In reflecting back on a particular visit to the home of my in-laws, I was reminded of one of the simplest times shared between my husband and his father that became a pleasant memory for the both of them. Together, they had the tedious job of building a high-quality computer cabinet that contained several cupboards and drawers. With the pieces that needed to be assembled scattered around my in-law’s small apartment, father and son began a project that took almost 7 hours to complete. Needless to say, the instructions to building this monster became quite sacred to each man and they had to refer to them often in order to finish the job properly. By the way, how carefully do you follow the detailed sheet in a ready-to-assemble product?
In spite of the fact that my husband and father-in-law both graduated with their Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, what if they had decided not to follow the instructions? I wonder how much longer the job would have taken or if it would have turned out to be as pleasant an experience! Perhaps the mechanisms pertaining to the cabinet would not have functioned properly either. I also wondered how I would have acted in response to their attempts to build this object while ignoring the manufacturers advice! When have you known someone who refused to listen to any advice or instruction? How did you handle the situation? What was your attitude toward their rejection of prearranged help? Let’s consider these issues a bit more in light of the Apostle Paul's life…
Romans 10: 1-3 (KJV)
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they
might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but
not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness,
and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God.
First of all, we must stop to consider what was Paul's greatest desire as seen in the opening sentence. He is addressing believers, for he starts out his letter using the word "Brethren". Paul is telling us that as a child of God his heart's desire and prayer is directed toward seeing the lost come to know Christ. What a great example for us to follow! And what a sobering thought… Is this really your heart's desire and mine today? When speaking to the Lord, are we making the salvation of souls an intense matter of prayer? Is our vision self-oriented or others-oriented? Are our prayer requests centered mostly on our own needs or devoted to the lost souls in our path? Where is your heart when it comes to winning souls to the Lord, ladies? Has your selfish way of life made this a lesser priority, if one at all? The apostle Paul’s main focus was to see people saved and his prayer life proved it! What does your prayer life prove today??
Ephesians 3:14 (KJV)
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ladies, the best zeal we can have in our lives is a zeal for souls! God says that those whose lives are centered on the lost display the highest wisdom of all...
Proverbs 11:30 (KJV)
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls
is wise.
You know what wonderful thing happens when our heart's desire and prayer is centered on others? Not only do souls come to Christ, but also we learn how to die to self as we sacrifice our personal rights and privileges to see men and women saved and their lives improved! We could all use a little more dying to self, amen? There is no way we can be effective soul winners and self absorbed at the same time…
1 Corinthians 9:19 (KJV)
For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto
all, that I might gain the more.
Have you done this in your Christian life yet, dear lady? Have you MADE yourself a servant, or created a self-centered monster within you?? Do you desire to be served by others, catered to and complimented often, whining and feeling sorry for yourself if you don't receive such treatment? Would you be content to put yourself on the back burner? Ladies, it's high time we took our eyes off of self and looked on the lost! When you and I line up our perspective with the Word of God, then it is we'll be able to see past the noses on our own faces!
John 4:35b (KJV)
.....behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields;
for they are white already to harvest.
The Bible says it is unwise to be so indifferent to folk around us. God wants us to look on the fields, not just glance at them on occasion! If you look at them long enough it might affect your prayer life and eventually alter your daily activity. In other words, get a burden for somebody beside yourself, amen? Let the image of the harvest settle on your heart and give birth to a holy burden! Unfortunately, many believers couldn’t get their eyes off the television or computer screen long enough to look on the fields! Some need to get their noses out of romance novels, and their eyes off the mirror in the workout facility and take a good long look at something of eternal worth for a change. Ladies, let's forsake our fixation for self-gratification and instead make ourselves servants to all so that we might join Paul in his desire for gaining souls for Christ! After all, that's why Jesus came...
Matthew 18:11 (KJV)
For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
Because his heart's desire was centered on lost souls and he had been praying diligently for them, the apostle Paul was then able to see the lost as God saw them. He was able to have compassion on them as well as a burden for them to know the truth. Incidentally, Paul recognized some positive qualities in the Israelites. He mentions that they had a zeal of God. And ladies, lost people do have some positive qualities, but is that enough for them to be saved? The answer, of course, is no. In the same verse, the apostle Paul goes on to say their zeal of God was not according to knowledge. Ever since Israel had returned to their land from Babylonian captivity, the nation had been cured of idolatry. In the temple and the local synagogues, only the true God was worshiped and served and only the true law was taught. But the Jews added their own traditions to the law thinking they had improved upon it, and their zeal was not based on scriptural truth. They were not following God's instructions alone for salvation. In other words, they were guilty of trying to build computer cabinets while refusing the Designer's prearranged help of how to assemble one successfully....
Proverbs 8:33 (KJV)
Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
Sad to say, many religious people are making this same mistake today! They think their good works and religious deeds will save them when in actuality these practices are preventing their salvation! Certainly many are sincere - but sincerely wrong. Sincerity doesn't save a soul; the shed blood of Christ does! I want you to think about this point though… The Jews were not ignorant of God's righteousness because they had never been told. They had explicit instructions given to them - the Instruction Manual was included with their computer cabinet. The Jews were ignorant of God's righteousness because they refused instruction!! They were not teachable. Instead of consulting the Manual, they went about their own ways of trying to build God's righteousness into their lives. Such ignorance does not stem from a lack of opportunity because we all know Israel had many opportunities to be saved. But rather, their ignorance stemmed from a willful, stubborn resistance to the truth, to the directions already prepared for them. They simply would not submit to God! They were proud of themselves and happy with their good works – content with their religious lives and their self-righteousness, and they would not admit their sins and trust the Savior.
2 Kings 17:14 (KJV)
Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to
the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God.
Let's stop here and search our own hearts for a moment. Do we resemble the unbelieving Jew in much the same way? Do we have a zeal for God but without knowledge? Are we busy going about trying to build righteousness into our lives apart from consulting the Instruction Manual given us? How submissive are you to what God is trying to do in your life, dear lady? Are you "assembling" yourself or allowing God to put you together?? Zeal must be channeled through authority. As Christians, our life is not our own - we are God's building! Is your life truly a mirror of God's righteousness being built into you? Are you trusting in your good works and religious deeds to make you feel godly, or resting in your submission to the Word of God to prove it to be so? The only way you'll know for sure is to go back to God's Word where you'll find that yielding to Christ alone can bring virtue into our lives. At the foot of the cross is where the law ends and true righteousness begins for us! We must all stop resisting the truth - we're sinners! For both the lost person and the growing child of God to truly establish God's righteousness in their lives, we must all be willing to “submit and admit” to God that we have no virtue of our own. To deny this truth would only darken our understanding and cut us off from God.
Romans 10:4 (KJV)
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Ephesians 4:18 (KJV)
Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God
through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their
heart:
Ladies, I hope today that you are sincerely seeking God's righteousness in your life rather than going about to establish your own. Would you want to have to take a multifaceted computer cabinet apart and build it all over again?? Not me! It makes a lot more sense to accept prearranged help and avoid the vanity of our leaning on our own understanding. I hope too, that we'll all care enough to seek the lost as sincerely as Paul did. It takes a righteous life to successfully bring the message of God to someone whereby they will accept it. In fact, there is nothing like the powerful influence of a truly godly life to make the Word of God real to the lost! If we keep a “submit and admit” mindset ever before us and carefully follow God's Word, then perhaps we'll be able to gain as many souls as Paul did for the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s time we all readily followed Divine instruction!
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000 Pamela A. Iannello
Revised 2004
