For His Glory

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Men as Men; God as God

"I, even I, am He that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; and forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and host feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?" (Isaiah 51:12-13).

Let the text itself be taken as the portion for today. There is no need to enlarge upon it. Trembling one, read it, believe it, feed on it, and plead it before the LORD. He whom you fear is only a man after all; while He who promises to comfort you is God, your Maker, and the creator of heaven and earth. Infinite comfort more than covers a very limited danger. "Where is the fury of the oppressor?" It is in the LORD's hand. It is only the fury of a dying creature; fury which will end as soon as the breath is gone from the nostril. Why, then, should we stand in awe of one who is as frail as ourselves? Let us not dishonor our God by making a god of puny man. We can make an idol of a man by rendering to him excessive fear as well as by paying him inordinate love. Let us treat men as men, and God as God; and then we shall go calmly on in the path of duty, fearing the LORD and fearing nobody else. (Faith's Checkbook - Charles Spurgeon)

Above is the Faith Checkbook's entry for today by Mr. Spurgeon. I read this everyday, but this one stood out to me from some of the recent days. Today, God has used this to bring back to my mind of how foolish I am. Like Spurgeon said in the devotional, the text itself should be taken as a portion today to be meditated on.

This is a simple, yet convicting truth. The fear of man is sin. It is an insult to God. While this is convicting, it is also a blessing of relief by showing that even though I am frail and sinful, God will comfort me and take care of me. What a God we serve!

Let's remember today to treat men as men(or women), and God as God.

2 Comments:

  • Wow, this is a great post. Very convicting. I needed to read this today. Thank you for posting it.

    By Blogger Bethany, at 12/21/2005 3:45 PM  

  • Josh,
    This really stuck out to me:

    "We can make an idol of a man by rendering to him excessive fear as well as by paying him inordinate love."

    God is God and there is none like Him in all heaven and earth! In order to really understand the fear of man as a sin, I think we have to look at God in all of His glory. We spend more time tending to the needs of an idealized earthly figure than we do the Eternal Sovereign Lord of our lives.
    Thank you for this post.There is great truth to this.

    In Christ,
    Heather

    By Blogger Heather Livingston, at 12/24/2005 3:16 PM  

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