When John Paton was translating the Bible for a South Seas island tribe, he found they had no word for "trust" or "faith." How can you translate the Bible without having a word for faith? One day one of the natives came running out of breath into Paton's house, plopped himself in a large chair and said, "It's good to rest my weight." A light bulb went on in Paton's mind; that was his word! Paton translated the Bible word faith as "resting you weight on God." Faith rests itself in God, it changes our way of looking at life.
We will never have peace with God through our own ability to either figure out all the rules much less keep all of them. If we really believe that to please God we must be able to sift through all the Bible as if it were a codebook, figure out all the of its hidden messages, rules and regulations, and then keep all of those rules perfectly-- well, it's kind of hard to really rest our weight in that, isn't it? Despite our best intentions, such an approach is destined to bring conflict within ourselves and with others. Such an approach rests our weight on ourselves-- on our intelligence and ability. We simply can't bear up under that kind of weight.
Peace with God comes when we rest our weight on God-- on his wisdom and on his accomplishments. That is the message of the cross. We are saved through what Jesus did for us there... and ONLY because of what Jesus did for us there. The cross is the only structure in the universe that is sturdy enough to hold us under the weight of our sin. That is why Paul refused to boast in any of his many accomplishments. They all paled before the glory of the cross.
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Galatians 6:14)
2 comments:
I love John Paton’s translation of faith, how insightful!
As is your second paragraph. (‘That Attitude applies itself to any amplitude’)
We rest our weight on ourselves and on others, which makes us think that we need others. It can then become important how people act or treat us to the point when we do not get the "appropriate" reaction, it makes us miserable. But when we put our weight on the God through the Cross, we presevere through the hard times with the peace that only his hope can give us. For God is faithful, and He will do it.
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