As I have now finished my exams and sit here in Sydney in my brothers apartment I can't help but remember the flight over, and the vivid feeling I got whilst looking out the plane window at the vast oceans and lands in the distance. I began to think "Jesus walked this earth, As did every other historical figure in history" as I came to this great thought my thoughts trailed on as they usually do and I started to think that maybe if for one day ever "Christian" that identifies with that title were to understand the cross, the significance of it, the sheer beautiful love and mercy that was poured out on that day, then maybe, just maybe we may see our world begin to shake of the wonders and works of God.
I thought that the land we live on today is the same land that Jesus himself lived on, so my great question of the night is simply. What’s changed?
Sure one could argue the masses of civilisations that have sprung up; the development of morals, economy's, societies, nations, infrastructure, transport, telecommunications... and the list goes on. I do not wish to regard all that as irrelevant but my simple thought is that the same land Jesus once walked on is the same land today. Why do we find it so difficult to put our trust and faith in the Lord when we have the living word of God as proof of the great wonders he performed thousands of years ago? Surely 'every knee shall bow and every tongue confess' but my thought is simply; what are we waiting for?
Some days we like to think that it would be nice if God could just sneeze and save every living person, and sometimes we question God's authority on that with the ever nagging "Well your all powerful, why don't you do it?" but to me I see the bible as God using man to reach man. Ever since the fall we have been riddled with sin and today is certainly no exception, I hear news of people torturing two month old babies, putting them in freezers and throwing them against walls and I can't help but think "Why can't God just stop this insanity" but at the same time I feel conviction.
Conviction that I have not done all I can to spread my testimony and my faith. Conviction that I have not discipled as many followers as possible. Conviction that we as a body are not the remedy for a world that is so sick. I think we all just need to sit back at one point in our lives and begin to understand that this same world we live on today is the same world that Jesus lived on, the same world on which he died the most gruesome possible death imaginable to simply make our lives better.
It is a conviction for each of us personally and we need not do things out of guilt, God is not here to guilt trip you by saying "well now I sent my son to die for you, you better give in that offering" and yet that is the view of so many. They either feel obliged to do something or don't want to do it because they think that God is too good for them. God loves us beyond our comprehension and he wants an A class life for each of us, that was true in the time of Adam and Eve. In the time of Abraham. In the time of Moses. In the time of Jesus and is still true today. What makes us think that anything has changed at all? Sure its an effort sometimes, and I do not wish to belittle that effort but so easily we can think "aw maybe I’ll do it tomorrow" but a friend recently told me of a moment like that she had and she automatically felt the spirit say to her "well maybe I didn't feel like dying on the cross" and I believe that should be our conviction. Mark 16:15 states to go into ALL the world and preach the good news, and I do not think that we should say "maybe tomorrow" to that. When it comes down to it it merely comes down to us opening our mouths and our hearts at the same time, sharing with strangers and friends why we have a smile on our face today, or simply sharing why life is so Good with God, sharing parts of our testimony.
One man changed the face of history; He loved life, Loved God, Loved people, and preached his good news to all the world that he encountered in his life. And he gave his life to see you follow in his footsteps. We all know that Jesus call's us to follow him, but are we taking it as seriously as a disciple? Or are we just part of the crowd?
Hmm rant over..
As usual thoughts are welcome :)
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1 comment:
Hello my dear man =]
Well, I decided I needed to leave a comment on here, because I haven't for a while, plus I'm feeling argumentative and you're my lucky victim for tonight XD
(So yes, please just remember that everything I am about to say is purely because I ran out of sleeping pills and can't find another way to get to sleep other than by arguing mwahahaha)
Firstly. I know you've heard my view of the Fall, and what I believe the symbolic representation of It is to me... However, you said we as humans have been riddled with sin ever since then. Sin is a concept that is developed as one gets older. The saying, "All children are born innocent" is because a child's brain cannot percieve what an adult sees as sin. Children see things as either black or white, and it is only with puberty that children start to see things as 'grey', where the boundries between the two are blurred, and the indecision that came with so-called knowledge after the Eve's Fall allows for hesitation and sin is entered into someone's heart. Incidentally, this coincides with my theory on the Fall being a metaphor for the transition from child to adult, but I'm sure you already picked that up =P
I'm not saying that I disagree with what you said, sin does riddle our souls, has done for a long time, and will undoubtedly continue to do so long after you and I have left this Earth. But if there was no sin to overcome, so-to-speak, then would there be any point in trying to better ourselves? If you stop and think about, the fact that sin exists at all is a blessing, because if there is vehement evil, by the rule of opposites in nature, then there HAS to exist absolute Good. Which may sound stupid to you, but I think it's beautiful =]
Ummm.. Oh yeah. I think you also said that Jesus died a most gruesome death so we could live better or something. But I thought his main gift, other than that of love, that He gave when he was crucified was that we were destined to rise again in the after-life... Which I suppose would improve our 'lives' but yeah. I'm being picky tonight tehehe =]
Erm... There wasn't anything else I had much to say really. Other than, if someone asked you what you were smiling about and you said God, they would probably think you're a bible-bashing fanatic, and that may not be the best way for you to encourage people lmao.
You write beautifully Daniel.
I'd invite you to read my blog, but it's full of shit in comparison, and I don't want you to get that taste in your mouth =]
As always, I love you. I hope you're enjoying your holiday in Sydney!!
From SA with love
-budgie
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