Foolish Things

²² When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. ²³ Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. ²⁴ Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁵ And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. ²⁶ That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. ²⁷ And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him. [Genesis 17:22-27; English Standard Version]

I am studying Genesis 12-20 this month for my personal Bible study and there are many things in that span of chapters that really speak to me, but this morning I was really hit by chapter 17. What struck me most was Abraham’s reaction to God’s command. God told Abraham to be circumcised, and he did it “that very day.” Now, how many of us can say that? When God calls us, how often do we drop everything and just do what He says?

Notice that Abraham did not say “Well, God, that’s great and I’ll get right on it as soon as my schedule is clear. I’ll pencil you in for next Tuesday. Unless something else comes up, that is.” He did not say “I’ll have to check with my insurance to make sure this procedure is covered and get an appointment to have it done. You know how difficult it is to get for this sort of thing. Not to mention that you said everyone in my household. This isn’t going to be easy, you know.” No excuses; no putting it off until a more convenient time. God called and commanded and Abraham did it.

You have to admire that. How often do we come up with excuses? Good excuses, to be sure. There are lots of things that have to be done, after all. But, as a Christian, who are you living for? Your family? Your boss? Yourself? Where do your priorities lie? Where should they lie? God knows the circumstances of our lives and He doesn’t give us direction for no reason. He knows your schedule better than you do.

God doesn’t do anything on a whim, either. He has a plan and the timing of his command is part of that plan. To be sure, He gives second chances (and third and fourth) if we don’t respond the first time, but better to submit to inevitable than try to fight it. I do speak from experience.

So what is He calling you to do, today? That little nudge you feel to get up an hour earlier to spend some time with Him reading His Word — that’s a good one. How about that nagging feeling that you should just speak up. Or that co-worker or friend that you’ve been meaning to talk to about your Christian walk. What about when someone pops into your head that you just feel like you need to pray for. Those are all ways in which He calls.

Stop making excuses. When God calls, respond. Willingly, cheerfully and immediately respond. You’ll be glad you did.

There has been considerable conversation in the comments of this post on the blog of our Pastor and his brother regarding death before sin. Not content to let sleeping dogs lie, David has tried to draw the controversy into a new post, but so far no one has taken the bait.

Yesterday I received the devotional below from The Institute for Creation Research which illustrates perfectly the problems with reinterpreting Genesis to fit an evolutionist worldview. If you reject the notion that only sin leads to death then, eventually, the entire message of the Gospel becomes irrelevant. Now this may not come immediately nor may it affect the faith of the one who believes in such things, but think of those they are passing those beliefs on to — why should they believe the message of the Gospel when the foundation of the Gospel is seen as being mere myth.

I encourage you to read the original posts and comments for a bit more background.

Death by Sin January 13, 2006

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12).

This very important verse conveys several vital truths. First of all, death came into the world only when sin came into the world. Suffering and death of conscious life, whether animal or human, were not a part of God’s “finished” and “very good” creation (Genesis 1:31, 2:1-3). There was an abundance of food and all other provisions for both people and animals. There was certainly no “struggle for existence” or “survival of the fittest,” for every creature was created “fit” for its own environment.

When Adam sinned, however, it became necessary for God to bring the curse of decay and death not only upon Adam but also upon all his dominion (Genesis 3:17-20; see also Romans 8:20-22; I Corinthians 15:21-22).

Furthermore, there remains no warrant fo r the notion that “Adam” is simply a generic term representing the human race. He was “one man.” In fact, he was “the first man” (I Corinthians 15:45), and Eve was “the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20). There was certainly no population of evolving hominids becoming “Adam.” In fact, Christ Himself made it clear that Adam and Eve were there “from the beginning of the creation” (Mark 10:6, quoting Genesis 1:27).

The entire argument here in Romans 5:12-21 becomes irrelevant if the Genesis record of the Creation and Fall of Adam did not happen precisely as recorded in Genesis 1-3, and this would mean that there is no reality in the saving work of Christ, either.

Such a rejection of the Christian faith is hardly warranted by the fragmentary fossils that have been alleged to support the notion of human evolution. No one should stake his eternal soul on such a will-o’-the-wisp as that! HMM

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you . . . . I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words. ( Psalm 119:11, 147 )

About three or four months ago I read a little booklet by John MacArthur called Found: God’s Will that really lit a fire under me. As you can probably deduce by the title, the book is about finding “the direction and purpose God wants for your life.” In about 55 pages he presents six principles that help you to know what God’s will is for your life — what direction to take in everything that you do.

My focus is on the second principle, which is that you must be Spirit-filled. This is an “easy” step because it follows right on his first which is that you must be saved. Once you have received Christ His Spirit comes to dwell in you. However, it is more than that. Living a Spirit-filled life is not just some emotional, energized 24/7 experience; it requires work. Ephesians 5:18-33, 6:1-9 includes a list of how we are to live if we are filled with the Spirit. It speaks of singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, making music and giving thanks to God and interpersonal relationships between husbands and wives, fathers and children, servants and masters. Colossians 3 has the same theme only “here Paul does not link such living to the filling of the Spirit. He says that it is the result of letting ‘the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom’.” For me, personally, this was the real starting point. In this section Dr. MacArthur shared how he studies the Bible.

One day he sat down and read the book of 1 John straight through from beginning to end. Too often we like to read snippets and bits and pieces of a book each day to get through the Bible in a year or six months or two years or pick-your-timeframe. This is good for getting an overall feel for the Bible, but this isn’t how it was written. “The books of the Bible weren’t written as an assortment of good little individual verses. They were written with flow and context.” Reading a whole book, or a good portion of a book, in one sitting is the best way to preserve and understand the flow and context of the whole. On day two Dr. MacArthur sat down and read 1 John from beginning to end, again. He did the same on days three through thirty, reading the whole book each day. What a radical concept. Okay, maybe not too radical to some, but it really opened my eyes. As you know, I like to get from point A to point B with as few interruptions as possible and as quickly as possible. In this case, point A is Genesis and point B is Revelation and I want to get from here to there in about a year. Using this method of reading the Bible, if you were able to read one book per month, it would take 66 months to get through the entire Bible. Five and a half years! Hokey Smokes! After 1 John he went on to read the Gospel of John. This book he split up into three sections for reading. Three months to read one book! Figuring that there are more books like John (the Gospel) than 1 John, I figure it probably took closer to seven to ten years for Dr. MacArthur to get through the entire Bible.

So, I figure that’s about how long it will take me, too. Today I officially begin the joyous journey of storing up God’s Word in my heart. I don’t want to just get from point A to point B anymore. I’m tired of just reading the Bible and not knowing the Bible. I understand the basics of the Bible well enough and I have a decent understanding of God’s character and His laws, but I need to be armed with the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17) The interesting thing about the sword of the Spirit, in this context, is that it doesn’t refer to some great broadsword we swing about, hacking off the heads of demons and obliterating sins. Instead it speaks of a short sword — essentially a long dagger — used as more of a weapon for close-combat to target the vital organs of your opponent. So instead of grabbing my Bible to whack Satan over the head, I am to use God’s word to attack individual temptations — just like Jesus in Luke 4:1-13 fought Satan’s temptings using the right verse for the situation.

So, God woke me up at six o’clock this morning and I got up, not only willingly, but joyfully (sorry Mom and Dad, I should have warned you before springing that one on you) and here I sit, having read Psalm 119, which I felt was a fitting beginning to my journey through God’s word.

I truly do want to store up His word in my heart so that I can live a holy life, pleasing to God and that I may shine His light in the world.

God’s working on me, and He’s not finished yet. In many ways I think He’s barely even started.

I received this devotional today from The Institue for Creation Research — a creationist ministry (the first, I believe) founded in 1970. This very clearly sums up why I feel so passionate about my beliefs as a Christian and a creationist. Creationism is anything but a fringe issue in the church today — it is central to all Christian theology.

Fringe Issues August 18, 2005 “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient” (II Timothy 2:24). One of the plagues of modern-day Christendom is that many take up side issues and deem them all important–a point of separation between them and other Christians. Health foods, dress codes, and church constitutions are not unimportant, but Christians can hold different opinions and still be walking with God. Note the Scriptural admonitions: “Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace [i.e., primary issues]; not with meats [i.e., fringe issues], which have not profited them that have been occupied therein” (Hebrews 13:9); “foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes” (II Timothy 2:23). On the other hand, there are many Scriptural commands to hold “fast the faithful word” (Titus 1:9); to “k eep that which is committed to thy trust” (I Timothy 6:20). Many of these points of “sound doctrine” (Titus 1:9) are absolutely essential, such as the Deity of Christ, the authority of Scripture, salvation by grace, the resurrection of Christ, and many others clearly and specifically taught in Scripture. Perhaps the rule might be, if it’s an essential doctrine, teach and defend it at all costs; if it’s a secondary doctrine, teach it in “meekness” and love (II Timothy 2:25). But if it’s a fringe issue, avoid strife over it, allowing brothers to exercise their freedom. Is creationism a fringe issue? No! Few doctrines are so clearly taught in Scripture. Is it crucial to salvation? No! But it is essential to adequately understand the great, primary doctrines for it is foundational to them all. Furthermore, it is the subject of origins which the enemy has identified as a major battleground, vowing to destroy Christianity over this issue. Here we mu st stand, if we are to guard our faith. JDM