Walking An Ancient Path

Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.  But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”           -Jeremiah 6:16

 

            Have you ever looked around the places where you store old things?  It could be a basement, an attic, or maybe even a barn or storage shed.  I would imagine that as you look at the things that fill those places you would very likely find a lot of things that are completely obsolete – technology that is no longer in use and things that, while once very useful, have become little more than relics from days gone by. 

For years I refused to buy a digital camera.  My wife used one, but I would not.  I had a number of 35 millimeter cameras, and even a darkroom to develop film.  I was sure that those cameras would not be completely replaced.  To this day the resolution is better than all but the very best (and most expensive) digital cameras, but at some point I had to admit that the technology I was using was obsolete and needed to be replaced.  This is a normal part of life. 

We live in a day when the rate of advancement in society is unmatched in all of human history.  From the cars we drive to the computers we use there is not a year that goes by that something of value to us is not replaced with something more efficient, more powerful, or just better.  Things are happening today that were unthinkable only a few years ago.  Most of us keep track of much of our life with smartphones that have more powerful computers than those on board the Apollo space missions. 

Some of the advancements we see are great, many are helpful in the things we do each day, but in the midst of all the excitement about what our society can do or achieve, it is important that we make sure we are not losing things of great importance in the middle of all the changes that are taking place around us.  I do not mean things like cameras or cars.  It seems that in this modern day we have lost something much more important.  As we use what’s available to us to continually accomplish more – and do it better – with the limited time we have it is easy to forget about the things that go beyond our society that places so much value and emphasis on human ingenuity and achievement. 

We get so caught up in the advancements of the world around us that we forget about the things that exist and go beyond this world.  In our day it is possible to be better and more efficient in our work, our hobbies, our sports and almost every other aspect of our worldly life.  But for all that man has done, he has never – and can never – come up with an invention or device that will bring us closer to God.  He cannot conceive of anything that will forgive sin, or restore the relationship that God wants to have with Him.  It is easy to lose sight of this fact as we immerse ourselves in the society in which we live. 

Many of the things around us serve to turn our attention from the things of God to the things of the world, and as time goes by we forget what it means to walk the “ancient path” that leads us to God.  Our obsession with the modern world has obscured our view of the One who has provided for, and sustained man since ancient times.  We are not much different from the people of Israel during the time of Jeremiah.  We (yes, even Christians) have become so enamored by the world around us that we have forgotten the one who transcends this world.  We believe we have moved beyond the need for Scripture as a rule for the church and have replaced it with marketing strategies and business models – every invention of man that may provide us the modern shortcut we are looking for to entice people to be a part of the church.  While many look to these “sophisticated” methods of “doing church” we must always keep in mind the place to which those things have led us:

• 43% of Americans believe it doesn’t matter what religious faith you follow because they all teach the same lessons.
• 50% of Americans believe God will save all people no matter what they do.
• 41% of Americans are unable to identify an individual who they consider to be a strong Christian example or leader

 

We may have all the technology we could possibly need, but when it comes to knowing the Living God we are completely lost.  We have forgotten that no matter how advanced we become the platform from which we approach Him is still one of holiness.  We no longer seem to remember that the mind of God is still revealed through the Scriptures and that God’s power is still appropriated through our prayers.  Year after year we look in vain for the work of God in His church but see nothing more than the limited results achieved by the weak methods of man.  We have lost our way to God and His power.  The Christians of America today who spend their time and efforts groping hopelessly for something to hold onto and some way to find even a little of God’s power can be described by Rudyard Kipling’s poem, The Way Through the Woods:

 

They shut the road through the woods seventy years ago.

Weather and rain have undone it again,

And now you would never know

There was once a road through the woods.

 

            As the church flounders in this country, and we struggle to see the work of God among us, we have to wonder if we are more like the Israelites than we realize.  God asked through the prophet Jeremiah, Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the Lord your God, when he led you in the way (Jer. 2:17)?  As we have allowed all of our modern conveniences to take over our lives we have decided to use the extra time we have found to pursue more worldly pleasures, and given up our pursuit of the “ancient path” to God.  We become enslaved to our hobbies, our lifestyles, our sports and jobs and forget that God has more for us.  If we were only willing to step back from the busyness of this life and assess the way we live in relation to God we may see that God has set before us and ancient way that leads us – not to stress, and an early death from hypertension – but a “good way” that leads us to His peace.  It provides a rest to our souls and a joy that the world can never offer.

 

The Description of the Path

            Scripture tells us that this is an “ancient path.”  It goes against many of our modern ideas and priorities.  The world tells us to value the materials that are offered here while the path God has set before us is one that leads to righteousness.  It does not always give us the things that are valued by this sinful place, but shows us how to walk in harmony and fellowship with the one who transcends all these things.  The world tells us to pursue human achievement while the “ancient path” shows us that all we may achieve pales in comparison to what God can do through our lives if we will surrender to Him.

            We are not talking about restoring the traditions created by the generation or two that came before us, but restoring something that came long before that, something that was given by God Himself.  Too often we convince ourselves that if we make the church the way it was when we got saved everything would be better, and we would see God move once again.  That is not what the Bible is teaching when it calls us to walk in the ancient way.  We are looking to go beyond all of the things that have become distractions, all of the inventions that man has added to the church throughout its history and get back to a vibrant relationship with our Holy Creator.  Back to the path He created for us when Jesus Christ fulfilled His proclamation that I will build my church.  No modern invention or method that we have devised can ever replace the fact that the church was bought with the blood of Jesus Christ.  It belongs to Him, and if you are to bear the name of His church – the Church of God – then you belong to Him.  He paid the price for your soul and ransomed you from all these modern things to which we are so willing to place ourselves in bondage. 

            Look at the history of the people of God and you will see that the church is at its best when the society around us (and even our modern conveniences) affects fewer of her decisions.  When the desire of God’s people is to seek His will and follow it the church thrives.  On the other hand, when man decides that his modern inventions have become good enough to take the place of the power of God and the guidance of His Word and Spirit we always see the same result: APOSTASY!  Every time we stray from the “ancient path” we see a fallen church, one that is not fit to carry the name, nor the power of God. 

This is why this path that God has provided us is called the “good way.”  It originated with God, completely independent of the flawed, errant reasoning of man.  Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go (Isaiah 48:17).”  In contrast, the Bible teaches that even what seems to be the best of man’s advancement is not necessarily God’s way.  A man’s ways are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit (Proverbs 16:2). 

If we are EVER to see God work in power within the church it will be when we look beyond our modern conveniences to the “ancient path.”  God will move when we put Him before the things that have overtaken our lives, the hobbies, sports, activities and general busyness.  We will see His power when we seek it above all the technology and advancement the ingenuity of man can offer.  The Bible tells us of this path, and then tells us how to get there.

 

The Directions to the Path

            Jeremiah did not simply tell the people of Israel to walk the ancient paths when they found themselves distracted by the idols and culture of the people around them.  He told them to stand by the roads.  The people of God were specifically told to put themselves in a position to find the direction of God.  We sometimes act like God will just strike us with a divine revelation of His Word.  We get the idea that, like John on Patmos, God will show us great miraculous visions of His will.  But if your name is not John and your home is not Patmos it is very likely that you need to put yourself in a position where God will speak to you through His Word, and His Spirit.  We have forgotten how great the Word of God can be in directing us toward His will.  This is His revelation to us, and it shows us the way that He relates to, and works in the lives of man.  It shows us what He has done throughout history, and it reveals what we can expect from God in the circumstances that we face as we journey through this life.  If we take the time to search God’s Word we will find the answers to many of the questions we face in this life.  That’s why Solomon said, Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way (Proverbs 23:19).

            We also hear the Word of God when we are part of Bible studies, Sunday School, and even listening to a sermon.  God will speak through those whom He has called to teach and preach the Word.  By being a part of the gathering of God’s people we are putting ourselves in a position to begin to see the “ancient path” that God has placed before us.  We cannot separate ourselves from the places we know God will speak and expect to see the path. 

            Jeremiah also told the people that they had to look.  Through prayer and meditation on Scripture we discern God’s will.  We have come to the point today that we have almost lost these spiritual disciplines among all the modern gadgets of the world.  Why pray when the answer to every question we could possibly have is on Google?  Do I need to go to God when I have a problem?  I can just ask my iPhone. 

            Jeremiah also told the people to ask.  We seem to convince ourselves at times that God is trying to hide something from us.  We act like He really doesn’t want us to walk with Him, so He is working to obscure Himself.  We struggle to find God’s way while forgetting that James told us, you do not have because you do not ask (James 4:2).  God is revealing Himself all around us, even in nature the Bible tells us.  We just don’t see it because we are caught up in other things.  We have set our sights on a destination that is contrary to that of this “ancient path.”

 

The Destination

            There are people in this country today who are wearing themselves out trying to keep up with the torrid pace of this world.  They are determined to do everything they want to do, anything that might be even a little bit fun or exciting.  They are sure they need to have 25 hobbies and their children need to play every available sport and join every club.  They want to experience everything the world has to offer.  There is nothing wrong with enjoying this life, and enjoying it, but we will someday pay for this attitude that we can never be fulfilled unless we have everything we want.  We try to fulfill this expectation at the expense of the rest that God promises for our soul. 

            When Jesus told us, Take my yoke upon you…for my yoke is easy, and my burden light, He did not mean that He was giving us an excuse to fill our lives with every worldly pleasure we can imagine to the neglect of our relationship with God.   Jesus did promise that He would take our burdens on Himself and help us along this “ancient way.”  But He did not tell us to create unnecessary burdens to place on Him.  Jesus has empowered us and enabled us to carry our cross, and do God’s work in this world.  He has saved and sanctified us for this end.  He has provided us with a better way to walk through this journey; a way that ultimately leads to eternal life.  But we must remember that this “ancient path” leads to a destination where all those worldly things will do no good.  When we arrive at the gate at the end of the path we cannot carry with us our achievements.  Our hobbies and worldly activities will not pass through that way.  That’s why this path is for a specific kind of traveller; one who seeks God’s presence and His goodness above all else.

 

The Travellers

            The “ancient path” about which the prophet spoke seems to be one that goes contrary to all the things the world values today.  It leads in a completely different direction than the paths of man.  But though this road looks difficult – maybe even impossible – we must remember that it is the same path that has been trod by the saints of all the ages.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness (Matthew 21:32)…  He [Apollos] had been instructed in the way of the Lord (Acts 18:21)…  Throughout the ages countless men and women have sought and found this ancient path.  They chose to give up some of their worldly ways and follow an ancient path that rises above all the turmoil and struggles of this world.  It transcends the progress and ingenuity of humanity and rises to the very heavens and presence of the God who inhabits them. 

 

            The way of God is laid out before us.  It continues to wind its way through the lives of men and women.  If we will seek His way out from among all the ways of the world, we will find a good and better way.  We will find rest for our souls.  God calls us today to an ancient path.  Will we follow that path, or will we – as Israel – say, We will not walk on it?

The Departure of the Spirit

King Saul had as much potential to do great thing for God as anyone in human history.  He was hand-picked by God to lead the people of Israel.  He was anointed by God's prophet and guided by God's word.  The story of Saul, however, is largely one of wasted potential.  In spite of all that God had done to prepare him, scripture tells us in 1 Samuel 16:14, "the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul..." 

Whether we like it or not, we must acknowledge that the Spirit left Saul because of his half-hearted commitment to following the commands of God.  He wanted God's will to be done, but he wanted to do it his way.  He was not interested in the instruction God had given in regards to HOW to follow His will.  This seems to be the case within the church today.  We read and write our books and come up with our slick organizations and marketing schemes.  We know that God wants us to win the lost, but we have determined within our hearts to leave Him out of the process.  We want nothing more than to o it by ourselves.  We all work hard to apply the principles of "Natural Church Development" (I still contend that we need "supernatural church development because if it is natural, it's not of God) and every other book that comes along, but is God's will really being done?  I keep hearing from the same people who promote these man-made methods that the vast majority of congregations are in decline.  What good have all of our methods done?

Maybe it's time that we consider the possibility that we have fallen into the trap of King Saul.  In spite of the availability of power through the Holy Spirit, God's call to holiness, and His written word, we continue to try to do His work our way.  As we forge ahead with our plans the church continues to lose influence and authority.  Could it be that in many cases the Spirit has already left and we are so focused on our ideas that we haven't even noticed?

Maybe instead of trying to figure out what WE can do for God, we need to spend some time considering how we can recover our lampstand.

Responding to God (Scriptural Leadership)

God is moving all around us. Even in the beginning His Spirit moved above the waters. His very breath moved about the unfinished creation. He continues to move today. He is working in our lives and in the lives of those around us. He is moving in our families, our workplace and within the church. God may be moving in some of your lives as we speak. His Spirit could be convicting you, or leading you, or calling you in a number of ways. It is a humbling thought to realize that there are about 6 billion people on earth and each of us is still on God’s mind when He works. The question that we face today is not whether or not God works, but how we respond to His work. When we see God move, when He reveals His truth to us, when His Spirit convicts us, how do we respond?


Scripture is replete with examples of the responses of man to their God. There are two that are emphatically contrasted for us in the book of Romans: Adam, the first of God’s creation, and Jesus Christ, God’s Son. “For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for man (Romans 5:15).” The Apostle Paul shows us the results of the response of two men to God. Adam was created and placed in the most beautiful place in the entire world. He was created in the very image of God; given every advantage that we could ever imagine. The only command was not to eat from one specific tree in the middle of the garden. Adam and his wife had to respond in some way to that command. Their response was to ignore the command of God and replace it with what was pleasing to them.

Satan convinced man that God was trying to hold him back, to keep him from becoming something greater. “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate (Genesis 3:6).” This is how Satan works. He constantly tries to convince us to respond to God based on our temporal view of the world rather than God’s eternal will. The Devil tries to turn our attention downward and inward, even though God has called us to look outward and upward (Col. 3:1-4).

Satan is trying to give us a false perception of the battlefield. Whether we admit it or not, there is an invisible world around us. This world is largely defined in light of the things that go on in that invisible world because that world is eternal. When we allow Satan to turn our attention to the things of this world, we are no longer defining our lives within an eternal context. We are living for what we see now, and not for what is to come. This makes it nearly impossible to respond to the work of God in the proper way since His work is done in the context of the eternal. He is always working among His people so that they “may not perish but have eternal life.” His rewards are not always going to make us wealthy or affluent in this life. He is more concerned with our souls than our accomplishments and achievements, our possessions and our riches. In the beginning man chose to respond to God by ignoring and replacing His commands. He felt that his way was best, and God’s way left something to be desired.

In contrast to Adam’s response to God we see the response of Jesus during the most trying time of His life on earth. As He agonized about God’s call on His life in the Garden of Gethsemane, our Lord prayed, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but Yours, be done (Luke 22:42).” Jesus was confronted with the choice that Adam had faced in the beginning. He was faced with the choice that each person throughout history has had to make throughout the course of their lives. How would He respond to the directive of God? When God required more than a nominal commitment what would He do? Jesus proved in His prayer that His desire was to respond in a way that would accomplish God’s eternal purposes. In direct contrast to Adam – through whom sin entered the world – Jesus submitted Himself fully to God’s desires and impacted the lives of every person who has followed Him. “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience many will be made righteous (Romans 5:19, 20).”

These truths contained in Scripture remind us that with each passing day we are confronted with God’s work in some way. Somehow He is moving in and around our lives and each of us must choose to respond to Him. Each Sunday morning we are confronted with God’s Word, and though there may be no altar response, every person who has heard the Word must respond in some way. We can either submit to God’s Word and let Him mold and shape us, or we can ignore God’s voice and Spirit in favor of our own ideas and wisdom.

In light of all this, it is imperative that the leaders of God’s church understand how this affects them. What does it mean as we meet and discuss the work of the church? How can we ensure that we are responding to God in the proper way?

First of all, we find the will of God through the witnesses that He has provided for us, His Word and His Spirit. The Word is the measuring rod against which our ideas and thoughts are judged. All of our actions and our efforts must be conformed to what is taught in the Bible. It is our inerrant, infallible rule of faith. Without an ever-growing understanding of Scripture we can never be the leaders that God has called us to be. The Bible is not used by the church simply to justify our opinions, it is used as a revelation of God’s will. The Spirit helps us to respond that that will.

So many times we spend countless hours trying to reason among ourselves when our God has called us to reason with Him. “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord (Isaiah 1:18)...” The role of the leader within the church is far too often looked at as “to make decisions.” A thorough review of Scripture leads us to a contrary conclusion. The role of leaders is to respond to God with submission. It is not our responsibility to “make decisions” but to seek the will of God and actively follow it. That goes against our cultural norms and everything that we have been conditioned to believe, but it does not go against the teachings of the Bible.

God gives His vision through Scripture and leads through His Spirit, and the direct response of man should be prayer. “When God intends to do a mighty work, the first thing He does is to set His people praying.” This is our submission to His will. We know that it is God’s will to save the lost. Our response is to pray for His direction in accomplishing that will. It is His will for His people to live in unity and love. Prayer is the means of seeking direction for this.

Countless times throughout history God has moved, not through the structures of His people, but through their submission. When we humbly pray to our God, He will move in a mighty way among us. “Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things that you do not know (Jeremiah 33:3).” Leaders do not lead the church because of their intelligence, talents, abilities, finances, or even elected position. They are called by God to lead in submission to His will. They must set this example for each person within the church. If they are not willing to submit to the will of God and allow Him to move, they forfeit the right to expect His work to be done among them.

By continually writing policy and guidelines, we are telling God – much like Adam and Eve – “we have a better way. We don’t really need you because your will can be accomplished through our methods and channels.” We are trying to define for God the ways that we believe He should work. There has never been a time where God has worked through man-made structure. God will not work through us because we sit on the council, or the board, or because we are a part of any other committee. He will work through us because we are people of prayer and men and women of the Word. He will work through us because we are living in humble submission to His Spirit. To place terms on this is to limit the work and the movement of God. If God is to use this specific congregation, His work will begin with the corporate response of the leaders to His will. I say this realizing that it may take more faith than some people within the congregation exhibit. There may be people who are uncomfortable with such an arrangement. The fact remains, however, that our top priority must be to please God. Our focus must be on the things of the spiritual world and not on the temporal world in which we live. His will is always spiritual and eternal, and we must realize that if we are to submit to Him.

By responding to God with our own strategy and our own opinion, we place ourselves in the position of Israel as they stood at the foot of Mount Sinai. Moses had gone up onto the mountain to receive the laws of God for His people. As they waited they decided among themselves that the current arrangement (to wait on God) was just not working. They needed something more tangible. Something they could touch and see. They immediately turned their attention to the worldly and made for themselves a calf of gold to be their God. You are familiar with the story. Their improper response to God led to their judgment by God. However, even evil people like those of Nineveh were restored when they responded to God’s Word in submission. They humbled themselves before Him, and God relented in His anger.

I realize that this goes against the idea that we are elected representatives of the people in the congregation. That is because we are not. We hold positions as “elders” within the church, not because we’re the brightest or the best, but because we are submissive to God. There are times where that submission may cost us dearly. It cost all of the prophets in Scripture. Many paid with their own lives. I once heard Bill Neece point something out that has stuck with me since. “The price has not changed.” Does the church in our day want to be a neatly organized machine that can carry out many social functions among its members? Or do we really want God to move among us? Do we want to see His power and His might? Do we want to see lives changed, families healed and relationships restored? God wants to see those things. He has done them before and the price in our day is still the same.

As leaders, we are confronted this day – and each day – with God’s presence. In what way will we respond? The call of Joshua to the Israelites rings true for us today. “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve…”

Coming Out

"John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were GOING OUT TO HIM and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins." (Mark 1:4, 5)

The people of Israel were supposed to be God's covenant people.  They were the nation that God inhabited.  Jerusalem was the "city of God" and there was a temple in the city that was the very house of God.  Everything about that city within that nation was focused on that temporal dwelling place that had been built for the God that they continually sought. 

But before the time of Christ, God had been silent for 400 years.  People were starved for a word from God.  They wanted to know Him, and see Him move and work in ways that their fathers had experienced.  This desire to know God made them do the unthinkable.  They left the city, the temple, their traditions, and went out to the desert to see God work through one of the roughest figures that many had ever seen.  Have you ever considered what they were leaving behind in order to experience God?

They left behind the traditional places that God had lived.  The Jews believed that the temple in Jerusalem was the exclusive dwelling place of God.  It was the only place that one could go to be anywhere near His presence.  The rituals that were practiced by the priests and pharisees were rituals designed to bring about the presence of God. At one point these rituals had been valid - even commanded by God -  but by this time Israel had come to the point where they were simply going through the motions.  The ritual had become just that, ritual.  They had ceased to be about pleasing God and had become nothing more than a method for man to manipulate God.

I say these things, not to run down tradition, but to point out that sometimes tradition grows cold.  Those who went out into the desert were not leaving behind tradition simply to do something new.  Far too often we change just for the sake of change.  This was not the case.  These people were not leaving behind the commands of God.  They were simply tired of the ineffectiveness of man's interpretation of God's commands.  They wanted explanation, they wanted substance rather than formality and legalism.  These people wanted to experience the holiness of God.  They wanted to see Him work, they wanted to know Him.

This scripture has an interesting parallel in our day.  We go through the motions, and do what we've always done, and we don't experience God, we don't experience holiness, and we seldom experience anything more than those of the world experience.  We are generally pretty ignorant of the commands of God, why God gives them, and what we need to do with them.  We don't experience God because we've become very good at performing ritual and ignoring the substance.  I think this is probably a "form of Christianity that denies the power."  Scripture gives us the information that we need to experience God.  If we earnestly seek Him, He will be found.  The Bible gives us an abundance of proof that if we are seeking God, and not simply a free ticket to heaven, we will experience His presence in our lives.  We will see Him work among us, and within us, and around us.  The question is, how much dead ritual are you willing to give up to experience Him?  Are you willing to come out from among the cold, dead ritual that we practice to experience God through prayer, His Word, and His Holy Spirit?  It had taken the people of Jerusalem and Judea 400 years, but by the time John the Baptist came onto the scene they were finally willing.  Are we? 

Blessings of the Holy Spirit

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. (Gal. 5:22)"

When Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, He empowered His people with the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit cleanses us, sanctifies us, and conforms our character to that of God. He can provide us with all of the things (and more) listed by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians. Not only can He provide those things, but we fully expect Him to. God has promised these things, and He should provide them in the way that we want them.

Something occurred to me along these lines this week. Can we really expect the blessings of the Holy Spirit if we are unwilling to stand in the truth revealed by Him? The Holy Spirit inspired the Word of God, interprets the Word, and teaches us about the Word. He is God's witness to us in the world today. There are things that are clearly revealed (such as the call to be holy) that are largely ignored by the church in our day. We explain them away and try to diminish the importance of many truths by making lists of "essentials" and "non-essentials" but the fact remains that the Spirit of God inspired these truths.

I think that if we are ever going to see revival among God's people it will come first and foremost through the prayers of God's people; but I also suspect that many of our prayers are in vain because we are not praying from the proper foundation. We do not see the blessings and power of the Spirit in the church because it is not sought with a proper foundation. The truth that is revealed by the Spirit is something that must be applied to our lives as a foundation for everything that happens spiritually.

We have tried for far too long to get by on what we think and what we want. It is time that the church stand on the truth that has been given by God. Look around you. The world, and especially our nation, is in turmoil. We have compromised too many times. We have ignored the truth far too often. If we are to be the holy people that God has called us to be we must be people whose desire is to know the truth that will set us free.