| Crosswords: The Key to Holiness |
By Richard Prow ~ rpcrosswords@gmail.com
|
“If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15).
I really do. Love Him that is. How could I not. Fifteen years ago He changed everything. After a lifetime of cursing Him, denying Him, questioning Him and lying to Him, He offered the deal of a lifetime. He offered to forgive me and I took Him up on that. So yes, I do love Him. I do not however do as well when it comes to the obedience aspect of the equation.
It’s not that I don’t want to obey Him. I think about what He wants with my life each morning I wake. I set my mind to following His instructions and directions, but some days - okay a lot of days - I find myself needing to reboot before I can properly digest breakfast. Talk about bipolar spirituality.
I’m not alone in this struggle. While you may not share it in Sunday School, or admit it in small group, you feel or have felt the same. Within five minutes of making a vow to God you find yourself looking to renegotiate. The alarm clock you armed for 30 minutes of quiet time in the morning has been reset. Despite your best efforts you find yourself revisiting some of your old playgrounds. It seems at times a constant battle. Even a spiritual superstar like the Apostle Paul felt it for he wrote, “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do - this I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19).
We really want to do better. We don’t enjoy living with the guilt of disappointing God. And yet we still do. Even on our best days. So what do we make of this unattainable goal that God has set - the one about obeying His every word?
Not to make light of sin or underscore the need for personal holiness, but the reason we can’t be perfect is because we aren’t. While we live on this earth with these bodies we will continue to struggle in this spiritual war. It’s when we stop struggling that we have a problem. For you see our desire to live holy is an indication of our love, because our love for Him gives us that desire.
On the surface this verse in John’s Gospel seems to make obedience the key to loving God. But it’s really the other way around. Love begets obedience. So stop trying to be so perfect all the time. It’s a losing battle. Expend your energy on loving God for who He is and you will find yourself becoming more of what He wants you to be.
|
|
Printer-friendly format
|
|
