First and Foremost

When I was mowing some of the tight spots in our backyard that I can’t get to with the riding mower a week or so ago, I came around the back of our shed with my Toro self-propelled mower and must have sucked up something into the gas filter as the machine coughed a few times and then died!  My first thought was to get a new filter and I immediately pictured the Toro sales and service center in our little town of Fuquay-Varina.  Then after a slight pause I remembered when a similar situation had occurred with my 1982 Datsun 4X4 pickup and how my older son and I figured it out and changed the filter on our own.  So, I decided that if I could do it with my vehicle, surely I could change the filter on my lawn mower… right?

Well, it has since cleared itself and seems to be running fine now!  But when I do need to change it I can buy the part at our local Home Depot and make what looks to be an easy switch (I had taken the cowl off the motor and access looks simple!).  My point in this story though, is where my mind went as soon as I was faced with a difficulty.  It is just like how my wife’s and my minds immediately went to God’s promises when we received the first negative report concerning her health back in 2007.

I’ve mentioned numerous times over the last few weeks of how Colossians 2:10 tells us that we are complete in Christ and as I reviewed my commentary on this verse I read something that really caught my eye.  With the completeness of Christ in mind, the author made the point that “therefore our spiritual growth is not by addition but by nutrition” and that “we grow from the inside out.” *

Now let me say that I appreciate all the natural remedies or aids that people have suggested for my wife’s condition, but I find it very strange how some Christian individuals put these natural courses of action BEFORE (and in some cases instead of) standing with us as we set our faith in motion with the Word of God.  I came back to this experience in a roundabout fashion today as I made my way down to Colossians 2:12 where we are told that we were buried with Him (Christ) in baptism and then arose with Him “through the faith of the operation of God…” (KJV)

We decided early on that we definitely desired to have that same faith-fueled “operation of God” to do its work in the healing of Piper’s body!   Like I also read this morning “We have experienced the energy of God through faith in Christ, so why turn back to the deadness of the law,”* or go back to the lifelessness of our old dead nature?  2 Corinthians 5:17 informs us that as believers “behold, all things have become new.” (KJV)  Therefore, why would I want to go back to the old things that never had any lasting effect anyway, when we can and should trust our lives in the freshness, the newness and the miraculous power of God and His Word?

So… think about that with me for a moment here.  Where would you rather entrust your well-being?  What would your FIRST choice be?  I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with looking at natural aids, I continually read articles on the progress with the scientific fight for the resolution to Alzheimer’s and we are following some of the processes I have read about as well as some we have heard from our doctors, but that is not where we have our trust!  When push comes to shove, our FIRST and FOREMOST trust continues to be in the truth of God’s Word… even when the physical circumstances may seem to be going in an opposite direction.  

I think 2 Corinthians 2:14 sums up my understanding perfectly as Paul told his readers in NO uncertain terms “NOW thanks be to God, who ALWAYS causes us to triumph in Christ…” (MKJV)  Let me ask you a tough question today… What does ALWAYS mean to you?

Have a great rest of the week, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “What would I expect my FIRST thought to be in ANY situation today?”

*Be Complete, A Commentary on Colossians, Dr. Warren W.Wiersbe, chapter six