To Be part 2
I think people just want to be. Be accepted. Be loved. Be known. And I think that's why people are willing to DO in order to be. We think the juice is worth the squeeze. "If I have to work for what I want... at least I'll get what I want in the end." The problem is... there never seems to be an end. The carrot is right there in front of us, but the stick keeps jerking it away at the last minute. Mark 10:17 puts it like this, "And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" See the problem? Eternal life is a gift. You can't arn a gift. And you don't get an inheritance because of what you DO. You get an inheritance because of who you ARE (and because of who your Daddy is). But Jesus, teaching the Law to those under the Law, told the man to obey "the commandments." And the man said he did. "Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me" (Mark 10:21). One thing thou lackest. There always seems to be one more thing to do in religion. One more hoop to jump through. One more labour. One more work. Guys... the work is finished! Before Jesus told the man that there was still one thing he lacked... Jesus looked at him and loved him! The man already had the very thing he was looking for! But he was looking for something external. Something to be added to him. He was looking to earn his bread--the love and acceptance of God--by the sweat of his brow. He didn't know God already loved him. Always had and always would. So he was robbing himself from his inheritance by trying to earn what is freely given. That's what makes sense to the carnal, unregenerated mind: Do good and be rewarded, do evil and be punished. Makes sense. But there's a more excellent way. And that more excellent way is Jesus. That more excellent way is love. Remember, Adam was the son of God, but he didn't know who he was, and he didn't know who God was. Jesus was the BELOVED Son of God because He knew exactly who He was and He allowed Himself to BE loved by God! That's the importance of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:13-14 describes the Holy Spirit as the earnest of our inheritance. Because the Holy Spirit--our love receptor--is what opens up our inheritance. The Holy Spirit is what allows us to receive and release, experience and share, our inheritance. The inheritance of eternal life. Because life IS love. To live is to love and to love is to live. We are human beings, not human doings. We don't do in order to be. We do BECAUSE we be. We have been given something--the gift of God, eternal life--and now we have something. Something so good that we can't keep it to ourselves. Something so good that we can't help but share it. We ARE accepted in the beloved. We ARE loved. And we are known, on that deep inner man, hidden man of the heart, level. And that's why we can accept, and love, and know one another. Accept as we are accepted. Love as we are loved. And know as we are known. And that's what tomorrow's Rant is going to be about.