I’ve heard people that are not followers of Christ say that they don’t study the bible and that they won’t learn more about him because it seems too complicated. They say there are too many of ‘dos and don’ts’ and they can’t be bothered to memorize all that; it’s too much and would get in the way of living life. It’s odd that they don’t feel the same way when it comes to their jobs, or any other thing in life that requires discipline, knowledge, and focus. The truth is that human beings must learn to do new things all the time. We are commanded by Christ to learn what is right and what is wrong, and there’s a tremendous benefit in learning these distinctions. Whether it is immediate or at some point in the future, doing the wrong things hurt us. By the same token, doing the right things position us to receive more of God’s blessings.
God commands us in Ephesians 4:23 to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. This means that we have learned some things that are wrong, because the world has been our teacher. We must change our minds to the mind of Christ, and therefore, we must read God’s Word to find out what is right. We must stack what we have thought and believed against what God says, so we can then think in a way that lines up with what God says. This isn’t a once a week or once a month process. It’s continuous, daily. We will be renewing our minds to God’s Word until the Lord returns or until we pass from this life to the next.
Our Heavenly Father is the Creator of all. He is righteous and perfect, and righteousness follows His every move. In other words, everything He does, from the smallest to the greatest detail, has His righteousness and love woven in it. Because of His tremendous love, God will not force us to abide in His righteousness. Because of His tremendous love, He will not force us to learn about Him in His Word. He has made His Living Word, the Bread of Life, available to us. He has given us intelligent minds, and He leaves it up to us to get to know Him through the truth of His Word.
He knows who we are. Our identity is etched in the destiny He has for us all. Our identity is the person of Jesus Christ. This is who we are, whether we realize it or not. Romans 8:29(NLT) tells us, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Again, this is our identity! We were created by God in the very image of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Our Big Brother, Jesus, walked perfectly before our Heavenly Father as he walked upon this earth. He never sinned, and everything he did was an expression of his love for God. This is God’s Will for each and every human being, that we will all be saved and live a life of love, just as Christ did.
God has given us the example of Christ, His Word, and the help of His Holy Spirit so that we will learn the ways of Christ and become the people He created us to be, but again, this is our choice. God will not force us. He allows us to tell Him who we are going to be. How about that?!!! What a loving God He is!
We are not robots. Genesis 1:27(NLT) states, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” God has made us in such a way that we can have mutuality with Him. We are not fish made to communicate with fish, or dogs made to communicate with dogs. We are human beings, made in the image of our God to communicate, fellowship, and have a relationship with the Creator of all that we survey. We are not servants, we are sons and daughters, and we share sonship rights with our King, Jesus Christ!
God commands us to be like Him, and He would not charge us to do something without qualifying and empowering us to get it done. He tells us in Ephesians 5:1-2(NLT), “1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” We can’t imitate someone we don’t know. We must study God’s Word to learn about His character, nature, and love, so that we can be like Him in all we attempt to do and be in life.
We must understand that as spiritual beings in Christ, life on earth is our showcase. It’s our chance to prove the perfect Will of God. Knowing the difference between right and wrong according to His Word and living the right way is the choice that all of us can make. If we do, it proves our love for God and our faith in Him. But if we don’t, the opposite is true.
God is always rooting for us to become all that He has made us in Christ. He tells us in Romans 12:2 not to let the world persuade us to conform to its customs and superficial values, because this will lead us further and further away from Him. It will separate us from all that He has in store for us. Instead, we are to get the truth of His Word into our minds and continually make our minds new according to the truth He has spoken. We renew our minds by focusing on God’s nature and righteousness, and by learning to be ethical, honest, and trustworthy in all our attitudes and deeds.
No one can live something that they haven’t learned or don’t know. We can only live in proportion to the knowledge we currently have in our arsenals. It’s the quest to know more about God, to study His Word and know it for ourselves that sets us apart as disciples of Christ. His Word transforms us when we read and have faith in it.
So, as we know more about Christ, we become spiritually mature by imitating his example. Living by the example of Christ is how we prove God’s Will, which is His good, acceptable, and perfect plan and purpose for our lives. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“God’s Perfect Plan for Our Lives”, written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord!