It's been awhile since I've written on here, but there have been several things burning on my mind.
Let's tie a few things together.
How do I start?
Well, let's start with love. Everything in the Bible really revolves around that central concept.
The blazing center of the glory of God is Jesus on the cross, finishing the work of His Father by literally becoming sin for us. See Him there...a beautifully poured out life of love.
Why do we question if this is for real?
Why do we question His love for us?
If God didn't withhold from us Jesus, His very best, how can we even accuse Him of withholding anything from us?! How could we say that He is holding something back from us?
He has given us everything! He has given us the incomprehensible...He has given us Jesus.
Full-blown, all-out, passionate love. That's what He has given.
And what do we get?
We get eternal life with Jesus. Eternal life with the One who gave everything for us.
We get to spend eternity with the One who poured out Himself for us.
We get that.
He bet the house for us, God the Father gave up His best, His Only, Jesus, because He is passionate about you.
Because He wants you.
Because He cares.
He's given everything.
All blessing is ultimately summed up in Jesus.
What does Jesus ask of us?
He certainly freely gives us salvation. In return, He asks for our lives.
He asks for our everything.
We pridefully think our everything is a lot.
We pridefully say that we will follow Jesus as long as we don't have to give up our dreams, or our cars, or our friends, or our family, or our time or our money.
We say we will follow Jesus...but only so far.
That doesn't even make sense!
At my Church...we sing a song that I love called "Jesus, I my cross have taken."
I love the song, but I'm worried that I don't really mean the words.
Here are a few of the lyrics:
"Jesus, I my cross have taken
All to leave and follow Thee;
Destitute, despised, forsaken,
Thou from hence my all shall be.
Perish every fond ambition,
All I've sought or hoped or known;
Yet how rich is my condition
God and heaven are still my own."
I love these words, they are deep and profound.
But I fear that I don't really live them out.
Have we truthfully left EVERYTHING to follow Jesus?
Is He really our everything? Or do we still cling to the things that we want, hope for, and have experienced?
Can we really say that, even though we don't have anything left on earth, God and heaven are enough?
I'm not really sure I can say that.
I'm not really sure I can say that because I still have things left on earth. My heart still clings to what I want. I still live in Johnson County, drive a new car, go to Church in a heated or air-conditioned Church, give 10%, go to Church on Sundays and avoid "big" sins.
This really doesn't seem like "all-out love" for Christ.
This doesn't seem like taking my cross and following Him.
Everything goes back to the heart obviously, but the way we live our lives is how we make Jesus known to the world.
And the picture we give, I must say, is a picture that doesn't say anything about surrender.
Our lives are not lived poured-out, all-out.
Our lives don't look like Jesus...and that's scary to me...because we are supposed to be like Christ...we are His ambassadors here on earth.
Philippians 1:27 says, "whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ."
Are you living your life, your redeemed life in a manner worthy of the Gospel?
Does your life make sense?
Does what you say you believe match-up with what you do? With how you live?
Does your life make sense?
