Impeccable Credentials

December 12

Would anyone enter an apple orchard with the hope of harvesting tomatoes? Do shoppers go into a grocery store to purchase a new car? Can we expect a real estate agent to serve the needs of someone injured in an accident? Silly questions.

When assistance is needed, the corresponding source of supply must be sought. We must ascertain the credentials of an individual to determine whether he has the skills and the resources to provide our need. A painter who specializes in single-level dwellings is not someone who we’d hire to paint a multi-story building.

When Jesus walked the dusty roads of Palestine, He acquired a reputation. He was known as One who not only did good among the needy but also as One who possessed extraordinary power. The people of the countryside round about knew that if they could but be in His presence, their needs would be fully met. So they flocked to Him. One such individual was a man who had been blind from birth.

When he received his sight from Jesus, the religious leaders of the day who continually found fault with the Lord said he had been healed by an evil man. Rather than argue, the healed man simply said, “Whether or not He’s a sinner, I don’t know. But I do know that once I was blind and now I see,” John 9:25.

We, like that wise beggar, must recognize that our faith will at times be challenged. When it is, like him, we must simply allow the evidence to speak for itself. That may not be easily done if we have but a perfunctory faith, a faith that is based on tradition. If our faith is personal, as was the blind beggar's, we will not be shaken from our confidence in the One with whom we have a steadfast relationship.

Jesus does not wish to stand on the periphery of our lives as an observer who monitors our behavior and judges us on the merit of our words and deeds, rather, He would be at the heart of our lives! He says in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him and he with Me.”

Jesus desires intimacy with His people. He wants to dine with them. He wants to guide their lives. He wants to guard their lives. He wants to meet them at the point of their every need.

Will you allow Him to be all He yearns to be to you? Will you open your life fully to the sweetness of His presence? In good times and in the trials of life, He will be “the Friend who sticks closer than a brother,” Proverbs 18:24; He will be the One who will “never fail you nor forsake you,” Hebrews 13:5.

In Deuteronomy 31:6, 8, He is even more specific. Here He says not only that He will not fail or forsake His people, but also that they need fear not oppression because He is with them. Can we embrace to ourselves the intimacy of the God who loves us this much? His love is unfailing, His Word is immutable. His credentials are impeccable.