As it is written!

(Romans 9:33)  “As it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."”

I am old enough to remember the Vinyl records my parents used to play, Elvis amongst the number. Even my bed time stories where played over a record player documented on vinyl. One thing about those records was when they were scratched, there was very little one could do with them. Lots of care went into their preservation and one needed to handle them delicately. A deep scratch caused a rut in the plastic and the needle would remain in it with horrible results. Something sweet had now become hard on the ears. Life is like that at times, as Christians we should not leave those scratches in our lives unattended. The longer we ignore them the deeper the rut and the harder the repair. Thankfully no matter how bruised we may be or how deep the scratch may go, God will never discard one of His own. But we must pay watchful attention to the warnings in scripture.

It is one thing to fall upon the rock the Lord Jesus as we confess our sin and our fault before Him, but it is another magnitude if He falls on us. When we stumble onto a rock, the Rock (Christ) we will be left with a few scratches and grazes which are needful in our lives. But it will be a different story if the Rock falls on us, intensive care our looming destination and no one enjoys that type of attention; we must learn to walk by faith!

“But that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." (Romans 9:31-33) 

Remember Samson’s outcome, he lost both his eyes and was left for dead. God will never desert one of His own; men will flee men when times get tough but not the great Shepherd. He will leave the ninety nine to seek out the one lost sheep. But did you know that history teaches us, when a lamb had a tendency to constantly wonder off away from the protection of the flock the shepherd boy would break it’s leg and the carry it on his shoulders to teach it not to wonder. An act of compassion and yet some would view it as an act of cruelty. How do you view it? The irony of this example is I broke my right femur because of my wondering, so how do I view it? I am thankful to my God and King from the bottom of my heart and yet I still make mistakes. It is these mistakes that eat away at my soul!

With that said, we could avoid so much heart-ache in our lives if we were to pay careful attention to all those tiny scratches in our lives and cast them on the Lord Jesus rather sooner than later. The longer we leave sin the deeper it roots itself. If we try to combat it in ourselves outside of faith we will never reach our destination. We must learn to fall upon our Rock the Lord Jesus, wherever we find ourselves, it must become a way of life and not only in the areas we are willing to relinquish but in every area of our lives. If we ignore this warning it will be at our own peril. May God help us to surrender all!

When I look into the dark areas (my many mistakes) of my life over the years, I can’t help but begin to wonder about what the Apostle Peter has to say on this topic; “So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone," and "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do." (1Peter 2:7-8)

The Apostle Paul reminds us; “For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play." We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1Corinthians 10:1-12)

Paul has called us in this portion of scripture to take stock of our lives, to examine it against our father’s example. Is God please with every area of your life? I know I am found wanting, forgive me Father God! The concern I have is what Peter understood; “They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do." Have I been destined to stumble in the same areas of my life? What is a man to do? While we have the breath of life and while God gives us the wherewithal to call out to Him, I will by the grace of God continue to call out to Him. And so should you!

What we cannot do is ignore the areas of our lives that we know we are found wanting. Faith is required and we must believe in our great Saviour ability to get us home come what may.

God give us the strength to call out to you, help us to fall upon our Rock, Jesus Christ our Lord as we should all fear to have it the other way around, Amen!

Signing off

Tyrone