When I was in college, I was taught that one of the questions that I should ask of the Scriptures in my morning quiet time was “Is there something here I need to obey?” This is not all that bad a question unless our motivation is so that we can become righteous through our obedience. We do not obey so that we can become righteous, we obey because we are already righteous (Ephesians 4:24). Paul describes this effort to become righteous by our behavior and effort in Philippians 3:6 as “legalistic righteousness.” This is diametrically opposed to the gospel and Paul goes on to say he has left it behind…”not having a righteousness of my own…but that which is through faith in Christ.” (Philippians 3:9)
Recently I have been pondering a different question in my quiet time – I think a more fundamental question…”What would it look like to trust You today?” As I mentioned last time, it is my trust that pleases God. Somehow this question seems to penetrate a lot deeper into my soul, into my desires and motivations. I think why it penetrates so much more deeply is that it is a relational question.
Rather than just focusing on “is the something I should do today,” – now the focus shifts to “what is my relationship of trust?” Doing what somebody wants is a lot different that trusting that person.
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