Assuming God

Posted on June 27, 2022 by Pete

Would it be a fair statement that for some of us followers of Jesus (for many of us?) we might tend towards assuming God? After all, God is a given. If we didn’t believe in God we wouldn’t be following His Son, reading His word, or trying to discern His will. If we didn’t believe in God we wouldn’t trust, we wouldn’t have hope, we wouldn’t be mindful of storing up treasures in heaven. Yeah, we believe in God. So, let’s move on and figure out how to live for God. Do you think that some (many?) might assume God? Hmm . . . I’m wondering.

What sparked the question? Something I read in Colossians this a.m.

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

(Colossians 1:9-10 ESV)

There it is, in verse 9–what tends to be our focus, and rightly so–be filled with the knowledge of His will and walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. That’s what we want to do.

But what caught my attention this morning is what Paul specifically lists as evidence of a worthy walk. I’m not saying it’s a comprehensive list, but I am saying that whatever a worthy walk looks like, Paul’s given us at least three indicators in verse 10. A worthy walk is:

  • A walk that is fully pleasing to Him
  • A walk that bears fruit in every good work
  • A walk that increases our knowledge of God

Chew on that last one–increasing in the knowledge of God. I am.

If a worthy walk is a knowledge-increasing walk (and I don’t think the original word is about “experiential knowledge” as much as it is about “precise and correct knowledge”, of “divine knowledge” or, “knowledge of the divine”), then what do we miss, what do we leave on the table, when we assume God? When we read our Bibles and skim past the familiar “theological stuff” so we can get to the “what’s it mean for me” practical stuff? When the notes we take during the sermon are the points of application and not the details of magnification? We’re leaving a lot on the table. Dare I say, we’re in danger of hamstringing the “worthy walk” a bit?

Assume God? Think we know all we need to know? Worse yet, think we know all there is to know? Of course not. Ridiculous. But really, what’s our thirst level for increasing in the knowledge of God — not just experiencing God, but knowing the essence, nature, character, and mind of God, as much as He’s been pleased to reveal it to us? Isn’t that, after all, what eternal life is all about at it’s core? I’m thinkin’ . . .

And this is eternal life, that they know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” ~ Jesus

(John 17:3 ESV)

As is our measure of thirst, so will be the measure of living water supplied to satisfy that thirst. A perpetual thirst? A perpetual increasing in the knowledge of God.

Oh, to walk in a manner worthy of Jesus. To be fully pleasing to Him. To bear fruit in every good work. To increase in our knowledge of God.

Only by His grace. Always for His glory.

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These Things

Posted on June 24, 2022 by Pete

This morning I’m chewing on a command with a promise. Actually, as I look at it a little deeper, it’s two commands with a promise. Both commands centered on these things.

But what’s weird is that, at least at first, as I hovered over these things, I had forgotten who was writing about these things?

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me —  practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

(Philippians 4:8-9 ESV)

These things. Think about these things. Practice these things. That’s what caught my eye, filled my mind, and stirred my heart this morning.

Things which are true, honorable, and just. Things which are pure, lovely, and commendable. Excellent things. Praiseworthy things. Things that have been learned and received, heard and seen. Consume yourself with these things. Be marked as one who is habitually busy with these things.

I know Paul wrote this letter; I should have known that it’s Paul writing about these things. Yet, for some reason as I read “in me”, I instinctively reached for my blue colored pencil–my color for Christ–and shaded “for me”, as in “for Me.” And it became a passage about Jesus speaking. Jesus who is true, honorable, just, pure, and lovely. The Son of God as the one who embodies excellence. The risen Savior, alone worthy of praise. Think on these things, think on Jesus. Things learned and received and heard and seen IN JESUS. Be like Jesus, by the power of Jesus, through the indwelling of Jesus, and practice these things.

And the passage, for a few moments, became a command to be so enraptured with Jesus that, by His grace, I emulated Jesus. To be so taught at His feet, and a witness of His works, that it influences how I direct my steps and carry out my duties. Think about Jesus. Learn from Jesus. Live like Jesus.

And then I realized that the “me” in the passage isn’t actually He. It’s Paul.

So, what was that about? Did I totally miss the point of what Paul was saying? Maybe not. Another verse then popped into my head.

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

(1Corinthians 11:1 ESV)

Would I be stretching it to suggest that at least part of thinking about Jesus things and practicing Jesus things is spurred on by seeing Jesus things in other believers? Not perfect people by any means, nevertheless people who have been crucified with Christ and who have Christ living in them and through them (Gal. 2:20).

When we rub shoulders with those people, we see things that are true, honorable, just, and pure. As we fellowship with other “new creations” in Christ (2Cor. 5:17) we’re exposed to what is lovely, commendable, excellent, and, to the glory of God, worthy of praise. Hanging with the family of God can prime the pump of thinking about these things.

Moreover, as we learn from one another, receive from one another, hear one another, and are close enough to see one another in action as they do life as children of God, it encourages us to live like one another and thus, practice these things as well

True, it is all about Jesus. But isn’t it also about Jesus in others so that it can be about Jesus in us? I’m thinking.

Hmm . . . shaded it in blue. Weird.

But perhaps also Spirit led? Could be.

Only by His grace. Always for His glory.

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He’s Seen Our Tears

Posted on June 23, 2022 by Pete

This morning I’m hovering over the first part of 2 Kings 20 and the diagnosis of Hezekiah’s terminal illness. Parts of the story I can’t relate to at all. I’m no king. Never been sent a prophet with a “thus says the LORD” to put my house in order. But I can relate to being the recipient of bad news. To realizing that, apart from divine intervention, there’s no hope of a favorable outcome. To praying desperate prayers. To weeping bitterly.

And here’s the other ground I share with the dying, distraught king. God’s seen my tears.

“Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears.”

(2Kings 20:5a ESV)

It’s the first mention of tears in the Bible. And they are from a man who, by the Spirit’s inspired testimony, “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD” (2Ki. 18:3). A king who “trusted in the LORD” and who stood out from every other king of Judah, save David, as one who “held fast to the LORD” (2Ki. 18:6). He had walked before his God “in faithfulness and with a whole heart” (2Ki. 20:3a). And now, as he faced certain death, he was shattered by the prospect of that walk on earth coming to an end. He had been wired by his Creator for life. He had lived that life for his Creator. And the prospect of that life coming to a close crushed him. And so, he prayed. And so, he “wept bitterly” (2Ki. 20:3b).

Guessing we know a lot more about life after life than Hezekiah did. More attuned that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2Cor. 5:8), and that while to live is Christ, to die is gain. But death is still an affront to the life we were created for. And so, in the face of death, we too weep. And often, we weep bitterly.

But God sees our tears. The One who commands the floodgates of heaven is aware of the water that falls from our eyes. Should He choose, He could collect them in a bottle or record each tear in a ledger (Ps. 56:8). He is not unaware of our sorrow and pain. He has known our suffering (Heb. 4:15). He has even wept Himself in our suffering (Jn. 11:35).

What comfort in knowing that God has seen every tear I have shed. What confidence, knowing that He will see every tear yet to be shed.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

(Hebrews 4:16 ESV)

Grace to be appropriated through every tear. Glory to be ascribed to the One who has seen our tears.

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My Surety

Posted on June 22, 2022 by Pete

Wasn’t expecting it. Don’t think I’ve ever noticed it. But there it was. In the last verse of the longest song in the Psalms. When I read it, I wasn’t sure what to do with it at first as it seemed out of place with the 175 verses before it. Or is it? As I chew on the songwriter’s words, I see how they are actually wonderfully in place.

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments.

(Psalm 119:176 ESV)

I have gone astray like a lost sheep. I read that and instead of immediately grabbing my black colored pencil to underline it (the marking for sin), I questioned it. Did he mean what he seems to mean, or was it astray as in I’ve lost my bearings? I didn’t recall reading other confessions of sin by the songwriter in Psalm 119, so I quickly scanned back through the psalm looking at where I had previously underlined in black.

Certainly, the songwriter speaks of the sin of those who “wander from Your commandments” (v.21) and of “the wicked, who forsake Your law” (v.53). He calls out the sin of his enemies, “the insolent” who have dug “pitfalls for me” and who “do not live according to Your law” (v.85). And he has sung of his eyes shedding “streams of tears, because people do not keep Your law” (v.136).

But when it comes to sin and the songwriter himself, the underlined lyrics I see have to do with avoiding sin. He stores up God’s word in his heart, “that I might not sin against You” (v.11). He “holds back” his feet “from every evil way” and resolves to “not turn aside from Your rules” (v.101-102).

So what’s up? After 175 verses of glorying in the precepts of God, after 175 verses of declaring their worth and his desire to know them and to live according to them, why end on such a sour note? ‘Cause, it seems to me, he’s being real. And, at the end of the day, it’s more about a God who seeks sheep gone astray than about sheep who never go astray.

I am humbled by the humility of the songwriter. While he has set his face to knowing and following the word, he knows the propensity of his feet to wander from the word. While he has earnestly asked of the LORD to be taught, shown, and directed in the way of God, he has to admit that sometimes he heads off in a way that “seems right to a man” (Prov. 14:12).

Yet, rather than trying to justify himself before God, rather than trying to hide it from God, rather than just ignoring it before God, he confesses the reality that he is prone to stray as do sheep. While he purposes to ever keep God’s word before himself, he also knows of the reality that there are times when he doesn’t keep himself before the word. And so, as he closes this grand ode to God’s revealed truth, he does so on a bit of a minor key. I have gone astray like a lost sheep.

So where does his hope lie amidst such realization and confession? It’s not in his resolve to double-down, buckle-up, and try harder to get back on track. His hope is in knowing that His God is a seeker of lost sheep. That the heart of the Sovereign God is the heart of a Shepherd God who will leave the ninety-nine to pursue the one that is lost until he is found and returned to the fold (Lk. 15:3-7).

And the lifeline that forever tethers the sheep to their Shepherd? It’s the word of God — the last words used in this epic psalm. The songwriter was confident that, though he might stray, His God would faithfully rescue and return him to the way everlasting “for I do not forget Your commandments.”

His word is my light. His commandments are my confidence. His promises are my peace.

The Scriptures are my surety.

According to God’s grace. All for God’s glory.

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The God of the Land

Posted on June 17, 2022 by Pete

In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. And this occurred because . . .

(2Kings 17:6-7a ESV)

2 Kings 17 is a chilling postmortem of Israel, the northern kingdom. Since the twelve tribes of split into Judah and the rest, Israel; since the first king of Israel, Jeroboam, built golden calves in the north to worship so that people would not go to worship where the glory of God dwelt in the south, king after king in Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, following Jeroboam’s lead. And as goes a peoples’ leaders, so goes the people.

And so, the cause of death of a nation is listed in excruciating detail:

  • they had feared other gods
  • they had walked in the ways of the nations
  • they did secretly against the LORD things that were not right
  • they set up for themselves pillars of worship
  • they served idols
  • they did wicked things
  • they would not listen to the prophets
  • they would not believe in the LORD their God
  • they despised His statues and commandments
  • they went after false idols thus becoming false themselves
  • they sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD
  • and so, they provoked the Lord to anger

As Dane Ortlund points out in his book, Gentle and Lowly, because God’s mercy is “pent up, ready to gush forth” and “ready to burst forth at the slightest prick”, you never read of God being “provoked to mercy” or “provoked to love.” But when it comes to being angry, because God is slow to anger (Ex. 34:6) “it takes much accumulated provoking to draw out His ire.” And that’s what Israel did. Thus, because of their persistent rebellion, eventually God uses the king of Assyria to remove them from the land of promise.

But here’s what struck me this morning. Even though God removed a people from the place where He said He would dwell in their midst, He didn’t move out Himself.

After removing the people of Israel from the land, the King of Assyria populates it with people from a variety of other lands. And immediately the lion population so increases in number and aggression that the “cause” of this “effect” is clear.

So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the God of the land. Therefore He has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the God of the land.”

(2Kings 17:26 ESV)

The God of the land. The people of the God of the land had been exiled because of unfaithfulness, yet the God of the land remained. They had been redeemed to testify to the nations concerning the God of the land, now God would make Himself known directly. The nation may have died, but the presence of the eternal, immortal God remained. While Israel might be forgotten for a time, He would make Himself known always.

And so, the King of Assyria sends priests of Israel back to the land to “dwell there and teach them the law of the God of the land” (17:27) and they “taught them how they should fear the LORD” (17:28).

Behold the God of the land. Slow to anger, yet righteous and just. Faithful despite a fallen people. Making Himself known to all those made in His image if they would have eyes to see and ears to hear. Offering to all the opportunity to know Him, for “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7).

A God who has always acted in grace. A God who has always sought to show men and women He alone is deserving of glory.

Behold our God.

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Give Me Life

Posted on June 16, 2022 by Pete

The plea has been scattered 6 times thus far throughout Psalm 119. But in the eight verses I’m hovering over this morning it is repeated three times. Chewing on the songwriters concentrated request to “give me life.”

Plead my cause and redeem me; give me life according to Your promise!
Great is Your mercy, O LORD; give me life according to Your rules.
Consider how I love Your precepts! Give me life according to Your steadfast love.

(Psalm 119:154, 156, 159 ESV)

Given life almost 64 years ago on the day I was born. Given new life about 45 years ago when Jesus responded to the feeble prayer of a seeker in darkness who was beginning to see the light. And still, the repeated plea to “give me life” seems more needed today than ever.

Not that I need to be birthed again — impossible. Not that I need to be born again again — that’s a done deal for eternity. But that, as the NKJV puts it, I need to be revived.

Weariness needs to give way to wakefulness. That which binds needs to be broken. The sense of being harassed and oppressed replaced with a song of hope and optimism. (Sure, the blues are just smart thinking if everyone and everything seems against you, but if God is for us, really who can be against us!)

Give me life. Bring refreshing. Revive us again!

And within this triumvirate plea is a wonderful equation, a connecting of the dots tying God’s word to God’s love.

If A=B and A=C and A=D
then
B=C=D

so

If LIFE is according to GOD’s PROMISE and
LIFE is according to GOD’s RULES and
LIFE is according to GOD’S STEADFAST LOVE
then
GOD’s PROMISE
is integrally connected to
GOD’s RULES
is integrally connected to
GOD’s STEADFAST LOVE.

Life, revival, renewed vigor is found in God’s word, according to God’s ways, fueled by God’s promises, as a reminder of God’s unfailing love.

Life sourced in the Son. Life infused by the Spirit. We flourish when we feed on God’s word.

So, when the weight is weighty and the get-up-and-go seems to have got-up-and-gone, we remain in God’s word. Reminded of God’s promises. Rejuvenated by God’s ways. Revived and refreshed through God’s steadfast love.

Only by God’s grace. Always for God’s glory.

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A Tangible Lifeline

Posted on June 15, 2022 by Pete

This morning, I’m hovering over the nineteenth of twenty-two stanzas of the Scripture’s greatest love song, Psalm 119.

The songwriter needed the LORD to save him (v. 146a). Don’t know who he needed to be saved from, but “they” were drawing near to persecute him “with evil purpose” (v.150a). Situation desperate. Commence prayer (v.145a). And where did the songwriter go in the meantime? As he waited for his deliverance, where would he find his solace?

I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in Your words. My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on Your promise.

(Psalm 119:147-148 ESV)

I hope in Your words. I meditate on Your promise.

I don’t know that the child of God has a more tangible lifeline than the word of God. Regardless of the season to be endured, whatever the wisdom needed, however much waiting needs to be done, the word is the way of hope.

It reminds us of who God is. He is steadfast love, He is justice, He is the giver and sustainer of life (v.149). He is forever (v.152).

It reminds us of where God is. He is near (v.151).

It reminds us of what God desires, what God has declared, what God has directed, and what God has determined as outcomes. His statutes (v.145), His testimonies (v.146), His commandments (v. 151), and His promises (v. 148) serving to allow the songwriter to know something of the incomprehensible Creator and His “higher ways” (Isa. 55:9). His words (v.147) giving substance to the One who is spirit.

So, the songwriter is awake before dawn and seeks to communicate with God. As Spurgeon puts it, “Before the watchman cried the hour, he was crying to God.” God would hear his voice.

But how would he hear God’s voice? By meditating and chewing on God’s precious, “living and active” word (Heb. 4:12). A tangible lifeline connecting heaven and earth.

What supernatural resources we ignore when we fail to open our bibles. What divine comfort we miss if we are not hovering over His word. What sure hope we fail to grasp if we do not meditate on His promises and are not reminded of His power.

Great peace have those who love Your law, And nothing causes them to stumble.

(Psalm 119:165 ESV)

A tangible lifeline.

Through His word. By His grace. For His glory.

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He Eats and Drinks with Tax Collectors and Sinners

Posted on June 14, 2022 by Pete

Remove two words and the question becomes a truth. The examination turns into an exclamation. The inquiry morphs into a wondrous infallibility. Just by dropping two words.

After this [Jesus] went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed Him. And Levi made Him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

(Luke 5:27-30 ESV)

You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners.

The other gospel writers represent these grumblings by the self-righteous and uber-religious as directed primarily at Jesus, but Luke points out that what Jesus did His disciples did as well. Yet, as I read these words this morning, in my mind’s eye “you”, the collective, pops as “You”, the Christ. The grumbling was directed towards a young, upstart rabbi who was competing for people’s religious affection. The question was directed at the One who came preaching good news of a kingdom which had come. The incredulity targeted at the self-identified Messiah, God’s holy promised Redeemer.

But for me this morning, it’s a glorious statement of fact concerning my Savior. He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners — and borrowing from Paul, “of who I am chief” (1Tim. 1:15 NKJV).

This past Sunday, He was seated with me at a spiritual table of remembrance as I ate and drank together with other sinners who had been called to the celebration. One day He will eat and drink with me around a great banqueting table in the heavens celebrating the marriage of the Lamb of God and the bride He purchased with His own blood (Rev. 19:7-9). And every morning He renews His invitation — setting the table afresh with new mercies and all-sufficient grace — that if I will RSVP and open the door, He promises that “I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20).

Jesus eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners.

How thankful am I for that? Pretty thankful. How much in awe that I have a seat at the table? A lot.

To what degree do I deserve it, have earned it, or merit it? Not so much.

Sure, I seek to follow. I try to obey. I trust I’m growing and being increasingly conformed to the likeness of Jesus. But when it comes down to my confidence that there will always be a place at the table for me, it’s only through the finished work of the cross. Only because of the steadfast, patient love of the Lord. Only because Jesus calls tax collectors and sinners to Himself, declaring them to be saints, and determining to complete the work He has begun in them (Php. 1:6).

Just a sinner . . .

. . . saved by grace.

At the table . . .

. . . for God’s glory.

Amen?

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Windows in Heaven

Posted on June 13, 2022 by Pete

Situation? Desperate. Degree of hope? Near zero. Cynicism? Running high. Solution? Windows in heaven.

Hovering over a phrase in 2 Kings 7 this morning which I’m taking out of context yet is providing a flood of comfort and confidence.

Ben-hadad king of Syria has laid siege to Samaria. So severe is the famine that “a donkey’s head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver” (6:25). Don’t know exactly what that means, but Peterson helps in The Message, “food prices soared astronomically.” So bad was the famine that moms were divvying up their children for food (6:26-29). Situation? Desperate. Degree of hope? Near zero.

Enter the man of God, Elisha. Enter God through the man, the LORD of heaven and earth.

But Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD: thus says the LORD, Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.”

(2Kings 7:1 ESV)

Peterson again cuts to the chase: “This time tomorrow food will be plentiful.”

But understandably, cynicism runs high.

Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, “If the LORD Himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?”

(2Kings 7:2a ESV)

Might as well let Peterson comment on this as well: “You expect us to believe that? Trapdoors opening in the sky and food tumbling out?”

Windows in heaven opened upon earth. Floodgates of living water gushing out on a dry, sparse, and desert land. An existence all but atrophied infused with abundance from above. Really? You expect us to believe that?

Yeah, really!

And when Jesus was baptized, immediately He went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

(Matthew 3:16-17 ESV)

If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?

(Romans 8:31b-32 ESV)

The windows of heaven have been opened. The sluice thrown wide. Heaven’s best sent to redeem earth’s worst. The Son of God, anointed with the Spirit of God, to deliver the life-giving abundance of God to dying souls in a dry and barren land. Could this thing be? Yes sir! Yes ma’am! Because there ARE windows in heaven.

We have known the feast given in famine since that day we first believed. Hope for the hopeless. Life worth the living. Every bone-dry season of famine since then serving as an opportunity to know afresh that there are windows in heaven. The ultimate prize, the Son Himself. The ultimate thirst-quenching, soul-filling sustenance delivered by the Spirit in us as He comes afresh upon us.

Windows in heaven? Really? Yeah, really. That’s the solution. That’s the Savior.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Terms of Salvation

Posted on June 10, 2022 by Pete

The Bible says he was “a great man”, that he was “a mighty man of valor”. He was the commander of the army of the king of Syria. But for the many battles he had won, there was one in which he was perpetually on the losing side. Naaman was a leper. Couldn’t fight himself out of that one.

This morning I’m hovering over his story in 2 Kings 5. And what grabs me is that he was tripped up by the terms of salvation.

A Hebrew servant who was in service to Naaman’s wife informs her mistress that she thinks there’s a cure in Israel. If only Naaman were to see Elisha, “the prophet who is in Samaria” (v.3).

Having exhausted all traditional methods of treating his leprosy, he heads to Israel. Elisha gets word of his coming and sends a servant to prescribe the treatment that will rid Naaman of his leprosy.

And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”

(2Kings 5:10 ESV)

Sounds simple enough. Perhaps too good to be true, but hey, worth a shot. Or so you might think.

But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.

(2Kings 5:11-12 ESV)

He was enraged! He was a man of position who deserved something much better than a mere messenger saying go wash in a foreign river. He didn’t like the terms of salvation from his leprosy.

But cooler heads persuade and prevail.

But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

(2Kings 5:13-14 ESV)

He wanted to be clean, but on his terms. He wanted victory over his rotting flesh, but in a way that seemed fitting for a man of his standing. But his servants cut to the chase, “Do you want to be clean or not? He’s told you how to be clean.” And Naaman, by the grace of God, in faith dips himself seven times in what God had determined would be a cleansing flow. He believed. He responded. He was clean.

How many get tripped up by the gospel because they don’t think it’s a fitting solution to their problems. Oh, they know they are broken, that their flesh is messed up, but to believe that cleansing comes through placing oneself beneath the shed blood of the risen Christ are terms they can’t — more accurately, won’t accept. But the bottom-line question remains. Do you want to be clean? Then, by faith, wash in the provision sent by a redeeming, renewing, regenerating God.

True of unbelievers? Yes, too often. True of believers? Unfortunately, also too often, I think. Not for our salvation from the penalty of sin, but for our sanctification, our on-going salvation from the power of sin. The terms of pursuing holiness something we think beneath us. And so we struggle with the remnants of rotting flesh rather than submitting to the messenger of the Spirit through God’s word as to how to be made whole.

How I need to bow in obedience to the terms of salvation.

For my continued cleansing. By His grace. For His glory.

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