great, powerful, loving God when you are one of the weakest and most defenseless creatures on earth. How in the name of heaven can you be such a moron? But you still don’t hear me…
Comments