Was reflecting on God's call for us to be holy tonight - do we make ourselves holy by our choices and actions? If so, where does the inspiration for our choices to do good come from? If not, then what do we DO? How can we be holy, if we don't have to do anything?
After a bit of thinking and praying, I realised that both answers led to the same place.
Yes, we make ourselves holy by the way that we choose to live our life and the actions that we take. How do we know what is right? He tells us in various ways - through His word in the bible, through those around us. We must open our eyes, ears and heart to God, who speaks to us in many ways. He will shape us through the situations that He puts us in, through the example of those around us, and through our reading of His word.
But at the same time, the answer is also "no" - we cannot be holy simply in the life that we lead (on our own). We must open ourselves to allow God to work in our lives... we must make ourselves "passive" enough to allow God to shape us; to allow Him to be the driver in our life, to take us where He wills. In order to do this, we must let go and trust in Him.
What does this mean?
It means that there is a fine balance between taking action and being receptive. It is a fine line between "letting go" and letting God control our life, but also still being proactive enough to do what He asks of us, and living a full life. We must learn to listen for Him - His call is gentle and inviting, not a harsh gong that will hit us over the head. We must not spend our whole lives waiting for some "sign" that will tell us what to do and how to live our lives - instead, we must do the best that we can, pray along the way and listen out for His whispering His directions to us. This is His call for us to be holy.
Showing posts with label Invitation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Invitation. Show all posts
Jesus' Invitation
In our discussion tonight, I brought up a "revelation" that I had during the week - it happened while I was reflecting on John 1:35-42.
My thoughts went like this...
- At first, I thought the John in the passage was John the disciple/gospel writer. After reading the verses leading up to verse 35 I realised that we were in fact, reading about John the Baptist (I'll refer to hiim as JTB).
- who were JTB's two disciples? One is named - Andrew - the other is not. Is it reasonable that the unnamed disciple might be John the gospel writer? Considering that John usually lists the names of those who were there at an event, but never seems to name himself, I hope this is a reasonable deduction.
Assuming that the unnamed disciple is John:
- Each of the synoptic gospels lists Simon, Andrew and his brother (Peter), and John and his brother (James) as the first disciples that Jesus calls. See Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:15-20, and Luke 5:3-11.
At first, it seems strange that these men would drop everything and follow Jesus as soon as they meet Him. It also seems a bit unreasonable that Jesus seems to expect us to do the same. However, when we take into account the events in John 1:35-42, we see that Jesus didn't randomly pick up men off the streets to be His disciples, nor did the these men drop everything to be disciples to a stranger.
Instead, each of these men were introduced to Jesus by someone they trusted: Andrew and John were introduced to Jesus by JTB; Peter and James by their respective brothers. (I'm not sure about Simon.) When reading each of the 4 above passages, it would also seem to me that Jesus met and spoke to Andrew and John on one day, and called them on a separate day.
Why is all this important?
1. Just as Jesus didn't pick up random peole off the street, so He does not expect anyone to blindly follow or blindly practice their faith. He reaches out to us through those that we know and trust, and presents opportunities for us to encounter Him, to speak with and experience Him. He gives us the chance to go away, to challenge, question, and understand our expereience of Him, and then to choose to respond when He calls.
2. Even though we are called to challenge and question our faith, at the same time, we are also called to follow, even if we don't have all the answers. Andrew and John would have met Jesus, had a chance to hear His teachings, but when Jesus called, they would not have known everything about this man. Their decision to follow Him was a decision based partly on faith.
3. We are sometimes called to play the part of John the Baptist, Andrew, or John and introduce Jesus to others in our lives. However, it is then not up to us to "convince" them to respond to Jesus' call; instead, we often have to let go, and allow them to make up their own mind whether or not to follow Jesus.
My thoughts went like this...
- At first, I thought the John in the passage was John the disciple/gospel writer. After reading the verses leading up to verse 35 I realised that we were in fact, reading about John the Baptist (I'll refer to hiim as JTB).
- who were JTB's two disciples? One is named - Andrew - the other is not. Is it reasonable that the unnamed disciple might be John the gospel writer? Considering that John usually lists the names of those who were there at an event, but never seems to name himself, I hope this is a reasonable deduction.
Assuming that the unnamed disciple is John:
- Each of the synoptic gospels lists Simon, Andrew and his brother (Peter), and John and his brother (James) as the first disciples that Jesus calls. See Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:15-20, and Luke 5:3-11.
At first, it seems strange that these men would drop everything and follow Jesus as soon as they meet Him. It also seems a bit unreasonable that Jesus seems to expect us to do the same. However, when we take into account the events in John 1:35-42, we see that Jesus didn't randomly pick up men off the streets to be His disciples, nor did the these men drop everything to be disciples to a stranger.
Instead, each of these men were introduced to Jesus by someone they trusted: Andrew and John were introduced to Jesus by JTB; Peter and James by their respective brothers. (I'm not sure about Simon.) When reading each of the 4 above passages, it would also seem to me that Jesus met and spoke to Andrew and John on one day, and called them on a separate day.
Why is all this important?
1. Just as Jesus didn't pick up random peole off the street, so He does not expect anyone to blindly follow or blindly practice their faith. He reaches out to us through those that we know and trust, and presents opportunities for us to encounter Him, to speak with and experience Him. He gives us the chance to go away, to challenge, question, and understand our expereience of Him, and then to choose to respond when He calls.
2. Even though we are called to challenge and question our faith, at the same time, we are also called to follow, even if we don't have all the answers. Andrew and John would have met Jesus, had a chance to hear His teachings, but when Jesus called, they would not have known everything about this man. Their decision to follow Him was a decision based partly on faith.
3. We are sometimes called to play the part of John the Baptist, Andrew, or John and introduce Jesus to others in our lives. However, it is then not up to us to "convince" them to respond to Jesus' call; instead, we often have to let go, and allow them to make up their own mind whether or not to follow Jesus.
Labels:
Invitation,
Jesus,
Reflections
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