We must realize God has final say in everything

Sometimes you just can't win.

My wife was taking a youngster to pre-school one day and as they crossed the railroad overpass on U.S. 54, the child saw some cars on the sidetrack and commented that the train was moving. No amount of discussion would convince him otherwise, including his acknowledgment that there was no engine.

But, that's not the whole story.

On the way home after school, the cars were still there, but the train was still moving according to the little boy. And, there's more.

The next day the cars were gone and youngster proudly announced, "See, I told you the train was moving!" That was a no-win situation for my wife and the little boy got in the last word.

Out of pride and rebellion against God, many have argued with him in the same way or developed fine sounding arguments to set aside his word (Proverbs 13:10; 17:19; I Thessalonians 4:8). In their foolishness, they don't realize that the higher authority will always win out (Proverbs 20:3; Job 9:1-4; Isaiah 45:9). It doesn't matter what others say or how eloquently they put it, we're to not be led astray (Colossians 2:8; Romans 16:17-18; Titus 3:9-11).

By studying God's word, we can take their arguments captive rather than being taken captive by them, but we must be careful to not become entangled into an argument because that isn't productive (2 Timothy 2:15, 23-24; 2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

God has revealed the truth to us so it can make us free (John 8:31-36). There was a period of limited revelation when the New Testament was being written to record Jesus' teachings, but now we have everything we need to understand God's will for us during our life on earth (2 Peter 1:3-4; Jude 3; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Ephesians 3:2-5).

Even now, God's ways are still different than ours, but there will come a time at which we'll understand everything (Isaiah 55:8-9; 1 Corinthians 13:8-12). So, for the time being, we shouldn't argue with God or each other about anything.

We should just study what has been revealed and do what it says (James 1:19-25). Otherwise disagreements only cause problems like the sinful division in the church that has led to so many denominations (1 Corinthians 1:10-13; 3:1-4).

Unity among Christians was pressing on Jesus' mind right before the crucifixion and he prayed about it (John 17:20-23). But, our sins of division have come between us and God (Isaiah 59:1-2). Nonetheless, he's provided the way for us to set aside our differences and be reconciled to him and each other (Ephesians 2:13-18).

We must first realize that God has the final say in all matters and heed Jesus' prayer by agreeing on the truth of his word (John 17:17; Isaiah 1:18-20; Matthew 28:18-20; Colossians 1:15-23). Then, our no-win situation in sin can become a win-win for us and those who are led to Christ by our example of unity according to the purpose of his prayer.

Will you heed Jesus' prayer for unity?

Leonard Lauriault is a member of the Church of Christ in Logan. Contact him at [email protected]