Whenever we make excuses or justify our actions, wwalk in
the footsteps of Adam. Adam disobeyed a directive from God. Most of our excuses to justify our actions follows Adam's example. "That woman you gave to be with me. . ." (Genesis 3:12). Adam blamed God for giving Eve to him, and he blamed his wife for giving him the food. Both were lies.
An excuse is a skin of reason wrapped up in a lie. Instead of excuses, let's look at how we should carry on our daily lives.
I want to use the following scripture as the basis for looking at walking with Adam:
Colossians 2:1-3,” I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face to face. 2 That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (ESV).
you think you are
rich, but you are poor, wretched, miserable and blind
you have left your
first love
they were luke-warm;
therefore, he said that he would spew them out of his mouth
God encourages them to buy gold from him refined by the fire, white clothes to wear to cover their nakedness and salve for their eyes, and return to him. The one verse that you will remember from this letter to Laodicea is 3:20, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come and eat with him and he with me.”
It is possible that the members at this church didn’t listen to Paul’s
message from our text above. I believe that many of our brothers and sisters
across America aren’t listening to Paul's message, either.
Let’s look at a few things that we can take away from these few
verses in Colossians 2.
Paul uses the word “hearts.” In verse 2. The word heart doesn’t represent a blood pump that each of us has, and it keeps us alive while here on earth. Heart here is the very center of your body. It represents the part of you that is your soul and spirit. It is who you are. It pumps spiritual thoughts and words from God’s Spirit into your physical body.
Your heart is where all your decisions are made because your will is
part of your heart. Your heart also houses your emotions and your mind. These
three things make up your soul, i.e. heart.
Then Paul uses the word “knit” or joined in verse 2 as well.
Do you knit? Would you be surprised if I told you that I taught my wife to knit. That’s why she is so good. Knitting is amazing. You take a strand of yarn, do a few twists and turns like knit and pearl, yarn over, knit two together, and several other moves that I never learned, and you come out with this amazing item that bears no resemblance to the single strand you began with. One strand and you end up with a scarf, sweater, toboggan or socks.The same is true with the way God makes a church. He takes a single person and joins him/her with one or two more, and with specific stitches and designs, he makes something incredibly beautiful and/or useful: a piano player, a song leader, youth leader, teacher, a pastor, lay people of all kinds.
Notice what he uses to knit his church together. He knits them together with love. Understand, God doesn’t use love that is made of feelings and emotions. Those things are fleeting and can disappear as easily as they appear. God’s knitting material is unconditional love. The kind that can withstand criticism. The kind of love that keeps on giving even though there is nothing being reciprocated. His knitting love is undemanding.
- It never boasts
- It is kind
- It is patient
- Does not envy
- Is not arrogant
- Is never rude
- Does not seek its own way
- Does not get irritable
- Does not resent
- Does not rejoice in wrong doing
- Endures all things
- Believes all things
- Hopes all things
- His love never ends.
You see, he only uses the best yarn to knit a church together. Then
after he makes them whole with his love, he gives each one a gift so that the
individual can—on their own—continue to knit God’s church together.
God showed his great love, his knitting material, in that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5).
I can’t help but believe that this verse teaches each of us how to
knit in love. Whatever the gift he has given you, use it for everyone regardless
of how undesirable he/she may appear to you. You don't have to like the person(s) to use your gift(s) to serve them.
Even though Christ saw only sinners everywhere he looked, he still
died on the cross. Therefore, he says to each of us:
- Keep knitting even though you see little results
- Keep knitting even though they throw rotten tomatoes
- Keep knitting even though you don’t like them
- Keep knitting although they persecute you
- No matter what, keep knitting with unconditional love, my love!
- Paul goes on to say there in Colossians, by knitting in love, you will reach a full assurance.
- Full assurance of what?
The full assurance of God’s salvation comes first. That’s why I was
saved. I needed fire insurance, and God has a better plan than humans do.
So, the first full guarantee you gain from God’s knitting all of us together is the full assurance of salvation. “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” The Psalmist writes.
He also provides you with the full assurance of your faith. Your faith
gives you hope, and his hope never disappoints.
Then his knitting in love gives us positive knowledge of God’s
understanding, verse 2 above. He begins to reveal truth to us from his word. The
revealed truth increases our understanding of his love that knitted us to him
in the first place.
Everything comes full circle as we understand how much he loves us. As
I consider how much he loves me, Then, I know how much he loves you, too. Because of His love, I can love you the same way. People don’t have to be good for me to love
them. If that were a requirement, then I would have to be good, and I’m not too
good at being good. Really, I’m better at being bad!
Next and along with an understanding of his love comes an
understanding of his knowledge verse 2 above. Also, Proverbs 2:4-5 gives you an understanding of gaining knowledge, too. Look at this verse with me,
and if you look for it as for silver
and
search for it as for hidden treasure,
5 then
you will understand the fear of the Lord
and
find the knowledge of God.
As you study the scripture, you are going on a buried treasure hunt.
Sometimes you dig gems out of the pages that are far better than diamonds.
Often, you must do a lot of digging, but then on a given day, you might find a
pocket full of these priceless gems.
Therefore, by searching God’s word as if searching hidden
treasure, you come to find the knowledge of how God operates. We know him, and
we know his ways. However, the beauty of all this is we know how well he knows
us.
I find it amazing for the one who knows me best keeps knitting me with
his love. He loves me more than I love myself. He can never love you and me any
more than he does right now.
If you know your friends as well as God knows them, most likely you
wouldn’t want to be friends with them. Yet, God knows all about you and me, and
he still loves us—this is amazing!
Yes, God knits us together. He makes us into a beautiful tapestry of
friends and loved ones called a church.
He does all this by his love.
He gives us our assurance in understanding and knowledge.
His knitting brings us together and by doing our ministry, he
continues to knit through each of us..
How about you, my friend. How much knitting are you doing?
Let me ask you this?
- If God can create the world out of nothing,
- if he can lead a group of slaves out of captivity,
- if he could part the waters so that a huge group of people could cross on dry land,
- if he could give a country that belonged to another group of peoples to his chosen ones,
- If he could rescue Daniel from the lion’s den and the Hebrew children from the fiery furnace,
- If he can give a young girl a baby,
- If he can come back from the dead,
Then, is there anything he can’t or won’t do for you? You have everything you need to allow God to knit through you. The question is, will you let him?
For fountain pens and ballpoints visit: My Fountain Pens
Howard
Who You Are Isn't Based on Performance with God. Who You Are Should Have A Direct Bearing on How You Perform.
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