The Lord's given the ability to utilize reason to mankind and it's a useful tool in resolving problems and formulating conclusions. We use it commonly and possibly without much consideration to it's usefulness or even how often we use it. But as followers of Christ, a problem with the usefulness of that ability to reason arises when it comes in conflict with the divine authority of the God that created us. For example, our own reasoning can become a dangerous tool when allowed to be manipulated by the enemy or when reason is allowed to depart from the established decrees and declarations of the Ultimate Authority (E.g.- Adam and Eve and the Tree Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil).
In one definition - the one most applicable to my thoughts here, Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "reason" as follows:
reason verb
"the power of comprehending, inferring, or thinking especially in orderly rational ways : INTELLIGENCE"
Above all that we could possibly come to know, reason or contend with in this life, and above all authorities that we might become subject to, there is ONE Authority and definer of ALL things that reigns supreme and omnipotent...
Isaiah 48:12-13 (NLT)
12“Listen to me, O family of Jacob, Israel my chosen one! I alone am God, the First and the Last. 13 It was my hand that laid the foundations of the earth, my right hand that spread out the heavens above. When I call out the stars, they all appear in order.”
The order, functionality and all of the ordinance surrounding every single thing in the universe and beyond were established by one ultimate and supreme authority - God, before any one of us even existed. The attempt to overrule any of those things established by Him would be the basic equivalent of running headlong and bare headed into the sheer rock face of a mountain to move it - it can't be done and someone's gonna get hurt. Obviously no mere human being in all of his or her frailty has the ability to overpower God, so the facts of life are already established and the details provided for our safety and knowledge in the account of His word. We either accept it and conform with it... or we crash into it and someone gets hurt.
As followers of Christ we're still potentially vulnerable to the desires of our own flesh and confronting that issue of vulnerability - recognizing, examining and constraining its influence, is an important element of our walk with Him. Recognizing our potential vulnerability, reminds us of our need to be continually vigilant and self examining while using the word and direction of the Lord as the ultimate and authoritative guidance in that effort. That examination needs to become a daily effort, an hourly effort and even a minute by minute effort until it becomes second nature to consider our own actions before the Lord before we move to enact them - asking instinctively whether or not what we in our minds propose to do, say or even think are worthy of the Lord's own heart and in agreement with His judgment.
At times in unguarded moments, we may still find ourselves tempted toward a particular action or belief and it's then that our ability to reason may find an opportunity to become dangerous. Like the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, the ability to reason may appeal to tempt us and that same serpent stands ready to lend the deception.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word "tempt" as follows:
tempt verb
1 : to entice to do wrong by promise of pleasure or gain
2a : to induce to do something
b : to cause to be strongly inclined
was tempted to call it quits
3a : to try presumptuously : PROVOKE
tempt fate
b : to risk the dangers of
c obsolete : to make trial of : TEST
As a follower of Christ, being "tempted" isn't in itself a sin. After all, Jesus Himself was tempted and through scripture we know for certain that He never sinned. But for us, what follows the temptations we face may well define our response to a choice we were presented with in that critical moment... and it's that choice that we make following every temptation that has the ability to bring with it an often foreseeable end consequence or result. In reality our choice is never quite as complicated as it might present itself in our own minds at the time, nor is it as inconsequential as we might console ourselves in the moment we seek to build a reasoned case to support the choice we prefer to make in one direction or another. We simply either accept and conform with what's already divinely established or pay a price that could be more devastating than we imagine - one that could be shared by others.
James 1 12-15 (NLT) 12 "God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death."
As James states quite clearly, God never tempts anyone to sin. But even as followers of Christ, it's the desires of our flesh that have the potential to present themselves as weaknesses to be fanned and exploited by the enemy if they're not kept under control and in keeping with the standards Father God's set out for us. As human beings, we're obviously not yet made perfect and any of our remaining imperfections continue to make us ever available to be tempted toward failing those standards in unguarded moments. In the blink of an eye it's possible that we may find ourselves sorely tempted by persons or situations that we're presented with... and in those moments, we have a simple choice. They're moments when our own ability to reason has an opportunity to become our soul's perverting enemy against the immovable and unchanging declarations of the God who reigns supreme eternally and immovably. Life doesn't have to become complicated, far too often people tend to make it that way for themselves in spite of the direction we've been given.
We're accountable to the very God who created us and who's directed us in advance in all things related to the the existence that He's given us. As human beings created by a sovereign God - we belong to Him rightly and completely. So in every case, whether we acknowledge it or not, we are not and never have been our own masters. In regard to that and against any argument to the contrary, we rightly have no choice... but He gave us one. It's that simple choice that should become the solid and determining basis for any other we might find available to reason for ourselves.
Adam and Eve walked in the garden of Eden with God Himself. They lived in an environment of innocence untouched by the consequences of sin. They walked and spoke in direct conversation with our sovereign Creator in a relationship that we look forward to in the place of His glory. Death, decay, pain, disease and all of the evil and miseries that mankind now faces had no place in an environment that we now can only try to imagine. In a moment in time they allowed themselves an opportunity - a simple choice to reason against what God had already declared. What continues to follow their chosen reasoning has exacted a sinful plague on the earth and every human being the Lord has created since.
In reality, their is no reasoning able to stand against what God has already declared sovereignly - but still, He gives us a choice. That choice comes with it's own consequences when it stands in disobedience to what He's said. And at that moment of choice, any of our reasoning that conflicts with what He's already said creates an offense that we choose to make against our Lord. It becomes an offense that we choose to bring into our relationship to stand between our Lord and us - an obstacle of offense that stands until we choose to remove it through repentance and seeking His graceful forgiveness. The repair of that most critical of all relationships is only made possible by His selfless grace leaving us ever deeper in His debt.
Accepting what the Lord has declared as the unchangeable guide to our successful walk with Him leaves open the door to unlimited blessing. Choosing to fall to the temptation to dilute or reason against it comes with its own reward. One choice made to reason in the garden of Eden has brought a destructive and devastating cost to all of mankind. What has our own reasoning cost us in our relationship with Christ and what obstacles have we chosen to bring into our own path by reasoned choice? When God has made a sovereign declaration, there is truly no choice and no reasoning that will stand against it - so we need be cautious in our chosen reasoning, because the sovereign judge over all that exists will make that all too clear in the end...
We can be vigilant and faithful to the Love of all loves and reap the endless rewards of close relationship with Him. We can let our reasoning be based only on the rock of His declared Fatherly wisdom and prosper in His kindness, or the choice is ours to reap the benefit and consequences of our own failed reasoning.
He gave us a very simple choice...
Proverbs 1:7 (NLT) "Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."
In one definition - the one most applicable to my thoughts here, Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "reason" as follows:
reason verb
"the power of comprehending, inferring, or thinking especially in orderly rational ways : INTELLIGENCE"
Above all that we could possibly come to know, reason or contend with in this life, and above all authorities that we might become subject to, there is ONE Authority and definer of ALL things that reigns supreme and omnipotent...
Isaiah 48:12-13 (NLT)
12“Listen to me, O family of Jacob, Israel my chosen one! I alone am God, the First and the Last. 13 It was my hand that laid the foundations of the earth, my right hand that spread out the heavens above. When I call out the stars, they all appear in order.”
The order, functionality and all of the ordinance surrounding every single thing in the universe and beyond were established by one ultimate and supreme authority - God, before any one of us even existed. The attempt to overrule any of those things established by Him would be the basic equivalent of running headlong and bare headed into the sheer rock face of a mountain to move it - it can't be done and someone's gonna get hurt. Obviously no mere human being in all of his or her frailty has the ability to overpower God, so the facts of life are already established and the details provided for our safety and knowledge in the account of His word. We either accept it and conform with it... or we crash into it and someone gets hurt.
As followers of Christ we're still potentially vulnerable to the desires of our own flesh and confronting that issue of vulnerability - recognizing, examining and constraining its influence, is an important element of our walk with Him. Recognizing our potential vulnerability, reminds us of our need to be continually vigilant and self examining while using the word and direction of the Lord as the ultimate and authoritative guidance in that effort. That examination needs to become a daily effort, an hourly effort and even a minute by minute effort until it becomes second nature to consider our own actions before the Lord before we move to enact them - asking instinctively whether or not what we in our minds propose to do, say or even think are worthy of the Lord's own heart and in agreement with His judgment.
At times in unguarded moments, we may still find ourselves tempted toward a particular action or belief and it's then that our ability to reason may find an opportunity to become dangerous. Like the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, the ability to reason may appeal to tempt us and that same serpent stands ready to lend the deception.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word "tempt" as follows:
tempt verb
1 : to entice to do wrong by promise of pleasure or gain
2a : to induce to do something
b : to cause to be strongly inclined
was tempted to call it quits
3a : to try presumptuously : PROVOKE
tempt fate
b : to risk the dangers of
c obsolete : to make trial of : TEST
As a follower of Christ, being "tempted" isn't in itself a sin. After all, Jesus Himself was tempted and through scripture we know for certain that He never sinned. But for us, what follows the temptations we face may well define our response to a choice we were presented with in that critical moment... and it's that choice that we make following every temptation that has the ability to bring with it an often foreseeable end consequence or result. In reality our choice is never quite as complicated as it might present itself in our own minds at the time, nor is it as inconsequential as we might console ourselves in the moment we seek to build a reasoned case to support the choice we prefer to make in one direction or another. We simply either accept and conform with what's already divinely established or pay a price that could be more devastating than we imagine - one that could be shared by others.
James 1 12-15 (NLT) 12 "God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death."
As James states quite clearly, God never tempts anyone to sin. But even as followers of Christ, it's the desires of our flesh that have the potential to present themselves as weaknesses to be fanned and exploited by the enemy if they're not kept under control and in keeping with the standards Father God's set out for us. As human beings, we're obviously not yet made perfect and any of our remaining imperfections continue to make us ever available to be tempted toward failing those standards in unguarded moments. In the blink of an eye it's possible that we may find ourselves sorely tempted by persons or situations that we're presented with... and in those moments, we have a simple choice. They're moments when our own ability to reason has an opportunity to become our soul's perverting enemy against the immovable and unchanging declarations of the God who reigns supreme eternally and immovably. Life doesn't have to become complicated, far too often people tend to make it that way for themselves in spite of the direction we've been given.
We're accountable to the very God who created us and who's directed us in advance in all things related to the the existence that He's given us. As human beings created by a sovereign God - we belong to Him rightly and completely. So in every case, whether we acknowledge it or not, we are not and never have been our own masters. In regard to that and against any argument to the contrary, we rightly have no choice... but He gave us one. It's that simple choice that should become the solid and determining basis for any other we might find available to reason for ourselves.
Adam and Eve walked in the garden of Eden with God Himself. They lived in an environment of innocence untouched by the consequences of sin. They walked and spoke in direct conversation with our sovereign Creator in a relationship that we look forward to in the place of His glory. Death, decay, pain, disease and all of the evil and miseries that mankind now faces had no place in an environment that we now can only try to imagine. In a moment in time they allowed themselves an opportunity - a simple choice to reason against what God had already declared. What continues to follow their chosen reasoning has exacted a sinful plague on the earth and every human being the Lord has created since.
In reality, their is no reasoning able to stand against what God has already declared sovereignly - but still, He gives us a choice. That choice comes with it's own consequences when it stands in disobedience to what He's said. And at that moment of choice, any of our reasoning that conflicts with what He's already said creates an offense that we choose to make against our Lord. It becomes an offense that we choose to bring into our relationship to stand between our Lord and us - an obstacle of offense that stands until we choose to remove it through repentance and seeking His graceful forgiveness. The repair of that most critical of all relationships is only made possible by His selfless grace leaving us ever deeper in His debt.
Accepting what the Lord has declared as the unchangeable guide to our successful walk with Him leaves open the door to unlimited blessing. Choosing to fall to the temptation to dilute or reason against it comes with its own reward. One choice made to reason in the garden of Eden has brought a destructive and devastating cost to all of mankind. What has our own reasoning cost us in our relationship with Christ and what obstacles have we chosen to bring into our own path by reasoned choice? When God has made a sovereign declaration, there is truly no choice and no reasoning that will stand against it - so we need be cautious in our chosen reasoning, because the sovereign judge over all that exists will make that all too clear in the end...
We can be vigilant and faithful to the Love of all loves and reap the endless rewards of close relationship with Him. We can let our reasoning be based only on the rock of His declared Fatherly wisdom and prosper in His kindness, or the choice is ours to reap the benefit and consequences of our own failed reasoning.
He gave us a very simple choice...
Proverbs 1:7 (NLT) "Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline."
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