And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people unto the water: and the LORD said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.
Judges 7:4-7 KJV
God is not interested in numbers but in the quality of our faith, as has been demonstrated by the action He commanded of sending the army to drink, and then accepting only the minority who lapped up the water like dogs.
I often wondered what was the meaning of that decal I see on the rear windshield of cars, especially minivans, that says "Only God" in white letters.
Myself, I don't hold by decking my vehicle with stickers or decals proclaiming my faith. To my way of thinking, that's not a witness—it's impersonal—and witnessing can never be impersonal. It just seems like a numbers game. "If enough of us Christians slap Jesus is Lord stickers and Ichthys fish on our cars, the world will know we're out there, and that there's lots of us."
So that's what's behind the slogan “Only God,” the idea that “only God could do something like that.” The idea is talked about in a book called Axioms, by Bill Hybels (which I haven’t read, but heard about).
What I thought it might mean is, "For me there is only One priority, only One ultimate concern, and that is God."
It reminded me of the Bible study sessions we used to have with our former pastor, Father Jim. He called the sessions, "Only Christ," and the emphasis was this: That when we met together to study the Word, we each and every one decided ahead of time to put away our own thoughts and opinions, and be ready to hear what Christ Himself, the Divine Word, would speak to us as we read the bible together.
Having this attitude had a tremendous effect. There was very little time wasted by people opining and speculating, or worse yet, pontificating. It's like, when you know in Whose presence you are sitting, at Whose feet (that's the meaning of session) you are waiting open-eared to hear His voice, like Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus. Those bible studies were the best I'd ever been too. We were really taught by God, not by men.
A reggae song has this lyric: "Gi' me a session, not another version" (Bob Marley, Mix Up Mix Up).
This is what divides the "Only Christ" from the "Only Man" attitude.
To whose voice are we willing to listen, to His, or to our own?
Monday, October 20, 2014
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