Most everyone loves to be right. It can verify our position as an authority while establishing our role as valid. With all of us needing a bit of confidence, being right is not always a bad thing. But what if we aren’t right while thinking we are? Would you be willing to change your course? Would you come to a different understanding? I’m not talking about questioning concrete factual truth. Instead, I am talking about how we handle our baggage of perceived truth when it comes to areas of question.
Imagine you were Moses, called out for a specific job of rescuing a nation. You worked hard. You interceded and pleaded against the sins of the people you ministered to. You witnessed healing and forgiveness. You fought battles. And, you even conquered territory. Would you want to be right at the end of the day? Would you be looking for the prize you thought would be yours?
As we know, Moses didn’t receive the prize he thought he would gain. His assumption of truth was entering the promised land. Instead, he was called to pass the torch to another. Of course, you may be thinking, “How bad could this be, I would love to pass on my torch to another.” But Moses did see it differently.
“I also pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, ‘Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours? Please let me cross over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that good hill country, and Lebanon.’ But the Lord was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me; instead, the Lord said to me, ‘Enough! Do not speak to Me anymore about this matter.” Deuteronomy 3:23-26
This is what I love about Moses. After hearing these last words from YHWH, he shuts up, goes to the top of the mountain, sees the land, and takes in further instruction. He accepts a new truth in his life. He decides to follow “The Yah Plan.”
In the Book of Mark, chapter 12, we see a scribe who overheard the arguments between Yeshua and the Pharisees. I can only guess as to what he was thinking. Being a scribe, his mode of “being right” was to follow the teachings of the spiritual leaders of the day. But in this instance, he was caught listening to a parable that aligned the Pharisees and Sadducees to the killing of the landowner’s son. He also heard tricky words from the Rabbi about what to do with money; but, was then redirected by a man called Yeshua to a new understanding of what belonged to governments and what belonged to Yahweh. Hence, his paradigms were being challenged, so he decided to step up.
One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Yeshua answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:28-31
This scribe recognized these words of truth from the Torah and it made sense to him. I believe he started to think Yeshua was different than the spiritual leaders of the day. I say this, in that Yeshua recognized the revelation that had come upon the scribe and proceeded to tell him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of Yah.”
On another level, we see Yeshua directly addressing the Pharisees and Sadducees who presumed they knew the truth and did not need direction. In their mind, their message was correct, and their wisdom was greater than others due to their years of study. In Matthew 23, Yeshua lists seven woes against them. He calls them blind hypocrites, whitewashed tombs, and partners in shedding the blood of the prophets. He continues calling them vipers who have sentenced themselves to hell and that their house will be desolate!
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say ‘Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord!’” Matthew 23:37-39
The prophet Isaiah starts in chapter 40 by stating:
“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” Says your God.
“Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,
That her warfare is ended,
That her iniquity is pardoned;
For she has received from the LORD’s hand
Double for all her sins.”
The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low;
The crooked places shall be made straight
And the rough places smooth;
The glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
And all flesh shall see it together;
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
Isaiah 40:1-5
From this prophecy, one might ask, “Who comforts, who makes the desert a highway, and who lays down the mountains?” Or in modern terms, “who establishes truth?”
According to Isaiah, the greatness of God is incomparable:
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the vault of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers . . it is He who reduces rulers to nothing, who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.” Isaiah 40:21-23
Yeshua instructed his disciples to share the gospel with all the nations and to baptize others into The Kingdom of Elohim. They were to be a witness to the workings of the Messiah and The Father. They had to learn how to raise up others around them. And above all else, they had to understand a new way of thinking; that of changing their need to be personally right to allowing YHWH to be right.
We live in troubling times. Just this week at the close of the Olympic ceremonies, we witnessed the celebration and welcoming of other gods. We saw the country of France dance before these gods and stage a portal to invite satanic gods into our world. Dear friends, we are experiencing spiritual warfare.
Therefore, be willing to stand on Biblical truth and be corrected in any personally held belief that is not in line with the Scriptures. These days, I do not want to be a religious leader that holds onto deeply held or cherished dogmas that have become like a false god. Instead, I want to be a student of the gospel.
“Change my heart O lord” will be my plea. How about you?
Be blessed this Sabbath.
Rollyn