Eternal Discernment
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"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." - 1 Corinthians 2:14
There is a war going on in our hearts and minds between the
natural man and the spiritual man. This battle is also described as being
between the flesh and the spirit. For those of us who are in Christ there is an
old nature and a new nature, and they are in constant conflict. What the Bible
is saying here is that we need spiritual discernment to reject the old,
fleshly, natural part of our selves and to embrace our new, spiritual, holy
nature.
We live in a physical, natural reality that we perceive with
our five senses, but we also live in a spiritual reality. We often miss out on
the spiritual reality because we lack spiritual discernment. We allow those fleshly, temporal things to
distract us from our relationship with God and eternal things. This world and
the things of this world, the money, power, the cheap entertainment all pull on
us and distract us from our true purpose and calling.
Spiritual discernment is the ability to recognize those
things that have eternal, spiritual value, pursue those things, and reject
those things that are of this world and will eventually pass away.
In the early church in the ancient Greek city of Corinth,
the believers there were struggling with discernment. They were caught up in
the ways of the world and were not faithfully following the Lord. The Apostle
Paul uses a construction metaphor to instruct them:
"According to the grace of God which is given unto me,
as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth
thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which
is Jesus Christ.
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver,
precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall
declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every
man's work of what sort it is.
If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he
shall receive a reward.
If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but
he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." - 1 Corinthians 3:10-12
The question for us is, are we building our lives with gold,
silver, precious stones, or are we using wood, hay and stubble?
There is coming a day when God will test our works and how
we lived our lives. If all we have lived for is the wood, hay and stubble of
this world then it will all be burned up. We are not in jeopardy of hell fire
or any other sort of judgment if we have put our faith and trust in Jesus
Christ. He took all the judgment for our sin on the Cross, and we are made pure
by his blood. But if we do not live for him, if we are not living for that
gold, silver and precious stones, there are rewards that we will miss out on.
How do we know if something is wood, hay, stubble or gold,
silver and precious stones? This is where spiritual discernment comes in. The
natural man tells us to live for this world, to collect a paycheck, live a
comfortable life, watch TV, drive a nice car, and so on, but God is saying all
that will burn. The natural man tempts us to seek power and prestige, to align
ourselves more with our tribes, our nations, our political parties, to think
that those things are the priority, but all those things will become so much
ash and dust.
Politics and family and work are all important things, but
they are not the most important things. The flesh tells us they are, and then
tells us that following Christ is not that important. But discernment is
recognizing that only those things that are done for Christ will last.
1 John 2:15-17 says this, "Love not the world, neither
the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the
Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the
lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the
world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he
that doeth the will of God abideth forever."
Too often we get this flipped around, we love the world and
neglect the Father. Sometimes we pay lip service, "I love the
Lord!" But how does our life
measure up? What gets more of our time and attention, the Lord, or the TV? Do
we spend more time in prayer and meditating on Scripture, or do we spend more
time entertaining ourselves? What occupies our thoughts? Our work? Sports? Politics? The most recent blockbuster? In the end we will find it is all just dust
in the wind.
Spiritual discernment recognizes when those worldly desires,
distractions and entertainments are pulling us away from the Lord and are
damaging our relationship with him.
Jesus gave some tough teaching in Luke 14:26, "If any
man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children,
and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
And whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me, cannot be my
disciple."
Many of us would claim that we are disciples of the Lord
Jesus Christ, but do we hate our family, the things of this world, and our own
life? When Jesus Christ uses the word "hate" here he does not mean to
despise or loath them. He is using hyperbole, using strong language to make a
point. Our love, devotion and dedication to the Lord should be so great that
every other relationship looks like hate.
A father may have a beloved dog, but if he is in a car crash
with his daughter and dog, and he only has time to rescue one of them, most
fathers will rescue the daughter and let the dog burn. In that instance he was
making the decision to love his daughter and hate his dog. Though he may still
feel great sorrow over the loss of his beloved pet.
The question for us is, are we willing to let the things of
this world burn and dedicate ourselves fully to following the Lord? The
disciples all abandoned their nets, their trade and livelihood in order to
follow Jesus Christ. They turned their backs on their old way of life and
committed themselves wholly to the Lord.
If we love the Lord, then we will love what he loves. What
he loved more than anything was people. He sacrificed his life so that people
could be saved and live forever with him in Heaven. There are many causes and
organizations that are doing good in the world, and we may feel inclined to
give of our time and treasure to these things. What should drive our giving is
our love for the Lord and love for people. Every person has an immortal soul
that will either spend eternity in heaven or hell. Good discernment is
recognizing that investing in people is the most valuable use of our resources.
Spiritual discernment is looking at this world through
biblical, spiritual goggles. We recognize those things that are wood, hay and
stubble, and those things that are gold, silver and precious stones. We see
what is of eternal value and what will perish with the passing of this world. We
perceive that the things of this world are passing away and we choose to invest
our time in those causes that will yield eternal, spiritual rewards. The fire
is coming, are we building up those things that will endure, or are we building
up those things that will be consumed?
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