Readings for today: Matthew 16, Mark 8:11-38, 9:1, Luke 9:18-27
It’s one of the hardest things for us to do. Surrender. Submit. Bend the knee. Bow before the Lord. We pride ourselves on being self-sufficient. We focus a significant amount of time and energy and attention on boosting our self-esteem. If we feel down on ourselves, we turn to self-help. If we want to encourage ourselves, we look to self-promotion…especially on social media. If we feel afraid or threatened, we become self-protective. It’s the most natural thing in the world to be sure and yet it runs exactly counter to the way God set up life.
God is the most selfless Being in the universe. He gives Himself in love to His creation and especially the creature He made in His own image. He gives Himself in relationship to us. He gives Himself up as a sacrifice for us. He lays down His very life for us. This is who God is and it’s who we were created to be as well. God created human beings to be selfless. Sin turned us selfish. God created human beings to be generous. Sin turned us into hoarders and misers. God created us to be compassionate and caring. Sin turned us towards violence and hate. The list is endless. All that God created us to be, sin corrupted and we see the consequences all around us. The most obvious might be the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, Ukraine, and Nagorno-Karabakh with the Armenian people right now. It’s brutal.
Jesus offers us a different way. A better way. A return to the original way. Listen to how He describes it again, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?” (Matthew 16:24-26 MSG) We are too obsessed with life in this world. We are too tied to the things of this world. We want it all. We want a good life here and a good life in the world to come. We want a mansion on earth as well as a mansion in heaven. We want to pursue success in the kingdoms of this world and we want success in the Kingdom of God. But one cannot put a foot in both of these worlds. One cannot have it both ways. Jesus is clear. We must choose. We cannot be both selfish and selfless. We cannot be both givers and takers. In order to receive all Jesus has promised, we must surrender to Him. We must submit to Him. We must let Him take the lead and trust Him enough to follow in His footsteps no matter what the cost for the reward is worth it.
Readings for tomorrow: Matthew 17-18, Mark 9:2-50, Luke 9:28-56