"And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors
intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For
the Lord sees every heart and
knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you
forsake him, he will reject you forever. -- 1Chronicles 28: 9 (NLT)
King David's life was winding
down. Soon he would leave this earth but before he went he needed to make sure
that his son Solomon was prepared to take over the lead of
Sincerity unto God cannot be
isolated merely to the point of salvation. I think most are sincere when they
say the sinner's prayer or go up for an altar call; at least I would hope so.
Because the eternal destination of our souls should be serious business. A
half-hearted salvation does not lead to heaven. Motivational speaking and self
help gurus will not lead to heaven. Only a heart transformed by the Holy Spirit
of God leading to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior
will lead to heaven. I specify Lord and Savior because I think in modern
Christianity we see people who have a relationship with Christ as a friend or
as a personal blessing ATM but not as Lord and savior. God did not send His
only Son to earth because we needed a friend. He sent Jesus because we needed a
savior.
To examine our sincerity, let us
take the key verse apart. First of all, we are to learn to know God intimately.
When we engage in human relationships it takes several things to learn to know
someone intimately. First of all it takes an investment of time. You will not
get to know someone intimately by spending an hour and a half with them every
Sunday. Adding in two hours on a Friday night will not help much either. I have
said this before but it bears repeating -- Christianity is not about fitting
Christ into your life it is about making your life to be about Christ.
But
seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be
given to you as well. -- Matthew 6: 33 (NIV)
Jesus is not saying to seek His kingdom
second, or on our lunch breaks, or once per week. He is saying we need to seek
it first in our lives. Secondly when it comes to knowing someone intimately, we
must talk to them. You are never going to have a truly intimate relationship
with someone without proper communication. Realize God is not talking intimacy
as the world misuses the term. It is not a sexual connotation but rather to
really get to know someone so closely that you know them as well if not better
than yourself. Without a proper prayer life we will never get to know God
intimately. If God is not in on our decisions then who is leading our lives?
Too often we go to God after we have made decisions that have resulted in
problems. God wants us to take our decisions to Him so we avoid the problems.
Lastly for intimacy we must understand who
the other person is, what they think, and what they believe. Too many marriages
fail because they entered into the covenant without truly understanding who
each other were. God has given us His Word so that we can know exactly where He
stands on every issue we might face in this life. He has not left one topic
untouched. The Bible says that the people of God perish because of a lack of
knowledge and that lack comes from not knowing His Word. Instead in the modern
church we can over-spiritualize everything. We can call for fasts with
sackcloth and ashes for things God has already told us about in His Word. We
can say that we are "waiting to hear from the Lord"; when He has already spoken
to the matter in the Bible. The Bible confirms itself beloved. We do not need
any further confirmation.
Next in the key verse we see a four pronged
sentence in regards to our sincerity. First up we are to worship and serve Him.
Note that God makes it two separate distinctions here. I think that what we see
sometimes are Christians who are pretty good at one or the other but not
necessarily both. We have hyper-Marthas who are great at serving the Lord but
you can't find them during corporate worship or sitting still to hear the
sermon. On the other side we see people who will show up for a picnic with a
prayer shawl but you cannot find them serving in any ministry. As with most
things, there needs to be a balance. Note also here the usage of worship and
serve. This should dispel some of the poor theology out there that tries and
contort the son of God into our buddy. Yes, we are friends with God but not the
way man considers friendships. Jesus doesn't want to go bowling with us. He
expects us to worship Him. He expects us to serve Him. I can say with certainty
that if you are not worshipping and serving Jesus than you are not a "friend of
God" and will not be inheriting the "blessing of Abraham."
The other two prongs listed here are how we
are to worship and serve God -- with our whole heart and a willing mind. Once
again God is making a clear distinction. God does not want half-hearted worship
and service. Here He is writing to the Church and
"I
know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you
were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will
spit you out of my mouth! You say, "I am rich. I have
everything I want. I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that you are
wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. -- Revelation 3: 15-17
(NLT)
Truth be told we have a lot of lukewarm
Christians these days. Serving out of a sense of duty. Worshipping only to be
seen by others. A mind set on the carnal and not the eternal but wrapping
everything done and said up in the name of Jesus. Realize we never fool God. The
Lord doesn't want our leftovers. He doesn't want to be second or third in our
lives. The Bible says what you treasure is where your heart is. Bring it back
to Him today.
Wrapping up these thoughts we have God
reminding us of something I am stunned we do not take more seriously. He sees
every heart and knows every plan and thought. There is nothing that is not laid
bare before the Lord. So sometimes I wonder who exactly we think we are fooling
when we come to Him with an unwilling mind or a half-hearted approach to
worshipping and serving Him. I wonder who we think we are fooling when we
refuse to fear Him, respect Him, and treat Him as He should be -- our Lord and
Savior. The same God the spoke the entire universe into existence with a single
word desires to have an intimate relationship with you and me, yet we sometimes
act as if it is an imposition to fit time in our busy schedules for Him. He
should be the schedule!
Sincerity in our walk requires us to examine ourselves from time to time and see where we are lining up with what the Word of God says. Are we truly pursuing an intimate relationship with God today or are we casually dating? Do we honestly think that God doesn't see the other gods we cheat on Him with? When we put our money, careers and relationships ahead of Him? That He doesn't see our luke-warmness? Are we spending time with God? Are we communicating regularly with Him and trying to get to know Him better through His Word? Are we worshipping and serving Him with all of our heart and with a mind that is willing? Where are we cutting corners? In what area do we need to work more on our relationship with the God who created us and sent His only Son to die for us? Let us examine our sincerity today and if we are lacking beloved know that He is already aware and like the Father of the prodigal son is waiting for us to turn that part of our life back over to Him. He will greet us with open arms and still pursue with us the sincere intimacy He desires as our Lord and Savior. He is always faithful.
Rev. Anthony
