In my last post, I maintained that our Lord
does not call us to be busy: He calls us to be diligent. I noted Solomon’s instruction to his son in
Proverbs 6: “Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways, and be
wise.” Ants, though tiny, are diligent
workers. They are persistent, focused,
and not easily distracted from their goal.
In order for us to be diligent, we must first define
our goal. Q&A 1 of the
Westminster Shorter Catechism succinctly and memorably summarizes the goal – or
“chief end” – of man as found in the Holy Scriptures: “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to
enjoy Him forever.”
God alone is God and
worthy of all praise. He created you and
me for His glory. (Isaiah 43: 7 and
21). Psalm 50:23 says, “Whoso offereth
praise glorifieth Me: and to him that ordereth his conversation [his daily
walk] aright will I show the salvation of God.”
When or how do we
praise and glorify God? God is glorified
when we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Luke 10:27). By nature we hate God: we would rather serve
self and sin. But those who are
converted to God have the indwelling Holy Spirit. “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1
John 4:19). One who loves God:
·
has faith in Him,
like Abraham, who “staggered not at the promise of God
through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God” (Rom. 4:20).
·
is thankful to Him
and shows that thankfulness by praying to Him: “Offer unto God thanksgiving;
and pay thy vows unto the most High: and call upon Me in the day of trouble: I
will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.” (Psalm 50:14-15).
·
obeys His Word. “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice” (I
Sam. 15:22).
These are fruits that
one must bring forth if he is a believer. They are the fruits to which Jesus refers in
John 15:8: “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be
my disciples.”
Those fruits are
described in greater detail in 2 Peter 1:5-10. Let’s consider that text again:
“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith
virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance
patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and
to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things
be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these
things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged
from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to
make your calling and election sure…”
Consider also the remainder of verse 10 and verse 11: “For if ye do
these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto
you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ.”
It is in the way of
diligently living a life that glorifies God that we experience His presence
during this life and enter heaven when die, there to enjoy Him forever.
Now, what does all
that have to do with being busy? I'll attempt to tackle that next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment