Through The Wilderness: Following Jesus in the 21st Century ~ Marlena Graves

Sharpening perceptions of reality and providing spiritual guidance for those in the crux of wilderness experiences. Substantial spiritual nourishment for those who know or sense that Christ is anything but shallow. Encouraging readers to radically (which to Christ is normal) serve God and others. The author is teaching herself and others to read the world through the lens of the gospel and to become active participants in the local and worldwide body of Christ.

Feb 11, 2010

Grateful Indebtedness

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20

Last night I finished watching the movie Ben-Hur for the first time. Watching it, I was reminded of the goodness and beauty of God. God is continually moving me and others from death to life. As eternal life bubbles forth within me, as God is in the process of redeeming me and all of his children, and all of creation, his goodness manifests itself even in a fallen world. At the end of the movie, I found myself ovewhelmed with thanksgiving and praise and remembering yet again my debt to God--a debt that I cannot pay. His sacrifice on my part, on our part, should engender eternal gratitude, if we could but glimpse even a few of the implications of the cross and resurrection--if we could but glimpse even a few of the implications of his life within us. Last night I did again.

When we meditate on all he has done and continues to do for us, on the gifts he has given us (even creation), we are compelled to lay our lives down for him just as he did for us. We are compelled to adore him. Any kind of anemic Christianity that is manifest in our lives or in the world is due to our blindness. It is because we do not see. For truly, if we gaze upon him--meditate on him and his goodness and his wonderful works--on his name, we will truly see and understand that his attributes and love defy the imagination. We can only comprehend little but the little we comprehend overwhelms us.

I am thankful to you O Christ becasue you loved me and gave yourself for me. May I be a joyful bondservant. I ask you that I might serve others, but how can I serve others if I do not serve you first? It is you who call the shots, not me. May I learn to obey you and in so doing serve others.

Dear reader, may we meditate on God's love and beauty and grace. It will create in us a sense of grateful indebtedness that compels us to humbly serve him with every ounce of our being.

1 comment:

Desert Pilgrim said...: Wonderful post. I am enjoying browsing your blog.
In Christ,
Susan, (aka Desert Pilgrim); February 14, 2010 at 10:08 AM

Read Old Books. They Expand Our Souls.

One excellent way to see how much our culture's passing weather patterns have influenced us is to read old books. If you recieve all your information from contemporary writers, Christian or secular, you will never perceive whole concepts that people in other generations could see. (For example, earlier generations of Christians perceived a power in sexual purity that eludes us completely; we can only fall back on "don'ts"). Every Christian should always have at his bedside at least one book that is at least fifty years old--the older the better.

Frederica Matthews-Greene