THE LAST RIVER MILE

If God is any kind of a reality for you, what is it that matters most to you about God? As I listen to people and as I observe myself, much of what we seem to like best about God revolves around that which God does, whatever that may be. God loves, God saves, God rescues, God fixes, God heals, God comforts, God vindicates, etc. We value God as a function: God does thus-and-so for me, and I am grateful for that. Other folks seem to value God in a more relational sense. They seek and cherish God’s presence. For Jesus-followers, Jesus known as “God-with-us” matters. Some of all this likely boils down to personality profiles, as all of us lean toward either being task-focused (God as a function) or relationship focused (God as a presence).

However, either leaning left unchecked can lead to a significant flaw. In each case, the endgame is me. I value God for what God does for me, or I value God for how God makes me feel in God’s presence. Even if in an impressive guise of faith, the ultimate aim really is me.

Jesus of Nazareth made the outlandish, illogical statement, “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” (Luke 9:24.) In part I believe this means that if I make it all about me, even with an impressive religious veneer on it, I won’t find the life I really long for and need. However, if I give all that up and yield it completely to God who is made known in Jesus the Christ, I will in fact find who I am.

I, along with all drawing breath, am an extension of the very image and life of a loving, creating God. That is the truth about me; clouded, hindered, and imprisoned by Sin (separation from God) as it may be. God literally has moved heaven and hell to win victory over all that would deny me/us this foundational truth. That includes victory over the illusion that everything, including God, is all about me.

As long as I know myself only by how God/life/fate/whatever benefits me, I really don’t know myself or anyone else at all. If I die to all that, then I will see and know the truth.

What would it be like for you to know God not for any benefit or gain it would bring you, but fully and completely just for God’s own sake? The last line of the hymn, “Love Divine, All Love Excelling” includes the words, “…lost in wonder, love, and praise.” What would it be like for us to lose ourselves this way?

I’ll see you around the next bend in the river.