Wednesday, January 27, 2010
It's all Yours, anyway.
Luke 17, the disciples said "Lord, increase our faith."
It's a statement like "heal us" or "give us this day ..." They're asking for a miracle, and act of God, a gift. Yet Jesus didn't touch them with a magic wand & grant greater faith. In fact He told them a story. The story was about what they needed to to do increase their own faith.
Oh, I know about Romans 12:4 - "metron pisteos" that God gives each a measure of faith, and Ephesians 2:8, that faith is a gift of God. There must be a way to reconcile that with Jesus' statement.
Maybe these verses refer to a starting point - kind of like whether we start with 1 talent, 5 talents, or 10 talents. Or maybe it refers to the type of faith.
Here, in Luke, Jesus answers the request not with a gift or a miracle, but with a parable.
The parable isn't about positive thinking, or positive confessions, or about controlling your thoughts so that you can transplant Mulberry trees. No, the parable is about a servant faithfully serving his master, just doing what he ought to do.
I think what Jesus was saying with this parable is that our desire should not focus on increasing our faith but rather increasing our faithfulness. Increased faith will be the byproduct.
So, Lord, help me today to be faithful. Help me believe than when I am faithful in small things, like being honest and holy in private, that you will reward that honesty and holiness just because you said you would.
Help my attitude be "I've only done what I ought to have done."
Lord, increase my faithfulness. Help me be faithful in what I do, in what I think, in what I say, in what I watch, in what I read, in my relationships, in prayer, in worship, in honesty, in giving, in sharing, in paying my taxes, in showing hospitality, in loving unlovables, in humility, in public in private. Only doing what I ought to do.
Psalm 15 ... my Bible entitles "Description of a Citizen of Zion." It really should say "Description of a Faithful Life."
It's all yours, anyway, Lord.
It's a statement like "heal us" or "give us this day ..." They're asking for a miracle, and act of God, a gift. Yet Jesus didn't touch them with a magic wand & grant greater faith. In fact He told them a story. The story was about what they needed to to do increase their own faith.
Oh, I know about Romans 12:4 - "metron pisteos" that God gives each a measure of faith, and Ephesians 2:8, that faith is a gift of God. There must be a way to reconcile that with Jesus' statement.
Maybe these verses refer to a starting point - kind of like whether we start with 1 talent, 5 talents, or 10 talents. Or maybe it refers to the type of faith.
Here, in Luke, Jesus answers the request not with a gift or a miracle, but with a parable.
The parable isn't about positive thinking, or positive confessions, or about controlling your thoughts so that you can transplant Mulberry trees. No, the parable is about a servant faithfully serving his master, just doing what he ought to do.
I think what Jesus was saying with this parable is that our desire should not focus on increasing our faith but rather increasing our faithfulness. Increased faith will be the byproduct.
So, Lord, help me today to be faithful. Help me believe than when I am faithful in small things, like being honest and holy in private, that you will reward that honesty and holiness just because you said you would.
Help my attitude be "I've only done what I ought to have done."
Lord, increase my faithfulness. Help me be faithful in what I do, in what I think, in what I say, in what I watch, in what I read, in my relationships, in prayer, in worship, in honesty, in giving, in sharing, in paying my taxes, in showing hospitality, in loving unlovables, in humility, in public in private. Only doing what I ought to do.
Psalm 15 ... my Bible entitles "Description of a Citizen of Zion." It really should say "Description of a Faithful Life."
It's all yours, anyway, Lord.
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