Photo by Zeny Rosalina on Unsplash
In teaching children about the
cycle of recalcitrance-ruin-repentance-restoration, God has made it clear to me
that we are people of His heart who continually reject His heart.
Chrysostom (349—407) puts it this
way: “While we leave unattended the
fountain of our ills, we still hope to have the streams unpolluted.”
As a humanity we constantly look
outside the problem to solve it. The spirituality is easy to explain. None of
us wants to come under the dominion of anyone or anything else, least of all
God. We want life our way, thank you very much.
Disobedience is in every single one
of us most of the time — especially even in the ones who the world thinks ought
to know better. It is a scourge against us all. By the sins of both commission
and omission. We are only a matter of misfortune away from misdemeanour, and
merely a season of such malevolence as to completely walking away. Anyone who
thinks they are beyond this is kidding themselves.
There is in all of life, the great
I AM; the all-powerful EVER WAS, the all-knowing WILL ALWAYS BE. He is the
eternal Father, the Jesus from the Ages, the Holy Spirit of God.
God designed life in the
inextricable way of us needing Him.
Whenever we disparage this idea our lives go poorly — we become people who
insist on the stream being crystal perfect, yet we put up with the ills that
come from the filth we insist upon drinking. Even us so-called followers of
Jesus.
Our only hope is a momentary repentance graced by heightened
awareness of our nature. Not
pointing our finger to the sin of others, all the while minimising our own
sins. Jesus told us we must get the log out of our own eye before we can even
hope to see the speck in the other person’s (Matthew 7:1-5).
Jesus is not for the superfluous.
Jesus is for our soul. He is the Vine of truth who shows us our error for our
good; for our freedom. Where are we ignoring Jesus today at our peril?
Jesus’ heart is for followers to
live authentic lives, not as those who continually contrive an act.
Jesus is not interested in how much
we know about God, but what we do with God in our own lives.
Jesus is looking for genuine
sacrifice, not for something that looks good.
Jesus wishes us to bless the world
without us insisting on the world loving Him.
We must admit we are very good at
getting Jesus wrong. Being honest about this is blessedness.
Jesus seeks and speak to the heart,
beyond superfluousness; He desires connection to our soul.
If we seek His heart, Jesus will
give us His heart. And He will ripple outward into the reaches of our world
from within us.
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