Following Jesus Isn’t Always Easy, But Never Forget God Loved You First!
Following Jesus’ voice isn’t always’ easy, because we are often called to live outside the bounds of what we can imagine possible. Jesus tells us: “You are asked to be perfect as our heavenly father is perfect.
God will always challenge us—through the voices of those who disagree with us; through the Gospel; through life’s challenging circumstances. Each of these help us to see God as more than we imagine.
Why? We are called to eternity, to endless life with God. There is no limit to the love of God we can receive and give if only we listen. If we let the heart and mind grow in response to God’s love, our boundaries will expand.
As my doctor once suggested: Every atom in our bodies comes from an exploded star. It really is the most poetic thing I know about physics. It tells us we are all a kind of stardust. This invites us to do a little stargazing. When we look at the night sky, it isn’t supposed to remind us how small we are, but rather how vast God’s love truly is! Just another hopeful sign. It tells us that we can always return to God because God first journeyed to us.
Robert Frost told us that in his poem, “The Road Not Taken” that on this road God awaits to accompany us and each road we take or do not take can make all the difference. God wants nothing less than our hearts and souls to keep making room for more of his creation. He tells us: “Love God and your neighbor as yourself.” And, “Love others as I loved you.”
But in our hearts God is whispering, “You can always become better than you are.” This keeps our spirituality alive and well. This doesn’t mean we’re bad right now. But what God is offering is better than we are right now. Whether our thoughts shape our speech or vice versa, our speech often functions as a mirror of our inner person.
Good and evil reside in our hearts and are communicated through what we say and what we do. What we say and how we say it truly matters. Indeed, tonal quality of our voice is important. When Jesus spoke to the woman caught in adultery. His manner was soft and gentle: “Go and sin no more.” Another example where Jesus would rather forgive than punish.
To follow Jesus doesn’t always mean: My life will always be perfect. It means when it is not my life is not to my liking, Jesus is there helping me get closer to where he wants me to be!
All lives are messy. They suffer tragedies, grow old, and die. It can be a friend, a spouse, a parent, a child. Each of us, families, and communities, push on through the expression of pain, and the darkness of grief. Such miseries can bring us to the brink of despair. Hope can vanish quickly. And it can feel like the sun no longer shines. At these times, Jesus announces for all to hear: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Just as we can never know food if we are never hungry. We cannot know God if never know our own sinfulness. But at the same time, we can never forget God love us.
