Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
This week’s lesson from the “Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide”, is titled “Lessons of the Past”. Our quarterly emphasizes the idea of remembering what God has done for us. “The psalmist… stresses the root of the Israelites unfaithfulness: they forgot what God had done for them…”. (quarterly for Sunday, March 3). And this is so true. As the quarterly for the same day also states, “Aren’t we also forgetful of God’s past wonders…”. God has been so instrumental in every aspect of our lives. And we are so prone to forget. Yet there is something else we are prone to forget. Our own sinfulness.
We are forgiven, ‘tis true. As such, we know that “as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalms 103:12). So, we are not to mull-over our past transgressions. We are not to keep wondering if we are forgiven. We are not to keep “picking the scab”. But our memories are to be like God’s memory. “For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust” (Psalms 103:14). We, too, must remember who we are. We must remember the depths of our depravity. Remember exactly what we are capable of being and doing. It is one of the worst characteristics of us sinners. Forgetting who we are. Forgetting our own sinfulness. Minimizing our own capacity for evil.
But even worse. We don’t just forget, we usually justify our sinfulness and our sinful acts. We can even turn our grossest acts and most virulent destructive thinking into virtues. We can call our self-centered craving for acceptance… love. We can call our cruelty… justice. We can call our prideful acts… duty. And we can call our seeking for personal security… faith. We can purposely forget, purposely justify ourselves, purposely deceive ourselves. This is such a deadly activity, that Revelation’s Laodicean message (Revelation 3: 14-22) calls it out as our particular “end-time” self-delusion. We “know not” just how wicked we really are. We are living in volitional self-delusion. Purposely forgetting. Purposely deluding ourselves. Purposely lying to ourselves. Yes, God’s forgiveness is the open-door to come “Home” and be healed. But if we forget just how much healing we need, think we are OK just as we are, then we will not come “Home”, nor even stay “Home” once we repent. But wander away into our own familiar, self-destructive paths.
This is why God’s remedy for our “know not” dilemma is first described in Revelation 3:18 as “gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich”, which is “faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6). Then, “white garments, that you may be clothed” which “is the righteous acts of the saints” (Revelation 19:8). And lastly, to “anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see”, which is the oil of the Holy Spirit who “will convict the world (each of us) of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…” (John 16:8). This is most important. This is what the Holy Spirit does for each. He convicts us.
In order to be awakened from our “know not” condition and to remember, we need to “buy” faith (give up something of great worth… give up yourself) and likewise give-up our own will-full-ness and instead do the will of God (righteous acts). And listen to the convicting voice of the Holy Spirit who will show us God, and show us ourselves. As God says, “as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent” (Revelation 3:19). After-all, God is the one who loves us and will not have us asleep, dumb and blind to our true being. Because the Holy Spirit is also, “the Spirit of truth, (and when) He has come, He will guide you into all truth…” (John 16:13). “Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath…” (Deuteronomy 9:7).
With brotherly love,
Jim