Editor’s note: This is a reprinted column from Jack Purcell’s “On the Journey” archives. It originally appeared in The Star in 2013.
You have no doubt noticed that the agreements in which you enter can be very important. Investments are one example. I have had a couple of those that didn’t work out too well.
I started a new agreement this week with a friend. We are both committed to losing a certain amount of weight (don’t ask) and supporting each other along the way.
There is a certain type of agreement that can be life-changing, and that is the kind we want to consider.
How is agreeing with God going for you? The alternatives can be detrimental to your spiritual health. Are you too often agreeing with other voices in your head, voices that may be in complete disagreement with God’s ways?
The things that have great significance are the things God says about you. It is God’s desire and plan to have an intimate relationship with you, but that can be severely hindered if you refuse to agree with what he has to say to you and about you.
It is deserving of your decision-making process to recognize that what God says about you in his Word is irrefutable truth versus the voices in your head that may be in conflict with God’s declarations about you.
Those other voices may be your own self-talk or the voices of parents or friends or the enemy of your soul. None of the voices can be trusted when countering the voice or the Word of God.
I think you know the voices that I am referring to. I am not suggesting that you are in need of psychiatric care. If, for example you believe that you have to work to earn God’s grace, you didn’t get that from the Bible or from God speaking to you.
You made an agreement with some other voice that either was misinformed or had some ulterior motive.
We, of course, enter into agreements of various kinds every day, but when it comes to agreements regarding our spiritual life and practice we must pay close attention.
I wrote in a previous column how research shows that large numbers of Christians have beliefs that are in direct conflict with basic tenants of Scripture. The fact that Jesus lived a sinless life is not a debatable issue from the standpoint of Scripture, and yet many believers apparently don’t agree.
Why? Because they have agreed with other voices that would suggest that the Bible is not really dependable truth and is thus open to different agreements.
So how can a believer who desires to remain in agreement with God maintain integrity?
It starts with knowing the truth of what God says about you, about life and importantly, about himself.
There is one little catch in all of this. You can’t accomplish this by just going to church on Sunday morning. It takes time and attention. You can’t allow your Bible to get covered with dust from lack of use.
In America there is no shortage of Bible study materials and books. You will have to make some choices about where and how you want to spend your time and effort in developing your own spiritual formation.
The best place to begin is in the Scriptures.
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