GOD IN THIS LIFE
Psalms 14, 15, 16
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
This is not about whether you believe God exists but rather you act as if God is not around; God is not a factor that you consider as you go about your life. The Psalmist says that such a person is a fool. He asserts that “God is present in the company of the righteous” and that he is the refuge of the poor and helpless.
The other fool is the one who thinks that God does not care how they behave and act. Evangelicals fed on “salvation by faith and not by works” often fall into this trap, wrongly applying what is a theological truth in the context of our salvation to how God would respond to us after we have said the magic words.
“Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?” he asks. The evangelical’s answer “the one who puts his faith in Jesus Christ” fails to appreciate what it means to put their faith in Jesus Christ, which the Psalmist supplies. Many Christians pay lip service to God thinking that the work of putting meat into their declaration of faith does not matter. After all, “once saved, always saved.” Isn’t this the Gospel we were taught?
In the end we must know and accept that this life matters to God. Our journey with him is in the here and now and not slated only for the hereafter. If this is the case we must know that God is therefore actively with us in this life and the more we live in that reality and learn to be loyal to him, to learn from him and to delight in his ways, the more we will know of the life that he desires for us.
“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”