Think Again
What is the path to God?
We often try to approach God by transforming ourselves.
By doing good.
By being good.
By getting a bit better each day.
But, ironically, the path that ends up at God,
ㅤthe path traveled with God,
ㅤwith God as Father,
Mostly involves getting it wrong.
We are like the child of a prodigal father.
A father who shares his fortune with us.
We may respond dutifully…
A dependable son who does everything right,
ㅤbut never really opens up.
Never vulnerably experiences life with the father
Or we may be self-focused…
Demanding our father’s fortune,
ㅤbut attempting to enjoy that fortune apart from the father.
Eventually finding ourselves broke and broken.
This condition of poverty,
ㅤthis brokenness,
ㅤfinally frees to us approach the father vulnerably.
And in this we discover,
ㅤwe experience,
ㅤHis extravagance,
As he celebrates us as his beloved son.
For we are dearly loved children.
This is the point of origination of our path to him.
With him.
The indispensable,
ㅤnon-negotiable,
ㅤpoint of origination.
We must begin from,
ㅤin,
ㅤthat love.
Any other starting point is a lie.
A deceptive and inauthentic beginning that points to us instead of him.
This gospel logic of God’s love leads to…
ㅤtrust in God.
ㅤrest in God.
And ultimately, a desire for…
ㅤobedience to God.
This transformation based on God’s love,
ㅤbeginning from acknowledging,
ㅤbelieving in,
ㅤour identity as God’s child,
Becomes visible in us.
In our actions.
For our belief orients our life,
ㅤgives direction to our will.
Ultimately our belief influences,
ㅤand is reflected by,
ㅤour behavior.
The closer our belief is to truth,
ㅤto reality,
The more we find ourselves able to live well.
To have the fullest experience of life.
To avoid the deception of self
ㅤand the consequences thereof.
For on our own, we are prone to look at truth and ignore it.
We choose self over truth,
ㅤa life lived in deception.
Or we see truth and simply fail to respond.
Eventually, we become unable to see,
ㅤto discern,
Truth.
Imagine the pain,
ㅤthe ultimate horror,
ㅤof being numb to truth,
And worse, the regret,
ㅤof making the choices that lead to that disconnect from reality.
Living with that disconnect produces self-indulgent,
ㅤself-destructive, behavior.
A life lived according to a faulty story-line.
A faulty narrative revealed by,
ㅤconcealed in,
Our private moments…
The public life of success,
ㅤbehind which self-medication lives.
The glamourous fashions of the day,
ㅤcovering the self-inflicted wounds of the night.
Escaping this dichotomy requires conceding the truth.
Confessing our brokenness.
And transformation begins…
As God turns our love around.
Redirects our hearts,
ㅤour affections,
Enabling us to pursue the right things.
To unlearn life according to me.
Allowing me,
ㅤleading me,
To consider a greater truth.
The progression…
Accepting the possibility of this truth.
Believing this truth.
Confessing this truth.
Leads to…
Knowing this truth.
His Truth.
And being transformed.
We are invited to,
ㅤand we must,
Participate in the transformation.
Commit ourselves to new practices.
Practices aligned with the new heart,
ㅤthe new life,
ㅤwithin us.
Lord, today I step out of my old-life tendencies,
ㅤand I put on my new identity in you…
Your child, in whom you find delight.
Today I will be loved…
ㅤinto a new way of thinking.
ㅤinto a new way of believing.
ㅤinto a new way of living.
Today I intentionally step into life with a prodigal Father,
ㅤwho is waiting to lavish extravagant gifts on me.
Inspired by Pastor Phil Strong’s sermon on November 19, 2017
