By Bethany
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| Images from stockfreeimages.com |
Being a gal, I naturally focus on the bride. I like to dissect her mysterious smile as she grasps her father’s arm and steadily gazes at Mr. Someone standing at the end of the aisle. The world might crumble beneath her feet, but I’m convinced her gaze wouldn’t falter. She wasn’t looking where she was walking, anyway.
I think we can learn a lesson from her. The church was often called the bride of Christ. Through reading the scripture and daily life itself, I’m truly convinced that our half-hearted, lukewarm “ daily Christianity” doesn’t even qualify as halfhearted "girlfriend" of Christ – if you understand my metaphor.
As Christians, God is not our “religion”. He’s not “part” of our life. He is our life. Yeah, so what? If you haven’t heard this before, I certainly have. I don’t think I quite understood what I got myself into. Or what “life” really means.
Take up your cross and follow Me. Is it just me? But when you think of cross, it doesn’t remind you of an hour worship time on Sunday morning. And, to be frank, it doesn’t remind me of even five hours of “spending time with God” each day. Actually the whole verse goes like this: “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” ~ Luke 9:23 emphasis added.
A cross wasn’t five minutes. It wasn’t even an hour with a toothache (I’ve heard that’s painful). It was agonizing – for who knows how long. Could you imagine doing that daily? Hourly? Every second? Exhausting?
I think we can learn a lesson from her. The church was often called the bride of Christ. Through reading the scripture and daily life itself, I’m truly convinced that our half-hearted, lukewarm “ daily Christianity” doesn’t even qualify as halfhearted "girlfriend" of Christ – if you understand my metaphor.
As Christians, God is not our “religion”. He’s not “part” of our life. He is our life. Yeah, so what? If you haven’t heard this before, I certainly have. I don’t think I quite understood what I got myself into. Or what “life” really means.
Take up your cross and follow Me. Is it just me? But when you think of cross, it doesn’t remind you of an hour worship time on Sunday morning. And, to be frank, it doesn’t remind me of even five hours of “spending time with God” each day. Actually the whole verse goes like this: “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” ~ Luke 9:23 emphasis added.
A cross wasn’t five minutes. It wasn’t even an hour with a toothache (I’ve heard that’s painful). It was agonizing – for who knows how long. Could you imagine doing that daily? Hourly? Every second? Exhausting?
Yes, exhausting. And frankly, impossible. Truly.
This was probably one of the things that stumped me. Once I realized how ridiculous I was, and how half-heartedly I was, I decided it was time for serious action. Only made the mistake of doing it, myself. Need I say how it went? God has a new lesson for me each day, and one I keep relearning over and over again is that I can’t do it.Someone once was talking about endurance. He said that it’s like gazing at Jesus – being that adoring bride – and not focusing on anything else but Jesus. Steadfastly, eyes locked, determined to continue past anything as long as you get to Him.
That endurance of a completely in love bride of Christ – I can’t do it. The only One who gave me sight, and the strength, and the muscles to gaze straight at my Goal, is the very One I’m walking towards.
Life is not just breathing and “living”. Life is a passion. If you don’t have a purpose, the point of living is hopeless. It’s meaningless. And it certainly is unfulfilling. Once you find that purpose, namely Jesus Christ, it’s not to be dumped on the “to-do list”.
Jesus isn’t just something we do, He’s something we are.
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You may read Bethany's blog here: http://graceofmyredeemer.blogspot.com/
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