He instructs (as my wise husband has done so often) that it is a snare (a trap set by Satan himself) that I pursue "the manifestations of God in my life" rather than a relationship with God. It's what Rod calls the "trap of morality". I work and work and work at having the fruit of the Spirit. I strive to be sinless, to never make any mistake, to never hurt anyone's feelings, be late, or irresponsible. It's a call to an impossible life; it's a call to death. Exactly the opposite of the life Christ called me to.
Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human perfection. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship to God which shows itself amid the irrelevancies of human life.-Oswald Chambers
To me, this translates that the impossible to acheive human perfection is not and should not be my goal. Instead, my goal must be a communion with God that is so close, so transparent, that all anyone who looks on it sees is God. Not only does that sound do-able but I long for it. I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. (Again, really, really thankful for Paul! -Philippians 3:12)
2 comments:
Oh how I need to hear that again and again. Each morning I begin with prayers and ask the Lord to help me "not sin today" by thoughts, words or actions. I don't want to hurt anyone, cause anyone to stumble, don't want anything in my life to be offensive to Him. Yes, that is trying to acheive human perfection which is so foolish. I'll never be without sin as long as I live on this earth. However, a part of me believes He still wants us to try...don't you think? But to try only while admitting to Him that we can't accomplish it or anything else without Him. The Lord is the only source of perfection and in my bumbling way, I try to please Him and truly feel that by trying to please Him I'm getting closer to Him because that keeps me in constant communication with Him. What a long, long way to go until I reach Christian maturity. Thank you Allison. As always, your thoughts are so encouraging.If you've ever wondered why you started blogging...wonder no more...you have been given the gift of encourgement and you do this through your blog site.
I agree Allison. When you walk closely, He's there to guide. To make you think before you speak, help you know what is the best decision, and keep you grounded. If we keep him close, we can discuss things with him all day long. I know it sounds funny but it kind of reminds me of when I'm walking Max (my very stubborn puppy who has a lot of my traits). We will be walking happily along the path and he suddenly darts off into the weeds. I have to pull with all my might to bring him back on the path and get him moving again. Then he'll stop to sniff something. I tug again. Another time, he will see another dog, out running without his leash, close to the dangerous road, and contemplate whether he should take off and forget about me (he knows he's strong enough to drag me there if he wants). But then I will say his name, bring him to me, pet his furry head and he's back with me...at least for the time being. All of that sounds oddly familiar to me. I do think God needs to start using a choke collar with me. :) The only difference is, he doesn't use a leash. He just walks beside us and his desire is we stay on the path with him. We sure could avoid some poison ivy if we did!
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