As this Lenten season of renewal through self-examination and repentance nears its end I wonder: Have we truly opened our deepest and darkest secrets to God? Is there anything in our life that is causing separation between us and God and preventing us from seeking His grace?
So how are you doing staying away from those Guardrails or electric fences protecting you from the Danger Zone? God knows. God knows how well your doing and it takes courage and humility to stand before the “penetrating gaze of holy love,” which “falls on what is unholy and unloving within each of us.”
Please be reminded, you and I confess to a God who loves us and who wants to transform us. We stand before a God who describes Himself as “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and reluctant to punish” (Joel 2:13), this is the very same Lord who gave Himself for us and our salvation on the Cross of Calvary.
As disciples created in the image of God, you and I are called to godly stewardship of all that we are and all that we are given. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 the Apostle Paul writes, “19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own, 20for you were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body.”
Now don’t get me wrong, the goal is not a certain physical aesthetic – the goal of healthy disciples is good stewardship of the body that God gave us for maximum service in His kingdom. Figure out how much sleep you need, how much physical activity is required, what foods give you energy, make you feel light and clears your head such that your body can match the spiritual vibrancy required to carry out the mission the Lord has given you in this season.
What are you doing to ensure you’re able to maximize and steward every moment you’re given physically, emotionally and spiritually for God’s glory?
If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Philippians 3:7-16 where we find the Apostle Paul coming to terms with his past life, in-light-of his encounter with the risen Lord Jesus Christ. For Paul, the words of Isaiah 64:6 had become a personal reality, “All my righteous deeds are like a filthy garment,” because he realized that all human effort, to live a life pleasing to God apart from Christ, is pointless and fruitless.
What do you treasure most in life?
Is there anything that deserves our life-long, passionate pursuit?
Listen how Isaac Watts answered that question in 1707:
When I survey the wondrous cross, On which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, Save in the death of Christ my God! All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down! Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Put your confidence in Jesus – salvation is knowing and being known by Him. Salvation isn’t just merely knowing about Jesus; salvation is having a close, intimate personal relationship WITH Him. And those who KNOW Christ, want to KNOW Him better. Fix your eyes on Jesus, “the author and perfector of our faith. Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2).
J.I. Packer said it best, “Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life falls into place of its own accord.”
In Paul’s description of the journey of faith we can see a number of vital Principles for Healthy Discipleship.
God’s plan for us is progress not perfection
The past is past so leave it behind
The future holds out hope so Press On
Make knowing Christ our One Thing
Paul is a “one-thing” kind of guy. He is passionately pursuing a greater knowledge of Christ. He is forgetting failures and achievements, and he is straining ahead to know Christ more. May I ask, What’s your One Thing? What one change could you make in order to pursue the One Thing that matters most? What sin or habit or activity could you throw off in order to run the race better? What could you begin doing that you aren’t doing right now?
What’s your One Thing?
In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next . . . . It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the next world that they have become so ineffective in this.”
Our days are numbered and when we see our Lord Jesus Christ, we won’t regret having made every effort to know Him more and more in this life. We won’t regret having lived in view of our true citizenship in Heaven. Every day we are getting closer. Keep running until you see Jesus and hear Him say, “Well done my good and faithful friend. Come let’s celebrate together!”
I close with these words from Colossians 3:1-4, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ who is your life appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory.”