Did You Trust Me?

What if I proclaimed you could take one verse out of the Bible, focus on it and it alone… and if you absorbed its truth and understood its relevance to your life and then appropriated this truth into and throughout your life, you would be radically transformed… so much so that your life and your legacy would be a “well-done-good-and-faithful-servant” highlight reel in the Book of Life?

Whew. I need to take a breath after that broad, sweeping proclamation. Don’t you?

So, go ahead and breathe deeply because God is getting ready to shine a high-beam floodlight into your heart and head. I can only hope you engage both. Let’s dig in together.

The question from Jesus in the verse we will explore today brings the entire Biblical message into instant focus. The question Jesus poses in this verse transcends everything he taught, everything he died for, and everything you need to know about life in the Kingdom.

Luke recorded a parable by Jesus we call the “Parable of the Unjust Judge” (Luke 18:1-8). The story is about a widow who keeps going to an unjust judge to get justice. Jesus tells us the judge finally relented just to be rid of the widow and then assures us with the message of the parable: “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones?”

Okay, there it is, the message Jesus wants you to hear: “God will take care of you. He has your back. Nothing, not one thing, will ever happen to you that God, your Father, does not guarantee to bring not just good, but “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Eph. 3:20).

Got it? Jesus is assuring you, promising you, and guaranteeing you that you have nothing to fear. God is with you, he is for you, and he is even out before you. But now, get ready for what Jesus says next because here comes the one thing you must get straight, the one thing that has the power to transform you, your life, and your legacy.

After Jesus has assured us we have nothing, not one thing, to ever fear, he pauses. Looking around him and then right at you and me, he asks the question of all questions: ”However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find trust (faith) on the earth?”

“However…”

Stop the presses. Stop your wandering mind. If you are so busy and distracted as to be skimming this on your smart device, stop, take a deep breath, and ask God to shine his Light into your heart so that “the eyes of your heart may be enlightened” to this most important truth (Eph. 1:18).

Do you get what Jesus is saying here? Do you see he is setting forth the primary thing he cares most about? Do you see Jesus is telling you here the only thing he will be looking for when he sees you next?

“Did you trust me?”

Trust? That’s it? That’s the most important thing to Jesus? Trust? I would have thought it was obedience; wouldn’t you? According to most sermons I’ve heard, our cosmic scorecard is based on obedience. The most important aspect to following Jesus is obedience… right?

“However…”

Obedience is important, of course.

“However, when I come back, will I find anyone… will I find you trusting me?”

God tells us this truth about trust again and again throughout the Biblical story. Take Hebrews 11:6 for example: “For without trust (faith), it is impossible to please God.”

Impossible?

Imagine your teenage son or daughter coming to you and saying, “Mom, Dad… last night, the biggest party of the year was at Tommy’s house. His parents were out of town. His older brother bought two kegs. All of the popular crowd was there. They had a DJ, PJ, and… no parents. The party of all parties, Mom, Dad. The biggest party of my life.”

“But Mom, Dad… I didn’t go to the party because of you.”

You ask, “Why not because of me?”

They reply, “Because I was afraid you would find out, beat me, and punish me.”

Does this please you?

But what if they said, “Because you have told me these kinds of parties always end up in some kind of disaster, and you have told me I would ultimately regret the things I would do at these kinds of parties.”

“So, I trusted you Mom, Dad. Even though everyone else was there, and I was teased and ridiculed as a nerd for not going, I didn’t go. I trust you.”

Oh my.

Would this please you? Would you open up the treasures of the kingdom for your child?

And so it is with your Heavenly Father.