October 13 Daily Devotional

Here stand I—I can [do] no other

Man by nature always wants to break away and to get away from God ... [because of his] pride. ‘They became vain in their reasonings, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools’... the final step is to reject God’s revelation altogether and to substitute their own ideas and reasonings instead. They refuse the knowledge of God which is offered and given ... but, feeling still the need and the necessity of a religion, they proceed to make their own god or gods and then worship them and serve them. Man believes in his own mind and his own understanding, and the greatest insult that can ever be offered to him is to tell him, as Christ tells him, that he must become as a little child and be born again....

Man rebels against God as He is and as He reveals Himself. He even hates Him for His goodness. And then he proceeds to make his own gods.... Whatever we may propose to do about our world, whatever plans and ideas we may have with regard to the future, if we ignore this basic fact all will be in vain ... to invite [man] just as he is to follow Christ is not enough.... He must face the naked, terrible truth about himself and his attitude towards God. It is only when he realizes that truth that he will be ready truly to believe the gospel and return to God.

That is the task of the Church; that is our task. Shall we commence upon it by examining ourselves? Do we accept the revelation of God as given in the Bible or do we base our views upon some human philosophy? Are we afraid of being called old-fashioned or out of date because we believe the Bible? Further, is God central and supreme in our lives, do we really glorify Him and show others that we are striving constantly to be well-pleasing in His sight? And finally, are we doing all this ... as men and women, who ... are so full of thankfulness and gratitude that we can gladly say

‘Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.’

The Plight of Man and the Power of God, pp. 21–4