"The great difficulty spiritually is to concentrate on God" -- Oswald. Not only do our jobs distract us -- along with entertainment, our kids' activities, the news, worries, finances, hobbies, books and the general business of our lives -- our good works distract us. His blessings distract us. The lives of the saints distract us. Our ideas about what it means to be a good Christian in 21st century America distract us. In truth, in my life, even good, solid biblical teaching has proven a distraction because I let it get between God and me or, perhaps more accurately, I let it be God to me.
Here is the simplicity of which Oswald has been speaking on and off for weeks: "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other," Isaiah 45:22. Turn to him. Look up. Like Moses' snake on the pole lifted high above the people (Numbers 21:9) which, in turn, was a mere picture of Christ lifted high on the cross. "Look up and be saved."
What I need now is singularity of vision. Please don't misunderstand me. Blessings, children's activities, friends, solid Bible teaching, the example of the saints -- all good things -- but I must zealously guard my heart. I must not let those good things quench my thirst (even temporarily) for God. Of course, ultimately, they cannot. Just as drugs, alcohol and sex cannot. But that doesn't stop us from ravenously consuming them in pursuit of satisfaction.
I know there is a danger somewhere off in this general direction of an it's-just-me-and-Jesus mentality -- a hole into which I do not want to fall. It isn't just me and Jesus. I am part of the Body, and Jesus is part of the divine trinity -- with all the reverence and power that entails. But the distortion of an idea -- in this case, an intimate relationship with God trivialized into a buddy-buddy casualness -- does not negate its original value or truth. The distortion may be wrong and terribly misguided. The original is simple, pure and beautiful:
"Look up and be saved."
Barbara
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