Making God Fit
I have sadly heard it said that the Bible is nothing more than a work of literary art. I have heard it asked, how do you know that the Bible isn't the work of men who wanted to put their rules in effect? I have been asked how I know that the Bible is the Word of God and that it is true. My answer is this: some things are known, some are instilled, and some come by faith. I know the Word is true because I have seen it come to life and in action. It is instilled in me through the Holy Spirit that dwells within me and recognizes God's words. And I have faith that says I serve a faithful, loving, and powerful God.
Without any doubt I believe that God did not create me and leave me. He gave me directions, instructions, warnings, promises, and answers that can be found in His word. Through the Word I have the secrets to living a full and prosperous life. All God asks in return is that I fully trust Him and surrender. Seems like that would be a simple request to fulfill considering the payoff and yet, we all know that it turns out to be difficult for us to do so.
I'll be completely honest, I am not any different! I have not mastered a full trust and surrender - yet, but I am hopeful and working to achieve that. I look at it this way when it comes to believing the Bible, God allowed His Word to be put into written form because God is protective of His people and did not want us mislead by man changing the Word. I can hear the nay-sayers already...but it was written by men. True, but these men were directed in their writing by God. In the Word, God says He will not allow the Word to be added to or diminished. Why would men write that considering we change our words often to match changes in our lives, beliefs, and desires, not to mention the changes we make to gain the favor or trust of others. (It's true, just listen to a couple of political debates to see how quickly man changes what he says!)
If you want to believe in the good intentions of man...well then let's not forget that things get altered sometimes by mistake or habit. The game Telephone demonstrates this. The first player makes up a statement and whispers it to the next. The goal is for the statement to make it all the way through the crowd of players unchanged, but seldom does that happen. We can hear something and yet not listen; we can allow outside thoughts to interrupt, manipulate, or change what we do hear; we can integrate in an unconscious attempt to remember or to create something memorable. Which statement would you find more likely to remember, "She wore a green dress to the party." or "She wore a bright green dress to the Christmas party."?
Whether intentional or not, God gave His Word with instruction for it not to be altered and then allowed the Bible to be written so we could confirm what we hear. He created us to be salt and light to this world. In case you are not familiar with that and unsure of what it means break down the functions of light and salt, what do they do. Light reveals, illuminates, takes away darkness, makes it easy to see; salt preserves, seasons (or flavors), enhances, eats away at residue, and can even melt ice (which is hard). Our speech should be light and salt. It should be revealing who God is and it should enhance & preserve the lives of others by revealing where they are not in line with God's Word. The Word unaltered or watered down by us comes in with truth and life to eat away the residue of the world and melt the hardened areas of this life leaving us open to God.
Without meaning too or with pure intention we have the ability of altering God's Word. Being a loving Father, He warns us to be mindful not to do this. As a Master, He tells us to carry His Word with respect and discipline. As I studied these verses I began to understand why. We are to count on Him and when we are telling others of His Word we are in essence telling them they can trust His Word to bring changes to their lives that will make them prosperous. How can people trust in a Word that is manipulated? They don't.
The world is constantly sensationalizing the ways man has manipulated the Word. The Word has been made to fit man by man. God's Word is not compromising. It does not change with the fads of man or the seasons or the eras. He is a living God that says His Word is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. While the times in which it was written has changed, traditions have become obsolete or have grown, cultures have developed, and beliefs of man have swayed from one end of the spectrum to the next with the controlling politicians, the Word God gave has remained the same. We shape it to gain what we want and to justify what we have done, or are doing. We want the blessings and promises of the Word but we ignore the warnings and responsibilities of it, and where the Word says 'no,' well we turn ourselves off. It is not just the world that is guilty of using the Word to gain, they do it because the example was given by Christians themselves. The Pharisees, our first spiritual leaders, used the world to gain status, power, even money. They used it to imprison those that stood in there way of getting what they wanted and to justify what they did. Is it any wonder then that the world would continue to extort from the Word for its own gain? We have taught the world that they do not have to fear the Lord (not to quake and shake but to reverence Him). We have encouraged the belief that the power of the Word exists only when we want. We pimp out God, calling on Him when He fits our needs, praying when we want. We tell God that we only want to hear Him when He fits our plans. The problem is, God's Word is still present and in force, unchanging and definitely uncompromising. So while we could have the fullness of it we settle for a variation that brings us little substance. We step into the freedom of the Word for a taste and then quickly fall back into the slavery of our sin, sin being anything outside the will of God.
Can you imagine what it would be like if we actually grabbed hold of the Word that says, His ways our not ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts, for His ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts. God does not fit in a box. God is greater than our imaginations, needs, and wants! Maybe if we stopped trying to make Him fit our lives, and made His Word a part of our lives, we could walk in the fullness of His plans for our lives. There will be a day when we desire nothing but God. While here, while these bodies seek after selfish desires we need to remember that we serve a God who is greater than anything we could want or need. Be willing to hear no. Be willing to not get everything you want all the time. In the natural our own parents tell us 'no' in an effort to shape and protect us. God is more loving and greater than our natural parents. He knew what each of our ends would be before He even created us. We need to hear and accept His 'no' trusting that He knows better than us what should fit in our lives. Those no's and unfulfilled desires could have kept sin, pain, drama, and the consequences of bad choices from us had we simply taken the Word for what it was instead of treating it like an optional guide for living.
So are you ready to stop making God fit you? Are you ready to let God use the Word in your life so that you are the perfect fit to the plan He created? Pray for understanding of the Word that you neither add nor take away from it. Study the Word. Reflect on God's Word. Let it absorb into your life. Take the Word for ALLthat it is. Finally, allow the Word to manifest in your life...completely.
Created over 1 year ago
