Ravished part 3
If you let it, God's love will ravish you. With even one glimpse into the grace in His eyes He will enclose you. Transport you. Carry you away to, well, let me say it like this: From hell to heaven. From death to life. But, like a seed, we need to make sure God's love is planted in good soil. And we need to make sure it is nurtured. So it can grow. So let me get to my memory verse for today: "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lighty" (Matthew 11:28-30 MSG). There's a lot there, so let's spend some time unpacking it. First I want to hit the "tired, worn out, burned out on religion" aspect. And I think that's so important because it seems to me like so many religious folk--even as they try to shove "Jesus" down people's throats--are pro-god, but antichrist. They want you to fit into their box, and if you do, maybe... just maybe... they'll love you. But love is not a prize to be won. WE are the prize that Jesus won BECAUSE He loves us! He gave everything He had and everything He was (and is) for us, and to us. He jumped through the hoop. He sacrificed Himself on the cross. He doesn't place demands on us. Nothing heavy or ill-fitting. Because He wants us to LIVE. To ENJOY the gift of life that we've been given. He wants us to FLOW. To REST. But rest isn't something you can just turn on and off like a light switch. Rest is something you learn how to do. And the first step in that is seeing that the work is finished. Seeing how the work GOT finished (on the cross), so you can stop trying to finish it. Walking with your Beloved and working with Him--as He walks and works in you and through you and as you. We have to LEARN the unforced rhythms of grace. Or, rather, UNLEARN the work-reward system that makes so much sense to the carnal mind. "If I do good, I'll be rewarded." Well... maybe the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hands. Maybe the gift of God was given to us simply because God wanted us to have it. And if you have to earn something... its not a gift. Notice that our passage says work WITH Him. Walk WITH Him. Keep company with Him and watch how He does it. Learn how to love by learning how God loves you. That's what a disciple is: A student of love. An everlasting life-long student of love. Because the deeper into God's love you go... the deeper you find you can go. It never stops. Never ends. It is literally better and better and better unto that perfect day. Not doom and gloom. Not bad and getting worse. But upward and God-ward. Learning to love as we are learning how God loves us. That's the whole point of the whole thing. That's why we were created. That's how much God loves us. He's willing to teach us. And to let us learn at our own pace. To let us make mistakes, and then help us get back up. And then to hold us up so we don't go down in the first place. Filling us with His love so that we can fill ourselves to overflowing with it and let it come out naturally. Ravishing us so that we can ravish each other. And that, of course, is for tomorrow.