Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
My human nature keeps getting in the way of God’s nature. I hate choices because they always reveal to me the sinful nature of my human nature. As my friend Pete McKenzie says, life comes down to fries or fruit. Man I know that fruit is what I need and what I should order, but there’s something satisfying about ordering up those fries. It is like a treat to myself for having to be around myself. My walk as a Christian is designed to draw closer in relationship to Jesus Christ, to bear much fruit, and to be the embodiment of his love to a hurting world. But my human nature keeps telling me to try different things, to do it on my own,or worse, to go the world’s way. To go the way that I feel is best and that feels the best to my fleshly nature, which is never the way of the Lord!.
In the broken and fallen world, the only real peace comes from walking with my Lord and Savior, and letting His wisdom indwell me. Fries or Fruit. Life always comes down to that. I know that the only lasting contentment and peace in this world comes out of my relationship with Jesus Christ. He is the Good Shepherd and truly wants what is best for me. He wants to protect me, to give me the desires of my heart and soul. We must learn to feed our souls and not deny what our souls crave, which is more of God and less of the world. My human nature is selfish though and diametrically opposed to relaxing and being still in the perfect love of Christ. I want action! I want to make things happen, to make a difference, to be the man. He is saying turn to me, for “blessed are those who hunger for righteousness, for they will be filled.” I know He is right and yet I am saying to him, “I want that Lord, but can we do it on my terms?” Can I have the fries along with the fruit? Of course, the answer is no. Not because He is some cosmic killjoy who wants to be a control freak in my life, but simply because my ways can never work as well as His ways. I have glimpses of perfect contentment in Him, when I am fully surrendered and His grace can envelope me. But these moments are fleeting , because at some level my human nature wants credit for my happiness. How stupid! What a fool I am.
I, like all of mankind, struggle with a rebellious spirit that says I am the master of my own domain. But why? I can see if someone hasn’t had a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, then they would have no benchmark with which to compare the futility of that mindset. But I have seen, felt and occasionally lived out the beauty and contentment that resides in that personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I have no excuse. Fries or Fruit? I hate those types of questions. My soul knows it needs the fruit, but my human nature yearns for the fries. Thank God as believers that yet “while we still sinners, Christ died for us,” as Romans 5:8 assures us.
Prayer: Father God, help us to realize from the bottom of our hearts and souls that there’s nothing that is better than You! In Jesus’ mighty name we pray. Amen!
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