Make Sure Your Efforts Count! ~ Psalm 127

6:00 AM

 



I once heard a story about the heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali which tends to go along with what the psalmist is saying today.  In his prime Muhammad Ali was well known for saying, “I am the greatest of all time!” Yet years later, while suffering the effects of Parkinson’s disease, he took a visitor to see his trophies and awards and pointing to them he reportedly said, “It ain’t nothing.”

Mr. Ali got it! In essence our life and all our efforts count for nothing unless we live it with and for the Lord.

This is the point Psalm 127 is making when it says, “Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain.”  

If you are living your life without God; convinced by the enemy that you do not need Him, you have been deceived. If you think you can do something FOR God, you have been deceived. The Psalmist seeks to remind us that apart from an active faith, trust and complete dependence upon God we are living our lives in vain; like building a castle on the sand. We know the castle won't last and neither will anything we do apart from Him.

Jesus, Himself explained it this way, " So Jesus answered them by saying, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself [of His own accord], unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever things the Father does, the Son also does in the same way." (John 5:19 AMP)

It is the flesh, or the pride of life that convinces us that we CAN do all kinds of things without God. In fact some live their entire life without trusting in Him and seem to do quite well, but the psalmist here is warning us against an attitude of self-sufficiency and self dependency in this psalm, and excluding God from our plans each day is the worst mistake we could make.

Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.

He goes on to write about our efforts
It is vain for you to rise early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of anxious labors—

For He gives [blessings] to His beloved even in his sleep. (V. 2)

And it isn't just this psalmist who is writing this; check out what others had to say:

 “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21).

 "The one who calls you is faithful, and HE will do it." (1 Thes. 5:24 emphasis mine)

"For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13 AMP)

These are just a few of so many verses that imply God has a plan for each of us! He is Almighty God, who does not need us, but chooses to use us to build His Kingdom.  

Watchman Nee, in his book, The Spiritual Man, also writes of the futility of attempting to do anything apart from God; even "GOOD" things:


This one truth revolutionized my life and my walk with the Lord after already walking with Him for almost 20 years! 
Especially the way I prayed!
I was raised to believe that whether I made it to heaven or not depended on what I did - my works and just how good a person I was. Ephesians 2:8-9 convinced me that salvation was not based on anything I could do : 
For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God;  not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation].

BUT, I continued on with the mindset that I needed to do things for God! Imagine how ridiculous that is; Almighty God, who created this world and everything in it needs my help! Crazy, I know, but my prayers would go something like this, "Tell me what it is that You would like me to do and I'll go do it; to the best of my abilities, that is.
But wait, His word says, "Faithful is He who calls you, who will also do it."  (1 Thes. 5:24)
Almighty God, who is able to "[carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us". (Ephesians 3:20)
I could write volumes on this one thought, but the bottom line is:

Our God does not need us to DO anything, except surrender our will to His! 
If we have already surrendered our lives to God and accepted His gift of eternal life (Eph 2:8-9) then we should surrender our wills each day to His so that He is able to use us to reach this world and build His Kingdom. What an amazing thought; that Almighty God doesn't need us, but chooses to use us! BUT, according to His word, only what He is able to do through us will have any  eternal value. 

I wish I could say more, but let me ask you:
_Have you accepted God's gift of eternal life? Are you 100% certain that when you take your last breath on this earth that you will spend eternity in heaven? 
_How do you pray? Do you ask Him what you can do for Him, or do you invite Him to come take over your life and use it for His glory?
_ Are you excited to see what our mighty God can do through you?

Let's pray:
O Father, my desire is to do Your will and to do it willingly and without question, even though my nature and tendency has often been to try to steer my own course independently of You. Forgive me Father, for the many times I've failed to call on You, leaned on, and trusted You to do it! Father I pray that each moment of each day I would be willing to present my entire life to You as a sweet-smelling savour.
Lord, I want to be changed into the person that You want me to be, and to leave behind the things of the flesh. I wish to walk in newness of life, and with Your Holy Spirit in the driving seat of my life each day.
Help me to prove what is Your good and acceptable will for my life and to allow Your Holy Spirit to change in me all those fleshly tendencies of life and selfish motives, that so often cause me to do things my way and sin against You. 
 May I walk this day wholly surrendered;  always rejoicing, never ceasing to commune with You, and giving thanks to You for Your great goodness to me. Thank You, Lord, for the work that You are doing in me. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Blessings,
Sue

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