"Moses...said to them, '...They are not just idle words for you--they are your life. By them you will live long in the land...'" - Deuteronomy 32:44-47
I wonder if this is where our grandmothers got that old saying. Ya know, "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." I'm not even sure if my grandmas ever even said it, but the whole world seems to attribute the phrase to "Grandma."
Aaaaanyway, one dictionary, right out of the chute, says that "idle" means "not working or active."
In today's verses, Moses is hilariously plain in saying that the words God gave him to say "are not just idle words." God's words are not "idle." They are not "not working or active."
It's just as God says in Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."
So, what are your "thoughts and attitude" towards God's word? Do you believe God's word is idle? Or do you believe God's word is alive and active? And if you say "alive and active," do you live that attitude? Do you live, believing that God's word is "alive and active"?
I remember the late summer when I'd started my junior year in high school. I was bummed because my brother, Ben, had just gone off to college with my sister, Cathy. I adored and do adore my younger sister, Cheryl, but there's nothing like the bond of brothers.
Aaaaaanyway, I was bummed, and I was mowing our lawn. As I neared the street I saw a wad of paper in the yard. Instead of mowing it and making a mess, I picked it up. Now, I don't care if you think I'm looney-tunes or not; I'll tell you that "a voice" said, "read it." So I unwadded it, and this is what it said, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. - Deuteronomy 31:6"
Where did that come from? A car passing by or a walker? Who knows, but either way, why would anybody throw a wadded up Bible verse into my yard, and a Bible verse that said just what I needed? Maybe it wasn't ultimately from a car or walker, maybe it was from God. In fact, that's what I did believe, and that's what I do believe to this day. And I don't really care what anybody else thinks.
Because my God is not idle.
My God is living and active, just like his word. My God and your God has shown us his face and his heart through Jesus, who is alive and active in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit. My God and your God is mighty to do supernatural things (like get a wad of paper with an encouraging Bible verse thrown into a lawn in a neighborhood which otherwise has no other litter). My God and your God is mighty to save us from despair with a word of hope when we'd be otherwise bummed out.
So the question remains, "Do you believe?" Are your hearts and minds alive and active, searching for encouragement from the living and active God and his word?
Or has your mind actually become idle in unbelief? Just remember, Grandma has a warning about that, "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." Praise God for Grandma!
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
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