My husband attended a men’s retreat last weekend with one of our sons. He was so excited to tell me the amazing Truths he learned. He repeated this phrase several times, “We can win publicly, but lose privately.”
It was based on the story of King Saul & how he didn’t want to fight Goliath. David, a young shepherd boy, volunteered for the job. The King gave David his armor so the people would think it was Saul on the field bravely battling the giant. He wanted to win the people’s approval through falsehood.
That teaching surfaced in my thoughts this morning as I read Paul’s letter to Titus. He writes of a people who profess that they know God, but deny Him by the way they live.
Right after I read the passage this phrase played like a ticker tape:
Profession of faith without confession of Lordship is like owning a car without gas. It looks great, but it won’t get you to your desired destination.
Living in the Bible Belt, I think most folks I encounter would profess that they’re a Christian. If you “looked under the hood” of their life, however, I wonder if you’d find much evidence of it ever being driven?
We can profess something all day long, but it remains as notional knowledge unless it’s accompanied by confession.
We can KNOW that there is God, we can SAY we believe in Him, but unless we believe in the One True God & confess our need of His Son, Jesus, to save us from our sins, the knowledge remains just that- a knowing & not an experiencing the power of living underneath His Lordship!
Psalm 98:9 reminds us that Jesus is judge & He will return to judge the earth. The time is coming, & in fact, we are not promised tomorrow, so someone reading this may end up at heaven’s gates by day’s end...
When you stand before Him, will your life reflect a profession of faith without the gas, thus denying His Lordship by the way you lived? You’ll call Him, “Lord, Lord...” but He won’t even know you.
Or will the profession be accompanied by a confession of your great need of His salvation & Lordship?
When our confession matches our profession, our surrendered lives become a powerhouse vehicle driven for His purposes & eventually lead to eternity with Him in heaven!
💡JEREMIAH 49:23-50:46
💡TITUS 1:1-16
💡PSALM 97:1-98:9
💡PROVERBS 26:13-16
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