Earlier this morning, I had one of those "ah-ha" moments. (Imagine a little bubble above my picture with a light bulb in it.) It stemmed from this line in today's reading: "The whole discipline of life is to enable us to enter into this closest relationship with Jesus Christ." Indulge me and read that again. "The whole discipline of life is to enable us to enter into this closest relationship with Jesus Christ." The whole discipline of life -- working, shopping, parenting, praying, struggling, loving, laughing, eating . . . everything -- is about bringing me into intimacy with God.
That's quite a bit different from this: Everything that happens in life is about God shaping me into the person he wants me to be. This last statement is the one on which I've based my life, and while I believe it is probably also true, the emphasis is radically different. The trajectory of a life founded on the former principle might look very similar to the trajectory of a life founded on the latter, but the quality of those two lives might bear little resemblance. One starts and ends with relationship. The other easily slides into performance.
God has already created us in His image. So do we need to worry about being shaped or molded? A potter is never done with his sculpture. He is constantly manipulating the clay sculpting it into perfection. The greatest sculptor of all won't stop working on us. So why not get to know the maker better?
ReplyDeleteWell said, Drew.
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