God says quiet succinctly in His word, "Come now, let us reason together."Isaiah 1:18 These words have always appealed to me. However I am starting to believe that I misunderstood their intent. We often try to use the word of God as a tool to prove our belief system to others. In doing so we pull texts from here and there or if we have a little more academic acumen we might stay within the biblical pericope or passage to drive home our point.
While arguments should certainly be constructed to defend our beliefs: the bible say "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 1 Timothy 2:15 We need to be careful not to miss the import of these words in Isaiah to reason.
God wants us to do well with whatever we find to do with our hands and heart but we should focus the priority of our reasoning powers on understanding the truths of salvation as they work out in our own lives. God wants us to approach each situation and examine our possible course of action with reason and intelligence. The word "reason" is in all essence being contrasted with "feeling." God does not begin with our emotions because our emotions are the fruit and not the source of our decisions. Our emotions have become corrupted by our twisted patterns of thinking. God wants us to submit our will to Him and allow Him to teach us the thought processes of Christ.
Perhaps an example would be enlightening. If a particular man has just been harshly criticized by someone he may feel the need to retaliate. This is where God asks us to reason. While we may feel the need to wound the other person God asks us to consider the consequences of this action. Does a response in kind teach the other person anything more about God? If the criticism had any merit at all do we miss the opportunity for growth? There are countless ways that this issue of reason in the context of our salvation can be illustrated. The important thing to remember is that God wants us to approach Him because of a reasoned response to the demonstration of His love and logic.
While arguments should certainly be constructed to defend our beliefs: the bible say "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 1 Timothy 2:15 We need to be careful not to miss the import of these words in Isaiah to reason.
God wants us to do well with whatever we find to do with our hands and heart but we should focus the priority of our reasoning powers on understanding the truths of salvation as they work out in our own lives. God wants us to approach each situation and examine our possible course of action with reason and intelligence. The word "reason" is in all essence being contrasted with "feeling." God does not begin with our emotions because our emotions are the fruit and not the source of our decisions. Our emotions have become corrupted by our twisted patterns of thinking. God wants us to submit our will to Him and allow Him to teach us the thought processes of Christ.
Perhaps an example would be enlightening. If a particular man has just been harshly criticized by someone he may feel the need to retaliate. This is where God asks us to reason. While we may feel the need to wound the other person God asks us to consider the consequences of this action. Does a response in kind teach the other person anything more about God? If the criticism had any merit at all do we miss the opportunity for growth? There are countless ways that this issue of reason in the context of our salvation can be illustrated. The important thing to remember is that God wants us to approach Him because of a reasoned response to the demonstration of His love and logic.
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