awe & wonder

I was created to be in awe. 

Somewhere between waking up in the morning and falling asleep at night, despite the discouragements and the demands of the day, past the routines and the requirements that are expected of us...I want to know the wonder of serving Christ.

Have you ever lost that wonder? 

I have. For awhile, I didn't even know that it was gone. And when I knew it was gone, I didn't know what had stolen it, or when I had lost it. One thing's for certain though--there's a lot of things you can fake in life, but knowing the wonder of serving Christ is not one of them. 

It doesn't take a long examination to see what keeps our human nature from seeing the fullness of God. A writer much greater than myself (Martin Buber) has said that our culture creates an eclipse of God. It does not destroy God, but we cannot see the brightness of His light when we are constantly bombarded by that which is contrary to the nature of God.

In John 5, Jesus calls out those who "diligently study the Scriptures, but yet refuse to come to me to have life." The life He is referring to is eternal life. There are numerous stories in the Gospels where Jesus continually redefines the idea of what it means to have life. Obviously, the people He's talking to are alive, in the sense that their heart is beating and they have breath in their lungs. But they don't have eternal life--they don't know the awe that comes with following Christ.

Later in the book of John, we see Jesus pray, "Father, the time has come. Glorify your son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."

Eternal life is not something we gain at our death. Eternal life is something we are called to now, because eternal life is knowing God. If you've ever spent time imagining what Heaven will be like, you've probably imagined a world without the things that distract us from the presence of God. The thing is, we are called to start living without those distractions today. Because on this very day, God continues to do His redemptive work in our world.

What is it that keeps you from understanding that God is who He says He is? What is it that distracts you from knowing God, from hungering and thirsting for His Word, from knowing that He is alive and moving?

In light of what Jesus tells us eternal life is, this gives me a whole new perspective on Philippians 3, where Paul writes, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."

Paul is describing eternal life. Eternal life is losing all things that compete with my love for Christ. Eternal life is no longer striving to attain a righteousness of my own. Eternal life is sharing in Christ's sufferings. Eternal life is waking up every day in awe of the fact that life has been given to you, and going to bed at night in wonder that God chose to use you as a part of His redemptive work in this world. And when that is found, I pray that it is something you never lose.

(This is one of the many entries I hope to have as a result of walking through The Truth Project this summer...so credit goes to Dr. Del for inspiring me.)