FAITH FREES THE HEART
Moreover, God who knows men's inmost thoughts....He had cleansed their hearts by faith. Acts 15:8, 9, Phillips.
A man had a well from which he drew all his water. Because the water was brackish, he distilled it for drinking and cooking. A neighbor dropped in one day during this process and inquired why the man did not dig a new well. The man shrugged, saying, "I've done this for years. It's OK; I'm used to it."
Sometimes we get used to a certain way of thinking. Though we know that it is not totally suitable, we tend to consider such thinking as "right" simply because it is so familiar. The practice is no different in the area of religion. Many familiar ideas about God seem to be "right"--mostly because they've been around for so long. However, we end up having to "distill" them intellectually before we can "swallow" them emotionally.
Take, for example, the ideas that surround the truth that God is our judge. Hasn't He long been pictured as stern and/or exacting? It can be an unpleasant thought, especially when tied to the concept of His omniscience. Visualizing Jesus pleading His blood on our behalf allows us to accept the judgeship of the Father, but it does not help us accept the Father Himself!
Our text today tells us that God knows our inmost thoughts. He knows better than we do how unsavory are some of our ideas about Him. He also knows that unless our opinion of Him changes, we will tend to concentrate on acts of obedience rather than in having an intimate relationship with Him. And no matter how many right things we do, misgivings about God will not have been purged from our hearts if we have not come to know Him as He really is.
Jesus said, "Anyone who gives heed to what I say and puts his trust in him who sent me has hold of eternal life" (John 5:24, N.E.B.). As we come to know God our fears and doubts about Him are replaced by the excitement of discovering how real and relevant He is, how reasonable and reliable His plan for our lives. In this way--by giving us understanding about Himself--God removes forever from our hearts any reasons we felt we had for not wanting to be His friends. And as our faith in Him grows we are set free to enter into ever-deepening fellowship with Him.
Moreover, God who knows men's inmost thoughts....He had cleansed their hearts by faith. Acts 15:8, 9, Phillips.
A man had a well from which he drew all his water. Because the water was brackish, he distilled it for drinking and cooking. A neighbor dropped in one day during this process and inquired why the man did not dig a new well. The man shrugged, saying, "I've done this for years. It's OK; I'm used to it."
Sometimes we get used to a certain way of thinking. Though we know that it is not totally suitable, we tend to consider such thinking as "right" simply because it is so familiar. The practice is no different in the area of religion. Many familiar ideas about God seem to be "right"--mostly because they've been around for so long. However, we end up having to "distill" them intellectually before we can "swallow" them emotionally.
Take, for example, the ideas that surround the truth that God is our judge. Hasn't He long been pictured as stern and/or exacting? It can be an unpleasant thought, especially when tied to the concept of His omniscience. Visualizing Jesus pleading His blood on our behalf allows us to accept the judgeship of the Father, but it does not help us accept the Father Himself!
Our text today tells us that God knows our inmost thoughts. He knows better than we do how unsavory are some of our ideas about Him. He also knows that unless our opinion of Him changes, we will tend to concentrate on acts of obedience rather than in having an intimate relationship with Him. And no matter how many right things we do, misgivings about God will not have been purged from our hearts if we have not come to know Him as He really is.
Jesus said, "Anyone who gives heed to what I say and puts his trust in him who sent me has hold of eternal life" (John 5:24, N.E.B.). As we come to know God our fears and doubts about Him are replaced by the excitement of discovering how real and relevant He is, how reasonable and reliable His plan for our lives. In this way--by giving us understanding about Himself--God removes forever from our hearts any reasons we felt we had for not wanting to be His friends. And as our faith in Him grows we are set free to enter into ever-deepening fellowship with Him.
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