If your reading this today, you likely live in a place of comfort and freedom.... glorious. terrible. comfortable. freedom. (I hope you understand this better in a bit....) Honestly, I wish we both were in my cozy living room right now having this chat on my sofa, diving into this journey together.... but we're not, so let's embrace this new not-as-cozy journey in stride, okay?
All of us desire to have kids that do good, have good character, are educated, and are morally good.... and most of this want this for ourselves. We can agree on that. I didn't wake up in the morning saying "I hope to raise a rotten kid today!"... did you? Yet many of us, and our kids are rotting away inside while our schedules and brains get fuller and fuller... (more on this one next time!) We're about to break past that.... because following Jesus is so much more than a moral lifestyle.
Following Jesus is more about BEING than DOING.
It's about surrender, not self empowerment.
It's about giving Him the place of One and only, not One of many.
It's about relationship, not religion.
It's about humility, not selfish ambition.
It's about intimacy, not cohabitating with Jesus.
It's about repentance (turning away from evil), not solely forgiveness.
It's about selflessness, not selfishness.
It's about knowing that I can offer nothing, but there is a God who has everything I need.
It's about serving, not only salvation.
It's about denying ourselves, and picking up our crosses, loving our neighbor more than ourselves, and
.....it's okay if this is all Christian-ese to you, it used to be for me too--we all start somewhere!
Lastly, it's about finding true purpose, lasting satisfaction, peace in a storm, and real meaning.
I know some of you are thinking...Whoa---where'd I get so far off track? It's okay.... we live in a loud world filled with distractions that pull US ALL away. The good news is that none of us will ever be completely "on track", but we all can be MORE "on track" than we were yesterday. The great news is that today we can turn around and step into (or back into) the light. Wherever it is that we sit today, let's all ask ourselves this.... How am I daily using (or not using) my glorious. terrible. comfortable. freedom. to freely and wholeheartedly follow Him? Or even harder for some of us... when (or how) was the last time I truly followed Jesus instead of the crowd or my schedule? Honestly, stop right now and think on this........ We've got some work to do, my friend, don't we?
Let me share a recent story with you....... About a month ago, when we first moved in to our new home, two of my sisters families had drove over to help us begin unloading. One of my sisters took on the task of unloading coolers into the fridge, and the other began working on filling up cupboards. Both set to work, only to learn very quickly that while the kitchen was perfectly clean on the surface, it was a filthy mess inside. Out came the cleaning supplies, and before anything was unpacked, we had to clean up the inside of everything. I know your thinking, what in the world does this have to do with following Jesus?? Stay with me.... Over the next week of repeating this same task in all the little unseen places of the house (cabinets/closets/vanities), I kept thinking about when Jesus called the religious leaders whitewashed tombs saying that they were clean on the outside but unclean and dead on the inside. I'm not sure about you, but the last time I saw I whitewashed tomb was on the preview of a horror movie, and what came out of it was not very pretty at all! You see, that is what our house was.... clean on the surface, but a filthy mess if you looked any deeper. And this, my friends, is what many of us look like to Jesus today. On the surface we look like morally good Christian do-ers, but to Christ-the one who sees us from the inside out- we are distant, remote, broken, and desperate for Him. Just like my sisters and I cleaned up the filth within our home, Jesus wants to do that in our hearts........ Today.
Every day we take time to dress up the outside, my friends, it's time to tend to what we look like on the inside. I hope you are as ready (and scared to half to death) for this journey as I am. You know better than to expect profound eloquent words in our chats, but like always, I certainly hope you find them incredibly practical and personally challenging. It wouldn't seem like time spent with you, my friend, if we didn't spend some time in prayer.... so let's do just that.
But first.................. welcome back to my cozy sofa, my friend. = )
Heavenly Father,
I thank you for pursuing me and bringing me to the place of learning what it may look like to follow Jesus. I confess that I know I have work that needs to be done in my heart, work that only You can do. I lay my insecurities and fears before you, and ask you to tend to them. Surround me with Your love... fill me with Your grace.... and help me to fix my eyes upon Jesus so that this work can be done. Remove the scales from my own eyes, Lord, and protect me on this journey from the enemy of my soul.
In the powerful name of Jesus I pray,
Amen.
