DAILY BYTE
Phillip Yancey tells the story of his church’s pastor who was struggling through a time of profound exhaustion to the point he was teetering on the edge of burn out. So he arranged to spend some time on a directed retreat. The spiritual director appointed to him on this retreat was a little, German nun. As he told her his story of endless meetings, heavy counselling sessions, constant sermon deadlines and the fatiguing pastoral demands of a busy church, he half expected her response to be one of telling him to cut back and slow down.
Instead after listening carefully, she said to him: “When your well is drained by the busyness of life, the only solution is to dig deeper to find fresh sources of water.”
Go deeper! That really sums up everything that Jesus is saying in these rather scary words. To change fundamentally, we have to go all the way to the bottom.
So Jesus’ words are NOT a Dear John letter at all, but rather a warning and challenge: Don’t spend all your time and effort working on your outer world, or on looking good through achievements and accomplishments.
That’s what the world may value, but it just doesn’t cut it with God.
Your heart, your soul, your inner world – that’s what really, really counts. So go deeper!
The Kingdom of God must go through you! It must be worked into your soul. It’s not a home addition but the home foundation; it’s not some spice you casually throw onto your meal, but must be kneaded into the very dough.
Frankly, I hope Jesus’ words do scare you, as they do me. They are a powerful reminder of what is truly important to God, which if you consider it, is actually good news. Because these words aren’t about Jesus dividing into good and bad, successes and failures, but rather they challenge us to enter into the great truth of the way God has designed the universe – that it is all about relationships and love.
It’s not about jumping through hoops and endlessly having to please a performance-addicted and petty God. It’s being loved and learning to love. It’s knowing God and being known by God. That’s it. That’s life. That’s meaning. That’s purpose. That’s God’s will - everything else will flow out from there as naturally as fruit grows on trees.
It really is that simple. So simple that the church often fails to get it, as do all sorts of very religious people. So then, wrestle with it, embrace it, open your heart to it, build your world upon it.
Because it really is this simple ... may you know and be known, may you love and be loved.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Holy God, you have founded the universe upon the incredibly simple and yet amazingly profound principles of relationship and love. Help us to journey ever deeper and found our lives upon these very same principles. In Jesus name. Amen.
FOCUS READING
Matthew 7. 21-29 MSG
"Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance— isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'
"These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.
"But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards."
When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into applause. They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that he was living everything he was saying—quite a contrast to their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard.
