Our Spiritual Marching Orders
Friday, December 15, 2023
The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not obtained by sudden flight;
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
Standing on what too long we bore,
With shoulders bent and downcast eyes,
We may discern-unseen before-
A path to higher destinies!
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
You may have heard the following saying: “Pray as if everything depends on God and work as if everything depends on you.” Whereas that timeless axiom may not be 100% theologically correct, there is a certain element of truth to it. Specifically, the message it seeks to convey is that our relationship with God is meant to be a partnership.
No, we cannot earn our way to heaven. In fact, the Bible is very clear that even our most righteous acts are nothing but filthy rags in God’s sight (see Isaiah 64:6). And so, good luck passing through the pearly gates on your own merits, because it ain’t gonna happen.
However, God doesn’t want us to become spiritual sloths either. Knowing that our sins are forgiven and that we are on our way to heaven should motivate us to action, not resign us to complacency. As the Apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2:10, “we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Likewise, James hammers home the same point in his epistle, reminding us that “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
Yes, my friend, we are saved by grace through faith (see Ephesians 2:8-9); but the Christian life doesn’t stop there. In fact, that is only the beginning of a lifelong demonstration of our faith.
Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:13-16? We are the light of the world, so start reflecting His light, showing unbelievers the way to God and exposing evil for what it is. In the same manner, as the salt of the earth, we are to flavor and preserve the culture around us, not cave into it. Sounds like marching orders to me!
“Did you not know that I must be about My father’s business?” Luke 2:49b (NKJV)
- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President
