August 12, 2012

"Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord who rules over all. He is the King of glory." Psalm 24:10

I am not a great mathematician but there is something comforting about math. It is absolute and predicatable. 2 + 2 is always 4, always was and always will be. Once you learn your math tables you will have them for life and they will never let you down.

That is comforting news for those who operate on a budget and balance a bank account.

You might say the rules of math are sovereign over all of your calcuations. All you have to do is work the numbers and the numbers will work for you.

This week during VBS we taught our kids that they can always trust God. No matter how they feel they can trust God. No matter what others say, they can always trust God. No matter where they are they can trust God. No matter who they are they can trust God. No matter what happens they can trust God.

It was a basic introduction to the sovereignty of God. Sovereignty means God is in charge and you can always trust Him.

The sovereignty of God is not just an obscure doctrinal concept for theologians to debate. It is essential for you to understand Who God is and what it takes to know Him and please Him.

You wrestle with the issue of God's sovereignty multiple times each day. Every time you are tempted you are faced with a decision about God's sovereignty. You must decide if you are going to obey Him and resist the temptation or rebel against His sovereignty and act according to your will. In essence, you have to decide each time if you are going to trust Him in this situation.

If you are a follower of Christ, you should not willfully choose to disobey Him. You have made a commitment to submit to His sovereignty in all of your decisions.

The Psalmist declares that you are to have "clean hands" and a "pure heart".

Clean hands have to do with your conduct and behavior. The only way you can have clean hands is to have been forgiven by God for the sins you committed through wrong behavior. In other words, you have trusted God for salvation through His Son. When you confess your sins and repent of them you can receive the forgiveness of God and His moral cleansing through the blood of Christ.

 

A pure heart refers to your motives. What motivates you to do the things you do? A followers of Christ should be motivated by love for God and for others. When you love someone you will be kind and generous and helpful toward them. You would never choose to hurt them. That "perfect love" is given to you by the Holy Spirit when you surrender your selfish will to His sovereign will. Your sins are forgiven and your sinful nature is under the control of God's Spirit.

The evidence that you have clean hands and a pure heart is that you no longer struggle against the sovereign will of God because you are now surrendered to it. In a very real sense you have "opened up the gates (your will) and let the King of Glory come in".

Only when you have surrendered fully to the sovereign will of God and ceased struggling against it does trusting God really begin to add up!

Have you surrendered to His sovereignty?