If You Are the Son of God

My Heart Is On Fire by Doug Apple - a short Christian devotional to open the Scriptures and make your heart burn within you!

I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire. (Luke 24:32) “If You are the Son of God…” That’s what they shouted at Jesus while He was on the cross. They said, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” He could have. He could have avoided the cross altogether. When He was arrested, Peter pulled out a sword to fight, but Jesus told him to put it away. Then He said, “Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” He could have avoided the cross, but, He said to Peter, “How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?” God had a plan, but Peter didn’t see it. Even when God announces His plans, people often don’t see it. In John chapter 2, while Jesus was at the huge temple in Jerusalem, some leaders asked Him for a sign, so He said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The leaders were like, “What? It took 46 years to build this temple, and you’re going to raise it up in three days?” But Jesus wasn’t talking about that building. He was talking about His own body being raised up in three days after the crucifixion. But they didn’t get it. Even when Jesus did announce the plan, they didn’t get it. But they did use His words against Him. When He was on trial, Matthew 26 says, “…two false witnesses came forward and said, ‘This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’” They used these same words against Him while He was on the cross, “You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” But you know what? I think we do the same thing today. We lack understanding. We don’t see God’s plan, so we say dumb things like, “If You are really God, You’ve got to do thus and so.” And it doesn’t seem all that unreasonable. To tell Jesus to come off the cross if He’s the Son of God is not all that unreasonable. But it is ignorant of God’s plans. Much of the time we are ignorant of God’s plans, and that’s where this word “trust” comes in. When Jesus told Peter to put his sword away, He was saying “trust Me.” When Jesus told Peter to go back in the water and let down the nets, even though Peter had fished all night and caught nothing, Jesus was saying “trust Me.” And Peter did trust Him. At one point, when a bunch of fair-weather followers left Jesus, He turned and said to His disciples, “Do you want to leave, too?” Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Peter didn’t know what all was going on, but he did trust Jesus. So what about us? We also don’t understand what all is going on, but will we trust Jesus? God has plans, and He’s never been in the habit of revealing them in detail. But there is something that God is very much in the habit of: asking us to trust Him. Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding…” Jeremiah 17:7 says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord.” I don’t want to be one who says, “IF You are the Son of God, here’s what You have to do…” Instead, I want to be one who says, “You ARE the Son of God. And even though I don’t understand what all is going on, I put my full faith and trust in You.” Amen. May God bless you today. I’m Doug Apple.