Do We Depend on God?

 

            When we turn to the scripture we find the following regarding how we should depend upon God:

 

Matthew 18:3-4 3And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

 

I Peter 5:6-76Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”

 

            We depend on many things.  We depend on food, water, air and a properly functioning body to sustain our physical lives.

            We should depend upon God in the same way.  With God, and his providence those things that we need to sustain our physical lives would not exist.  But God is not only our Creator and Sustainer of life thorough his providence He is also the giver and sustainer of our spiritual life through his son Jesus Christ:

 

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” Hebrews 1:3

 

            So what does it mean for us to depend on God?  How do we do that?  When we look at the definition of this word, depend, in a current dictionary we find several different meanings.  We will review a few.

            “Depend” means to be contingent:  Whatever a child does is contingent upon his parents.  A little child cannot feed himself or prepare food to eat.  A little child cannot take himself to the doctor when ill.  A little child depends upon his parents for all of his needs and comforts.  We depend upon God the same way:

 

II Peter 1:3According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:”

 

            “Depend” means to exist by virtue of a necessary relation:  God’s existence is not dependent upon us but our existence is dependent upon God.  Both our physical and spiritual existence depends upon him.  In the physical realm man has no choice, without God’s providence, he would cease to exist.  But in the spiritual realm God has given us a choice.  In ordering our lives as Christians we need to be like the man of God, Joshua:

 

Joshua 24:15And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

 

            “Depend” means to be pending or undecided:  From our perspective everything is pending because we are dependent upon God whether we acknowledge that fact or not.  This is what I mean:

 

James 4:13-15Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”

 

We should make decisions based upon God’s will, realizing that the world could end even before we lay our heads down for rest tonight.

            “Depend” means to place reliance or trust:  Do we depend on people that we do not trust.  We will depend upon God only when we trust in God.

 

Proverbs 30:5 “EVERY WORD OF GOD is PURE: HE is A SHIELD UNTO THEM THAT PUT THEIR TRUST IN HIM.”

 

Proverbs 3:5 “TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL THING HEART, AND LEAN NOT UNTO THING OWN UNDERSTANDING.  IN ALL THY WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, AND HE SHALL DIRECT THY WAYS.”

 

            What is the result when we realize, acknowledge and exercise our trust in God?  It is the same kind of relationship that we had with our parents when we were little children.  Little children are grateful and thankful to their parents.  In a manner of speaking, in a sense they “worship” their parents.  Little children seek their parents’ favor.  Little children are obedient.  Should we not be the same with God?  How much do we depend upon God?  How do we show that relationship?

 

Wm. L. Schwegler, Sunset church of Christ, Shreveport, Louisiana; October 29, 2008