CONVICTION OF THE MIND

Deuteronomy 21:1-22:30; Luke 9:51-10:12; Psalm 74:1-23; Proverbs 12:11

“Jesus told him, ‘Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.’ These were his instructions to them: ‘The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves.’”

“We no longer see your miraculous signs. 
All the prophets are gone, and no one can tell us when it will end.”

It’s so easy to lose faith. Probably, it has been that way forever. Seems there’s always something waiting to lure us away, always some reason to feel disenchanted, if we decide that’s the path we want to take. We lose faith when we stop practicing it. Much, if not most, of what we feel, think and believe is determined by the way we decide we want to feel, think and believe. What some of us fail to understand is that, in at least one sense, failing to make an affirmative decision of faith for God – particularly when He seems distant - is itself a decision which usually leads us away from God.

Jesus understood there is a time in every person’s life when the miracles stop and the dreams and visions fade. Few actually live on the mountaintop of inspiration all the time. We get that, too; it’s one reason folks hesitate to commit to much of anything. We worry about being stuck after our enthusiasm fades. However, the character of our faith is determined more by what we do in the plateaus and valleys of everyday life than by our responses to those times when our sense of the Spirit is at its most focused. Jesus was emphatic that His disciples had to be irrevocably committed to their mission, to the point of leaving everything else behind, even when they did not necessarily feel so inspired, and especially when they were under attack. He looks for conviction of the head as well as of the heart.

I remember serving on the Board of a non-profit charitable organization early in my career. I approached the opportunity with a lot of enthusiasm and creativity. I was even named their volunteer of the year my first year. Later, though, the organization lost its way and its focus. We became more about fundraising than hands-on ministry, and I left in disillusion. In a word, rather than stick around to fight the momentum of stagnation and help direct the group back to its mission statement, I just quit. In the process, I did absolutely no one any good.

If we turn away from chances to minister when Christ seems distant, how will we know when He draws close? The Spirit calls us to a higher level of dedication, one that does not necessarily even have much to do with inspiration. He calls us to an intellectual commitment to the Gospel and to Him, not just to an emotional attachment. Joshua said it well, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” It was not optional for Joshua. He realized a daily relationship with God depends on a radical daily reliance on the Lord that shows itself in service, regardless of how we may feel about it at the time.