Skip to main content

Not Mastered By Anything

             “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything. (I Corinthians 6:10) 

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. (I Corinthians 6:23) 

“If your god is really a god, he can do whatever he wants.”

I agree. God can do whatever He wants, but it’s not wise to continue with the presupposition that He would want to do the things we might want to do, or the things that the pagan gods have been described as wanting to do.  It is equally unwise to ascribe to Him the motives we find in ourselves, especially if ours are ours at our worst.

But this is our struggle. We find motives in ourselves     that – if (and when) they are attributed to God, they are considered a reason to reject God. If we find them in others, those others are declared to be monsters. In ourselves (as noted yesterday), we flatter ourselves that they are harmless, or that they harm only ourselves, or that somehow, we’re different – special.

When we start dealing with ourselves honestly, we must admit that today’s passages are true. Not everything we want to do is constructive. Some things we think we want to do control us – or would if given a chance. This is where the idea of dying to self comes in. We are not as able to do anything we want as God is, but within the limitations of what is possible for a physical being, we can do what we want. The question is whether what we want is the best possible thing for us to do. Too often, that matter. All that matters is that we wants it. (Oh yes, my Precious.)

          Dying to self isn’t bludgeoning ourselves for eternity. As Dallas Willard puts it, it’s about coming to live life as Jesus would live it if He were to take our places. It’s not about never getting to do what I want, but on learning to want to do good, right, and best things instead of settling for what we think we want because we happen to (think we) want it.

          This week, John Ortberg suggested that we adopt the 15-minute rule. If we want to do something, especially about which we have questions, we wait for 15 minutes, praying about the issue.

          At the end of 15 minutes, we can have it if we still want it. But maybe tomorrow, make it 16 minutes.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more