New Thoughts (12/13/09-12/16/09)
What an intriguing encounter is presented to us here! As is typical of the Gospels, the account we are given is terse, leaving much to the imagination of the reader. Yet, the details that can be gleaned from reading the multiple accounts build a picture most compelling. Matthew tells us this man was young, Luke that he was an authority of some sort, in spite of his youth, and all concur that he was a man of property. So, I think we might suppose that his youth was relative. I would venture to say he was at least as old as Jesus, probably somewhat older. And, he was apparently well enough known that the disciples recognized him, even if they did not see fit to comment on his position.
The details of this man’s situation, however, are not the source of intrigue to me. What became of him later, I would love to know, but what his life was like as he came to Jesus is of limited significance. I have explored that to some degree in preparing for this study, and may do so again as things proceed. We shall see.
The main thing I want to focus on immediately, however, is the matter that only Mark saw fit to take note of: Jesus felt a certain love for this man. You know, in many another situation we read that Jesus felt compassion for the ones He encountered. In those cases, we are reading that most expressive Greek term that speaks of the guts in turmoil due to the depth of emotion. Here, however, we are not. We are nearer that form of love which we associate specifically with God, the agape love. This is not just emotional outburst, it’s certainly nothing illicit. Neither is it that more or less innocent form of love that we feel towards family and friends. It’s something altogether different.
I find the comment that Zhodiates makes in regard to this term most effective. This love that we see Jesus moved by is, “love that expresses compassion.” It is the love that fits with blessing. Recall from prior studies that when God blesses, He does so by interfering in our lives. That was also a point brought out by Zhodiates as I recall. The two make sense together, this blessing of interference and this compassionate love. You see, God’s love isn’t a matter of trying to make you happy by granting your every desire. God’s love is a matter of doing what is truly best for you. He knows that these two are not always the same thing, desire and what’s best.
It is for this cause that our prayers are not the guaranteed matter we like to think they are. God is not required to answer the prayer of desire in accord with our requests. He answers, to be sure! But, His answers are in accord with His purpose, and His purpose is for our good.
As we look at this exchange between the ruler and the Teacher, the reality of God’s love, His compassion, His determination to do what is good for the man, need to be held in the forefront of our thinking. We need to understand that this love is motivating Jesus throughout the encounter. This love is present from the first comment: “Why do you call Me good?” If we don’t realize that fact, then we are likely to misread His attitude and His intentions in asking that question.
So then, what does He mean by that question? I have to confess that as I read that, I always tend to hear a touch of attitude in it. But, surely this has more to do with my character than with Jesus’ character! Jesus truly is the Good Teacher that this man addresses, and as a teacher, He is not inclined to belittle His students. He seeks to guide their thinking, and that is what He is doing with this young man. Much more than trying to let the man know he should think about what he is saying, the point is to get him thinking about Who he is saying it to. Jesus has no cause to be offended by being called good, for He truly is good. What might frustrate Him slightly is being so called by one who gives the word no weight. It’s rather like being called Lord by those who give the term no more weight than mister.
He makes the point, then, that only God is good in the sense this word implies. That is not, by the by, to say that only God is beneficial or of salutary effect. Medicine may be good in this sense. The fresh water drawn from a clear running stream may be good in this sense. But, when it comes to what is morally good, essentially good in that particularly philosophical sense, there is only God. When it comes to man, all are found wanting (Ps 14:1b – There is no one who does good). Remembering this, it comes clear that Jesus is not rebuking the man for calling Him good, but rather for thinking that there is still some means within his power to work his way into righteousness. It’s not that the effort is bad. It’s not that we ought not to strive after righteousness. It’s that we are fooling ourselves if we truly suppose we shall get there in our own power. We are denying the very God we seek to please.
We might, then, take this question as a twofold teaching. First, there is the reminder that no man is good; only God, with the implication that if we think to make ourselves good as He defines good, we are tilting at windmills. Second, there is the reminder that if this One before him truly is good, then by corollary, He truly is God.
Both of these points ought to register with the young ruler. However, his immediate response suggests that he is missing the point. Notice, as Mark relates the matter, this man drops the ‘good’ and begins referring to Jesus strictly as Teacher. For now, at least, he recognizes the rebuke, but falls short of the lesson. I say ‘for now’ because I recognize in this man the typical response patterns of the flesh. That response seemingly always begins in denial and misunderstanding of the point of the rebuke. It’s that sort of response that tends to start with words like, “fine, then.” Now, I don’t hear that snide tone in the text of this one’s reply, but the feeling may not be far below the surface. Fine, then: Teacher. See? I’ve learned. You don’t want to be called good, so I won’t do that.
Now, then, about my question? These things You list off, I have been careful to do. Do you see how that wanders astray from the lesson being taught? He hears the rebuke, but thoroughly misapplies it. OK. So, you’re not good. But, what do I have to do to be righteous? That’s what I’m interested in. Even if you haven’t attained to it, surely you know?
But, the point Jesus is making is the same as He has been making all along. It is there in the Sermon on the Mount. You think you have obeyed the law against murder, but you haven’t. You see, it means much more than that final act of violence. You think you have obeyed the law against adultery, but you haven’t. It’s not a question of whether your flesh is so brazen as to follow where the mind has been leading. It’s that the mind has been wandering in that direction in the first place! If you will truly consider and apply the Law, it must surely convict you. It is not even believable to say you have kept it all your life. You know you haven’t, else you wouldn’t be here asking Me what it is you have missed!
Indeed, if we look back at the preceding passage, this is what He has just finished explaining by the example of the children. The kingdom belongs to them, and what have they even had opportunity to do that they might have earned their way in? Nothing! It’s not about earning. Citizenship in heaven is not payment for services rendered. It’s a gift. It’s God stooping down to us, though He is the Superior and we the inferiors. He stoops down to do for us what we cannot do. He stoops down an lifts us up to Himself. While we were yet enemies… (Ro 5:10). In spite of that plain fact, He moved on our behalf. He Who decrees the Law, knows the frailty of the flesh He made. He knows the impossibility of compliance in our own strength. Indeed, this is largely the point, isn’t it. The whole of the Law, with all its motivation to love both God and man as God’s creation, is wrapped up in “You need Me.”
There is no work that you might do which would erase the record of your wrongs. Having become guilty of any least part of the Law, as Paul reminds us, you are guilty of the whole, and the penalty for your guilt is death – eternal separation from God. On our own, the best we can do is to make our guilt worse, to increase the number of our sins. The very fact that this man can stand here and make such claims on his own behalf! “I have kept all these things from my youth up.” Liar! At best, he is deluded, but really, he’s just adding this lie to the pile of his sins. The fact of the matter is that he has never truly considered the implications of that Law. He has certainly never attended to what this one he called ‘Good Teacher’ has been saying, else he would know better. So, he is given some semi-private tutoring. It is private in that it is directed to him alone. It is public in that they remain out in the street at the time.
Before I turn to that point, I want to think for just a moment about the law Jesus speaks to this man. The first, and most obvious aspect of this listing is that the whole vertical table, that describing man’s duty to God, is missing entirely. What should we make of that? Now, I have heard it said, (and there is certainly Scripture to back it up) that we cannot possibly love God as we ought if we have not yet learned to love those around us as we ought. John makes that clear enough, I believe. But, is it not the case that the reverse is likewise true? Until it is God’s own love overflowing in us that pours out to those around us, I dare say that we have not yet loved those around us as we ought. Yes, I know, the atheist and those of other religions are capable of displays of love. Yes, I know they can care, can manifest compassion. But, there’s that something more in the love God requires of us, that He empowers in us.
In light of this, though, it remains interesting to me that Jesus points only to that horizontal aspect of the Law, the Law of man and man. Is it, perhaps, because this is the more difficult table for us? I mean, it’s easy (after a fashion) to maintain worship for God alone. It’s easy enough not to construct idols (in the sense that it is easy for most of us to avoid the act of murder). Graven images? Probably not an issue for most folks. See, we can deal with God more easily because to our senses He is more remote. Mankind we have to live with day in and day out, and they can tend to get on our nerves.
That makes the second table more difficult – particularly as we take it anywhere near the levels Jesus points to. Like this young man, we can probably tick off the most literal, most heinous application. Yup, haven’t killed anybody, haven’t been sleeping around. Hmm. Theft? Not really, nope. No break ins or anything of that sort, and I certainly haven’t falsified testimony before the court. Never been called to testify! Honoring my parents? As best I can in this busy life, sure. But, as Jesus has been pointing out over and over again, these are not the whole of the Law, only the worst-case examples of what we ought not even to approach.
Let’s go back through that list with His eyes, shall we? Hmm. Have I called anybody a fool? Today? Well, it’s early yet, but you know, there’s a drive ahead of me, and then a full day at work. I can all but guarantee that if I have not spoken the words out loud by day’s end, I’ve at least thought them, and probably far worse! Have I looked upon any other besides my wife with any least desire? Well, I might stay clear of that today for lack of opportunity, but I’m not so stupid as to suppose the propensity is there and there in spades. Theft? I can make a thousand excuses for it, but if I expand that to include time for which I am being paid for my services, it’s harder to say I’m clean. If I fold in the loving attention that God and family deserve from me, it’s nigh on impossible. False witness? Maybe I can make the mark on that one. Nope. It’s there in that tendency to tear down and amplify the mistakes of others in what we like to refer to as competitive spirit. It’s not competitive spirit. It’s false witness. It’s willful destruction of another’s honor. Sheesh! Not doing terribly well, am I? Honoring parents? Not anywhere near where I ought to be on that one. Sorry. I guess if I am to take my measure by this table, I must admit to being an abject failure on every count. I cannot say that this is as it should be, for we are not as we should be. But, I can say that this is where any honest evaluation must wind up. And, having found myself here, there is but the one recourse: to fall on my knees and cry out to my God and Savior, the Good Teacher, the Christ, my Lord and King.
Father God, the reminders keep coming, that there is still no righteousness in me apart from what has been imparted to me by Christ Jesus. If anything, these last weeks, my need for You has been deeper, more apparent than ever. How awfully the flesh has risen up, and old ways of talking returned! This ought not to be, Holy Lord, and I know it. Yet, I seem powerless to stop it. I am powerless to stop it. I can only turn to You once again, seek once more Your forgiveness, seek once more Your will working in me to bring the change. So, this I do, my King. I ask Your forgiveness, and commit myself once again, so much as I am able, to change these wicked ways. I hesitate to say even this much, for I know a certain conviction in my heart that I shall surely fail to do even this much. Yet, I cry to You, Lord. I cry to You that You would so will it that Your work in me would bring the change that eludes me. How terribly I have seen my heart of late, and found it wanting. In so many ways, I feel much as this young man, seeing the truth and unable to abide by it. But, in You I know as well that I have hope, and that hope does not disappoint, for You are with me. I will abide. I will trust. I will recall to mind as often as I may that You are indeed at work in me, You are indeed blessing me with the interference that is needful, You are indeed working all things for good to me, even my own errors.
So, then, I can see some sense to the way Jesus has re-ordered His listing of such laws as He cares to recite. I can see, actually, two relatively straightforward explanations. The first is that He begins with those points He has taught most directly upon: the matters of murder and adultery. For those who have been listening, the implications of these two points would be clear, and would color their hearing of the remainder with expectations of a higher application.
The second explanation, and perhaps the more fitting on this occasion, is that He begins with those which in their literalist interpretation are most easily complied with and confirmed. Murder is an easy one to avoid, as is adultery. Theft also has its own deterrent for many, in that it is too easy to be caught out, so the conscience can keep us in line for the most part. Of course, there are those occasions presented where it’s almost too easy to bother resisting, and besides, everybody does it, right? Then we come to false witness, which is a matter we are probably less concerned with being caught at, and therefore more willing to do. Finally comes that matter of honoring parents. Now, in that society at that time, this might have been a greater concern, but for us today? Who would know, and in that number, how many would care? You see, the list is moving from things easily confirmed about us to things a bit harder to prove. Then, we have that matter of love your neighbor as yourself. Well, that’s pretty open to interpretation, isn’t it? Does that mean if I don’t love myself over much I don’t need to love them much, either? What would that love consist of? I mean, I have that warm feeling in my heart when I contemplate the average person I see, so that’s compliance, isn’t it?
If I were to offer a third viewpoint, it is that Jesus, by ending on this point, has brought the man up against his most pressing issue, his least correctable violation of the spirit of the Law. For, inasmuch as he thinks he has complied, he manifests his own lack of understanding as to what constitutes love. Love is not a simple matter of thought and emotion. It’s not a matter of fondness and cheerful disposition. It’s active. It’s concerned. It’s so closely coupled to compassion that the two cannot be separated. Love must take action. Love isn’t concerned so much about being loved back as it is about seeing the loved one done right by. And, faced with the demands of love, our friend the young ruler discovers his lack. It is to be hoped that he later discovers its cure in Christ Jesus. For, in that hope lies our own.
Continuing on this matter of reordering, I note that Luke again reorders the list, swapping the positions of murder and adultery such that adultery assumes the pole position. This, I suspect, reflects a Greek reaction to the Jewish culture of the time, with its devaluation of the woman. We have seen this in the views on divorce, wherein the man had been given legal right to issue a divorce on the least of grounds, whereas the woman had been given no right of divorce whatsoever. If the woman was unfaithful, the man could divorce. But, with the roles reversed, the woman had no recourse. So, yes, to Luke, whose respect for the women involved in the Gospel history is greater, and whose cultural background would render him more likely to so honor the ladies, this issue of adultery might reasonably be expected to loom larger than murder. It was a crime and a sin that was being committed daily, and one the Gospel was particularly suited to address.
Recall, too, that Luke was a product of Paul’s ministry, and Paul had preached often about the equality of humankind in the sight of the Lord. There is no longer man and woman, slave and free in the kingdom of God, for He is no respecter of persons. There is only child of God. Thus, this relegating of women to second-class stature would tend to be of greater concern to Luke, or one of his background. Whether intentional or subconscious, I would expect this is what moves his pen in this case.
However that list is ordered though, the point remains the same: Salvation by works is and ever remains an impossibility for man this side of the Fall. There is really no use in talking up how one has been ever so observant of all the rules of righteousness, for it only fools oneself. If anyone claims he is without sin, that man is a liar, and proclaim God a liar (1Jn 1:10), for God has already told us that no man is righteous. And yet, we seem to come back to this over and over again, this idea that we have achieved it, or that we need to do so.
It came up at men’s meeting last night, in a somewhat different guise, but the point remains. When we get to that place of thinking we must do this or that in order for God to accept us, we’re off track. It’s no different when our motivation is to get some other member of humanity to accept us. If we expect to attain to that place by our own power, we are deluded. The advice given to those who seek a spousal candidate to no avail is so often, “Stop trying. Just be yourself.” In many ways, we who come into this condition of finding ourselves the bride of Christ are brought back to that same false understanding that we must do something to make Him love us. If He didn’t already love us, we wouldn’t be in this condition! Yet, we feel that we must do. We feel it so strongly that we forget the simple truth that we can’t. “Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” We are returned, eventually, to the question we hear from the disciples in the ensuing discussion here, “Who can be saved, if it is like this?” To which, we must hear our beloved Bridegroom answering, “What is impossible to men is possible with God” (Lk 18:26-27).
Listen! The moment we think we have achieved compliance to any aspect of the Law, we should recognize this: The bar has been raised! We should, of course, also recognize that the only way we have managed to obey even so well as we have is because of Christ working in us. But, we mustn’t think to settle for what He has achieved thus far. I love this point from Zhodiates on the matter of completeness: “perfection is not a static state.”
This perfection, the perfection that God Himself requires of us, will ever elude us. It is ever dancing just beyond our reach. What we may fail to take note of is that our reach is growing longer with the passing years. It is often said that sin, and sin’s impact, tends to creep up on us little by little, such that we don’t realize how deeply we’ve stepped in it. It begins as something we feel sure we can control, feel sure we do control. It’s just a bit of fun. But, over time, it takes greater hold, draws us further, until we awaken to the danger too late, and realize that sin controls us. I have to say, though, that righteousness is similar in a way. This righteousness that Christ is working in us comes so gradually we may not really notice it at times. We may feel as though we are making little to no progress. But, I find that very often this is only so because our perspective is so short, and our memory so poor. We don’t see how far we’ve come because we’ve been too busy with the walking.
So, here we are, forever short of the goal, yet forever progressing further from our starting point. We spend the bulk of life here near the midway point, where progress is most difficult to discern. The goal seems no nearer, because the goal keeps moving. Perfection is not a static state. If we have progressed enough to satisfy the first clause, then we are granted sight of the second.
Oh! That we might understand the mercy of God that this is so! Were He to reveal to us in a flash of insight the whole of righteousness, we should despair of ever starting out. We should just resign ourselves to damnation and be done with it. But, He doesn’t do this. He is, after all, the Good Teacher. He shows us a step, and shows us how to take that step. Only when we have gained the competence and the confidence to take that step consistently does He show us the next.
I am put in mind of the dance lessons my daughter is taking. The whole year’s training is in preparation for what, five minutes of performance? Yet, it takes that whole year. Were the instructor to simply dump the entire sequence on them on day one, show them the series of moves, and then leave them to practice, it would be a disaster, and many would doubtless drop out for despair of ever getting it right. As it is, I hear the challenge these girls feel. I keep missing this bit. I blew that bit. But, it’s step by step. Or, as we read it in Scripture, “precept upon precept, line upon line” (Isa 28:10).
You know, as I glance at that passage in Isaiah, I have to say, it’s unclear whether that’s to be taken as sound advice or not. It’s more in the way of a rebuke, given “that they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive” (Isa 28:13). But, I say, it’s a rebuke, because it is what should have been happening all along. I think I should take the meaning as being that, until they grasp this bit, there shall be no more said. It’s of a piece with, “why do you ask for revelation when you don’t attend to what has already been revealed in the Word?”
Come back, though, to the wonder of perfection, this unattainable goal. I say it’s a wonder, a marvel! For, what we can in no wise attain, He has attained. What is impossible to us, He has made possible. He has done it! He has walked the life of man in perfect obedience to the full Law of God, and having done so, He has imparted that righteousness to me. It is His gift, His most gracious gift to me. How marvelous! How wonderful, that God has been keeping me mindful of that lesson on grace from years ago, when I was studying Romans. Grace: The superior stooping down to the inferior. God stooping down to man. This is not God lowering Himself to our level, but reaching down to lift us up to His! That’s the gift! That’s what this impartation or imputing of righteousness has done for us. If, then, I am possessed of this gift of His own righteousness, what other gift could I possibly want for?
Oh! I know, I know. I am reviewing a point I’ve already seen in preparation, but it’s one this poor soul needs to hear again! Be lifted up! Remember the marvelous gift that is already yours and hold it dear. In this season of Christmas, such as we have made it, it is so easy to get caught up in the maddening need to present gifts to those we love, to buy this and that trinket to bring pleasure to friends and family. I say it is a pressure and a madness. It’s no pleasure to us, because it has been made a duty, a nightmarish demand upon our time and resources. It matters not whether we can afford to do these things. We feel the need to do so with such power that it becomes nearly irresistible, and we will bankrupt ourselves rather than suffer the shame of not having given as we are convinced we ought. But, this gift! This gift that we are intended to celebrate in the season of Christ’s Mass! What could compare? Why would we try? He has given as can never be duplicated, never matched. And, what does He ask in return? He asks only this: “Walk with Me.”
That’s the only gift He’s asking for this Christmas: “Walk with Me.” Be just, and love kindness, yes (Mic 6:8). But, really. Just “Walk with Me.” That’s the only way you’ll ever do it, anyway, so focus on that. Turn your eyes upon Jesus, and “Walk with Me.” These things will follow.
This is the road, the only road, by which we attain the unattainable goal of perfection. Remember this! Hold this dear! And, be lifted up, my soul, for He has done it.
Before I set down this study as completed, I want to look at the situation of this young man once more, for there is much to be recognized in his example. First, there is the simple point that he knows. In spite of his confession of compliance to the law, he knows that there is something missing. He knows that life is not yet in him. In some ways, this strikes me as the great contradiction of atheistic thinking. There is this loud and insistent confession that there is no God, that proclaiming that, “I am a good man”, but something inside knows that it’s not entirely true, not true at all. There is a God and I am not a good man. Sure and I may abide by the law of the land, I may care for my family and such. I may even do things in my job that are truly to the benefit of mankind. But, I am not a good man. Something’s missing.
The reality of the situation is that until and unless God determines to implant life in us, we so loudly decry our own innate goodness and the wonder of life without Him for the very purpose of drowning out that inner voice that is informing us that something is missing. We don’t want to hear it any more than we generally desire to hear honest criticism. And yet, we know. In the quiet moments we know. Sadly, knowing the problem and not willing to know the solution, we turn to whatever we can find to drown out the voice of that knowledge. It may be substance abuse, it may be sexual depravities, it may be work and riches, but whatever we can turn to in order to distract our attention from that knowing voice, we will turn to it over and over again.
But, the knowledge remains, and for those God has so chosen, the seed of life is indeed implanted. You know, as I began to sense that imagery in the preceding paragraph, a thought occurs to me: what Mary experienced in bringing forth the Son of God to life is in its way what transpires in every believer. No, we don’t each of us bring forth the Son of God to life, but we each bring forth life in that we are reborn into this real life that is found in the Son. But, as with His birth, so with our rebirth: God sovereignly implanted the seed. Mary became physically pregnant due to this implantation and brought forth physical life in the form of Jesus. We become spiritually pregnant due to His implantation and bring forth the spiritual life within us. I dare not push the parallel too far, but it seems to me that the parallel is there. It is there in that in both cases the sovereignty of God in determining the course of life is made evident.
This evidence is also found in the case of our young ruler, here. You see in his response to this whole situation and even in his having come out to speak to Jesus in the first place that his spirit has recognized what his mind does not yet grasp. His mind is still convinced that he has done all that is needed, but his spirit recognizes the lack of some critical ingredient. We’ve the soil, the fertilizer, the water: everything that it takes to make that seed sprout up and grow. But, where’s the seed? It’s missing!
No, that analogy doesn’t quite fit the case, for in the case of this young man, as in our own, the seed is there. If it were not, there would be no spiritual response within to correct the mind. If the spirit within us is able to recognize what the mind is still in denial about, it is because that seed has already been set within us. God has already moved. Oh! Praise be to my God that indeed He moves before ever we think to seek or ask. He must, else we never will. He must, and He does, because this is His great desire and purpose: to seek and save the lost.
Note the action in that great phrase. He seeks and He saves. The lost don’t necessarily seek. They’re busy being lost, and may not even realize it yet. Probably don’t. They certainly aren’t looking for rescue because they haven’t taken any note of their own danger. But, He’s already there. While we were yet sinners, while we were yet His enemies… All of this happens on our behalf before we have any thought of accepting His offer. All of this happens before we can have the possibility of accepting His offer. The spirit must first be given eyes to see Him, and voice to speak its findings to the mind. Only then can the mind be shocked out of its complacency to see the real world around it.
Given this great truth, which Scripture repeats so many times and in so many ways, I am all the more convinced that when this man walked away, it was not with finality. Look at his exit. He does not walk away in anger. He does not respond as so many of the Pharisees did. He is sorrowful. He is, I think, stepping onto the road of repentance. But, at the first impact of this realization that his actions have not been as righteous as he thought, the solution seems out of reach. You require this of me? I cannot! I know it must mean my own condemnation, but I cannot. It is not in me.
I am drawn back to that song God poured out in me years back, when I was studying Caleb. “What would you say if I said, ‘Give it all away’?” That’s the exact thing He has just said to this one, and – at least for now – the answer is, “I can’t.” But, child! Don’t you know, the answer is always, “I can’t.” Apart from Me you can do nothing! But, you need not do it alone. You need not try in your own strength, for your own strength must fail you. You see the demands of righteousness and you find that by them you are heavy laden in truth, and in truth you are heavy laden to bear this in your own power. But, come to Me, all you who are heavy laden and I shall give you rest.
Listen: You have just been brought face to face with the truth of yourself. It is never easy, never pleasant. Your prayer that God might show you the true condition of your heart He has been pleased to answer. Such a dangerous prayer, but not dangerous to you. No! It is dangerous to the enemy of your soul, because it is a prayer God loves to answer. For, only as He shows you and I the real condition of our hearts are we brought to the place of desperation. Only when we are brought past our own limits can we snap out of our delusion and accept that in His rest is our righteousness. OH! This man is not lost. He is waking up. He is being brought to that place. He is walking away, but he is walking toward. He is not rejecting the truth, he is coming to grips with it. He has heard that question, “what would you do?” And, just now, he can see the necessity of doing what is asked, but he cannot see the way to do it. His own flesh rises up against him. All that he has been until now cries out against the very idea. What? Throw aside all security in this life and really trust myself to You? Yes, child. That is what is called for. That is what it takes. He who seeks to preserve his life shall lose it. But, he who looses his life and livelihood for My sake, shall find it.
What marvelous words for these difficult times! How we try to hold on to the lifestyle we have become accustomed to, and how that striving to hold on destroys our trust. But, Jesus is saying to me that it’s time to let go. Stop worrying over your security, because you never had control of it in the first place. That sense of security is always false except it is founded solely in Him. He is my provider, not me. He holds my future, not me. Though a thousand fall at my left, ten thousand at my right, it shall not approach me (Ps 91:7). Oh, things may not proceed along the course I would like them to, but they shall proceed for my good, for He works all things together for the good of those who are serving in His purpose (Ro 8:28), and I know with all certainty that I am in that number.
Lord, I thank You. How I have needed to be reminded of these things. How I have needed to remember Who You are, who I am. Oh! Teach me to let go. Teach me to rest in You. All these stresses I have allowed to so overwhelm me of late: I lay them aside this morning, and I pray that in Your power I would find power to leave them there. God, grant me the serenity, as it has been said. But, grant me also to walk as I ought to, to walk worthy of this marvelous love You have shown to me. Thank You, once more, for having stooped down to lift me up. Let me be lifted in countenance even as I am lifted in Truth. Let me enter into the true joy of this season in which we mark the birth of our Savior and King. Oh, forgive me, Father, for having allowed the cultural pressures to crowd out the marvelous good news of what You did for mankind those many years ago. Rekindle, Holy Spirit, rekindle in me the wonder of heaven’s reprieve!
