Today's encouragement comes from 1 Chronicles 17:2, which says this:
"Then Nathan said to David, 'Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.' "I really like this verse. The Christian churchman who walks by faith in Jesus has great freedom. Here (above), the prophet Nathan gives King David the "green light" to do whatever he (David) wants to do, in his earnest desire to love and serve his God. It turns out later in the chapter that the Lord inter-venes, and tells David that his son (Solomon) would be the one who would build the temple, and not David (after all).
. . . But the principle is a sweet one. Do we love Christ? Are we worshipping Him aright? Are the essentials of our faith intact? If so, then we are free to do "whatever we want to," since our heart's deepest wishes are only to exalt God, and further Christ's church and gospel. This is a great threat to the world, and to pharisees; but it is a priceless promise to faithful churchmen.
[Puritan quote of the day: "Christ's work, both in the church and in the hearts of Christians, often goes backward so that it may go forward better.” —Rich-ard Sibbes, in, "The Bruised Reed"]
