A Spiritual Drought

Many in our land have been experiencing drought this summer. I believe many more are continuing to experience spiritual drought and here’s why.

When in conversation I mention God, the other person often moves into self-justifying mode! Introducing the notion of God seems to bring with it a sense that we need to justify ourselves. This is, I suggest, borne out of the religious idea that we must earn God’s favour or, at the very least, have a reasonable defence as to why we aren’t managing what we think he requires of us.

This way of thinking is common and is called “works righteousness”, whereby we think we need to be earning brownie points if we are to secure God’s final favour.

Wages or Gift?

When we work, we earn wages. The one for whom we have worked is obligated to pay us and, until they do, they are in our debt. When we think we can earn God’s favour, we actually demean him; after all, how could God our Creator ever be in our debt? No, if we are to receive his favour it must be as a gift and God does offer this; it’s a gift which makes our efforts to earn his favour unnecessary.

What is that gift and how may we receive it? God gave his son, Jesus; he is the gift that does away with our religious self-efforts. He does this by paying off those debts that separate us from God.

The Place of faith

Before going further, we need to realise that a personal Christian faith is important. This faith, or trust, is not a religious work in itself but simply the means of receiving that which God offers to us.

Imagine you are in a desert literally dying of thirst and then you are made aware that there is a spring of water just behind that large boulder 50 feet ahead. Those last dozen or so steps won’t themselves re-hydrate you but they are the means of getting that life-giving water into you. That is precisely how it is with Christian faith: it is the means of receiving God’s good favour described by Jesus as living water. He says, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink”. Whoever believes in me… streams of living water will flow from within him." It is our standing and identifying with Jesus through faith that gives God pleasure.