True North
Acts 9:4-6 “And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?
And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.”
We are all acquainted with Saul’s conversion…..he was going on in his own way….seeking to destroy those that follow Christ…
…when he was brought face to face with such Light, that it knocked him to the ground.
In that Light, he saw….and when the Light said…”I am Jesus”,…
…Saul knew that Jesus Christ, Whom he had been fighting against, was the Son of God.
“What will You have me to do?” Not, what should I do now….but the personal relationship of servant to Lord…..”what will You have me to do?”.
Saul had discovered True North…..the Way to be lead through the rest of his life.
Jesus Christ was Lord….and for Saul/Paul,….from that time forward, Jesus was the One to be preached and spoken of. (1 Cor. 1:21-23)
Have we found True North for our lives? Have we submitted to the Light of Christ’s Lordship?
For to make Christ Jesus Lord of our lives, requires submission to Him in everything.
Hosea 6:3 “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.”
If we follow on to know the Lord….He will show Himself to us as Light. Light to be submitted to. The morning light onward to the light of high noon (or the perfect day Prov. 4:18).
Hosea 6:4 “O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? For your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.”
The morning cloud and the early dew promise much for the crops…..but deliver little.
They give no lasting benefit. They dry up and disappear quickly….
….so are the changes of Ephraim and Judah.
They show much promise….like things are really going to be different.
But the changes “dry-up”….and they just do not make any lasting change.
Hosea 6:5 “Therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth.”
(Let me say here….Light makes manifest. Light will either bring us to see clearly and repent….or will get us to see clearly and refuse the truth, plunging us into darkness, and anger)
God sought to restore them to fellowship with Him through the prophets showing them their sin,…and the consequences of that sin.
“Come, and let us return unto the Lord:…” (Hosea 6:1)
He required that they return to Him…..
…..but they sought to “include” Him and His worship, but not love and obey Him. The changes were never lasting, because they were not of the heart.
Hosea 6:6 “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”
Here we see externalism….where you could bring your sacrifice to God with all the form and ritual…..and your heart not be in it at all.
There were certain love-offerings and offerings of worship that meant nothing,….if their heart was not in the giving.
God desired mercy…..this speaks of covenantal affection…. love for both God and their fellow men.
(We as Christians, can never be truly right with God, worshipping in spirit and truth,…
…and at odds with our brothers and sisters in Christ….or anyone.
As Peter says…..after godliness is brotherly kindness. 2 Peter 1:7)
True North on the compass of our lives is to have Christ Jesus, Lord.
And that comes with the Light of truth….our truth before God. How we really are, and what our hearts love.
But when we see….then we can choose Him,…we can say, “Lord what will You have me to do?”
And, blessed sight!….we can continue to choose Him…..following hard after Him, into the light of the blessing of right relationships….with Him and with our brothers and sisters in Christ….and everyone else.
If we choose Christ Jesus…..He will certainly give us the Light we need….and the grace to use it.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 