Thoughts on Discipleship by Dr. W. A. Dillard - HTML preview

BE STILL: AN IMPORTANT BIBLE “BE”

Disquieted people are restless people inwardly and outwardly. Uncertain about their eternal status in Christ Jesus, they “hope” to be saved, and ever seek acts, deeds, and certain abstinence to enhance that possibility. Unfortunately, they have not entered the rest promised to believers in Hebrews Chapter Four. Instances of this human failure in matters of faith abound in the Holy Word. Let’s think about it!

Truly, the people of God are called to not sit on laurels, but to be busy in discipleship: the kind that honors God; that which is in conformity to His eternal Word. A cessation of that is not called for in Holy Writ, but encouraged evermore. It is the attempted infusion of fleshy thinking and works that are vain, and from which God leads believers away.

To determine that God wants one to engage in unspecified religious activity, even if it captivates the attention of large numbers of folks, is nothing short of what Jewish Zionism is all about: the works of the flesh and not of the Spirit. Paul forthrightly chided the churches of Galatia for this very thing, asking them that since they had begun by faith, would they now be made perfect through the works of the flesh? Thus, the reminder that it is not the activity of the flesh that God is looking for but the status of the believing heart.

Consider a very few biblical references to this idea. “Except the LORD build the house the laborers labor in vain… Except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh in vain…” Psalm 127:1. “ But they that wait upon the Lord renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles;. . .” Isaiah 40:31. Running the Christian race is vitally important, but as Paul said, “They who run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize; so run that you may win” I Cor. 9:24. It was never the might of Hebrew armies that wrought victory in Israel, but the presence and power of God, casting on the enemies hail, hornets, outright fear, etc. Israel’s part was to believe Him and follow Him!

It would appear obvious then that the activities of today must be grounded incontrovertibly in “thus saith the Lord.” Running ahead of God was Saul’s problem, and his errors did not die with him. Since proper and acceptable works may be accomplished only as one employs them through Bible knowledge, it seems simple to deduce that knowledge in matters of faith should be the prime pursuit. All the works of man stems from that or its obvious absence. Anytime one feels that God is crippled or His Word outdated, he would do well to consult Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” Be Still! It is an important Bible “Be!”

FOR THOUGHT: As a believer, can you recall times when you trusted God for an outcome and impatiently sought to bring it about yourself? Have you trusted Him for an outcome and waited patiently, then marveled at how He worked it out? Does it give new meaning to Isa. 40:31?