Saturday, June 30, 2012

Ahaz, and all that.

God said to Ahaz, "If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all."

This is the first passage of Scripture to slam me to the floor (as they say) in quite some time. I mean, listen to this:
If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm in at all. You will be firm in nothing. Everything in your life . . . or, more precisely, your response to everything in your life . . . will be infirm, unstable, questionable, uncertain. You will be easily influenced, swayed by circumstances, by every little thing. You will drift.  You will fluctuate. You will be unreliable. Things for you will always be running downhill, out of control, headed for a fall.
Well, that's taking liberties with the text I suppose. If you need the real back-story, look it up in Isaiah 7.  And btw, the NIV puts it this way:
If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.
And the NASB:
If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.
I have to confess something: I've been a mess lately. A downright mess. And so it was with a sense of urgency that I picked up my Bible a few nights ago and started reading Isaiah. I  think God wanted me to get to chapter 7 and the story of Ahaz just in time.
If you are not firm in faith, they your actions will spring from desperation, or resentment, or whatever other mood is holding sway in you at that moment. The repercussions of this kind of life are manifold and generally unpleasant.
Bottom line: pay attention to God. To what he has promised. To what he has done. To what he is doing. To his Word, and his Kingdom, and his work. Trust it, and so join in with it, as far as you are able. This is God's promise to Ahaz, and to all who trust in the Lord.

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