In my early youth, there was nothing I enjoyed more than spending time with my
dad. Didn't matter what we were doing, I just liked being with him. I remember
one summer when he had promised me a week with him on the road and how disappointed
I was when he had to cancel. He was working a sales route up in South Dakota,
and more than see a state I had never been to, I just wanted to be with my dad.
He took me later that summer to Kansas which was still good, but I still
remember the huge disappointment of the initial letdown. As I grew older and
more cynical, I was less enamored about spending time with the "old man" as I
would call him behind his back. During my rebellious teens, the more he would
tell me what to do, the more I tried to do just the opposite. While it still
bothered me to disobey him, I nonetheless wanted to do what I wanted to do. My
troubled feelings were not enough to keep me from following my own selfish
desires which eventually aided my addictions.
While my
father was not a godly man, he nevertheless tried to live morally and understood
the consequences of where my behavior was taking me. No amount of talking or
cajoling to behave differently really mattered. It was not my final concern if
it broke my parents hearts. Often, it would cause me great consternation that I
was upsetting them, but I was still going to do what I wanted to do. Because of
this rebellious attitude, it would take years to undo the mess of not listening
to sound advice and living destructively. Occasionally, I would listen and make
a pittance of change but it would never last. I was not ready to listen to
wisdom on a daily basis which could change the course of my life.
Likewise, throughout the Gospels, we see continual instances of those who wanted
to live according to their desire and yet reap the benefit of being called God's
children. However, Jesus was always quick to point out they could not pick and
choose how they were to follow God. It is understandable why Jesus told the Jews
in our lead verse the importance to continue in His word. It does not matter if
they took what seemed like a clever saying of a great teacher and sought to
apply it in some abstract manner. The Lord wanted them to know the importance of
not selectively reasoning His sound bites in their minds, but to take all of His
words to their hearts. In Jesus' admonition, truth that ultimately sets people
free is that which a person allows to become an active dialogue within. Passing
from the brain to the heart, it becomes the Living Word within that changes
thought and action. The result is the demonstrative expression of their desire
to embrace not only the message, but the Messenger. This is the definition of a
disciple, to bring oneself under the discipline of the Teacher.
The
discipline of Jesus' statement to the Jews is profoundly rigorous. Undoubtedly,
some desired to just take bits and pieces of Christ without accepting everything
He required. Like these, we might be just as eager to accept the promises of God. However, it is
often easy to take a promise out of context or without its conditions. Jesus'
words here are a wonderful promise how the Son certainly sets us free through
the knowledge of the truth. The quid pro quo of Christ's promise in this
instance is the word "If" and then the condition of continuing in His word. What
does that mean, to continue in His word?
In simplest form, it means obedience to what Jesus says. That does not mean
picking and choosing what He says either. It means studying His love letters
written to us in the Holy Bible everyday. It means understanding that Jesus was
so full of love that He often spoke the truth with brutal honesty. It means
loving the Jesus that weeps over the lost but equally as much the Jesus who
whips sin out of His temple. Those who would just seek to "follow" Jesus'
teachings will never come any closer to knowing this Man then if someone tried
to follow the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi expecting to know him. Instead, we
must out of love and respect give ourselves to know Christ intimately by giving
ourselves to His word.
It often grieves me when I hear someone say they follow the teachings of Jesus.
Most of the time this shows me they have never met the Savior. No, what they follow instead is an
idea or a concept. This is not Christianity. To be a Christian is to fall in
love with the Man, Christ Jesus and want to know everything there is to know about Him.
It is to become like Him because we have surrendered to Him, not to an idea. In
the same way that children should obey their parents out of love and respect, so
should we embrace the active dialogue that God gives us in His word that is able
to change our lives. Then, beloved, we will know truth and the truth will set us free!
Heavenly Father, help us to know the truth of Your word. Set us free by not
understanding a concept but by knowing the Man, the Living Word of God, Christ
Jesus. Give us wisdom and understanding to do so. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Your
Barefoot Servant,
Rick
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