Add Nothing To It
There is something in man that desires to improve on what he has. He buys a house, and then redecorates or adds an extra room or opens up a skylight. Each year there are better gadgets, nicer cars, easier to use devices; all in the name of progress. When a new product comes on the market, people line up for hours, waiting for the doors to up so they can be the first to purchase it. The old is reserved for museums and if one does not keep up with the latest fashion, he is termed antiquated and behind the times. What a pressure there is to keep up with the right colors, styles and brands.
Even in regard to spiritual things, man’s wisdom wants to rearrange and make adaptations, so as to not offend the cultural mores of his times. In the name of progress and enlightenment, man trims off offensive aspects of the Gospel to be more congenial to the deprived leanings of fallen man. Knowledge has increased but wisdom has decreased. More faith is placed in science than in God. Mortality has gone up, but morality has gone down. Truth is reduced to opinion and creation is worshipped more than the Creator. Though improvements in technology have made our lives easier, there is less peace. Stress related illnesses are on the increase as progress has moved us farther away from the source of all life. The more we advance the more uncivilized we become.
There are things that you just can’t improve on. When Christ deemed His redemptive work to be “finished”, nothing more was needed. Salvation could not be improved upon. When God told Moses to build an altar, he was to use unhewn stones. The use of any human tool would only pollute the altar of God. The Galatian Church was reprimanded because though they had begun in the Spirit, but were trying to perfect themselves by their own carnal efforts. Paul said that those who were trying to improve on the Gospel were being bewitched. God’s plan does not need to be updated to fit in with the times. The Scriptures are divinely inspired and must not to be added to. The Word of God is true in whatever generation and man’s tampering with it is blasphemy.
In a time in which progress is moving us farther from God, God is calling us to return to Him. Put away the tools of self-improvement and return the God’s original intent. Many of the words relating to our salvation begin with the prefix “re”; such as, redemption, resurrection, restoration, rejoice, revive, repentance, renew, etc. “Re” means to return to the original state. Hosea calls out: “Come, let us return to the Lord.” (Hosea 6.1) He is the same yesterday, today and forever. God has not changed. Man has. In his arrogance, he has denied God’s very existence. It is like a fish saying that it does not need water or a tree its roots.
It is time to rebuild the altar of God; to trust in the Lord’s atonement alone. We must use only the unhewn stones. We must go back to the original state. God’s ways are higher than man’s. His thoughts far wiser than any new invention. There is no need to improve on His plan for man. There is no need to add anything to it.
Scriptures to meditate on:
Ex. 20.25; Hosea 6.1-2; Rev. 22.18-19; Gal. 3.1-3; II Tim. 3.16; II Peter 1.20-21