He Shall Direct Thy Paths
Text With Jesus
A friend recently sent me an app called Text With Jesus which purportedly offers “devoted Christians a deeper connection with the Bible’s most iconic figures.” This is admirable marketing copy and no doubt threatens the job of every pastor in America. AI is coming for the church!
Not everyone was pleased with the “SMS Jesus” experience though. Reviewer God’s Child 🙌 could not come to terms with the joke and insisted that the large language model TEL1 THA TURTH!!!
The well meaning intention aside, If you are led astray by this app, I would recommend an immediate psychiatric evaluation.
Another reviewer was even disappointed that the in-app purchases did not allow access to “Text with Satan” which no-doubt spared him $2.50 and AI regurgitations of Barack Obama speeches.
One of the key benefits of the Christian relationship with Jesus Christ is our ability to call on him whenever and wherever we have breath and opportunity. Access to God in this way is a great privilege that has been under-appreciated as a rule across the Millenia of human existence from the Israelites to the modern church.
For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
Why then does the Text With Jesus app (and similar offerings) resonate with us mortals to the tune hundreds of thousands of downloads? Will more people download this app and “text with Jesus” than will pray to him today? Will more people read the replies from “Jesus” from this app than will peak into their Bibles?
The answer is simple and human: All of us want to feel that God has a special message and plan shared exclusively with us.
We want to know what God’s plans are for our lives, ask him questions, and be involved in the decision making. We are curious what successes we will achieve, what hardships we will face, who we will marry, when we will die, and the list never ends.
God does not leave us hanging though! With a few qualifications, he promises to direct our paths from his omniscient perch above the world with the same mercy and love he demonstrated to us on the cross. Where is this promise? It’s found in Proverbs chapter 3.
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.
God’s Direction Requires Your Participation
Modern christianity is far too passive when we discuss the will of God. We imagine ourselves waiting around for God to finally lick the stamp that has his perfect will for us written inside. There is even a faux spirituality that can accompany this mindset where we excuse our lack of ambition and activity under the pretense of waiting on the Lord. The reality though is that we must actively participate in God’s program to get his will for our lives. Jesus himself provides a clue to this concept in Matthew 6.
When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, he responded with a masterful example for us to follow that still has not yet been fully expounded. One particularly relevant section tells us that we should pray that God’s will be done on earth.
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
How could it be that the God who formed the earth and everything in it does not always get his way down here? He does in heaven at least, but on terra firma his will is not always done. We know this instinctively to be true and even surface level reflection confirms this.
It surely is not God’s will…
- That children are destroyed in the womb
- That war, famine, and global conflict exist
- That husbands and wives behave selfishly
- That siblings refuse to get along
- Etc…
God’s will is for all men to repent and humbly accept his gift of salvation, yet many do not. A moment of reflection is in order when we consider that we often complain mightily when we do not get our way, yet God – who deserves to get his way – abides this not with malice or resentment but with mercy and good will toward man.
[God] will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
This teaches us that God, who made the stars also and could have his way here on this planet, has chosen to make his will on earth conditioned on the actions, desires, and will of sinful man.
Of course this is not an absolute allowance. God has his purposes to accomplish and those will not be thwarted if we choose not to participate. Every knee will bow eventually and the plan for the Lamb to be slain was laid and fulfilled before the world was even formed.
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
And so then we being to realize that Christ was teaching that we must pray for God’s will to be done one earth, not because God is impotent without us, but because his system requires us to invite his involvement. He is not interested in robotic compliance from his creation and derives pleasure only from our independent thoughts that turn towards him in praise and adoration.