Snippet: The God Who Love Us Enough to Guide Us

snip·pet | ˈsnipit | noun a small piece or brief extract.

Sarah Yardley, commenting on Psalm 119:165-168 which expresses love for God’s law:

“In a book called The Fault in Our Stars, John Green writes: ‘Some tourists think Amsterdam is a city of sin, but in truth it is a city of freedom. And in freedom, most people find sin.’ …the Psalmist writes here about the great peace and freedom we can find when we know and love the instruction of God. True freedom calls me to true obedience. In freedom, I am invited to follow the God who loves me enough to make all of his ways known to me.”

I heard this on the Lectio 365 devotional the same day I read an article by Justin Giboney citing a Netflix documentary on a 1980’s commune that went bad after trying to build a utopian city “by deconstructing the social norms and religious strictures that in their view suppress one’s true self.”

“When the commune received political pushback from other residents in the area, they became anything but compassionate. In the name of free love and self-expression, they attempted murder and committed fraud and bioterrorism to get their way. They also abused each other and exploited the homeless. Their attempt to completely rid themselves of all constraints left them defenseless against their own internal evils.”*

God’s ways should matter to Christians.

Throwing off biblically based “constraints” denies our own internal evil.

Repentance and faith and living in God’s grace is needed every day, not a new commitment to living under the law (as we’ve been seeing over the last few weeks in Romans 6:1–8:17).

Loving God and his commands, and seeking his help to live “in Christ” and “in the Spirit” is the way of Christ.

What does that look like?

It looks like what a growing relationship of love looks like.

That’s not as concrete as the alternatives of following the law or throwing off constraints to be free and be me. But it’s what we’re called to be and do.

*”Christian Virtue Strengthens the Social Justice Cause: Liberation from injustice starts with obedience to God and his moral order” by Justin Giboney, Christianity Today.

Photo by Debbie Molle on Unsplash

Snippet: “Is this really the thing or is there a thing beneath the thing?”

snip·pet | ˈsnipit | noun a small piece or brief extract.

Steve Carter (in a recent Carey Nieuwhof podcast episode) on what happened after he chased and caught a middle school boy who had thrown a chunk of ice at his car while driving:

"‘Who's the crazy one now? You left your wife and nine-month-old on the side of the road, you ran, what is going on?’ And I realized that was the last time I was going to see my grandparents. And it was the last time I was going to see my dad for a while who had leukemia, the buyers who said they were going to buy our house had backed out that night. And all of this was in me. All of this energy, all of this sadness and a junior higher gave me a place to channel that energy when they threw a chunk of ice. And I called a mentor the next day. And I said, "Rob, what do I do with this?" And he laughed and he said, ‘Hey, welcome to the endless pursuit of getting after the thing beneath the thing. Getting after what is really going on.’"

I need to ask myself, much more often, “Is this thing really the thing or is there a thing beneath the thing?” I need to ask God this question and listen.

And I’m coming to understand that I need help remembering to even look for the thing beneath the thing. Not making others responsible for something I need to do, but admitting I could use help in a way that actually helps.

And then I wonder if I can help others, too.

And when I do, I’d like to learn to do it like I like it. Start with some empathy. Move toward the basic question: “Is this really the thing or is there a thing beneath the thing?”

Photo by Janusz Maniak on Unsplash