I was talking in my last posting about how we all stink wretchedly just like homeless people do, every last one of us. And it's all because of our sin. It seems ironic and humorous at first to think that we strut around thinking so much of ourselves while we are simply stinking up the places around us. When we really stop to think about it on the grand scale, it doesn't seem so funny anymore. It's actually all pretty horrifying to think that the thing we believe most firmly in, ourselves, is really just a filthy, stinking mess, exalting itself over others because their stench is a little stronger than ours. The sad part for us is that God doesn't even notice that our stench is slightly less rancid. It's not that He is isn't able to notice the difference, it's just that God doesn't see things how humans see things. Sin is sin to God and it doesn't matter how much of it is stinking up our lives.
So what's the point? We're all sinful, that's great, and we know that we're all just sinners just saved by grace. We all say something similar to this to ourselves at times. "Well, I messed up again, that's what I do and I'm pretty much used to it." How does this attitude even vaguely reflect being a new creation in Christ Jesus? Your identity is not a sinner saved by grace in God eyes but rather a saint who is temporarily sinning but covered in the blood of Christ. "Having been set free from sin, you have become slaves to righteousness." (Romans 6:18) A slave to righteousness...it takes a while for it to really sink in. If you want, read the whole chapter of Romans 6.
Donald Miller talk about how we miss the point by surrounding ourselves with religosity. He writes, "In a spiritual sense, our job is to marry Christ." Our mindset as Christians should be marrying Christ. Let that sink in for while. What does that imply? How should we be preparing? What's worth giving up in order to purify ourselves and make ourselves beautiful for him? Is there anything that's just not that big of a deal in terms of getting ourselves ready? What should our attitude be at the beginning and end of each day? How should we position our heart? Does it matter what denomination we belong to? Does it matter what we believe about predestination or baptism or the gifts of the Spirit? Don't you think if you approached God as a lover in a relationship and sought him out in prayer, that he would make these things clear to you specifically? Or does the Father not know how to give good gifts to his children? And when he answers, do you think his words for spoken to your heart specifically or as universal wisdom meant to impose on everyone around you? Or is just easier to accept the packaged answers people at your church give you or that the authors of books you read give you? Isn't it also just easier to look at pornography than to actually remain pure and to prepare yourself to pursue and marry a woman with a heart for God? Pornography is the easy way out. It's the nicely packaged answer that we can jump towards instinctively. We all give ourselves to pornography all the time in this sense as Christians, accepting the easily packaged answers rather than pursuing Christ and preparing to be united with him in marriage. Maybe all of these questions cause us to instinctively make excuses for ourselves. Maybe these excuses just numb our hearts and keep us from realizing how much we want and need Jesus.
When the pharisees asked God which of the commandments was the greatest, Jesus answered that it was to love God and to love others. My question is why do you and I enjoy focusing on so many other things in our "service for God" when we've hardly made a heartfelt effort to get the most important two things down. This is basically where I'm at in my relationship with Christ. I've realized that I want to start focusing on getting ready to marry Christ. I've been focusing on so many other things and have been a whore just like Israel was (read Hosea). I want to start focusing on the two things that matter: loving God and loving others. That's all that really matters and I'm trusting that everything else in my life will flow out of this simple love for the One who rescued me from having to worrying about how I smell to other people.