The recently concluded Days of Unleavened Bread 2018 were “just what the doctor ordered”. They were a shot in the arm in terms of motivating us to truly consume — that is, take within our lives — the bread sent from heaven — Jesus Christ. That bread is unique in that it is not puffed up. Not surprisingly then, Christ said, “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30). Because Christ’s attitude was truly unleavened, He sought our Father’s will over His own and that to our great benefit. We deeply appreciate and understand the benefit, but do we fully understand the dynamics that are evident in His unleavened actions?
As a man, Christ did not count on Himself to direct His own steps. Like you and me, He had to make decisions every day and all through the day as circumstances changed. By doing this with an unleavened attitude, He was, in essence, following His Father’s counsel – His will. That’s the dynamic that is involved when we do not direct our own steps. All the spiritual blessings that we enjoy today are a result of Him wisely following counsel — His Father’s will.
To “consume” Christ is to follow His example. “A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles” (Proverbs 1:5-6). The wise are recognizable because, in their unleavened attitude, they listen intently when they are seeking answers to things that are difficult to understand. They don’t lean to their own understanding. As a result, they find spiritual solutions in difficult circumstances.
It is important to remember that not just any counsel is good counsel. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly… “ (Psalm 1:1). There is always other counsel out there that can offer easier advice – something that in reality won’t solve difficulties but will actually exacerbate them over time. Solomon said as much in Proverb 13:10: “By pride comes nothing but strife, but with the well-advised is wisdom.” Ungodly, worldly counsel puffs us up, whereas wise, godly counsel opens the door to real solutions.
There is safety in much counsel. “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14). A better way to state that first phrase is, “Where there is no godly counsel…” Christ, the example and model for our lives, responded to his Father’s will – not to the will of the world. The same must be true for us. We should actively seek the counsel of the ministry — therein is safety.
As we leave the Days of Unleavened Bread behind, let us humbly seek wise counsel and thereby consume the bread that gives us true life and the spiritual momentum needed for endurance.
Marshall Stiver
