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| FOUNDATIONS OF FAITH |
| Every now and then, I come upon a bit of scripture that reminds me of the wonderful challenge that it is to live a Christian life. Some small segment of a chapter that takes me back to the very roots of Christianity. Such an occurrence happened a few days back. I opened my pocket Bible to read a couple of verses before going into work and my eyes fell to II Timothy 2:24. “And the servant of the Lord must not strive.” Those words caught my attention. I read a few verses down, but my focus seemed to involuntarily shift back to that statement. It wasn’t an opinion, or a comment. Not even a sage bit of advice or exhortation to a body of believers. It was simply a statement of fact. “The servant of the Lord must not strive.” How delightfully simple. This type of command is what I call “a foundation of faith.” One of the building blocks that we must build upon. It is not a doctrinal point. Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, etc. should all have this foundation in common. “The servant of the Lord must not strive.” Granted, it is only eight little words out of a Bible that contains nearly 800,000 words, but there are volumes of truth conveyed in that line. How many times could we save ourselves moments, days, and perhaps even years of struggle? If, when difficult situations arose, we simply reminded ourselves, “Oh yes! The Bible tells me that ‘the servant of the Lord must not strive’” Sound childish? That could be what Christ meant when He stated that “except ye become as a child, you shall in no wise inherit the Kingdom of heaven.” Becoming “child-like” is a key ingredient in our walk. That could also explain why the Bible, God’s word in print, is written with such simple wording and phrasing. In fact, the King James Version can be read on a fifth grade level. A good study in the Bible is to research the core statements of belief. The following passages, including II Timothy 2:24, are just some of “foundation blocks” for every Christian. As you read them, be sure to notice their simple wording. “Let all things be done decently and in order” I Cor. 14:40 “Pray without ceasing” I Tim. 5:17 “having done all, to stand. Stand therefore” Eph. 6:13-14 “ Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life” John 14:6 As Christians, we often read such verses and seek to find some “hidden mystery” or “great revelation” we know must lie between the lines. After all, God is all knowing, could He write commands that even a child might understand? Once again, let us look to our final authority in all things, God’s Holy Word: “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.” II Cor. 1:12 “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” II Cor. 11:3 “And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.” Had. 2:2 Even though we are able, through the Holy Spirit, to delve into “all things, yea, the deep things of God,” (I Cor. 2:10) let us not lose sight of the “simplicity that is in Christ.” II Cor. 11:3 |
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| by Cadi Nobles |