Fed and Led part 3
They say a boss makes workers and a leader makes more leaders. That's a crucial difference. Look at Romans 8:29, "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." That's what happened on the cross! In the beginning we were MADE in God's image. But we didn't know what that image was. Not until we were CONFORMED to the image of His Son. Not until we were fed, and led to the living water (inside us), could we know Him as Father and ourselves as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. That's why Jesus gave His life for us and to us; because He wanted us to have it. Because He wanted us to experience it as He lives it in us, and through us, and as us. That Lamb in the midst of the throne led us straight TO the throne! The throne of grace that Noah saw in His eyes. Because that's where it is. Inside us. The Holy Spirit--the Spirit of Truth--leads us straight to our true identity: Jesus. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. I read somewhere that Jesus is not a window into what we might someday be. He is a mirror who shows us who we really are. And that's the difference between a boss and a leader. That's the difference between religion and rest. Be NOT conformed to this world. But BE transformed (into what you've already been transformed into) by the renewing of your mind. By letting Jesus lead you. By letting Him reveal Himself to you, and in you, and through you, and as us. By revealing love to you. We learn how to love by learning how we are loved. By the God who IS love. Jesus doesn't want robots. He is the firstborn among many brethren. He doesn't want us to try (and fail) to follow in His foot steps. The Law wasn't given because it could be kept. It can't be kept. It was given as the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. To show us that we can't, so that we'll stop trying and let Him. We aren't supposed to follow in His foot steps. We're supposed to let Him make His own foot steps with our feet! We're not living "for" Him as much as we're living IN Him. He's living IN us. So this idea of, "My boss is a carpenter"... I don't buy it. Jesus is not my boss. He's my life! The good shepherd lays down His life for His flock. And in the same way we ought to lay down our lives for each other. He didn't come to be served. He came to serve. And in the same way, we ought to serve each other. He showed us who we really are by loving the hell out of us. By getting down on His knees and washing our feet. By giving us everything He had and everything He was. Not because He thought He could get anything out of it, but because He wanted us to have it. Love with a motive is not love. Love doesn't HAVE a motive, love IS the motive. The good Shepherd doesn't protect and guide and feed His flock because He wants something from them. He does it because He loves them. Period. Exclamation point. Underlined. Bold. It's all about love. That's what the living water inside us is. It refreshes those who are thirsty. And it is freely given. Freely received, and freely given. All we have to do is believe on Him. Trust in Him. Let Him do what He's going to do, so that we can do what we're going to do. Naturally. Not through works and labor, but from a posture of rest. Recreating Himself in us as He shows us who we really are by showing us who He really is!