Daily Devo - Thursday, May 29, 2008

“do what is required…”
Philemon 8b

Human beings have a remarkable ability to make things more complicated than necessary—and miss the whole point in the process. As the saying goes, ‘details are the Devil’s playground, and we tend to cram in enough details at times for him to make an entire theme park.

Some today are obsessed with biblical prophecies and fill their time studying (or making) prophecy charts, graphs, and timetables. They focus on the minutia and squeeze every vague reference in Scripture into some elaborate end times doctrine. Others attempt to find “secrets” that are “hidden” in the Bible. In the second century there was a ‘Gnostic’ teacher named Basilides. He taught that reality was comprised of 365 ‘heavens’ controlled by 365 angelic beings. The lowest level, the kosmos (our physical universe), is the one we are currently trapped in. Mixing paganism with Christianity, Basilides taught that the “Father” sent Christ to the world to teach us the secret of advancing through all 365 levels. Almost like some trendy religion designed for Hollywood elites, he said the trick is to read the scriptures for clues, and also to listen to other ‘revealers’ who have clues for us. Its adherents endlessly searched in vain for some secret information, while failing to live according to clear commands. Whether a true believer obsessed with “bible secrets” or a heretic guilty of twisting scripture, both allow themselves to become distracted from the plain truth that lies in front of them.

Scripture is amazingly simple and straightforward. It state that (1) God made us, (2) we sinned against him, (3) we deserve eternal death, (4) He sent Jesus to save us, (5) we are to give our lives to Christ, and (6) we are to live for His glory. God has even specified how we are to bring Him honor and glory—namely, by being loving as He is loving.

Micah 6:8 is a remarkable passage that indicates what God has wanted from us all along. The prophet writes, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Elsewhere we are told that “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). Both passage mix holiness with compassion. In the Philemon passage, Paul is reminding the wealthy slave-owner of the basics of Christianity. Neither holiness nor compassion is optional for the believer. We are, by definition, those who are singularly focused on accomplishing our mission—which is to bring God glory both by our holiness before Him and our compassion before others.

The more we abound with spiritual blessings in heavenly things,
the more God is honored, and his name glorified.
– William Attersoll