Live Close To The Lord
July 3, 2010 by kristinemac
Filed under Life Stuff
I've been reading a really lovely devotional the past few days (which I'm going to be officially reviewing next week) called Jesus Calling, written by Sarah Young. What I like is that each day is written in the "voice" of Jesus speaking encouragement to us. While it's not necessarily strict scripture it puts an interesting interpretation on two or three chosen verses per day.
Today's reading selection was taken from these verses:
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:37 (NIV)
"Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing".
2 Timothy 4:8 (NIV)
"…he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit…"
Titus 3:5 (NIV)
Titus 3:5 (NIV)
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."
Romans 8:1 (NIV)
Romans 8:1 (NIV)
Speaking in the "voice of Jesus" the author writes "If you live close to Me and absorb My Word, the Holy Spirit will guide and correct you as needed".
I suppose a lot of people would pick up first and foremost on the "judge not and you will not be judged" part of this these verses and which is implied in the text, however, I think there is something we tend to skip over when jumping straight to the "judge not" riff.
As followers of Christ we should always desire to "live close" to Jesus and "absorb His word" through daily study of scripture and prayer. In this way we are guided and corrected by the Holy Spirit. One would think if we did these things we would thereby then have no reason to judge one another because we would trust God to be judge of us all. Perhaps the issue isn't so much that Christians are judging others so much as it is we aren't trusting God will actually do it. Could it be possible that in pointing out "the errors of other's ways in Christian love" is usurping the role of the Holy Spirit in not only our lives but in others as well?
Do not mistake me. I'm not saying where there is obvious error we shouldn't speak up or hold fellow Christians (particularly in leadership or in our congregations) accountable but are we somehow missing the point of trusting in God to guide and correct His church in other circumstances?
Interesting to think about isn't it?
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Funny how we as humans always look at the negative part – or the "condition." (Do not judge) But you're right – as we concentrate on living close to Jesus, those things (do not judge) become 2nd nature and we don't think of them as much – they just "are" a part of who we have become.
xxx M.