Where Are All The Godly Men? - Seeking, Submitting, and Standing

"Oh God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you, my soul thirst for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." Psalm 63: 1

We all know men we think of as Godly men. They stand out to us. It is something special about them, something spiritual, and something different. It is a good thing. We admire these men, we respect them, we want to be with them, in fact, we may even envy them. But that's our view. Some may see them as over zealous, fanatical, extreme, self righteous, intolerant, and out of touch with today's culture. The thing is, some of this may be true and for good reason. It is according to who's eyes are looking and the heart from which these eyes are looking. On the other hand, to come across in this manner from ones own eyes out of a impure heart is not a good thing.

I have often watched the Olympics and in particular, the balancing beam. It always amazes me to see how these young athletes can execute so many difficult moves on this five inch hard piece of board without falling off. Life is like walking a balance beam. For some, we become so much like the world we loose our witness. For others, we remove ourselves from the world to the extent we are so entrenched in legalism of religion that we are of no earthly good. The goal is to stay on the beam.  The Godly man has his feet firmly planted on the beam. He may fall off, but he jumps right back on with determination to execute life with a 10.

What is it about these men that makes them stand out and draws us to them.

First of all, we must recognize that all men are sinners. The Godly man has recognized his condition and accepted the truth of the gospel that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus took the punishment for his sin, and that Jesus now lives with his Father preparing a home for him to come one day. A Godly man recognizes that his salvation is not based on anything he might have done or how good he might be as a man, but it is based on the grace of God and is offered as a free gift to all men. We only have to accept the gift and understand what that means.

The Godly man is also a man of flesh. He was born in the flesh with sinful fleshly desires. The Bible tells us that all sin comes from three areas - lust of the eyes(possessions), lust of the flesh(pleasure), and the pride of life(ego). He has these temptations as everyone does. A man of God recognizes there is a battle going on for his heart with the purpose to destroy his effectiveness for God.

To win this battle is his objective. He, therefore, is a seeker of God. His whole purpose in life is to seek God, to know Him, and to trust everything he has into the hands of God. 

He is also a man submitted to God. He is willing to abandon all his personal desires, possessions, and his entire self to the will of God. He understands the cost of this discipleship - that following Christ is not easy or popular. He will be thought of as fanatical, a fool, and out of touch. But he also realizes the tremendous rewards awaiting him for his submission.

He is a man who stands with God. To be Godly, a person has to spend time with God. God is the source of all things both material and spiritual. God holds all the answers to life. He acknowledges that the wisdom of this world is but foolishness to God and that God holds the key to perfect wisdom and knowledge. He seeks the character of God, the ways of God, and God has become a trustworthy friend. He loves to fellowship with God and His people. He is willing to stand with God at all cost.

The world may expect the man of God to be perfect. He is not. But, he does hold a purpose in his life each day to be the man God wants him to be. God has given him a gift. He has a peace about him, a security, an answer to life, and a better reason for living. Jesus wants to bring us to God so we can experience that love and fellowship God so desires for us. God wants so much to be a big part of our life. Why want we let Him in? I think it is for several reasons - the lies that satan offers, the distractions of the world, but most of all, because we don't know the God who really is.