Weekly Pursuit – Week 3 of March
Verses:
Prov. 3:5 “Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.”
Excerpts:
We must make a distinction between reverence and godliness. With respect to the living God, man should have reverence, but with respect to the God of resurrection, man should express godliness. In the Old Testament God was manifested as the living God; hence, His people needed to revere Him. In the New Testament God is manifested as the God of resurrection; hence, the New Testament believers need godliness. As God’s New Testament people, we should not only express the living God but also the God of resurrection.
To revere God is to deal with sin, the flesh, and the world in our living. To be godly is not only to have the absence of sin, the flesh, and the world but to be mingled with and to express God. Some believers revere God, but others possess godliness. Such believers do not exhibit sin, the flesh, or the world. On the contrary, they exhibit something mysterious, something that is both man and God. This is God being manifested in man. This is godliness.
The apostle Paul says, “Exercise yourself unto godliness”. This means that, on the one hand, we should revere God and not touch sin, the flesh, or the world. On the other hand, we should follow God and express Him in our living. If God does not move, neither should we. We should move only when God moves. This is a great lesson that needs much learning and exercise. (The Living God and the God of Resurrection, ch. 4)