(photo courtesy:google images)
“But
when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because
of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through
the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us
generously through Jesus Christ our Savior…”- Titus 3:4-6
(NIV)
When will the hurting stop? When will the pain
disappear? When will the craziness end and Christ returns?
These are all questions many of us have asked, at
least once, and we continue to look for signs of Christ’s return through the
struggle we see on any media outlet. Why?
The Answer: We are looking for restoration and
redemption of this broken place we call home. We are all waiting for the
healing to come. We are all waiting for the hurt to end and things to change.
We look to the sky for help. We cry out for mercy
and peace. Then God responds: I have sent Him!
Christ’s message of reconciliation and hope is what
brings the mercy and peace we seek. He is our Healer, our Redeemer, our Shepherd,
our Creator, and He has completed the work. When He was done, He returned to
earth to let His disciples know that He would send the Spirit to continue
guiding them on their journey. Their hearts would be filled with the
restorative message of grace and they would go on to change the world!
So, what about now? Why are we still waiting and struggling
and watching people experience lives of poverty, hunger, and brokenness?
Perhaps it’s because we haven’t looked at our own
hearts to decide how much the message has restored us? Perhaps we wait because,
if we were perfectly honest, we are afraid to act on the reformation that has
occurred within due to the implications it has on us. Our lives would be
forever changed and a paradigm shift would occur as to how we see the world and
how we interact with the world around us.
When we decided to follow Christ, we were called to
action. It was not a time to sleep and relax in a hammock until He came in on a
white horse ready to conquer the principalities of the world! On the contrary,
it was an order for those who chose to accept His message of reconciliation and
love to act on that message and reveal it to the world around them!
He calls us to remember our path to Him. When He
called His disciples to follow Him, He reminded them of who they were. In fact,
they never forgot, since after Jesus was crucified and died they all went back
to what they remembered. He redeemed them out of brokenness. He opened their
eyes to a different worldview and a new purpose to be a catalyst for change.
Their hearts were transformed and renewed to do great work for the glory of
God. Their hearts were broken for the very things that broke the heart of God.
When we listened to the call of the Spirit to come
and follow, we were also accepting the beckoning of the Spirit to come and act!
We were not saved by our actions for God, but because of being saved our
actions draw attention to God!
Our hearts are being transformed by Christ for a
reason, primarily for God’s glory. A heart restored by the Creator is a heart
that is broken for the poor, hungry, lost, and weary. It is not broken merely
because God hurts for them, but because it remembers being in the very same
predicament, separated from its Creator. This is why we rise against injustice
and pain because we don’t want people to be separated any longer.
May we rise to action. May we rise to the call of
our Creator. May our hearts beat in such transformative power that the world
feels its rhythm and knows it comes from the Lord Almighty.
Amen.
QUESTION:
Have you felt a calling within to do more for the glory of God?
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