Musings from the Garden
By Peggy Wyar
As I sat on my back porch, I was admiring the tall, lush green oak tree against the beautiful blue sky. I started noticing the breeze moving the smaller trees on either side of it. These shorter trees bowed and rustled in the wind, but the stately oak stood straight and immovable.
As I looked more closely I saw that a few of the outer branches and leaves of the oak were moving in the wind, but the leaves and branches closest to the trunk were still. As I considered this I sensed a lesson in what I was observing.
The closer I am to Jesus (the vine, the source) the less I will be moved by the winds of false doctrine. The more I cling to the truth of the gospel, the less I will be tempted to chase another gospel that is not really a gospel at all. Have you ever noticed how the good news of salvation in Jesus alone is all about what He has done for us? How many well-meaning preachers or deceptive charlatans try to offer a salvation based on good deeds or man-made doctrine? We can never earn our way into heaven. Redemption in Jesus is a gift to cling to; a hope that keeps us stable.
Ephesians 4:14 NIV “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.”
Paul’s warning in Galatians was for the churches of his day, and for us.
Galatians 1:3-9 NIV “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!”
Peter added his own warning to the church.
2 Peter 2:1-3 NASB “But false prophets also appeared among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their indecent behavior, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
Fixing our minds on truth will lesson the “sway” when the winds of deception blow around us. Because of His great love for us, our heavenly Bridegroom deserves our complete devotion in return.
2 Corinthians 11:2-3 NIV “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”
As you notice the beautifully arrayed fall trees, try taking this lesson to heart. The more closely you walk with Jesus, the less chance you will be led astray by Satan’s chosen instruments of confusion and deceit.
Praying for you to endure until the end.