March 21, 2012 | Leave a comment Today, Wednesday March 21, 2012, is the twenty-sixth day of preparing our hearts, souls and minds for the most high of all Christian holy days, Easter Sunday. Today I need to “put off” presumption and “put on” trust in God’s will. Presumption is defined as a “behavior or attitude that is boldly arrogant or offensive.” Each time you and I think that we know better than God we are guilty of the sin of presumption. If you think that you are not guilty of ever committing the sin of presumption, then think about whether or not you obey God’s word exclusively. If not, then you most probably rationalize your misbehavior by thinking that your situation is different and that in your case you are not under obligation to obey. Our rationalization is easy for us because we presume to know more, and better than God. This attitude is the sin of presumption, and it is boldly arrogant and offensive to God. For this reason I need to “put off” presumption and “put on” trust in God’s will. The sad fact is we often think more highly of ourselves than we should. Routinely we make plans for how we will schedule our time for tomorrow. Such planning according to Scripture is presumptuous because none of us are guaranteed our next breath. 1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. Proverbs 27:1 (ESV) Our human powerlessness to change the future is why Jesus teaches us not to worry about tomorrow or what it may bring. 34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34 (NASB) As our technological advancements in medicine increase humankind’s confidence in our own abilities increase also and in our arrogance spiritual blindness we become less dependent upon God and His blessing. James gives us some advice which we would all do well to heed. 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” James 4:14–15 (ESV) There is nothing wrong with making plans for tomorrow, as long as we add the caveat “if it is God’s will.” Stating this caveat provides a check against our tendency to become presumptuous. In their book Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God, Henry Blackaby & Claude King write that because God is; love, we can trust that His will is always best; all knowing, we can trust in His directions are always right; all-powerful, we can trust Him to enable us to do his will. In the book of Deuteronomy we learn that God’s motive for giving Commandments to be obeyed is not His own self-interest but our own good. If we trust God we will accept that His will and His way is really for our own good. 20 “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. 23 And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. 24 And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. 25 And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’ Deuteronomy 6:20–25 (ESV) If we really trust God we will not presume to know best, but will instead except His Commandments as true and right and for our own good. With this understanding I will therefore be more willing to obey than to rationalize my own misbehavior. The bottom line for trusting God and obeying His word is that God is God and I am not! His will is always right and His way is always best. I should need no other reason to obey. If, however, you or I need to be convinced in light of our own interest consider these words of Moses: 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. 47 For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” Deuteronomy 32:46–47 (ESV) I need to “put off” presumption and “put on” trust in God’s will. If I really do this my life, my attitudes, my behavior, will change and come to be in accord with God’s will and God’s Word and those who know me best will notice the difference. If I am a parent my children will notice and over time begin to imitate my renewed attitude and behavior resulting in their own lives being blessed by the Most High God and His Son Jesus Christ by the power of His Holy Spirit.