FOLLOW THE BLUEPRINT
“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12, 13.
Now Paul, just what are you getting at?
Verse 13 can be confusing if we don’t have the overall picture. It almost sounds as though he is telling us that we have to save ourselves. Is that what he means? Not at all! We are self-made people. We are not passengers on a yacht that is sailing away into the blue. We are to be active participants with God in the outworking of what He has done.
It’s a bit like doing a piece of embroidery or baking a cake. You have the picture of the completed article in front of you; you have all the materials or ingredients to make the item. Now you have to follow the pattern and make the object according to the directions until the finished product accurately resembles the picture. The big difference here is that the original Designer is in you, instructing, guiding and energising you to make the object exactly according to the blueprint.
On top of that, the Designer guarantees that, because He is working with you, you will get the job done to its completion. Unlike the piece of embroidery you are stitching or the cake you are baking, He does not leave you to flounder on your own. He is there every step of the way to ensure that the end product is an exact replica of the original. This sounds like an impossibility, doesn’t it, unless we use the key.
What is the key to the success of this enterprise? This is where we come in. There is something we have to do that God cannot do for us. Obey! If we try to follow the pattern without the step-by-step directions on how to make it, we will end up with a mess. Obedience is not about who is watching. Paul said, “Don’t only obey God when I’m there to watch you. Obey because God is there, leading you on to become what He started.”
What, or rather who is the blueprint God has given us to follow? It’s Jesus of course! That’s the reason that Paul joined his beautiful song about Jesus and his instruction to obey with the word “therefore”. Everything God does for us and in us is based on Jesus. He is our pattern and He is the guarantee that we will be just like Him when God has completed what He has begun in us (Philippians1:6).
“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labour in vain.” Philippians 2:14, 15.
Paul gave us a second key to this maturing process – praise! He expressed it negatively, perhaps because he was familiar with human nature, or perhaps he was referring back to the Israelites in the wilderness who were so full of grumbling and arguing that they were eventually disqualified from entering the Promised Land. If we are grumbling and resisting God’s working in us at every turn, we will certainly not have an attitude of thankfulness and praise.
Knowing ourselves and how full of impurities we are, how can we ever be blameless and pure in this life? God is not looking for perfection but for the attitude and intention of our hearts. We may not always get it right but in which direction are we facing – the same way as God is facing, towards Jesus – or are we straining against Him in the yoke to go our own way?
King David gives us a clue, surprisingly enough since he did not have all the knowledge and understanding we have with God’s fuller revelation of Himself in Jesus.
“Vindicate me, Lord, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered.” Psalm 26:1.
His prescription for a blameless life was simple – trust in the Lord. This also means a pure heart – unmixed with confidence in any other thing. When we have divided loyalties, God and ourselves, we will not follow God’s pattern and we will not become what His blueprint has set out for us to be.
So, Paul said, “Listen to God; do what He says, and you will become exactly like His pattern, Jesus!”
Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.