The Rabbit Must Disappear

All right, Christianity will do you good – a great deal more good than you ever wanted or expected. And the first bit of good it will do you is to hammer into your head (you won’t enjoy that!) the fact that what you have hitherto called ‘good’ – all that about ‘leading a decent life’ and ‘being kind’ isn’t quite the magnificent and all-important affair you supposed. It will teach you that in fact you can’t be ‘good’ (not for twenty-four hours) on your own moral efforts. And then it will teach you that even if you were, you still wouldn’t have achieved the purpose for which you were created. Mere morality is not the end of life. You were made for something quite different from that…The people who keep on asking if they can’t lead a decent life without Christ, don’t know what life is about; if they did they would know that ‘a decent life’ is mere machinery compared with the thing we men were really made for. Morality is indispensable: but the Divine Life, which gives itself to us and which calls us to be gods, intends for us something in which morality will be swallowed up. We are to be re-made. All the rabbit in us is to disappear – the worried, conscientious, ethical rabbit as well as the cowardly and sensual rabbit. We shall bleed and squeal as the handfuls of fur come out; and then, surprisingly, we shall find underneath it all a thing we have never yet imagined: a real Man, an ageless god, a son of God, strong, radiant, wise, beautiful, and drenched in joy.

-C. S. Lewis, ‘The Business of Heaven’

Get out!

I just spent a weekend away with my brothers. We went to Pisgah, AL to stay at a Christian camp there. We spent the weekend hiking, rock climbing and rapelling in some of the most raw and beautiful scenes the Creator has made. Whether you are the outdoorsy type or not, I really feel it is a necessity to get out in nature, to see what He has created. How else can we know how small we are? How else can we know His creative genius? How else are we to know the majesty of His creation? Get out people! Go outside, sit in His creation and feel His embrace!

Thief

I was pulling out of my subdivision this morning headed to work when I saw it. The sun was rising and was just visible between two houses in a brilliant red-orange glow. Light was shooting up; it appeared at an angle through some light clouds on the horizon. The bottoms of the clouds were a bright reflection of light. It was gorgeous…and I was moved. See, the Father knows that I love those beautiful moments in nature. You know what I’m talking about? Those times when you see something and for that moment, God reaches down and squeezes your heart, kisses you on the cheek with the breathtaking touch of His hand in nature.

Then what happens? I got stuck in a traffic jam. Figures. And that beautiful moment, that sigh of joy began to suddenly fade. That sucks and I found myself asking why that moment was gone. I was reminded of John 10:10 where Jesus reminds us that the enemy comes to steal and kill and destroy.

I really hate that punk Satan. I hate him for trying to steal my joy. I can’t wait for the day when this fight is over and Jesus comes back to kick some satanic ass. Because, when that day comes, these moments of joy, those touches of His hand will never be stolen again. In the meantime, I have to hold on to His promise that He came to give me life and life more abundantly. So take that, thief! You won’t steal my joy! Not today.

The Big L

I wonder about the purpose of the Father in my life sometimes. I mean, there are things I believe He has asked me to do, dreams and visions I believe He has called me to. So what's with the delay? I keep having to remind myself that His ways are not mine, His time is not mine. I keep having to sacrifice my goals, dreams, plans...indeed my heart on the altar of His goodness.

And I'm finding real Life there. Not "life" with a little l but "Life" with a big L. The Life. His Life in me.

How cool is that?!

Strength and Honor!