Read today’s texts first: 1 Kings 20,21; 2 Chronicles 17; Colossians 3
Know God’s Word inside out
because that’s the way we are meant to live!
because that’s the way we are meant to live!
As mentioned in yesterday’s journal, God now leads us from the inside out. Our spirit is filled with His Spirit and He shows us how to live. He directs our steps by His Word, which we have hidden in our hearts, and by the nudgings of His Spirit, a.k.a. His still, small voice. So then our spirit dictates how our mind thinks, what attitudes we assume, what words we speak, and what actions we perform with our bodies. We live in this order: spirit, soul, body. But when we lived for ourselves, we tended to live the other way: our body and its appetites dictated what our mind thought and how our heart felt. We lived from the outside in.
Paul is describing that contrast with the image of taking off our old self and putting on our new self (3:9,10). The renewing process involves setting our minds (3:3) or, more accurately, resetting our minds. When I have trouble with my computer, or any electronic device for that matter, my go-to problem-solving technique is pushing the reset button (or the good old “control, alt, delete” on my computer). My time in prayer and in reading God’s Word every day is my spiritual reboot.
Again, today’s parallel readings in the Old Testament illustrate the advantages of letting God direct our steps. Compare Jehoshaphat’s steady and peaceful reign with Ahab’s series of debacles. What a mess! When people ask you how the God of the Old Testament can be so ruthless, have them consider the culture of the day. Corruption, violence, and war was so ingrained that God’s justice required a heavy hand - an eye for an eye. Still His mercy shows up in astounding ways, most notably when Ahab repented (21:27-29). I was thinking, Ahab, really, you actually believe his sackcloth and ashes show. Well God did and God withheld the discipline he most definitely deserved. These moments hint at the merciful nature of God that we read about more often in the New Testament.
The point of these stories is the same as Paul’s message to the Colossians and to us: whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality (3:23-25). “Lord, message received. Today, I reset my mind on the things above - Your agenda is mine!”
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