English Standard Version
Sometimes I wish faith was easier. Sometimes I want to pull it over me like a warm blanket, letting it comfort me against all the hardships in the world. And there are plenty of passages that do that, that remind me of grace and provide a light in the dark world.
Other times, I read the Gospels and feel like I'm in the dark! Maybe I just don't want to confront my own shortcomings. Maybe I'm comfortable and don't want to be challenged! I think we can all be a little defensive in our heart of hearts, wanting all the good things Jesus promises and not wanting to pay any price, not wanting to sacrifice any comfort. We want Jesus' rewards on our agendas.
Jesus comes to remind us that he, in fact, is Lord, and we are not. Jesus also spends a lot of time reminding us that it's better this way, but we tend to tune out that part. We check in for the rewards and the promises of peace, but tune to another channel when Jesus confronts us about our false idols. Martin Luther said the heart is a factory of idols, and he's not wrong -- we worship lots of things, and often all the wrong things.
Fortunately, Jesus loves us in spite of our failings and is willing to take on the punishment, but he pushes us in the process to live like God is king and to stop letting our agendas drive our lives. May we sacrifice our desires, and trust that God's desires for our lives are greater than our own. So much of our age is therapeutic -- we chase our own desires, and yet we often end up miserable and wondering why. We can't truly trust our own desires -- so if we trust God, we often have to give up things in the short-term, but what we get in the long-term is so much richer, and God tells us that we'll get short-term peace thrown in as well.
What keeps us from signing up for that program?
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