That Christian Next Door

The beautiful and heartwarming part of our life in Jesus Christ that should make us all feel pretty special is that any journey that God will ever lead us on was first intentioned by Him long before the foundation of the world.

The somewhat harder part, although made easier by God’s grace working in our lives, is that no such journey will ever take place without the intention (decision) and action from ourselves to be a part of what God has intentioned.

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.

Psalm 16 v 2 ESV

It is the nature of the God-ward life – which Jesus Christ is inviting us to – that it has never worked and it will never work that any one could lay hold of God’s plans of “welfare……a future and a hope” in the absence of sacrifice on their part to align with what those God-plans require.

As expressed by King David in Psalm chapter 16, before ever we get where God has prepared for us, there is a choice we must make about who our God and Lord is (verse 2).

The experience of the fullness of God’s plans and blessings in our lives is prevented only by the lack of clarity that there is nothing good in this world or anywhere else apart from Him.

(For clarification: there will be some who make it to heaven who will not have lived out the fullness of God’s plans and blessings for their lives – so the fullness of God’s plan and blessing is not a requisite for heaven. How much of God’s plan that comes to pass in our lives is – at the very least – a very accurate measure of how much of the world we held on to.)

A common pitfall in the Christian journey is to seek to accept the plans and blessings of God that we come across without faith and without works.

It is all too easy sometimes to thunder out yesses and clench our fists.

But how about ditching the shouts for a minute and just being intentional? How about making a move? Because without the intention and the action, all the shouting and fist-clenching becomes eerily similar to the prophets of Baal who cried and cut themselves in search of a “god” that was never going to answer (1 Kings 18 v 20 – 29).

In fact, when we are not intentional and when we posture, we make the all-powerful God of no effect in our lives.

God’s intention is clear. His action – to bring us near to Him through Jesus Christ – is also clear for all who would see. If there ever is a missing link, it is never God.

King David continues:

As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips. The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

Psalm 16 v 3 – 6 ESV

From this excerpt, we see something of the life King David has chosen: his delight is in the righteous ones, he sees the detriment of sin and will not take part in sinful practice, he chooses the Lord as his reward and his sustenance and he is submitted under the mighty right hand of God.

And so it is in this context and only in this context that the lines of God’s will (plans and blessings included) have fallen for him in pleasant places.

Fast-forward very many years later: Jesus the Christ the Son of God would later come from the lineage of King David – so indeed, the lines fell well.

Pleasant places do exist. They exist because of this God-ward life but not without a God-ward life. They are certainly not a coincidence. There is a lot of intention behind them – from God first and we ourselves next.

God has good intentions for us. Our intentions must likewise be good for Him, His kingdom and His will. And we must not stop there: we must also follow through with action.

Be blessed.