Be Humble or Be Humbled

Isn’t it interesting that two people can look at exactly the same thing, yet see something completely different from one another?

Sometimes it’s funny, and those two people end up laughing about it, maybe even turning it into an on-going inside joke between them.

Sometimes, however, a different experience results. Friendships have been destroyed over such varying perspectives.

So have marriages between once-loving partners.

So have nations been pitted against other nations with another viewpoint.

So has humanity struggled with God.

Jesus makes a declaration to his disciples that their destiny is to end up in Jerusalem, where he will be unjustly killed. Peter shares his better idea.

Uh-oh.

Jesus gently reprimanded Peter with these ever-so-delicate words: Get away from me Satan! You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s (Mark 8:33 NLT).

This is the story of our lives, isn’t it?

Countless are the ways and innumerable are the times when God has given us God’s perspective and we have thought ours more impressive. While none of us would be foolish enough to say that we think we have a better idea than God, our actions speak for us.

The Way of Christ is the way to life at its best. We either humble ourselves and embrace it, or pursue our own brilliant path and are humbled.

Jesus said at another time that his yoke was easy and his burden light. But that’s only true if his is the only yoke we’re wearing, and if the load he gives us is the only one we carry. All too often we try to wear the yoke the world throws around our neck and carry the load our culture demands, while at the same time trying to do life with Christ. That leads to exhaustion. And failure. And despair.

In telling the disciples what their future held, he was implying the Jerusalem was the destination. That news was too hard for Peter, for all that went with it.

What’s your Jerusalem – the place you don’t want Christ to take you?

Your emotional health?
Your physical health?
Your mental capacity?
Your spiritual disciplines?
Your key relationships?
Your judgmentalism?
Your sex life?
Your addiction?

God loves you endlessly, and wants to lead you to the best of life, which means all of your life. God’s Spirit will look in every corner of your being, every nook and cranny, and when something unhealthy appears, a new option will be given you. Will you see it as a better Way, a broader perspective? Or will you see it as a threat, and death, as Jerusalem?

By the way – you are not the only one affected by your obedience to Christ. Everyone around you, and ultimately the world itself is impacted for health or harm. Choose health.

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Going Deeper
1. When do you first remember doing something God instructed that went against your initial thinking?

2. What was required of you? What happened as a result?

3. What areas of your life do you know are off limits to God? Why? What statement are you making about God’s perspective and character if you do not allow God access to certain parts of your life?

4. What areas of your life are you keeping off-limits that you are unaware of? Hint: you’re going to need community to help answer this one – let them ask you questions.

5. What is keeping you from following Christ to Jerusalem? How about letting go and giving God a shot?