A Rudder Out of Stony Ground
Whom do we choose to offend? Is the Word of God, the Bible real or just another book on the bookshelf? You can stop reading if it’s just another book on the bookshelf because you’ll dismiss my words anyway. However, if scripture is from God, is His Word for His people, and has authority in your life, then I invite you to read on, but you may not like it.
"Golden Sand - white Desert" by www.alfieianni.com is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
A lot was going on with Sunday’s lesson (Week 27 The Sun Scorches the Stony Word.) The title is taken from Mark 4: 5-6:
5“Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil.
6“And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
Mark 4:5–6 (NASB95)
The scripture passage came from Isaiah 40:18-25, talking about replacing God with idols made from things God created but which are not animate themselves:
18To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?
19 As for the idol, a craftsman casts it, A goldsmith plates it with gold, And a silversmith fashions chains of silver.
20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering Selects a tree that does not rot; He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman To prepare an idol that will not totter.
21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is He who sits above the vault of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
23 He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
24 Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble.
25 “To whom then will you liken Me That I should be his equal?” says the Holy One.
(Isaiah 40:18–25, NASB)
Then in the lesson, we focused on whose judgment is more correct, God’s or Man’s?
7And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.”
8The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire.
9Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.
Revelation 16:7–9 (NASB95)
Who is right? God or Man? Who indeed?
The secular world would have us listen to them. They state they have the right of any one thing at all times. They say to look to them for guidance, truth, and honor.
Time and time again, those who do watch as those secular leaders begin to head in one direction, saying a thing is right, and when we follow them, suddenly they are angered. They tell us, no, no, that isn’t right, or somehow we’ve gotten it all wrong. We point to a time in the past when those leaders said what we are doing is right, but they insist we’ve got it wrong because what is going on now is somehow different from then. But it isn’t.
Now is like then, and yes, that has two meanings. People of the world try to tell us what is right, but they have no basis in anything consistent other than what they feel in the moment, and those feelings are blown about on the wind based on where the path of least resistance and least conflict lies. They are rudderless, hypocritical, prone to anger when their illogic is called into question, and refuse to allow for sound critical thinking.
14“If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
15“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
16“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;
17that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
18“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
John 14:14–18 (NASB95)
A guide. A rudder. A way through life that is consistent, true, and just. The world claims to want justice, but they are not consistent in the definition of that justice because they have no definition of anything that remains constant. They have built for themselves idols of clay to be molded into whatever they need it to be for the moment. What they rely on doesn’t change them in any way. It doesn’t make them better. It doesn’t move them to shed bad habits. It doesn’t shift their lives on an improving scale in any fashion. All that massive idol of clay does is hide the shame of their bad decisions in the shadow it casts over their lives, obscuring it from their view. So, not seeing the consequences of their bad decisions, they don’t have to deal with them. Like an addict running from the truth of the addiction, they point an accusing finger at other people to take the focus off themselves. Until they hit rock bottom, they won’t deal with their mess; for some, they never will. For them, it will be too late. For those whom the Holy Spirit moves their heart they have a chance.
For us who have heard the knock, opened the door, and let Jesus into our hearts, we are on a new path. This path does not walk with the world. It walks beside it, but not with it. Our path is not their path. Our guide is not their guide. We have a true North Star, fixed, immobile, guiding us ever onward to that same fixed point. God, the Father, through God the Son, led by God the Holy Spirit. Three Persons in One, the triune godhead, is the Trinity of the Christian faith. You can’t have one of the three without the other two. They work together to accomplish the same goal: the salvation of mankind. We are the hands and feet. We are the moving breath of God in the world. We are the ones who assuage the doubt, worry, and fear of others. If we don’t, we aren’t bearing fruit. But your fruit may not be my fruit; no two people have exactly the same gifts, so let’s not be a stumbling block for someone else working in the Spirit of God for the betterment of those around him or her. Pick a brother or sister up. Help a neighbor walk their path, or at the very least, do not hinder them on that path. Read the Bible and talk with God daily. He is our guide, not the world, because the destination of the World is not the destination we seek. If it is, you haven’t been paying attention.