The palmetto trees swayed rhythmically as I watched down the street for the arrival of my children and grandchildren. Occasionally I glanced toward my phone to check the time and to make sure I hadn’t missed any messages. I switched on the Bible app to get ahead on some reading, knowing my time would be spent differently this week.
My daughter asked that we plan a week at the beach for her birthday which happens to fall on Thanksgiving this year. For over a decade, this was something of a tradition. Since the arrival of the grandchildren, we’ve stayed a little closer to home. Many would fault the pandemic for such changes, longing for the good ole days, wishing things would go back to the way they were before. This is not only futile; it can be dangerous.
“Then the foreign rabble who were traveling with the Israelites began to crave the good things of Egypt.
And the people of Israel also began to complain. “Oh, for some meat!” they exclaimed.
“We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted.
But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!””
Numbers 11:4-6 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/num.11.4-6.NLT
God’s provision of manna, bread from heaven, came exactly when the wilderness wanderers needed it, lasted precisely as long as their need, and provided all the nourishment necessary for life. Never mind the fact that Israel’s refusal to cross into the land on God’s original command lost them a generation of elders and cost them forty years in that desert. After disobedience, ingratitude may well be the next most deadly sin.
No one likes to be taken for granted, least of all the Lord of the Universe, yet we presume on His goodness hourly. Are you breathing? God is sustaining you. Is your mind cycling through seemingly endless topics, your eyes processing what you’re scrolling, your hands navigating the keypad in front of you? Did you eat a meal today? God created the parts of your body to work together just so. Did you enjoy conversation or have a disagreement? God conceived of your emotions, knew your voice before you were thought of by your parents, and gave you His Word and His Spirit to guide you.
How often are you swayed by voices that are not His? When are we tempted to grumble because His provision is not what we expected or desired? How many times have I failed to take a wayward thought captive, making it obey Christ? (II Corinthians 10:5) Sway has many definitions in modern English. Among them are allusions to unsteadiness like stagger, swerve, reel, and stumble. These are very visual. Also among the definitions are words like waver, vacillating, fluctuating between extremes, and indecisive. A mind characterized by these things is easily influenced.
“Then we will no longer be immature like children.
We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching.
We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.”
Ephesians 4:14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.4.14.NLT
High sounding arguments that do not align with the truth of God’s Word are nothing more than lies of the enemy of our souls. The deceiver and father of lies speaks the native tongue of man. Voices that hold sway, influence, persuade, manipulate, and dominate our world are the same voice that caused Eve to question God’s Word, His goodness, and His provision in a perfect garden.
“For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching.
They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.
They will reject the truth and chase after myths.
But you should keep a clear mind in every situation.
Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord.
Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.”
2 Timothy 4:3-5 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2ti.4.3-5.NLT
“I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he comes to set up his Kingdom:
Preach the word of God.
Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not.
Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.”
2 Timothy 4:1-2 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2ti.4.1-2.NLT
“Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking.
For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven!
When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise:
“Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.”
This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain.
Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.
For our God is a devouring fire.”
Hebrews 12:25-29 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/heb.12.25-29.NLT
Embracing the truth of God’s Word means accepting all of it, obeying it entirely, not picking and choosing what sounds comfortable or reasonable to our human minds. Some parts will of course be comforting and pleasing, as God is the source of all comfort. (II Corinthians 1:3)
“There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.
And you know the way to where I am going.”
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is.
From now on, you do know him and have seen him!””
John 14:2-4, 6-7 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.14.2-7.NLT
“Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was!
He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus.
This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all.
But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners.
Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life.”
1 Timothy 1:14-16 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1ti.1.14-16.NLT
Other parts may be more difficult to understand or challenging to obey, but our acceptance and obedience are required nonetheless- not an attempt to earn salvation- from a heart of gratitude and love for what God has done to provide for my salvation, making every attempt to point others to Him.
As I sit beneath the swaying branches of the palmetto trees awaiting the arrival of my family, I am grateful that God has called me into His Kingdom of Light. He has saved me by His grace and sealed me with His Spirit (II Corinthians 1:22) I do not claim to have all the answers, but this much I know for certain- Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. If I were to question Him, it would be to ask why. Why leave perfect fellowship with the Father to redeem a world gone bad, and not just once but again and again and again? I don’t have to wonder about that and neither do you.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.3.16.NIV
“Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.””
Luke 18:26-27 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/luk.18.26-27.NIV
“The wind blows wherever it pleases.
You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.
So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.””
John 3:8 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.3.8.NIV
“So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters?
God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish.
Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.
This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.”
1 Corinthians 1:20-21, 25 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1co.1.20-25.NLT
““For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:8-11 NIV
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