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February 13, 2024
- By Ed Powell
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"O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." Jeremiah 10:23
Dr. Dennis Kinlaw makes relevant man's point of reference. Man was made to produce and progress in life. We find man measuring almost everything, from "technical" space problems to "everyday" personality profiles and job performance. But here is the problem. If you are going to measure anything, you must have a frame of reference, a starting point. You cannot measure anything if the starting point moves, or if there is no starting point. Only when you have a stable starting point or a frame of reference can you measure anything.
Jeremiah recognized from the very beginning that any stable starting point or frame of reference would not be found within us; it is to be found somewhere else. If you call yourself the starting point, there will be no progress or productivity in your life. This is the essence of sin.
Man is so "focused in himself" that he becomes "his own frame of reference." His whole perspective of life, his identification with it, God, and His provision of love and grace are completely out of true meaning. How can you relate to the purpose of your being, the plan of God for your life, eternity and all it holds forth, if you set up your "own" meaningless frame of reference?
That's why man has such a difficult time when he seeks to know what's right and what's wrong in everyday life. He uses his "own point of reference" and turns his back on the Lord, of whom it is said: He never changes; He's always there; He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). When I COME TO GOD, I have a frame of reference that is STEADFAST, STABLE, and ETERNAL. It's such folly for man to say, "I'm going to do it my way." Or to say, "It's my life; I'm going to live it the way I want to. Don't try to impose something foreign on me. I want to be myself." Man leaves God out of the equation of his life completely. The creature defying the Creator...how foolish!
The answer to man's need to know what's right is to "measure himself by the standard of truth, GOD'S WORD." His answer must be found in someONE outside himself. The Scriptures never suggest that the answer to my needs is "within me," but it comes to me from ONE who is without, whose arms are ever open to receive me to Himself. He is ready to make that glorious exchange: my life for His life, my way for His way, my weakness for His strength, my hopelessness for His blessed hope of eternal life.
The famous painting by Holman Hunt, "The Light of the World," shows Jesus standing with a lantern in His hand waiting at the door. He is not standing in the middle of a man's life but on the "outside" knocking at the door, saying, "If any man will hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me" (Revelation 3:20). To many, He is still knocking at the door of their hearts. He wants to give them ETERNAL LIFE, a more abundant life that is beyond them, found ONLY IN JESUS. Have you opened the door of your heart and let Him in? He is knocking and waiting.
© 2007 by Ed Powell. Used by permission.
This page was reprinted by permission from: http://litmin.org/dare.php?date=2024-02-13
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