I have begun reading through the Gospels, which is a great thing to do at least once a year. It is a great reminder of the astounding things that Jesus did during His short ministry on earth. I've heard these story numerous times, but this time through, God is granting me a new level of understanding. I am beginning to realize that the deeper I press into God, the more understanding and insight He gives about His Word. It's a lot like my former Greek professor used to say about Scripture. He'd say, "Gentlemen, there's a lot of gold in here (holding up a Bible), let's go mine for it." To me, that means, as I study the Scripture more deeply and more intently, the more opportunity God has to speak truths into my life. With that, there is a new level of understanding and intimacy.
I was reading through parts of Matthew, Mark and Luke today and God brought a couple of things to light. First of all, I was reading about the demon-possessed man, which is accounted for in all 3 books. God brought to mind all the things that He has "rescued" me from, but He also brought to light more things that I need "rescuing" from. I don't think that any of us are that different from the demon-possessed man. There have been many times that I have felt like this man, without the demon-possession, of course. But, I have felt trapped, chained, shackled, cast away and alone with regards to different sins that I have battled with throughout my life. However, this is the beauty of the story, as soon as Jesus showed up, the demons realized who Jesus was and the power He had. Then, Jesus cast the demons out and the man was released from his bondage. I am no different! God wants me to experience the same kind of freedom. As soon as I stop trying to "fix" my sins on my own and turn them over to God, He frees me from the control that sin has over me. I have the tendency to make it more difficult of a process, when all I have to do is lay it at the foot of the cross! This brings me to the second thing that stuck out to me today...
God can do a lot more that I give Him credit for. I was reading the story of when Jesus raised Jairus' 12 year old daughter from the dead. Each account of it in the Gospels tells about the people's reaction to Jesus telling them that she was asleep. They all laughed at Him. At the time, I'm sure that news had spread of what Jesus had done and the miracles He had performed. Obviously, Jairus knew what Jesus was capable of doing. The crowd that was gathered was aware of who Jesus was. They were also aware that, when Jesus arrived, the girl was dead. But, to laugh when Jesus said that she is just sleeping is just absurd to me. How do you laugh at Jesus, no matter what He said?!? Then, I realized something, I do the same thing to God now! When He asks me to do something I'm uncomfortable with, I laugh it off and justify not doing it in my own mind. Is it not the same reaction? I have thousands of years worth of stories of how God provided for His children, but don't trust Him enough to take care of me. In essence, I'm laughing at God and telling Him that all that evidence is not enough for me to trust Him with every aspect of my life. Perhaps it's time to reevaluate my logic...
The last step in the journey God took me on today is that I need to follow Him with no strings attached. At the end of the ninth chapter of Luke, Jesus had a group of people following Him as He traveled. In the last few verses of the chapter, He has a discussion with 2 men. One man tells Jesus that he will follow Jesus wherever He goes. Jesus replies by saying that the "Son of Man has no place to lay His head." Then, Jesus tells the man, "follow me." The man's response was that he needed to bury his father first. Then, another man also said that he would follow Jesus, but he wanted to go and say goodbye to the people in his household first. Jesus replied by saying, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." I think that I have the same tendencies in my life. When God asks me to follow Him in something, my response is typically, "Yes....but." I always have to put a stipulation on the extent to which I will follow Him. However, it is pretty clear that God just wants me to follow Him without condition. This goes back to my previous point, how much do I truly trust God? Do I trust Him with my wife...kids...health...money...job? What am I willing to entrust to God and say, "do as You see fit?" The answer should be everything. Unfortunately, that's not the case. However, that is the level of commitment God is looking for.
Now what? Well, I have a lot to process. God is taking me down a path that is unfamiliar to me. I go back to my first statement...the closer I press into God, the more understanding He gives me. However, sometimes understanding comes with a price. Until you actually live out the things you read in Scripture, it is all just head knowledge. I want to be remembered as a man who lived out the truths that God tells us in His Word, not just a man who knew God's truths. I guess it's time to roll up my sleeves and get a little dirty.
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