Written by His
Grace,
Kevin K. O’Connor
Main thought:
to examine the contrast between how we and God view spiritual growth
Quality not Quantity
Our
concept of spiritual growth is usually quantity and God’s is quality. We think
that if we perform enough righteous acts or read enough of His Word that we’ll
be made more righteous.
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof are the ways of death. (Whole Chapter: In
context: )
Our Lord repeats Himself and
so we need to pay heed to what He is saying. We get so caught up within our own
efforts that we neglect to hear what He is saying. While we get caught up
within the thought that our righteousness is dependent on the amount of self-effort
we exert, we’re missing the joy of living in the beauty of His Love and
Righteousness. We get focused on the thought that spiritual success is measured
in the realms of quantity while God Himself tells us that the majority of the
world will not choose Him;
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road
that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. (Whole Chapter: In
context: )
We even think that our prayers are somehow more righteous when they are
filled with much grandeur and many words;
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they
will be heard because of their many words. (Whole Chapter: In
context: )
Then there are those who think that God clothes Himself within incredible
mighty acts of the miraculous and to those I say look at Elijah in the
following scripture 1 Kings 19:11-13 11 And
he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD
passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces
the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind
an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 12 And
after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the
fire a still small voice. 13 And it was so, when
Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and
stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him,
and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
We get so consumed with the
Power and Might of God that we neglect to hear His small still voice asking us
to spend time with Him. His Love is deeper than the deepest sea and beyond the
heart of man to comprehend and yet we still find ourselves thinking that the
multitude of our efforts give us greater favor with Him. Oh how His Heart
desires relationship with us so that our actions can be rewarded. I believe
that the amount of our eternal reward is going to be directly proportional to
the amount of intimacy we’ve grown into with Him. Just as money in itself is
not sin but the love of money is, so it is with works. Works when done out of
drawing near to Him will produce eternal rewards but those who think that labor
in itself is wrong will themselves be found wanting on the day of judgment; One
cannot desire to be with Him without also desiring to reflect His Heart through
their lives; Luke 19:16:-28 16 Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound
hath gained ten pounds. 17 And he said
unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very
little, have thou authority over ten cities. 18 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound
hath gained five pounds. 19 And he said
likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.
20 And
another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid
up in a napkin: 21 For I feared thee, because thou art an
austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest
that thou didst not sow. 22 And he saith unto
him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid
not down, and reaping that I did not sow: 23 Wherefore then gavest
not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine
own with usury? 24 And he said unto them that stood by, Take
from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. 25 (And they said
unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) 26 For I say unto you, That unto every one
which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall
be taken away from him. 27 But those mine enemies, which would not that
I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. 28 And when he
had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem.
The very nature of God is to
give of Himself, which He does so very beautifully! When we find ourselves
growing in Love with Him, we too will want to esteem others more highly than
ourselves just as God the Father had all of the angels of heaven worship Jesus;
Hebrews 1:5-6 5For to which of the
angels did God ever say, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father[1] "[2] ? Or again, "I will be his Father, and he
will be my Son"[3]
? 6And again, when God brings his firstborn into
the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him." But
note that righteous acts can only be done when its done out of love for Him. Thus they are acts of
response to His Infinite Beauty. They are righteous only because they are
performed out of a heart of gratitude and love and not for the purposes of
growing ourselves within our own acts of so-called righteousness.
Notice the following verses
and how those that are righteous respond in verse 37-39. They said when did we
do all those things You said we did? Why? Because they
were merely living a life of gratitude for what God had done for them and not
trying to earn their righteousness through their activities. Thus those who are
considered unrighteous ask in verse 44 when haven’t we done those things? Why? Because
they thought that righteousness was the result of the multitude of their
actions and not a relationship with Christ Who alone could produce the kind of
righteousness that flows from the heart out of relationship with Him. Matthew 25:31-46 31 When
the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then
shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And
before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from
another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the
goats:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right
hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the
King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For
I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty,
and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked,
and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came
unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him,
saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred,
and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When
saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked,
and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or
in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King
shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done
it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41 Then
shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 For
I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was
thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a
stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in
prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they
also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or
in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then
shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46 And
these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life
eternal.
Not only do we think that we
become more righteous with our actions, but with the knowledge of God’s Word;
But notice how our Lord warns us about the accumulation of His Word; James 3:1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers,
my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
(Whole Chapter: James 3 In context: James 3:1-2) And another good verse
depicting the importance of not necessarily the accumulation of knowledge of
knowing right from wrong but the doing of the right we know to do. Luke 12:47 47"That servant who knows his master's
will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten
with many blows. 48But the one who does not know and does things deserving
punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given
much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much,
much more will be asked. Here again we see the heart of God and that is
quality and not quantity. God Himself understands the joy we experience through
the revelations His Word gives our spirit; Proverbs
24: 13-14 13 Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to
your taste. 14 Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul; if you find it,
there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. But,
at the same time He also understands the tendency we have to allow the joy of
growing in wisdom overshadow the need we have of growing in relationship; Proverbs 25:16 16 If you find honey, eat just enough-too
much of it, and you will vomit.
I think we’ve all met people
who had a lot of knowledge of God’s Word but lacked much in their relationship
with Him. Note how the Lord gave bread from Heaven to His children in Exodus 16:15-21 15 When the Israelites saw it,
they said to each other, "What is it?" For they did not know what it
was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. 16
This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Each one is to gather as much as he
needs. Take an omer [1] for each person you have in your tent.' " 17 The Israelites did as they were told;
some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the
omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and
he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he
needed. 19 Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of
it until morning." 20 However, some of them paid no attention
to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and
began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. 21 Each morning
everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted
away. So then, just as too much honey will cause us to vomit, so the
Lord’s own bread from Heaven will become foul stench if hoarded for our own
selfish reasons. Our hearts need to learn to Love Him as He so loved us and
gave Himself for us. Our lives should be a reaction to the love relationship
that He builds within our hearts as we spend time with Him. We need to get our
eyes off of the multitude of our actions and place them and the beauties of His
being. Then when we live, our actions will truly glorify the One from which all
things exist!
Heavenly Father, teach us how
to spend time listening to Your Heart and to allow the Living Word to cut away
those things that are not of You. In Jesus Precious
Name, Amen
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