Last week we had College Life we read the last half of John 6 where Jesus said:
"I am the bread of life."
I bet we all ate really tasty bread today. And turkey. And ham, maybe, if you like ham. (I love it :)) And sweet potato pie and all sorts of other delicious food. AND WE ARE FULL.
But what I am realizing with my full and (temporarily) satisfied stomach, is that I AM DESPERATE. I am full of food, but that's not what I'm most desperate for.
More than a delicious Thanksgiving meal, I'd really rather gorge myself on something that offers me permanent satisfaction--don't you?
If you read that chapter: John 6, you see Jesus feed 5,000 men at the begining part of it. Then the people follow Jesus to the other side of the sea because they are amazed by His ability to feed all these people with so much food ("until they were satisfied"). And here's the fabulous dialogue afterwards:
People: "Rabbi, when did you get here?" (lame question for the Messiah)
Jesus: "You want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don't be so concerned with perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you."
(John 6:25-27 NLV)
Here's my point: we'd rather eat a feast (a free one for the folks in this story and many of us whose families fed us today) than spending our energy SEEKING eternal life that ONLY Jesus can give. It's true. I do it. You do it.
And He loves us anyway. Dang THAT'S good stuff.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Friday, November 2, 2007
God being obvious
I talk about resting a lot--but mostly--I'm really good at not doing it very well. It alludes me.
And lately, God's being ridiculously obvious about how seriously we need to take rest. He rested--we all know that--but apparently--it's not a big enough deal for us to stop doing so dang much and breathe.
So here are all the things He's put in my face about the Sabbath:
"Blessed are those who honor my Sabbath days of rest." Isaiah 56:2
"The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of the people, and not the people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath." Mark 2:27-28
"Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don't pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord's holy day." Isaiah 58:13
Blessed--when God says someone will be blessed--I WANT IN ON THAT.
Made to meet the needs of the people--God cares about my needs and I'm not even taking it!
Holy--set apart. SET APART.
Good stuff.
And lately, God's being ridiculously obvious about how seriously we need to take rest. He rested--we all know that--but apparently--it's not a big enough deal for us to stop doing so dang much and breathe.
So here are all the things He's put in my face about the Sabbath:
"Blessed are those who honor my Sabbath days of rest." Isaiah 56:2
"The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of the people, and not the people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath." Mark 2:27-28
"Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don't pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord's holy day." Isaiah 58:13
Blessed--when God says someone will be blessed--I WANT IN ON THAT.
Made to meet the needs of the people--God cares about my needs and I'm not even taking it!
Holy--set apart. SET APART.
Good stuff.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Kierkegard & Suffering
My friend, Laura Parker, sent me this quote and I LOVE IT:
"Comfortable, cozy Christianity was the order of the day in nineteenth-century Denmark, much as it is in twenty-first century North America. In contrast, our Christian Scriptures were written out of the crucible of suffering. There is much talk about a "Christian worldview," but I have yet to hear expectation of suffering as part of the discussion. Yet for most followers of Jesus for most centuries, suffering was an expected reality, an acknoledged aspect of their worldview. Kierkegaard observed, "Little by little, I noticed increasinglly that all those whom God really loved... had to suffer in this world. Furthermore, that that is the teaching of Christianity: to be loved by God and to love God is to suffer." Little more needs to be said in support of his observation than that we follow a crucified lord. To live in this fallen world is to experience pain--if not our own, then our neighbors; if not our neighbors', then Jesus', as we fill up what is lacking in His suffering (see Colossians 1:24). So Kierkegaard rightly said, "The nearer to Thee, the more pain." The closer we are to Jesus, the more His heart becomes our heart and His pain our pain over lost and broken people. He also knew the reality of 1 Peter 4:13: "To the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation." So he wrote, "I know that in Thy love Thou sufferest with me more than I, Infinite Love." Throughout Kierkegaard's Journals, suffering is not portrayed as a pain to be endured, but as the way to joy. In the midst of the suffering, prayer is the consolation, the source of strength, and the means of transformation. As God worked in Kierkegaard through his prayers, joy emerged."
"Comfortable, cozy Christianity was the order of the day in nineteenth-century Denmark, much as it is in twenty-first century North America. In contrast, our Christian Scriptures were written out of the crucible of suffering. There is much talk about a "Christian worldview," but I have yet to hear expectation of suffering as part of the discussion. Yet for most followers of Jesus for most centuries, suffering was an expected reality, an acknoledged aspect of their worldview. Kierkegaard observed, "Little by little, I noticed increasinglly that all those whom God really loved... had to suffer in this world. Furthermore, that that is the teaching of Christianity: to be loved by God and to love God is to suffer." Little more needs to be said in support of his observation than that we follow a crucified lord. To live in this fallen world is to experience pain--if not our own, then our neighbors; if not our neighbors', then Jesus', as we fill up what is lacking in His suffering (see Colossians 1:24). So Kierkegaard rightly said, "The nearer to Thee, the more pain." The closer we are to Jesus, the more His heart becomes our heart and His pain our pain over lost and broken people. He also knew the reality of 1 Peter 4:13: "To the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation." So he wrote, "I know that in Thy love Thou sufferest with me more than I, Infinite Love." Throughout Kierkegaard's Journals, suffering is not portrayed as a pain to be endured, but as the way to joy. In the midst of the suffering, prayer is the consolation, the source of strength, and the means of transformation. As God worked in Kierkegaard through his prayers, joy emerged."
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