A New Heart For An Old One
Security! Where can it be found on a fallen planet? Banks and other financial institutions often adopt for themselves reassuring trade names that include key words such as “Trust,” “Fidelity,” and so forth. This practice is designed to convey the idea that if you put your hard-earned resources under their care, all will be well with it. And that may perhaps be true, even for a relatively long while.
The Lord, however, gives a much broader picture of investment strategies. He draws our mind to eternal realities. He speaks of laying up treasure in heaven. That which is at stake is not merely material wealth - but everlasting life. Our loving Creator wants to give us greater security than that which mere human strength can provide.
The children of Israel made the mistake of looking to tangible things for security. They hastened to form a golden calf to be a physical representation of the God in whom they professed to trust. Perhaps the greatest tragedy in the scene was that this foolish act was actually endorsed by Aaron, a man entrusted with the high calling of being a chief undershepherd of that great spiritual flock in the wilderness.
Human nature is such that we too often tend to place our sense of security in physical, material things - and in people on whom we like to depend. But God declares a curse upon those who lean on the arm of flesh instead of upon His everlasting arms: “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm.” Such a person presumes a position of being, as it were, weaned from the loving nurture of God. His or her “heart departeth from the Lord.” The text further goes on to say that this person “shall not see when good cometh” (Jeremiah 17:5, 6).
“Not see when good cometh?” Isn’t that what happens when a person lacks faith? Despite the profession, such a one not only refuses to take heed to God’s warnings but also refuses to receive the great blessings which Heaven has in store to shower upon the redeemed! Too often our sense of security is lost in the quagmire of earthly limitations.
But ultimately, Inspiration declares that many proud people “shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?” (Isaiah 2:19-22).
The famous early American statesman, Benjamin Franklin, felt that those who would give up essential liberty to purchase temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. Paralleling that insightful observation, the Christian might likewise note that those who would give up principle for the sake of safety will lose both: principle and safety. So, if you want security, never compromise Christian principle.
Way beyond what the world offers, God gives an outline for deep, enduring security on this sin-stricken planet. Let us take heed to it: “If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles. For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear: because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away: and thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning. And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety. Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee. But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost” (Job 11:14-20).
May the Lord help us to take steps to remove every stain of iniquity from our life and to trust in the security of His everlasting governance!