“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
Matthew 10:29-31
When we think of God and His greatness we sometimes lose sight of the fact that He is also personal. In addition to His being eternal and un-created, all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere present, God also has mental and emotional faculties. That is, God thinks, chooses, responds, and has a definite opinion on things. God is back of everything. He is the personal Creator of all things and it is He who gives all things their identities as they relate to His plan. Importantly, it is the morally and rationally perfect God of the Bible who assigns and establishes value to all that exists in His created order. Sadly, the corrupting influence of sin in the world has poisoned the minds of the unregenerate. People everywhere are in hopeless confusion on what is truly valuable and what is not. Our cultural megaphones work to cause us to elevate in importance that which is trivial, or even sinful, in the eyes of God. On the other hand, we are constantly being manipulated and pressured into trivializing, or even despising, that which God declares to be of great value. Whereas certain groups see animals as equal to humans in terms of value and importance, God says otherwise (Matthew 12:12). Our government leaders and public educators obviously see no value in prayer, or in consulting God’s infallible word for instruction and direction. The Lord Jesus, however, declared God’s word to be more necessary than our daily food (Matthew 4:4). Heartfelt, fervent prayer is guaranteed to be powerful and effective (James 5:16) and we are instructed to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Whereas our pagan government has decided, on its own authority, that the gathering of the saints for corporate worship, prayer, and the ministry of the world is “nonessential,” the Lord instructs us otherwise. He commands us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but to exhort one another all the more as we see the end of the age approaching (Hebrews 10:25). Whereas the world commends self-sufficiency and even outright selfishness, God commends those who, like John the Baptist, resolve to let Christ increase in their lives even while they themselves “decrease” (John 3:30). The world in the sway of the wicked one (1 John 5:19) sees no value in the promises of God to His redeemed. To us who are saved, however, His promises are exceeding great and precious (2 Peter 1:4). May God by His Spirit and through His word, continue to enlighten our minds, strengthen our hearts, and empower our witness, for His glory and for the good of those He loves.
God bless you,
Pastor John
English