Humble appreciation of His Truth

Truth has a unique effect on people.  Sometimes the truth is freeing, other times it is convicting.  God has a plan to use truth to bring us back into relationship with Him and transform us into better followers of Him.

As followers of Jesus, we try our best to follow Him every day.  We read our bibles, pray, worship, attend church and serve others.  We do good things for God’s glory and try to be good people in every area of our public lives, but at times we struggle with our private lives.

We try to deal with our inmost thoughts, both positive and sinful, privately.  No one knows my thoughts, my temptations, or my weaknesses except for those I let in and God.  God is trying to help each one of us become better followers of Him, He knows our hearts and thoughts, our feelings and reactions to life.  God is lovingly applying His truth to our lives to see a transformation happen.

The transformation He wants to see is the humble application of His truth to every area of our lives.  When we are confronted with God’s truth, we are both convicted and freed from what was holding us back in growth in God.  It creates a response within us that can be seen clearly in passages like Nehemiah 8:9-12 where the people of God had returned to Jerusalem, restored the wall, and heard the law for the first time being confronted by God’s truth:

9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, "This day is sacred to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep." For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

10 Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

11 The Levites calmed all the people, saying, "Be still, for this is a sacred day. Do not grieve."

12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.

The conviction of hearing God’s word and applying it to their lives brought the people of Israel to tears of regret, but God’s plan was to restore them to His joy.  The people grieved their sins, but God wanted them to celebrate with Joy.  When we are convicted of sin, we are grieved of our sin and experience the joy of freedom in the Lord.

We celebrate our freedom in God with Joy, praising God for His actions and sharing the forgiveness of sins in humility.  We share how God has moved in our lives and seek to praise Him with all of who we are as a celebration of His mercy.  Our Joy in the Lord is a reflection of God’s delight in us at growing in faith and knowledge in Him.  Let us celebrate in joy what God is doing.