There are certain positions that were intended by God to reflect and honour Him and with those positions, a certain character is expected. The book of Proverbs highlights characteristics that do not fit the righteous or ones that do not fit the wicked. This is also true of leadership positions like that of a King. Even though a king is a fallen creature who also sins, the expectation from God is that the king will rule after His own heart, following in His precepts and commands. This morning, I was reading Proverbs 20 and the first verse in there reminded me of Proverbs 31 where the mother of King Lemuel in an oracle tells her son to never give himself over to wine because it is not fitting for a king (Proverbs 31:4). I wonder, if there are expectations that are tied to certain positions, we would do well to know what those are in order to honour the LORD in our dealings. As Christians, we are supposed to follow the commands of the LORD in every aspect but often times we do not know what we are supposed to do, or we dismiss what we should do or rationalize it to excuse our disobedience. My goal in today’s post is simply to encourage you to be mindful of who you are in Christ and of where the LORD has placed you because He has great expectations.
From the get-go, once a person surrenders their lives to the LORD Jesus Christ, confesses with their mouth that Jesus is LORD and believes in their heart that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9), they are saved, they are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and that comes with blessings and expectations from the saviour. One of those expectations is that we would display the LORD’s character in all that we do because He gets glorified. Because our lives no longer belong to us, we do not live for our selfish ambitions anymore but live for Him and that means our conduct is examined through His lenses. For that reason, the LORD has not left us to our own devices to figure this new life on our own, He has given us many tools to help us live like citizen of His kingdom, like children who have an inheritance.
First, God has given us His Spirit, the “Spirit of spirits”, the Holy Spirit who lives in us. His role is to show us Christ, comfort us, teach us, convict us of sin, reveal the truth to us, bring to our minds all that the word of God says (John 14:26), strengthen our faith so that we do not lose heart, He also guarantees our belonging to the new family of God as our seal (Ephesians 1:13-14). This is the reason Jesus said it was beneficial that He leaves this earth, so that the Holy Spirit would come. Unfortunately, the role of the Holy Spirit is often misunderstood, we often want His power and not Him. We do not give Him the space and the authority He needs to work in us. We quench His fire quickly and we grieve Him by our conduct and our sin. The more we do that, the more we declare that He has no place in us, that Christ died for no reasons. I pray that we will be people who pay attention to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Second, the LORD has given us His word. In my opinion, the written word of God is the most powerful tool we have in our hand to help us live as citizens of heavens while on earth. This word of God, that is the Bible is tangible and speaks to both our physical needs as well as our spiritual needs. Indeed, the writer of Hebrews tells us that the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, judging the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). This is mind-boggling what the word of God is and does! We do ourselves a disservice for not reading it, meditating on it, singing it, memorizing it, and applying it to our lives. In many parts of the Bible, we are told that the word of God gives life and that those who obey it will prosper. Can I encourage you to take advantage of this living and active word of God that is available to you today? Many nations in this world do not have the privilege of carrying the word of God as we do here in the west, the Bible is prohibited in those places and so they long to have it. Meanwhile, we who have access to the word, even have several translations of it on our shelves seldom open it. Do me a favour, would you repent of neglecting the word of God and committing by the help of His Spirit to take it seriously to learn about what the Master requires of you?
Third, we have the blessing of the Church, the body of Christ. The LORD saw to it that we would live in unity as one body to encourage one another in the faith and be strong in the LORD in the midst of difficulties and adversity. The church exists to exalt the LORD Jesus Christ, to equip the believers and send them into the world to make Christ known and persevere in their walk with Him. The church ensures no one is ever left unattended, or alone. Part of our journey on this earth is communal; we were not meant to do things on our own. I believe through the church we also see the evidence or the accomplishment of the word of Jesus when he said to his disciples that he is with them all the time until the end of ages (Matthew 28:20). Are you despising the Bride of Christ? Are you neglecting the gathering of the saints? Are you uncomfortable around your fellow Christian brothers and sisters? The writer of the book of Hebrews once again encourages us to not give up meeting together as some are in the habits of doing, and to do this all the more as we see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:25). Christ died for his Bride to present her holy and blameless without stain or wrinkle (Ephesians 5:27) and us not regarding the redeemed as highly as Christ does is to nullify what he has done. Therefore, do not neglect the fellowship of the saints, though these are saints that are still rough around the edges, though they may hurt you, know that you must learn to love them and work at be blameless in your conduct. The LORD Himself is the judge of all, and He knows how to separate the wheat from the chaff (Matthew 3:12).
In the end, know that as believers in the LORD, you must pursue righteousness, truth, justice, goodness, kindness, love, good work ethic, seek after wisdom, serve lovingly, give cheerfully; in all things, you ought to make your Father pleased. The goal is not perfection but rather perseverance in doing good, in doing what your Father expects of you. The reality is that you will fail in that endeavour, but you know that when you fail, you have an advocate before the Father in Jesus (1 John 2:1), you have the Holy Spirit that help you pick yourself up and you have the church. So be encouraged and keep going because you have been given a great identity and calling which comes with big expectations so do not despise them. I pray the LORD brings you to the realization of who you are in Him and what that entails for you even as you see the Day approaching. Amen!
