Out With The Old, In With The New

After about three years of marriage, I have noticed that I have taken on various mannerisms and practices of my wife. They range from making lists and drawing small boxes next to the item or task, so that when it's completed I can check it off,  to acquiring a secret affinity for Gilmore Girls and their wit, not so much a secret anymore due to this transparent blog. One of the practices that I have taken on as my own, and actually enjoy now, is what we call "purging". It is a very simple concept of getting rid of things that we no longer use or enjoy anymore to make room for something better. We do it with movies, clothes, books and now most recently, perspective. For a long time I considered myself to be a radical Christian. The church I went to years ago was traditional, so I considered myself to be making the statement that I was not bound by religion or tradition by wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and Chuck Taylor's instead of a suit. I am now truly embarrassed by the absurdity of that notion. I was a licensed minister of the gospel, which is also absurd that I sought out a license from man to serve in the ministry that was given to each one of us by God, the ministry of reconciliation(2 Cor.5:18-19). I served in various ministries and stayed busy and worn out because, although I was unaware of it at the time, I was trying to please God by what I did for Him. I did not know that I was already pleasing to Him before I did anything. My identity was wrapped up in what I did instead of what Jesus had already done.  This proved to be destructive and discouraging because if i ever missed a "ministering" opportunity, I felt as if I had disappointed God. I had a very distorted perception of how God viewed me and how I viewed Him based on my past and present relationships, opinions and statements of others, and any other external source that I had allowed to dictate my perspective. This inevitably would influence my behavior, attitude and relationship with God. Which is where the "purging" concept comes in. I truly desired to be more intimate with God, to know Him and accept Him as Father, but I was going about it in the wrong way. My answer was "do more for God" and therein find a deeper relationship with Him. Although pure in intention, it was fatally flawed in practice. Have you ever worked at gaining someone's approval and acceptance...it is exhausting!! You get to a point where you think that you have now reached your goal in acquiring this desired position, but now you have to work to maintain your good standing. This, in a nutshell, was my frame of thinking. "Now that I've finally gotten into God's good graces through this tedious effort...now it's time to get to work". Sounds depressing. How can you enjoy being in a relationship with someone that you feel you have to work on getting them to like you? Wouldn't it be so much easier if you were fully aware that you already had their attention, approval and acceptance? Then all of your efforts that were being exhausted could be redirected and refocused to serve as a response to the love that was being shown to you. My journey into a more intimate relationship and friendship with God did not begin with what I could do, but who I was to Him. I found favor in His sight not because of my moral excellence but because of the value that He attributed to me. My identity was not secured by my own efforts, but through the loving act of Jesus willingly giving up His life for mine. Think about it, what causes something to be considered valuable? Is it the subject itself or what it can do or is it what someone is willing to pay for it? God thought that our lives were so worth giving His only Son. Could you give your only child? We make that statement and use the scripture "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" so much that I think that we have become desensitized to it. I don't believe that this was a casual and cavalier event for God..."Well, what's on the task list today? Go to grocery store, get my oil changed, give up my only son for the redemption of people who don't even really like me, complete my P90X workout...." No, I don't believe that this was in any form easy for God, but how important must you be that He found it to be absolutely necessary? God has gone through great lengths to place us in such a privileged position where we are no longer identified by our actions or who we used to be(2 Cor.5:21). Our sins have been perpetually forgiven because Jesus paid the debt that we owed(Hebrews 10:10-12). If you owe a creditor, all the creditor is concerned about it is getting their money. They are not concerned about who pays it, only that it does get paid. And once it is paid and the debt is satisfied, what more do you have to do in relation to the creditor....NOTHING!! The debt of sin was paid by blood, by death.  Jesus' death satisfied the debt and released us from it or pardoned us from it...so what more do we have to do in relation to sin? Our forgiveness is not pending upon anything we have to do, it is settled in what Jesus has already done. God has made such provisions for freedom by grace. We have been freed from the enslavement of sin, no longer subjected to its control(Romans 6:6-14). Sin no longer defines me because Jesus removed it from me. The label of sinner can no longer be attached to me because I have been made brand new. My very nature, my inherent tendencies, and character are totally new, with new proclivities to love God and love people. I am a son, not an orphan...a saint not a sinner.(2 Cor. 5:17, Col. 2:11, Galatians 4:6)