an undivided life

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” (Mark 3:25) Wise words.  But what, exactly, does it look like to live a divided life?  Because, according to Jesus, that is an endeavor that is destined for failure.  Which means we better pay careful attention to the ways we are compartmentalizing our lives in an effort to keep our “worlds” apart. 

Does our life of faith affect and rule over all the other areas of our lives or is it just a nice little compartment that we pull out when it is most useful and convenient?  Is it something we try our best to keep separated from all the other areas of our life?  Or is our faith, perhaps, our highest priority, but there are certain areas of our lives that we keep away from our life of faith because they are not congruent with it?

I guess the main question is: Am I the same person in every area of my life, or am I a different version of myself depending on who I am around and what I am doing?  For a house divided against itself cannot stand.  Eventually one side or the other must take priority and precedence.

“Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.  I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.  For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.” (Psalm 86:11-13)

he restores my soul

“He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul.” (Psalm 23:2-3) To understand this verse, we must start with the question: What exactly is a soul, anyway?  The Hebrew word for soul is nep̄eš.  It comes from the word for breath (nāp̄aš).  So, in essence, a soul is that which is breathed into by God.  Or, as some of the saints of old have said, “The soul is that part of us that receives the in-breathing of the divine.”  And it is that breath that brings us to life.  Thus, when we inhale that divine breath, we are filled with the life and hope and love of the God who breathed us into being.  Which makes us, his people, “the breathed upon.”

The problem is that many of us live our lives in a constant exhale.  And living life in a constant exhale is neither healthy, nor sustainable.  We must make time and space to inhale.  We must give God room to renew and restore that divine breath within us, especially if we ever want to have any hope of him breathing that breath through us to others.  That’s where being made to lie down in green pastures and being led beside still waters come in.  Those are the places and the spaces where God breathes his breath into us.  They are essential for the life and health of our soul.  Neglect them and we do so at our own expense.  Neglect them and we end up in a dark and dangerous place.  Thus, our lives and our ministries depend on us making space and time for God to breathe his divine breath in us.

leaving and following

“Immediately they left their nets and followed him. . .. And immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” (Matthew 4:20, 22) It seems like there’s always a “leaving behind” that’s necessary in order to truly follow Jesus.  For Peter and Andrew, it was their nets, their business, and their livelihood.  And for James and John it also included their boat and their father, Zebedee.  Apparently, we can’t follow Jesus and drag a whole lot of things behind us, just ask the would-be disciples of Jesus in Luke 9:57-62.  There can be no conditions or additions.  There can be no “buts” and no “but firsts.”  There is no room for negotiation.  We leave and we follow.  It’s as simple as that.

What do you need to leave behind in order to truly follow Jesus?  Is it an old habit or a dysfunctional pattern or a self-sufficient way of being?  Is it an unhealthy relationship or an unhealed memory or an unwillingness to forgive?  Is it your own busyness, plans, and agendas?  Is it ambition, success, and achievement?  Or is it a heart of fear and insecurity and anxiety?

Whatever the case, the call of Jesus demands that we leave those things behind so that we can truly follow him.  Sometimes that means leaving behind what I am holding onto and sometimes it means leaving behind what has a hold of me.  He wants us to move at his pace, in pursuit of his purposes, and all of those other things will just drag us down.      

follow me

Walking with God is about one thing—following Jesus.  He is the one who sets the pace, the tone, and the agenda for our lives, not us.  From beginning to end, the constant call of the gospels is simply to “Follow me.”  Thus, it is not a collaboration or a partnership, it is about submission and surrender.  He’s asking for conversion, not cooperation. 

Following Jesus is about paying attention and then being obedient.  Which is key, because “follow me” means different things at different times and in different seasons of our lives.  The “follow me” to a bunch of fishermen cleaning out their nets was a bit different from the “follow me” as the approached Jerusalem and the cross.  And even a little different still from the “follow me” Jesus uttered to Simon Peter on the shore after the resurrection.

Each time Jesus says, “follow me,” he is asking for a deeper life and a deeper commitment and a deeper conversion into the life and love and kingdom of God.  Which begs the question: What does “follow me” look like in your life these days?  What deeper conversion is God calling into.  How is he asking you to come deeper into his heart and his life and his mission in the world?

conversion

“Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17) Jesus is not merely looking for cooperation; he’s looking for conversion.  He wants all of us, not just a part.  Thus, conversion is not just something that happens once in our lives, but something that happens over and over again. Each conversion moving us deeper and deeper into the heart and life of God. 

There are all kinds of conversions.  There is the initial conversion from being lost to being found, but that conversion is followed by numerous others as we surrender our lives and our hearts more fully to Jesus.  There is the conversion from fear to love, from competition to compassion, from independence to dependence, from performing to grace, from clenched fists to open hands, and from bondage to freedom, just to name a few.

Conversion happens when we encounter God in an intimate and powerful way.  A threshold is crossed in which we realize that our lives will never be the same.  There is no going back to the way things were before.

That’s what Jesus was inviting Simon and Andrew and James and John into, and there would be plenty more to follow.  And it is what Jesus is inviting us into as well.  What kind of conversion is Jesus inviting you into these days?  What does it look like?  What does it demand of you?  What is it offering you?  What must you leave behind in order to follow him?

Lord Jesus, you are not asking for my cooperation, but for my conversion.  It is not a question but a calling, and I need to hear it as such.  Help me to encounter you in such a deep and intimate way that it changes everything about me.  Then I cannot not follow you.   

a book for the next season

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contemplation and ecstasy

“When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.  And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him.” (Mt. 2:10-11, ESV) 

When was the last time you rejoiced exceedingly with great joy?  When was the last time you rejoiced exceedingly with great joy simply because you were in the presence of the Lord?  These two questions made me realize something today.  They made me realize that my prayers have become far too transactional.  I rush into God’s presence, listen for a few minutes, and then start asking God to intervene in the lives of the people and in the familiar places that are near and dear to me.  Then I run off into the world, trying to help those things come to into being.

But I’ve been missing something lately.  I have not been making space and time for contemplation and ecstasy.  I have not been giving God, or myself, room for encounter.  And it is intimate encounter with God that truly transforms us.  It is contemplation and ecstasy that give us the spiritual fuel to reveal the heart of God to this broken and hurting world.  In the words of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, “It is by prayer that the soul draws directly from the heart of God the graces that the active life must distribute.”  Contemplation and ecstasy are integral to life of genuine transformation and impact.

We need to make time and space to dance with him, to listen to him, to laugh with him.  We need to sit quietly with him, to sing and to be sung to, to hold and be held, to kiss and be kissed.  Those are the encounters that give our lives the intimacy and the power to help others find that tender and intimate and transforming space with him as well.  When was the last time you just sat still and let him love you?  After all, “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)