A Light in the Darkness

When I was in college there were a series of tunnels that ran underneath the campus. These tunnels carried steam to heat the buildings and supply hot water. Although it was against school policy there were many times when I used these tunnels to get from one place to another especially if it was very cold. The real danger in using the tunnels was that it was often dark and you could easily stumble while walking and accidentally reach out and touch one of the steam pipes. Touching the pipes would result in severe burns as I learned on more than one occasion. The key while walking in the dark was not to stumble or else you would get zapped.

As a general rule in Old Testament times, the same held true for the Israelites and their relationship with God. If they stumbled they got zapped. A good example of this can be found in Joshua Chapter 7 where we learn about Achan. Achan coveted and stole a few items from Jericho that were supposed to be consecrated to God. For this he was stoned.

This happened shortly after the Israelites had spent 40 years wandering in the desert. The doubters of Moses’ generation had all died in the desert prior to them entering the Promised Land. The people that were left had all been provided for by God. He had been their pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night to guide their every step. He had provided them with the manna and guided their decisions. If ever there was a time when people were going to trust in God this was the time; and yet Achan failed. Unfortunately for the Israelites this was not an isolated incident but the beginning of a trend. God would forgive them and provide and they would turn away and fail and get zapped.

I guess there are a couple of ways that you could read these passages and unfortunately many people today have not learned from the Israelites and Achan. They read this passage and see the need for us to be perfect. We must do better than Achan or God will zap us. Don’t get me wrong- there is a definite call to holiness and I am not making light of that but counting on our own perfection will only lead to death. We can not obtain the perfection that we aspire to or that we need to be righteous on our own. We need a guide.

On one particularly cold night at college when I was returning from the other side of campus I went through the tunnels with a friend of mine that used them all the time. He knew the tunnels better than anybody I knew. We came up to an extended passage where the lights had been knocked out and it was pitch black. I did not see how I could make it through the passage without getting burned and then my friend turned to me and told me to hold on to him. He knew the way through the dark and as long as I held on to him I would be fine.

Often when we read a passage like the one in Joshua we are left with a feeling of hopelessness. There is no way we can make it through life without stumbling. The passage is long and dark and there are many obstacles along the way that can trip us up. One misstep and we will fall. However we still have hope even in the darkness. John tells us that Jesus is the true light that shines in the darkness and that the darkness has not overcome this light. In our darkest times our hope is not going to be found in our own righteousness but in holding on to the one who knows the way. As long as we hold on to Him we will be fine.

Chains, blood, death, and unworthiness

Perhaps we have lost our way…

I was reading Mark Chapter 5 the other day and I made what seemed to me to be an unusual discovery. Maybe I am mistaken. Perhaps there is nothing at all unusual about it.

When I left home and went to college when I was 18 I was looking for acceptance. In the world of an 18 year old there may be nothing that is more important than that. What I found when I got there was rejection in many forms. The fraternities were not that impressed by me. For the most part they found me to be unworthy of their approval. There was one that wanted me to join but for the most part I did not know the right people, make enough money, or have the right parents. I had a hard time making friends. It seemed that the same qualities that made me desirable (or not) to fraternities were in demand for friendship as well. I did not like my classes either. It seems that I chose poorly and did not realize it until it was too late. Everywhere I turned I found that I was unfit, unworthy, not desired, and not wanted. I was crushed.

This was not my first experience with being rejected. There were girls that I had asked out that had politely refused. There were sports teams that had declined to pick up my option. There were jobs that had found better applicants. Rejection was not an every day experience for me but I was certainly used to it by the time I went to college. Why did my college experience cause me so much more distress than the other rejections?

In retrospect, I think that I had unrealistic expectations of what life would be like when I was in college. I had wanted to go to the school of my choice for a long time before I was accepted there. I had idealized what it would be like and I was (quite simply) wrong. Looking back now it is easy for me to think that I should have adjusted my expectations. It would not have been what I wanted but I could have made due with what it was and got along OK. Rather than doing that I left- never to return and totally disillusioned with the whole experience. The real question is this: should I have had to readjust my expectations at all?

So what does this have to do with Mark Chapter 5?

There is a picture that is painted by the whole chapter that is not evident at first glance. We have the man possessed by demons roaming amongst the dead, the woman plagued by bleeding, and the dead girl. In each case Jesus stepped in and healed someone in a miraculous way. Each one of these people though would have been seen by the first century Jew as unworthy, unfit, unwanted, and unclean. Indeed, perhaps the central message of the Gospel is that each one of us is in our own way much like the central characters in this chapter. We are all unfit but Jesus has reached out to us and made us fit. We are all unwanted but Jesus desires us anyway.

I guess the question I have is why are so many of our churches today so ready to declare people unworthy and unfit and unwanted? This seems more in line with the message of the Pharisees that it does with the message of Christ. It seems to me that today we are still looking for reasons to exclude people from the good news rather than letting Jesus make them worthy. He does not make enough money. She is a liberal. He is a Jeff Gordon fan (joking). He drinks. She smokes. He cusses. Unclean, unfit, unworthy.

I heard a really good message the other day that included an allusion to Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was a crippled man that nevertheless was an heir to the throne of Saul. When David took over as king he called for Mephibosheth and told him that he was always welcome at the King’s table. Here is the reply:

And he paid homage and said, "What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?"
2 Samuel 9:8

Perhaps this is the response of every lost soul who has been found by the King. I know that it captures my sentiments pretty well. How can we so quickly turn from this wonder and astonishment to locking the doors to prevent any other dead dogs from wandering in? I imagine that many people today have an ideal of church that is not unlike my view of college. They would see church as a place where they could be accepted regardless of their flaws. My guess is that many who find this not to be true will likely leave- never to return. Can you imagine the demon possessed man returning to wander amongst the tombs once he had been healed? Somehow I don’t think that happened and yet people today are leaving churches to return the tombs they had escaped. We need to fix this.

What I found unusual about Mark Chapter 5 is that Jesus went to the unclean and made them clean. This was a scandal that eventually got Him killed yet He did it anyway. The church should be doing the same.

The "Good" Son

"Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.' But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!'
(Luke 15:25-30)

I am not sure how many times I have read this parable and focused on the younger son. The one that was lost. I saw so much of him in my earlier life and was thankful to have a Father that had welcomed me back in spite of my failings. I am not proud of my time in a far off land but it is a part of my past.

As I grew in faith I wanted to be more like the Father in the parable. I wanted to demonstrate grace to others in my life even when they wished me dead. I wanted to be able to forgive no matter what they had done. I am afraid that I have fallen far short of the Father. It is not as easy to say all is forgiven as I had imagined. I pray when the time comes that I have the grace within me to say just that.

The “good” son is often overlooked in this parable. He comes across as ungrateful and I often associated him with people that I knew that looked down on others that were not as righteous as they were. He did not understand how the Father could forgive the “lost” son for the crimes that he had committed when he had been so faithful. He appears to believe that he has earned some part of his inheritance for his behavior.

When I look at this parable from a perspective of God’s grace I get a different picture than I used to. I now see that the “good” son was missing more than the gracious act of his father (toward the younger son). He was spending so much time and energy trying to earn the Father’s grace that he did not realize that he was walking in it all along.

It appears to me that I have become the “good” son of late and it breaks my heart that I have not appreciated the love the Father has for me. I have been stuck in a rut of self-righteousness where I have tried my best to justify why I deserve better than I have been getting. I am thankful for Godly advice from a great friend that has given me a time of refreshment.

And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"
(Luke 15:31-32)

There is great comfort in these words for me. Despite all my failings of late, the Father still has great love for me. What I love best about this parable is how I can so often find myself somewhere in it. Now that I have recognized my own issues with self-righteousness I find that I have wandered to the point where I need to return back to my Father. In becoming the older “good” son it seems that I have realized that I actually need to be more like the younger “lost” son and return to my Father’s house. I still strive to be like the Father. I want to be able to demonstrate grace in all seasons. There is far too much ungrace in this world for me to contribute to it. I ask forgiveness from any that I may have hurt and pray for healing. Pray with me.

Love and peace-
Bruce

P.S. So now these three things remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.

What do I need to do to be saved?

Please God, I am begging you, just tell me what I need to do. Just tell me what box to check so I can check it. I want to check the box. I want to make sure that I have done everything that I can so that I can be with you when I die. I want to be sure and lately I have not been so sure.

Some have told me that I do not spend enough time reading your word. How much time is enough God? Is one hour a day enough or will thirty minutes be okay? Should I spend every waking hour that I am not at work or spending time with my family reading the Bible? Is reading Christian literature about the Bible and about you okay to read or should I only read your word? Just tell me how much so I can check off this box. I want to check the box but I am not sure if I have done enough.

Others have told me that reading is not enough. I must study your word as well. I need to learn the native languages so I can understand the verses in their proper context. Do I need to be fluent in these languages or is it enough that I look up the Greek or Hebrew for confusing passages? How much study is enough? I need to know so that I can check the box God, but I am unsure if I have done enough.

Some have told me that I must give of my finances in order to be saved. How much do I have to give? Is a tithe sufficient? Is that before or after taxes? Does all the money have to go to my local church or can I use some of it to support missionaries? Does giving money to the widow and the orphan directly count or must it go through my local church body? Does my time that I spend serving count? How can I know when I have given enough? I want to make sure that I have done enough so that I can check the box? Please God, can you help me?

Yet others have told me that I must share your word with others in order to show that I am saved. Does leading by example count or must I actually share the Gospel with words? Does it count if I share the word with those in the church so that I am making disciples or must I go to the unchurched as well? How about apologetics? Does refuting the arguments of those that oppose you and giving them a reason for the hope that is in me count? Please tell me how much I need to do so I can check the box.

And then there are the commandments. Must I keep them all or do I only need to keep the big ten? Can I still check the box if I repent of my sins when I am made aware of them or must I be perfect? What if I sin and die before repenting? Am I lost with no hope or does my previous confessions and repentance count?

When Joshua led the Israelites into the Promised Land he was very prophetic. He told them to choose that day whom they would serve. They chose to serve the Lord and Joshua replied:

But Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good."
(Joshua 24:19-20)

In looking at my partial list above I realize that I am unable to serve the Lord. At various times in my life I have tried very hard and ended up feeling as if I was further in debt than when I started. I can not do what is necessary to check the box. Even in those moments when I come close I tarnish my efforts with my pride. It appears that there is no hope for me ever doing enough to be saved.

Strangely, at the end of my efforts when all hope in self is lost, faith can be found. Faith in the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. Faith in the words of the Son of Man. Faith that when He said “It is finished” that he meant it. Faith that His death on the cross was sufficient to overcome my shortcomings. Faith that His resurrection guaranteed victory over death.

It is here that the humble realization takes place that there is nothing you can ever do that will be enough. It is here that you turn to God again and whisper your plea- I can not do this, please help me. If I am ever going to be saved Lord it is up to you and you alone for I am incapable. Here you understand the meaning of “It is finished” and realize that He already has helped you. It is here that your faith in self is transformed into faith in God.

Every once in a while we need a reminder of this. In spite of the efforts and the tears I am thankful for the reminder. My hope is in you God for all hope is lost if it is up to my efforts.

Peace.

A Graveyard Visit

I stopped at the graveyard on the way home from picking her up from school. We were looking for a grave marker. Something that would tell us who was buried there. We wanted to find one that included the name Joseph. We took separate paths and looked for about ten minutes before finding it. A clear marker letting all know that Joseph was buried here. It is certain that those who knew Joseph well also knew where this marker was. They knew where the tomb was because they knew who Joseph was.

Sometimes when we are reading scripture we overlook simple details that are rather mundane. Below is one example of such a mundane detail:

Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the Council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.

(Mark 15:43-47)

There are a few things that we can note about this simple burial story. First to note is that Joseph was a member of the Council. This means that he was a member of the group that helped to send Jesus to His death. It is not likely that Joseph would have been a Christian invention. The resurrection claims could have been refuted quite simply with claims from the Jewish leaders that there was no such person. We do not have any records of such claims from the Jewish leaders.

In fact, we can go further to say that there are actually no competing burial stories at all. The silence of the Jews on this matter speaks loudly to the truth of the Gospel narrative. If Jesus were not buried in the tomb of Joseph then we would know. There would be some record claiming that He had been buried elsewhere but there are none. This may seem like a rather mundane detail but why is it important?

The earliest records we have are claims from the Jewish leaders that the disciples stole the body. Why would they make this claim? There was something that they were trying to explain. Something that they refused to believe but has given people hope for 2000 years. Think back to my trip to the graveyard. If the friends and relatives of that Joseph knew where he was buried, then how many more people would know where the tomb of a member of the Council would be? How many of them do you think went and checked the claims of the women and the disciples? How many of them were at a loss to explain how the body of a dead man could go missing? So they make up a story to try to keep the masses quiet.

Their story gives us a certain fact about the resurrection account. The lack of a competing burial story testifies to its truth. The standing of Joseph in the community completes our knowledge of one thing with certainty on that Sunday morning 2000 years ago.

The tomb was empty. Praise God, He is risen!

The Problem with Rob Bell

The Problem with Rob Bell

Don’t get me wrong. I actually like Rob Bell and I have no intention of bashing him in this blog. He is a truly gifted storyteller that comes across as being genuinely passionate for the lost. I do not think that he has written his latest book simply to make money or to lead people astray. In fact, I would go further to say that Rob Bell has at least done modern Christianity a favor by bringing a discussion to the table that most people are afraid to speak about.

I have participated in discussions with atheists and agnostics for a good number of years now. It is often easy to dismiss the questions and objections of both of these groups without giving it some serious thought. Serious thought leads to serious questions and apparently Rob Bell has at least been listening to this group. The first chapter in his new book is really not much more than a summation of arguments of an atheist acquaintance of mine.

These are serious questions. They are questions that should be addressed. I applaud Rob for bringing them to light. However, the wording of a question can often lead one to an emotional response. Rob has phrased these questions in such a manner as to create an emotional response in the reader. As a pastor and a voice in Christianity that many listen to, Rob should make his case from scripture for whatever point he would like to argue in favor of without manipulating the reader by emotional pleas. However, this is a minor complaint. He is not the only one to use such methods for persuasive purposes.

My real problem is actually the underlying message in the book. Believe it or not I am not talking about the universalism that is throughout the book. No, there is something else at heart here that needs to be addressed and universalism is merely a symptom.

Perhaps Rob has seen too much of Fred Phelps in the news and it has caused him to question the God of the Fred Phelps of the world. Perhaps this is what led him to write Love Wins. Surely God does not hate everyone that Fred Phelps hates, right? A God like that is not just. A God like that is not love. A God like that is not merciful. You see what really irritates people about Fred Phelps is that he judges everyone and it is not his place to say who gets to heaven and who does not.

Nor is it Rob Bell’s place to judge everyone and that is really the underlying problem for both Rob Bell and Fred Phelps (and ironically everyone who rushes to condemn either of them). You don’t see the similarity? Fred sees judgment and condemns. Rob sees love and pardons. Each is sitting in a place that is not theirs. It is God’s to forgive and to condemn and not ours and sometimes in the heat of the debate we forget this. Perhaps the largest component of faith in God is trust. Both Fred and Rob have assumed the role of judge and in doing so have abandoned trust in God.

There are questions about hell that should be addressed. It should not be a topic that is avoided like the plague. Rob actually asks some of the questions in his chapter on hell. However, he has also assumed his conclusions and then chosen scripture to support this conclusion. Once again, this shows (at least in my eyes) an underlying lack of trust in God.

I trust that whatever happens to me when I die that it will be a perfect display of God’s love and justice. I think that most people who have faith in God could agree with that statement. The great temptation for all of us is to assume that the same will not be true for everyone else. We see the tremendous acts of love in a friend and we have a hard time seeing how God could condemn anything that they do. We see an awful display of sin in someone and have a hard time seeing how God could possibly love such a person. This is because we are not God.

I imagine that this book will sell a lot of copies. If you are interested in reading it, I would recommend going to Barnes and Noble for a couple hours. It really is light material for the most part and an easy read. I hope that it fosters discussion rather than acrimony but I doubt that it will.

A Challenge

But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion.
(Luke 10:33)

It was a brutally hot Atlanta day when we knocked on the door of the apartment building in the projects. It was only ten o’clock but I was already covered in sweat when the young mother answered the door. Unlike many of the other doors we had knocked on, this woman seemed happy to see us and gladly accepted our meager food supplies that we offered her. Much like at many of the other homes we asked if there was anything that we could do for her. She asked for me to pray for her that day and I had compassion on her.

We entered her tiny apartment and were immediately struck by the odor of rotting meat. The heat outside paled in comparison to the stifling, stale apartment. I saw her small children in their dirty clothes and unwashed faces. I saw the dirt and trash that littered her floor. I also saw in her face expectancy- a hope that did not belong there and a tear in her eye. I began to pray for her and I had compassion on her.

We completed our rounds through the other buildings and spent some time playing with the neighborhood kids prior to heading home that day. My favorite part was always playing with the children. They are easy to love and they return the love without question. One of the kids had part of a pop tart stuck in his shirt and grape juice stains on his face. As he extended his arms for me to pick him up I could not help but have compassion for him.

Today I am still troubled by that day. What has become of us that we can keep this clean and send a check to someone overseas and call it compassion? Should we sleep comfortable at night because we know there is a 6 year old in Uganda that has it better than her peers because we sacrificed a few pennies? Is this really what Jesus meant when he talked about loving our neighbor?

If we look at the text that leads up to the Parable of the Good Samaritan we see that the question being asked of Jesus is pretty straight forward:

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How do you read it?" And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live."
(Luke 10:25-28)

This seems to me to be a fairly important question and answer session with very simple answers. Love God and your neighbor and you shall live. The only real question I have is how do I know if I love God and how do I know if I love my neighbor? Fortunately we have the answers in scripture so we do not need to guess. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our love of theology that we can miss some very simple concepts. Jesus tells us that if we love him then we will do what he commands. This is a stumbling block for many- for our pride does not want to submit to the authority of God in our lives. However if we first examine what Jesus has commanded us to do, perhaps our pride will not get in the way.

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.
(John 15:10-14)

Now if you have read up to this point you may have come to the conclusion that all you really need to do is love your neighbor in a sacrificial way to fulfill the commandment of Christ. Could it really be that simple? Paul seems to think so:

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
(Galatians 5:14)

So now we have come to the point in the story where we all find ourselves at some point. We are like the lawyer before Jesus looking for some way out of loving our neighbor. Even when the law is simplified to this degree we look for a way out. We wish to redefine it so it need not be messy and dirty. We wish to remove the compassion from the equation and replace it with legal requirements met on paper. Jesus did not really leave us that as an option though did he? The definition of love has not really changed as much as some people would like to have you think. So, back to our Samaritan…

As he journeyed
The Samaritan did not even need to go out of his way to love his neighbor. The opportunity will present itself as we journey. There will be occasions where we come to where people are in need and we will have a choice. We can meet them in judgment as did the Levite and the priest or we can meet them in compassion as the one who was praised by Jesus did. Seems like a pretty simple choice to me but yet I still choose to be like the priest and the Levite more often than not. I hope that you will join me in praying that I can be more like the Samaritan this year.

He had compassion
There was recently an opportunity at my church to meet a need of someone who had been left for dead by the side of the road. A request was made by the pastor and the people had compassion and responded like the Samaritan. There was a physical need that we could meet or we could choose to judge. This day we chose to meet the need and it was met with enough left over to meet the need of another couple who had also been left for dead. To have compassion for someone means to suffer with them. We all have opportunities every day where we can choose to suffer with someone or we can choose to let them suffer alone. I hope that you will join me in praying that I can be more compassionate this year.

The one who showed him mercy
There is a tendency today to redefine love in such a way so that it removes mercy from the equation. It tends to sterilize the word and make it mean something that it does not. There has been much backlash against any type of social gospel where the goal is to meet the physical needs of the people. This runs contrary to what Jesus taught. In this passage there is no conversation to convict the poor beaten man of his sins. There is no gospel tract left to make sure that the man knows he is deserving of the punishment he received. Instead there is a man that meets the physical needs of someone that is in need and as a result he is lifted up as an example of how we should act. I hope that you will join me in praying that I can show mercy to others.

You go, and do likewise
So there it is in red letters for you. The words of our master commanding our obedience. Do you love him? Scripture is pretty clear that if we do love him then we will do as he commands us. His commands are not burdensome although they may lead us to sweat or to get dirty. As I was swinging my pop tart young friend around in circles I was not thinking about how hot it was or how hard it was. I was not concerned with how dirty he was or what a fool I might look like. Instead, I was sharing the love of God with him. The challenge before me is to go and do likewise more frequently.

"With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
(Micah 6:6-8)

My Non-Resolution for the New Year

So 2011 is now here and with it comes all kinds of resolutions. I have a few but I have become more realistic as I have aged. Rather than resolving, I have downgraded these to "hopes" for the new year. A lot of these are the same typical ones that most people have. I hope to spend more time with family. I hope to lose a few pounds and get in better shape. I hope to visit friends that I have not seen in a while. Perhaps I will look back at the end of the year and see how I did, but probably not. I will probably have the same resolutions again next year and the same disappointment at the end of the year. That is- I will not have lost as much weight or spent enough time or visited enough friends. Perhaps you can relate for maybe you have been through the same thing.

I have also at various times in the past made the commitment to grow closer to God and to "do" more for Him. I am not going to make this commitment this year. It seems that in the past any time I have made such commitments that I have had one of two results. If I managed to be successful, then my pride got the best of me as I proudly puffed my chest and said "look at me". Pride is not the best attribute for those that are pursuing God so I do not think that outcome is desirable.

So if success leads to pride, where does failure lead to? What happens to me if I do not live up to my "commitments"? Guilt. Fear. Condemnation. This does not seem like the proper result either for one who is walking with God (or at least trying to). Guilt and fear are the things that drive people away from God and the goal is to grow closer. So if success leads to exalting myself and failure leads to avoiding God, I do not think that I should be making a resolution this year to grow closer to God.

So what should I do if that is actually my desired goal? If I want to grow closer to God, is there anything that I can do to give that possibility a better chance?

Surrender. I think that in America this is indeed a large problem. we love our independence and our self reliance. I think that plays a large part in our New Year's resolutions. Resolutions are all about us and what we can do to make ourselves better. We do not like to submit to others yet this is where the key lies. You see our relationship with God is less dependent upon our abilities and our commitments and much more dependent upon our submission. It is about submitting our will to His so how can we possibly think that we can impose our will and grow closer to God?

Surrender is an act that leads to our following the direction of another. If someone were to pull a gun on you in a dark alley, you would not ramble on about how you are committed to raising your hands or how you resolve to give him your wallet. No, instead you would simply submit to what he says. This is how we should act in our relationship with God. So in actuality there are some things you can do to help the situation.

First we can learn what it is that God would have us do. I would suggest that if you desire to know what God would have you do that you start by examining His word and how His son fulfilled it. However, it may be a tad too difficult to follow directly in the steps of Jesus so maybe you should start small and work your way up. A good place to start is by loving God and loving your neighbor. Some of the other commandments seem to have a way of tempting us into disobedience. However, loving God and others seems to come with a built in reward system that allows us to sometimes come close to following the command. So to put it simple, find out what you are supposed to be doing and do it. That is what surrender is about really.

So this year I do not resolve to grow closer to God. I am not going to commit to doing anything for Him. Instead I hope to humbly submit and pray that He helps me when I fail. Happy New Year and may God bless you, keep you, and direct you.