Thursday, July 2 2020 Devotional
"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug."
Isaiah 51:1
It’s a good thing that in every generation people look for ways to express what God is doing in their hearts. This results in new Christian worship music, new books being written in the language of this generation and other beautiful and deeply personal expressions of spiritual life.
But the whole time we are finding new and beautiful ways to express the eternal truth of God’s Word we are aware that we aren’t inventing something new. The stones we are shaping into beautiful new expressions of the Christian faith come out of the same quarry as the ones from a generation ago, or a century ago, or a thousand years ago. The material we’re working with is the same, even as we may shape it in new ways.
It’s good to keep an eye both on what we’re doing today in the Kingdom of God and on what was done before. It’s good to be constantly looking and comparing to be sure that we aren’t digging material out of an entirely different quarry.
Be sure that the teaching of God’s Word, whether that comes through sermons, books, music, liturgy, or conversation, is the same substance as was taught by the Apostles, the early Church fathers, the post-apostolic church, the reformers of a few centuries ago, and our grandparents in the faith. The way of expressing it might change, but the substance stays the same; stones dug out of the same quarry of God’s Word, however we shape the expression of it.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The call to repentance and faith and to live a holy life are the same in every generation. The promise of forgiveness of sins for Jesus’ sake is always at the center of our teaching and preaching and worship. We are stones dug out of the same quarry as the Prophets and Apostles, Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Georg Sverdrup. The same substance, different shape.
Lord, you have given me a beautiful heritage. Your Word is a solid foundation in every generation, and your grace takes many forms through the centuries. Give me a heart to effectively express your love in my day so that many in my generation and the next are drawn to You, in Jesus’ name.
Pastor Dan Giles