TRUSTING

This is what Jesus asks us to do. To place our trust in Him and Him alone. He makes it clear that money can't buy what He has to offer. Great intelect can't qualify you for what He has to offer. Proper breeding won't save us. Only Jesus can do that.

So I have been thinking about this part that we must do if we want to be saved. We must trust in Him. Trusting is easier for some than for others. Now I ask you, is that fair? Supposing you are like me and you are kind of a naturally suspicious guy. It would be easy to claim that this trusting business wasn't a level playing field. And that since God didn't give you the wiring or environment that spawns trust, you have been dealt with unfairly. You can easily understand why your friend George trusts in Jesus. George trusts everyone. You might even say that George is gullible. But not us, no sir. We look deeper into things. We search for the flaws. We know very well the misery of buyers remorse. We hate being taken advantage of. We like being one step ahead of the proposition. So I ask you again, is it a level playing field?

I Samuel 16:7b says, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward apperance, but the Lord looks at the heart." This means that God knows us better than anyone knows us including ourselves. It is also an assurance that if we will trust with whatever capacity we have, God will see the measure of it.

Early in the spring of 1991 when I decided to place my faith in Jesus to save me, I was completely alone. There was no dramatic build-up, no music, no beckoning from another, just me in the cab of a 1990 Ford pickup truck. I'm traveling at 70 miles an hour or so in light traffic. It's the middle of the afternoon. And talk about no reverance. I didn't pull the truck over to the shoulder and stop. I didn't even slow down. I didn't close my eyes and my prayer was short and direct. Jesus saved me in that moment. I remember the whole thing as if it were in slow motion.

I don't tell you these things because I am proud of them. Quite the opposite. I tell you this because "the Lord looks at the heart." That is why even the most suspicious man such as me has the same kind of access to Jesus as the trusting man.

The compelling thing about Christ is that He can be trusted completely. And He is patient as He waits for us to trust in Him more.

I move slowly. Trusting just a little bit more each day. And with each passing day I marvel at how faithful Jesus is. The more I trust the more I can rest in Him and His promises.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2006