An Act of Faith/Thinking with Our Eyes
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Straight to the Cross
COLUMN: Outlines of Faith
An Act of Faith
by Greg Tidwell
On January 11, 1992 an eighth grade student from
Japan dropped a bottle in the Pacific Ocean. The
bottle contained a note with the student's contact
information and a request to be notified if the
bottle were recovered.
From the waters just south of Okinawa this message
floated until, twelve years later, it washed up on
Hanauma Bay in Hawaii.
The glass bottle, covered in algae, contained the
age-brittled note written by a child who is now an
adult. The student who wrote the message years ago
can now only imagine the details of the bottle's
voyage, surrounded by the power and beauty of the
vast expanse of water. Certainly, when he placed
the message in the water, he could have neither
known how far it would go nor how long it would
take to find its way home.
In many ways this Japanese youth's experience
illustrates the truth of Ecclesiastes 11:1, "Cast
your bread upon the waters, for you will find it
after many days."
God calls us, day by day, to reach out in faith.
We do the Lord's work never knowing the certain
outcome of our effort. The time spent teaching a
Bible class, visiting a shut-in, or making a
visitor feel welcome is an investment in the
future. We do God's work in faith, often not
seeing the results until long after — if ever.
We live in an impatient age which looks for
immediate results. The work of the church, in
contrast, builds over time. Committing ourselves
to faithful service we can be sure that, in the
appropriate time, God will bless our efforts.
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COLUMN: Heavenly Connections
Thinking with Our Eyes
by Tim Hall
The people standing before them looked like weary
travelers. Their clothing was dusty and worn;
their sandals were barely holding together; even
their provisions had the appearance of age. Bread
which they claimed to have taken hot from their
oven on the day they began traveling was now dry
and moldy. Certainly these people had come from a
great distance.
One suspicious soul raised a caution: "Perhaps you
dwell among us; so how can we make a covenant with
you?" (Joshua 9:7, NKJV) It was a valid concern.
After God led the Israelites out of Egypt, He told
them about the land He would give them. One thing
God made clear was that they were to make no
treaties with the occupants of Canaan. "...For I
will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your
hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You
shall make no covenant with them, nor with their
gods" (Exodus 23:31,32). The religions and
lifestyles of the Canaanites were extremely
immoral. God wanted His people to have no contact
with such ungodly people.
Joshua committed a serious mistake on this
occasion. As a man with good leadership skills, he
carefully listened to these strangers as they
asked for terms of peace. One thing, however, he
forgot: "...they did not ask counsel of the Lord"
(Joshua 9:14). Had they asked the Lord for wisdom,
God would surely have pulled the disguise off
these Gibeonites. Since no one asked, though, God
allowed them to make a pact with people who had
been designated for destruction.
You can't say Joshua wasn't thinking that day. You
can say, though, that he was thinking with his
eyes rather than with God's counsel. And that's
always a mistake.
Paul warned against the same tendency in his day.
In speaking of false teachers already at work
among the Corinthian Christians, he wrote, "For
such are false apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.
And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms
himself into an angel of light" (2 Corinthians
11:13,14). Judging solely by the senses, this
teacher appears to be trustworthy. He looks
friendly; his words are smooth and non-judgmental;
his handshake is firm, and he looks you in the
eye. Surely this man is teaching us things upon
which we can rely.
But wait! Has anyone thought to "ask counsel of
the Lord"? How can we do that? Here's the test
Paul prescribed: "But even if we, or an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what
we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As
we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone
preaches any other gospel to you than what you
have received, let him be accursed" (Galatians
1:8,9).
Imagine one of the apostles coming to speak at
your church this Sunday. Or maybe an angel
descends with a stirring message. "We can believe
that!" some might gush. "These are holy
messengers." Paul would disagree. He would ask,
"Is it the message that has been preached to you?
There is no other gospel. If it's not what was
delivered in the first century (i.e. revealed in
the New Testament), don't believe it."
The messenger before you sounds and looks
authentic. Yes, his message is a little different
from what you've been taught in the past; ...
Okay, it's a lot different. But he assures you
that his message is true, based on the best
scholarship of the day.
Just one question before you accept what he's
saying: Have you sought counsel from the Lord?
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