Have you ever heard the saying, "It's like drinking from a fire hydrant?" It often happens to guys I know when we attend a conference and listen to multiple speakers over a 2 or 3 day period. After reading Chapter 5 and today's Chapter 6, I feel like I'm drinking from a fire hydrant.
Just in today's chapter, Jesus addresses good works, praying, fasting, worship, forgiveness, investments, money, esteem, and worry. Chapters 5-7 are what many people refer to as "The Sermon on the Mount," and could be the greatest sermon ever preached. I love reading it and I hate reading. Jesus's sermon serves as a sort of manifesto for the kingdom life, he is inaugurating. This kingdom is unlike any kingdom and in many ways is just backwards.
To really embrace and follow the teachings of Jesus in these three chapters requires more than a casual commitment to his lead. I'm not always sure I'm up for it. I mean, when I do something good for someone, I want people to know about it. I want to quote the Lord's Prayer without really knowing what it says. I do worry about what I have or don't have. I do serve both God and Money from time to time. Jesus's words are not music to my ears today.
So, I must zero in a little bit more. Don't be overwhelmed by everything, but focus on something. Today, my thoughts gravitate toward verses 27-29
27-29"Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
For those of you that don't know me, I'm only about 5'9"...okay, probably closer to 5'8". This verse is particularly uncomfortable because I've often looked in a mirror and wanted to be taller...along with skinnier, tanner, more defined, more this and less that, etc. etc. Today, my reflection conjures up different questions in my mind. When did those gray hairs get there? Nose hairs, really? One more day of the grind? Mortgage? Construction? Church? Kids?
What I find in these three verses is a hope that frames all of those questions. I find a Father that cares for me and will take care of me. I can let go of all of the demands and not let them dictate every move I make. I can rest in the relationship I have with Father and continue to love him and others with everything I have.
What did you find today? What verse or verses stood out in your reading? Don't be shy...
Pictures: the narrow and wide gates; the fruitbearing tree; the wolf in sheep's clothing; the houses on sand or rock. Jesus paints some incredible pictures for my life, and plainly lays my options before me. I want to be the tree that bears fruit, the house on a solid foundation. I want to choose the narrow gate and walk into life!
ReplyDelete