It's Not So Difficult

Proverbs, Chapter 2:

My son, if you accept my words

and store up my commands within you,

turning your ear to wisdom

and applying your heart to understanding,

 

and if you call out for insight

and cry aloud for understanding,

and if you look for it as silver

and search for it as for hidden treasure,

 

then you will understand the fear of the Lord

and find the [experiential] knowledge of God.

 

For the Lord gives wisdom,

and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.

 

He holds victory in store for the upright,

he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,

for he guards the course of the just

and protects the way of his faithful ones.

 

Then you will understand what is right and just

and fair---every good path.

For wisdom will enter your heart,

and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

 

Discretion will protect you,

and understanding will guard you.

 

Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,

from men whose words are perverse,

who leave the straight paths

to walk in dark ways,

who delight in doing wrong

and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,

whose paths are crooked

and who are devious in their ways....

 

Thus you will walk in the ways of good men

and keep to the paths of the righteous.

For the upright will live in the land,

and the blameless will remain in it;

but the wicked will be cut off from the land,

and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

 

Those who walk in the way of the Lord know the truth of Jesus' words:  My yoke is light and My burden easy.  It is not difficult to "walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous."  Actually, it is a matter of "accepting my words and storing up my commands within you," as the psalm says in the beginning.  John says it this way:  Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the power to become children of God (1:12). 

 

"Receiving Christ" is the same as "Accepting my words and storing up my commands within you."  We accept Jesus within us, as did Mary at the word of the angel, and allow Him to dwell within us to the glory of God.  He will re-arrange the furniture in our souls to make a fit habitation for the Trinity, for the Spirit, the Son, and the Father to dwell within us. 

 

Humanism says "We...;"  Christianity says "He...."  That is the difference.  "It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives within me to the glory of God."  We no longer have to "do, and do, and do," as Isaiah says, but He will do in us all that is necessary. 

 

"Faith" is simply accepting what God says, and storing up His Word within our souls, turning our hearts to wisdom and applying them to understanding.  Then we will begin to experience the indwelling Presence and Power of God.  When we say with Mary, "Be it done unto me according to Your Word," He does everything else necessary to our salvation and presence in the world.

 

Jesus says, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink,.... and out of his belly will flow streams of living water."  As we drink from the Rock, as we store up His words within us, we overflow with life-- and the water of life flows out of us to those around us.  We don't have to "do" it; He does it all in us. 

 

That is why I fell in love with Jesus so many years ago; I was tired of trying (and continually failing) to do the right thing--even to being a good mother.  I found my strength to be too feeble to accomplish even the smallest tasks of life -- but when I broke down and allowed Him to begin living within me, He surprised me every single day with His strength, His wisdom, His protection, His ability to guide and teach me in righteousness. 

 

Do you know what it means to have The Good Shepherd in charge of your life?  It is joy unspeakable; it is safety and protection; it is companionship that never fails; it is knowledge of the Truth; it is knowing the Father of heaven and earth -- and it's not so difficult as we imagine it to be!