As I meditated over last week I recognized that there were places in my life where I had not died to my flesh. I continue to live for myself. Living a life in which Jesus is appealing, comfortable, and convenient. I had allowed myself to get comfortable in my faith rather than living out loud. For a couple weeks now I have been asking God to break me if there was something that was distracting/blinding me from Him; and this is it. I wasn't in complete and total submission to Him. Because I am His child there is nothing more I could do to make Him love me. He loves me because I am His child.
The world in which we live rejects the gospel. The fall of man has distorted that which God designed to be a beautiful picture. I don't mean to be a Debby downer but, Jesus has an awesome gift. A gift that sets us free from being a slave to the world. And yet, we have turned it into what I like to call "The Build a Bear Religion Edition." What we do is we pick what is appealing to the eye and fill it with fluff until we are satisfied and then we cover it in the clothing that we like. We therefore have built something that is appealing, comfortable, and convenient. There was no hardship endured and ultimately WE did all the work, so nothing is left to God. There is no faith involved, no surrender, no repentance, and definitely no brokenness. We walk out feeling a temporary satisfaction about life.
The world has blinded us to the truth that we are free from this philosophy. We do not have to do anything, we do not even have to be in control, we are simply called to let go and surrender. So, you may be asking what does that look like?In Luke 9, Jesus invites His followers to be His disciples yet He requires one thing: "Whoever wants to be my disciples must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."
Application to modern life: The things that distract you from a daily relationship spent with the Lord in the Word are idols and they have a foothold in your life.
In Romans 6, Paul tells us that when we deny ourselves and follow Him our old self (habits and sin) are crucified. In that we are no longer a slave to our past. Because we are a new creation.
Application to modern life: We now live our life knowing that God is in control and that we are free from our past mistakes. When we fail, make mistakes, God still loves us. We do not have to live with guilt, shame, or remorse.
