Return to Me

Have you been on an unfamiliar freeway, missed your turn-off, and had to go 3 miles before exiting and returning? It might have made your trip easier if it were like Disneyland’s Autopia where cars travel on a guide track that doesn’t allow any wrong turns!  After writing yesterday’s post on the divine prohibition against making “right or left turns,” I wanted to make sure you know about God's 'return policy.'

God is not about prohibitions and heartless commandments. His path is meant for our good, immediately and ultimately. It gives Him pleasure when we choose His straight path. But the highway to holiness doesn’t have guide rails. We have choices. In the Bible, ‘turning to the right or to the left’ always implies man’s unfaithfulness (Deut. 2:27; 5:32; Josh. 1:7; 1 Kings 22:2). But don’t worry; God waits for us to ‘straighten up’ before He graciously steps in to ‘straighten us out!’

“The Lord waits for you to come to Him so He can show you His love and compassion. He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries. So whenever you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a word behind you, ‘This is the [straight] way, walk in it. Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved’” (Is. 30:18, 21, 15, edited). Like the prodigal’s loving father, He patiently waits for us to come back.  He has a very generous return policy!

Do You Love Me?

Yesterday, I wrote that the joy of pleasing God, and feeling His pleasure, can be hindered if we live by do's and don'ts. Rule keeping just puts you in bondage. What's needed is to be so in love with Jesus we wouldn’t think of displeasing Him. Isn’t this what Jesus said? “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:21) In other words, the more we love Him, the easier it is to obey Him.

If we are struggling to be obedient in some area of our lives, we don’t need to double-down our efforts. We need to reassess our intimacy with Jesus. Obedience is the ‘natural’ consequence of love. “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And [then] His commands are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3)

Peter’s relationship with Jesus illustrates this proper order: love followed by obedience. Peter, who was the staunchest warrior among the disciples, declared his loyalty—he would never abandon Jesus. And then, he did (John 18). And not simply running away as the others had, but stridently disavowing Jesus—3 times! So it should not miss our attention that when Jesus and Peter had their next private encounter, Jesus did not tell Peter to try harder. No, Jesus simply looked him in the eyes, and said, “Peter, do you love me?”

Feeling God’s Pleasure

If you’ve seen the film Chariots of Fire, you know that Eric Liddell was the Scottish missionary who won a gold medal in the 1924 Olympics. But for Eric, running wasn't about winning competitions. It was how he connected to God. “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.”

It seems to me that “feeling God’s pleasure” is the end product of “pleasing God” (Eph. 5:8: 1 Thess. 4:1). But we can inadvertently put so much emphasis on ‘doing’ things to please Him we miss out on the joy that Eric had discovered. Certainly Jesus wants us to be “doers of the Word” (James 1:22). But motivated by love, and to know the same love with which God loved Him (John 17:26). 

Twice, our Heavenly Father was so moved with love for Jesus that He broke through the heavens, speaking right out of eternity, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.”  Just think how different our lives would be if we could live continually knowing, and yes, even feeling, God’s pleasure.

Human Beings or Human Doings?

This won’t surprise anyone who knows me well, but I keep a “to-do” list. Especially as I have gotten older (those ‘senior moments are’ more frequent) my lists are indispensable! But in my defense, even young people (the efficient ones!) need to maintain “to-do” lists.

I have learned that one of Satan’s most effective strategies is to keep us so busy ‘doing’ our daily ministry that we fail to remember why we are doing them (this can be especially true of pastors and leaders!). Yes, we were created to do “good works” (Eph. 2:10; James 2:26). But our doing must always be a reflection of our being: who we are. Our “being” in Christ is the source of every impulse and activity. Jesus said ‘I work the works of my father… but I do nothing of my own… but only what pleases the Father’ (John 5:36; 8:29). Likewise, our doing should flow from our intimacy with God—and our desire to please Him.

Too many Christians are so caught up in doing that they describe themselves as ‘doers,’ e.g., “I am a teacher; I am a worship leader; I am a counselor, etc.” But it is not our ‘doing’ that defines us—but our ‘being.’ We should say 'because I AM His workmanship, I DO His work' (Eph. 2:10). Are we not God's human beings?