Lifeboat

Here's a little Tozer for you:

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?
--Isaiah 40:12

We must be concerned with the person and character of God, not the promises. Through promises we learn what God has willed to us, we learn what we may claim as our heritage, we learn how we should pray. But faith itself must rest on the character of God.

Is this difficult to see? Why are we not stressing this in our evangelical circles? Why are we afraid to declare that people in our churches must come to know God Himself? Why do we not tell them that they must get beyond the point of making God a lifeboat for their rescue or a ladder to get them out of a burning building? How can we help our people get over the idea that God exists just to help run their businesses or fly their airplanes?

God is not a railway porter who carries your suitcase and serves you. God is God. He made heaven and earth. He holds the world in His hand. He measures the dust of the earth in the balance. He spreads the sky out like a mantle. He is the great God Almighty. He is not your servant. He is your Father, and you are His child. He sits in heaven, and you are on the earth. Faith Beyond Reason, 44

This fits right in with something that weighs heavily on my heart about the way the gospel is often presented. Yes, God loves you. Yes, God has a wonderful plan for your life, though you may not see it as wonderful at the time of testing. Yes, faith in Christ will keep us from eternal damnation.

However, the gospel is so much more than that. God does not serve us, but we serve God. God did not die just to punch our tickets, but so that we might bring Him glory. I want so much for that to be the message I preach when I share the gospel with someone.