Look, Turn, Trust and Love ... Repeat

Have you got rhythm? Are you in a rhythm? How about a gospel rhythm? Do you have a strategy for any situation?

So what do you do when you lose your job? When your marriage is falling apart? When you fail to have your quiet time? When your car breaks down? When you spill your coffee on your pants on your way to work? When you sleep through church? When you get angry at your children? When you get angry at your parents? When the President takes away some of our freedom? When Congress increases our tax burden? When you spend more money on gas than on groceries? When you are hurt deeply? When you hurt someone deeply? When you lose something or someone dear to you? When you lack something that you think you need or that you desire greatly? When you don’t think you can go on? So what do you do when you’re not perfect? When others aren’t perfect? When life isn’t perfect?

This past Sunday we focused on Romans 10:9-10 and looking and living.

Last week we said, according to Romans 10:8-10 and other Scriptures like John 3:14-16 and Romans 4:5, being saved is as easy as looking outside of ourselves to Christ and what He has done, without any dependence on what we do (like those who looked to the brazen serpent and were healed). But doing the easy thing (looking to Jesus alone to save us apart from our own goodness) is as hard as letting go of a branch while hanging on the side of a cliff (because of our unbelief and pride). And doing the easy thing is followed by doing hard things (in loving as Christ calls to love) just as the easy “I do” of a marriage ceremony is followed by the hard thing of loving and laying down our lives in married life. And yet neither of these realities means that salvation itself is not an easy thing. (Matthew 11:28-30) We also said that looking to Jesus alone for salvation should impact the way we look at ourselves (Confessions of a Justified Sinner), so that we honor Jesus when we see ourselves differently simply because of what He has done for us, not because of anything we do.

This week we saw that looking has a necessary impact on living.

You may remember the farmer who set out to teach his son to plow (this is my version). He put him behind the plow, strapped him in the harness and gave him instructions before he went on his way. He told his son, “Now the key to plowing a straight row is to pick a object in the distance and keep your eye on it and plow straight for it. Do you think you can do that?” His son said enthusiastically, “Oh, yes!” The father said “Good!” and left the boy to plow the back 40 acres. At the end of the day, the farmer returned to see how things had gone with his son and to his horror, he saw a field with terribly crooked and criss-crossed rows. When he asked his son what had happened, the son replied, “Well, Dad, I did what you said. I picked an object in the distance, kept my eye on it and plowed to it.” “Then how did your rows get so messed up?” the father asked in astonishment. The boy thought a minute and said, “Well, maybe it was because the cow I was looking at kept moving!”

The steps of this young man were guided by where he was looking and therefore, what he was trusting that “object” for. It is important for us to know that salvation comes to us simply by looking to Christ alone for our salvation from sin, but our looking to Christ and what we are trusting Him for will impact profoundly the way we live and the direction our lives take.

What should looking to Jesus as Savior and Lord look like in everyday life?

There should be a gospel rhythm in life that causes us to look, turn, trust and love (obey). (Colossians 2:6-7; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)

In every situation and in every relationship, we are:

· To look at the truth of the gospel: about God, man and Jesus. (2 Corinthians 3:18; Hebrews 12:1-2; John 8:31-32; Galatians 2:20)

· To turn from sin: self-righteousness (pride), idolatry and self-determination (unbelief). (Acts 2:38; 20:21; 11:21; Mark 1:15; 1 Thessalonians 1:9)

· To trust in all that God has promised us through Jesus: peace, provision, pleasure. (Romans 5:1; Hebrews 11:6, 24-27; Psalm 16:11; Philippians 4:13, 19; 2 Peter 1:3; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

· To love (obey) by walking out the commands and wisdom principles of Scripture. (Romans 12:1-2; 1:5; Galatians 5:6; 1 John 2:4-6; 3:23)

· Look, turn, trust, obey/love, then repeat in every situation and relationship, without growing weary in well doing, in every season of life. (Galatians 6:6-10; Luke 6:27-38)

Most people know the story of Jack and Jill. But few know the rest of the story (smile). Jack and Jill went up the hill, To fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown, And Jill came tumbling after. What happened after fetching the pail of water and just before Jack fell down and Jill came tumbling after? Maybe … Jack complains of a bad back and wants Jill to do all the hauling herself. Jill doesn’t buy it and Jack is spoken harshly to by Jill (ie, insult). Jack does not respond well either (ie, insult returned). Jill smacks him so hard that not only does Jack fall but Jill does as well.

Later, Jack puts on his “gospel glasses” as he thinks about what happened (with vinegar and brown paper on his head to cure the bruises, according to later additions to the nursery rhyme), so that he looks at it through the lens of Jesus and what has been done for him (holding up the Bible, so to speak).

He sees that his response of pride and anger and bitterness and returning the insult was wrong and he sees that he must turn (repent) of it because Jesus died that we might be freed from the penalty and power of sin.

He sees that God has forgiven him because of what Christ as done and has given him the power to do what pleases Him in every situation and has promised to reward him for doing what is right in each situation, and he is to trust God for these things.

He sees that God calls him to obey His Word and to rejoice and pray and give thanks, to forgive as he has been forgiven by God, to accept as he has been accepted by God and to love as he has been loved by God and that he is to seek reconciliation with those he has sinned against and he is to overcome evil with good.

So Jack looks and turns and trusts and loves in his relationship with Jill. The next day, Jack receives an exorbitant water bill in the mail. And John must repeat the process in order to live out his faith.

If my “faith” does not move me, to one degree or another, in situations and relationships each day, to look at things through the lens of the gospel, to turn from my sinful responses, to trust God for what He promises through Christ and to lay down my life to love as He commands, then my “faith” is dead. If we find our “faith” doing this only a “little,” then, at best, our faith is weak and needs strengthening. (Galatians 5:6)

What should you do? Ponder (think), pray (ask for help), plan (think about how to apply it in different situations), practice (take action), persevere (don’t give up in failure) and praise (thank God for grace). (James 1:21)

To confess Jesus as Lord is to submit to His Lordship and to live to trust and obey Him daily by applying the gospel – looking, turning, trusting and loving.

If you find yourself lacking obedience, don’t go back to what you are suppose to do first, but address your faith by going back to the good news: who Jesus is, what He has done, what He promises us, and His great love. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15; 1 John 4:16-21) We need to look – long and hard – at Jesus so that we can turn and trust and love, to the glory of His name.

Where are you today? What do you need to do? Look to Jesus and live!