Self Discipline is a prerequisite to our mission of "following" Christ and an enabling power that begins to provide us with the ability to begin to live a fruitful life in submission to the ways of our God rather than a life lived in costly slavery to the inclinations and lusts of our short lived flesh. It's also a term that bears some feared connotation in a modern society that prides itself on a lack of boundaries and limitless opportunities for self indulgence and promotion.
But is all of the possible gratification of our flesh and lack of boundaries really satisfying to answer our purpose to have lived? Will it leave us personally with anything lasting when our days here are finished? Does it really satisfy that inescapable inner longing to belong to, and to be a part of something greater?
That deep, subtle, yet persistently nagging longing is the eternal call of the God who created us. It's a call that undeniably requires a response and one that resides deep in the souls of all of mankind. It's a call that hangs now in the expanse of eternity until it's answered individually by every soul from the multitudes that God's given life to - either engagingly or with rejection. And without any doubt, we will be required to account for our answer... or failure to answer. We were created by a sovereign and majestic God with a gracious, but devout intention... and it's that intention that holds the only purpose that we have life.
Father God's intention from the beginning has been to offer us an opportunity to share life in an eternally rewarding relationship with Him. Eternity will of course, far outlast the temporary lives and opportunities to pleasure our dying flesh, but the opportunity to answer that call is only here and now.
Some people reason that a loving God wouldn't send anyone to the hell that He's promised. And I think that the simple answer is that they're right - He won't. If in the end we find ourselves in the desolation and agony of that place, it'll be because it's what we chose - not because it's what He wanted. We have a choice to make in this moment of life and it's ours alone to make - not His.
I dare not say that I know with certainty, because only our God is final Judge, but I think that if we were to find ourselves there in the horrors of that place, it might be because our belief didn't extend beyond the insult of lip service to an omnipotent and majestic God who reigns sovereignly - Because we got caught up in playing the "church" game instead of responding in spirit and in truth in an honest and truly involved relationship with Him - the very thing He's wanted from the beginning. It could be because the words we spoke obligingly in response to the gospel didn't bear the power of real belief to cause our true surrender and allow it to change us, to be altered into the image of Christ. Or that it might be because we dropped our guard and let the temptations and decay rising around us overwhelm our belief to the point that we got lost in the shadows and left it behind us. If we truly believe, we cannot be unchanged and we will not be shaken because the cost is all too real to us - just like He IS.
So we intentionally and deliberately surrender to what we believe and allow the Holy Spirit to work in us - to become changed...
Ephesians 5:1-9 (NLT)
1"Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. 2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. 3 Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people. 4 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. 5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. 7 Don’t participate in the things these people do. 8 For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! 9 For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true."
Our "belief" should command a reverent respect from us for a God with unlimited power, power so great that it's unimaginable in its fullness to us. It should demand an immeasurable love and adoration from the greatest depths of our hearts for the tender hearted kindness, love and grace that He's extended to us and demonstrated throughout the history of His word. It should draw continuously from a bottomless well of gratitude and wreck our hearts completely for His faithfulness, His undeserved mercy and His awesome and unending goodness... and it should result in obedience. It should have an effect on us that becomes a reaction to and demonstration of our belief - not out of obligation or sacrifice, but out of an honest and true response from our hearts - because we believe.
What we can know of Him should grip our hearts with passion and keep them overflowing. It should drive us to our knees and lift us to our feet. It should become our first thought in the morning and the last comforting thought as we fall asleep. It should bring us to tears and joyful laughter. It should rise up as unashamed praise and adoration and bring us to humbled gratitude and endless adoration - because we believe.
And while our true faith and belief in Christ will save us, our Lord judges the truth about both our motives and our responses to Him... and while He knows these things about us... we will come face to face with Him one day not far off.
While the carnal world and maybe even our neighbor might think us crazy, what's truly crazy is not responding honestly to what we know is true... what we believe.
They called Christ a radical...
Comments
Post a Comment