As I began my
day (year) thinking about the value placed on New Year's, I was reminded of
something God put in his book: “One
person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days
alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”[1]
This is a part
of God’s word that has long intrigued me by its partnership between a rule that
everyone should follow, and an area where each person is free to choose between
opposite possibilities. The rule is that every child of God must determine
something “in his own mind.” The
personal choice is that each one will be fully convinced that what they have
chosen is right for them, while the opposite choice could be right for another
child of God.
This is not
talking about those areas where the Bible already tells us that there is a
right way and a wrong way of looking at something. This is about things we face
where God’s will is that we decide for ourselves what we will do, while
allowing other believers to decide what they will do. If it means that some
think certain days are wonderfully special, while others continue to see no
distinction from December 31 to January 1, all is well, as long as everyone
takes responsibility before God for their own choice.
As I considered
the wider context of this instruction, I realized that the section in question
begins with the exhortation, “Owe no one anything, except to love each other,”[2]and concludes with, “For
whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”[3]This reminded me of a simple summary of these things which describes
the Christian life as, “faith working
through love.”[4]
Instead of following rules like the
Ten Commandments, or other rules that had been part of previous covenants, the new
covenant in Jesus’ blood has so fulfilled all righteousness that now everything
is about faith in Jesus Christ doing its work through the love we show to one
another.
While I could spend time showing how
this “faith working through love”
theme is all through the new covenant writings of God’s book, I would rather
share how personal God can be when we take the time to listen to his words.
As
I mature in Christ, I see this constant fellowship between discovering things
about myself that are not yet like Jesus, and the work of God to conform me to Jesus’
image, “from one degree of glory to
another.”[5] As we do not berate little children for not being grown up, God
does not berate us for not being like his Son. As we celebrate the stages of a
child’s growth, God celebrates the changes to our lives as glory increasing by
degrees. It is very graciously positive, if you ask me.
So, when I
consider that God is at work to lead me to daily increasing maturity in my
experience of “faith working through
love,” I can see parts of my inner being that have not yet felt this touch
of God. I can also see how God is bringing those parts of me into the light in
order that I can experience him as his book reveals.
In other
words, God shows parts of me I would better describe as trauma working through
self-protection than faith working through love. He shows me that it is a
blessing to see such poverty of spirit in myself,[6]
because it leads to such a hungering and thirsting after righteousness in Jesus
Christ[7]
that he can satisfy us with the riches of his righteousness in the very ways we
long to experience.
I now see this
very encouraging start to the new year. God is at work to bring people from any
self-dependent experiences of life to know him in such a way that everything in
our lives is about faith working through love. Problems encountered this year will
be his tools to bring his children to know how faith in Jesus Christ works in
such circumstances through love. Relational conflicts will become invitations
to know God in such a way that we will relate to others with a faith that works
through love.
Along the way,
we will see how God exposes inner deficiencies in order to lead us into inner
experiences of his grace. His grace will work through our lives now just as on
the day he saved us,[8]
applying the work of God to us and others through faith. That is, through faith
that works through love.
No matter what
you think of New Year’s day, the God who makes “all things work together for good” in the lives of those “who love God.. who are called according to
his purpose,”[9]
will make sure that you know his goodness every single day of the year. Make
the most of it by meeting with him each day in his word and prayer, and see if
you can discern what he has in mind.
© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
No comments:
Post a Comment