By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. [2 Peter 1:3 (NLT)]
I have a friend who describes herself as being a “Birth and Resurrectionist.” Her idea of Christianity simply consists of church attendance on Christmas and Easter (maybe), with an occasional funeral or wedding thrown in.
Setting aside the promise of salvation and how we will spend eternity, what would our lives be like if our relationship with Jesus and His church was merely a twice a year event? We’d still have a code of ethics, a sense of right and wrong. Yet knowing what’s right doesn’t mean we do the right thing. When we have a relationship with Jesus, we also get the Holy Spirit to guide (and prod) us through our moral choices. Without Jesus, our sense of worth would depend on things like social status, wealth, education and looks; without those assets, we would feel worthless and unlovable. With Jesus in our hearts, we know we’re worthy of God’s love not because of who we are or what we have but because of who made us. Without Jesus in our lives, the blessing of God’s forgiveness would be missing; we’d be burdened with guilt, regrets and even anger. If we had no relationship with Jesus, we’d miss that wonderful sense of peace that comes from Him. We’d always be searching for the next best thing without ever realizing that we have the best thing right beside us. Without Jesus in our hearts, would we be able to love? Probably, but certainly not with the unconditional love about which Jesus spoke. Finally, without Christ, we’d lose our sense of hope and trust; we’d fight our troubles instead of accepting them with the knowledge that God will get us through them. While salvation is the final reward for our faith in Christ, our daily lives are continually blessed for that faith.
Let us pray for those many “Christians in waiting.” May they accept Jesus as their Lord and come to know the joy and peace that can be theirs when, instead of occasionally visiting church, they have a daily relationship with our Savior. May they enjoy the rewards of Christianity that come both in this life and in the next.
Immediately after finishing yesterday’s devotion about conflict and prayer, I received a call from a friend whose 11-year old granddaughter, Anna, has osteosarcoma (bone cancer). Having undergone chemotherapy for the past two months, she is scheduled for surgery this week. In the best case scenario, her knee and part of her femur will be removed and replaced by a metal prostheses; the worst case scenario involves complete amputation of the leg. In either case, more chemo and at least six to twelve months of physical therapy will follow.
In speaking about prayer recently, our pastor referred to the 2009 church-wide assembly of our denomination. Knowing that the agenda included some divisive topics, the Presiding Bishop asked the delegates to spend the 50 days leading up to the convention devoted to both prayer and the study of Scripture. Once the Assembly convened, there was heated discussion among the delegates about the writing of a statement on human sexuality. The debate about this controversial subject was unique because the Presiding Bishop, Mark Hanson, halted the proceedings every twenty minutes to lead the assembly in prayer. Delegates on opposing sides, who had been vehemently arguing minutes earlier, often would lay hands on one another and pray for each other during these breaks. Praying for unity in spite of their disagreements, the delegates showed respect and love for one another. Although the final statement passed by only one vote and there is still disagreement within the church about it, without those pauses for prayer, that debate could have caused far more damage to the church than did the tornado that accompanied the assembly.
While reading C.S. Lewis’ The Horse and His Boy, I couldn’t help but think of the proud Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. He was so full of himself that he erected a 90-foot golden statue and then demanded that people fall down and worship it as a sign of loyalty to him. When interpreting one of the king’s dreams, Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that he would be driven from human society and only regain his kingdom when the king learned that heaven, not man, rules. The king was warned to change his evil behavior. In spite of the caution and even though he’d seen the power of the Israelites’ one true God when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego survived the fiery furnace, Nebuchadnezzar didn’t change his ways. While looking down from his rooftop and surveying the wonders of Babylon, he expressed pride in his accomplishments and congratulated himself on his mighty power. Before the words were even out of his mouth, a voice from heaven pronounced judgment upon him. The king developed what is known as boanthropy, a psychological disorder in which one becomes delusional and thinks he or she is a cow. The high and mighty king was driven from society and lived and ate like an animal for the next seven years.
I’m in the midst of reading a series of seven children’s fantasy novels, The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis. Some of them, like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I read as a girl but others are new to me. The world of Narnia is a world to which one wants to return again and again and I’m enjoying my visit ever so much. C.S. Lewis, however, was much more than a writer of fantasy, non-fiction and poetry; he was a well-known lecturer, a brilliant scholar and a renowned Christian apologist.
Devotions of the Heart 