Do You Believe the One Thought that Leads to all True Understanding?

January 10, 2015

""Your hands made me and fashioned me. Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments."" (Psalm 119:73)

If a man, for whatever reason, fails to understand and believe Genesis or such verses as the Psalmist penned here, he is in serious trouble. He has lost (or never gained) the foundation for all true understanding.

""Your hands made me,"" the Psalmist plainly and gladly stated. If I am created by God then it follows that He is the Creator. This means I would not exist without Him and that everything I am and have comes from a solitary Source.

THE PATH TO HERESY

If I don't know and embrace this seminal thought, then I will move into all kinds of heresy. I can foolishly believe that...

  • I am the source of understanding and I don't need God, therefore, why look to Him? Why study His word? Why pray?
  • My life belongs solely to me and there is no sense bowing to worship God.
  • I can take total pride in everything I am and accomplish because it all comes from me.
  • My life is my own.
  • I can do whatever I desire with no consequences.
  • I will never give an accounting for my life to anyone except myself.
  • I can do whatever I want with my life.

But, if I truly understand that I am a created being with a finite mind that has come from an infinite mind, I will walk in humility and dependency. I will look to Him for understanding about myself, about Him, and about the world around me. I will realize that His ways are best. I will defer to His judgments and surrender to His will for my life. I will cry out with the Psalmist ""Give me understanding, that I may learn YOUR commandments.""

And I will live my life to serve Him.

THE FIGHT FOR RIGHT UNDERSTANDING

In this light, we may foolishly think that the battle for Creationism in our schools and thought is not important, a side issue. But worship and right living begins with this understanding. And this is why Paul describes the fall of any civilization or man in this way in Romans 1:20-22, 25:

""For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so (men who reject God) are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools...

""For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.""

God made us. He alone knows how we must operate. We run on HIM, as a car runs on gasoline and cannot run on anything else (as C.S. Lewis said). To forsake this thought is to darken the mind to all true thought.





Also in Graceful Truth

THE RELIABLE MERCY OF GOD
THE RELIABLE MERCY OF GOD

November 20, 2024

God’s mercy is His goodness poured out on undeserving people. It is God not giving people what they deserve but what He desires to give because He is God.

Continue Reading

FINDING GRACE IN THE WILDERNESS
FINDING GRACE IN THE WILDERNESS

November 19, 2024

“The people … found grace in the wilderness.” My, my. The summary of our lives in one verse. Amid this world’s darkness, the Enemy’s relentless attacks, and the weakness of our flesh, we are continually finding grace from our Father, even in the wilderness. In fact, especially in the wilderness.

Continue Reading

CHOOSING TO BE BLESSED OR CURSED
CHOOSING TO BE BLESSED OR CURSED

November 15, 2024

The great theologian Clint Eastwood said, “A man’s got to know his limitations.” Wise is the man who understands his weakness early and lives a life of dependence upon the Root of David. It will be an everlasting source of life and fruitfulness to and through him.

Continue Reading