I work with teenagers ... now while we all throw down our suppositions and superstitions, I can assure you that some are true but most are not. These guys challenge me. You can't hide from them. If you're not real, not authentic, not genuine they can see it a mile away. I'm often the first to admit that I'm messed up... broken. My sin nature runs rampant through my life some days, the farthest thing from me sometimes seems to be the one I claim to love and serve. Tonight while speaking for a slimmer than normal crowd at our youth ministry I had a realization... that far too ill-frequently do we recognize the beauty in our brokenness.
We were talking tonight about the reality of personal holiness as it refers to the redemption of Christ in our lives and what that truly means for us. We focused our attentions in on Ephesians 1.3-14 where the Scriptures declare some of the amazing truths that are a reality in our lives as we follow Christ. Go read it, seriously here's the link : CLICK HERE
As I shared with them this reality that had been on my heart I began to get the feeling that some of them have "followed" God for a while but never really met him. It's a harsh reality for me. I guess I care less when it's an adult, but when it's a teen or child... my heart just crushes. Sitting there with a couple dozen eyes staring back at me was sobering, soulful. It was somehow so broken and yet so very beautiful. The broken feeling came from knowing my own inadequacies and yet great beauty, privilege and honor in knowing that God would give me that moment. Beautiful.
I was reminded of another reality later this evening... the reality of what God intends for us:
I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10.10
Abundant life looks beautiful. I've seen it only on rare occasions. It's allusive and yet staggeringly obvious when you encounter it. A life lived to the full, free from the oppressive brokenness that most of us seem to battle daily. We battle with it yet that's not really what GOD intends for us. We are to fight, yes... daily, but we are also, by God's grace, intended to win. I asked my kids, "when does all this stuff about who we are in Christ really begin to sink in?" It's a good question, it's a reality but far too often it's an unacquired one. My conclusion fell somewhere in the neighborhood of "when sin becomes a non-option for us."
Non-options are not something that our culture is used to. With enough money, power, connections we have access to literally almost anything our hearts desire. We are not aquatinted with "not" being able to indulge our whims or desires. I'm becoming more convinced that the more we follow this Jesus that the Bible talks about, the more our lives have some staggering "non-options." There are certain things that we just cannot do anymore. Somehow the beauty of the non-option is it's incredible freedom. Most of the time my choices that are controlled by my will are oppressive, but the more my life aligns with what God would have me do, the more I find freedom. Abundant life.
Even as I type my mind reminds me of just how broken I really am... but I rejoice in that realization, because without it I would not know my need for the Savior. The one who gives life, and gives it in abundance. God has more for you. He intends for you something better than you've ever known. Maybe one day we'll stand upon the mountain of His revelation and be able to gaze back across our lives and see the beauty in the redemption of our brokenness.
much love from my heart to yours.
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