Watched "Good Will Hunting" for the first time tonight. It was amazing, go watch it if you have not already. Really got my mind going so here I am at 1:00am deep in thought...
"It is not that we are able to bring God into contact with our minds, but that we awaken ourselves to the point where God is able to convey his mind to US regarding the people for whom we intercede." -Oswald Chambers
People are mysteries–each and every one of us is a puzzle only God knows how to figure out. We walk around filling our days with busyness and obligations, people and conversations, all of it nonsense really. Every hour of every day we occupy ourselves or we find ourselves left to our own idleness. Everyone is lost, everyone is searching for meaning, for significance, even when they will not admit it. In the moments of solitude, questions arise and we find ourselves searching in vain or running from the questions.
"It is the spirit of man, the Breath of the Almighty that makes him understand." Job 32:8
This verse is one of my favorites because it reminds me how we cannot find meaning ourselves. We cannot find meaning until our hearts rest in God like Augustine once said, "Our hearts are restless until they rest in you." Every one is restless even the least likely, even the most chill or different people–those who we find extremely difficult to understand and those who may be too easy to understand. Who are you to say you know the depths of someone else's soul? The communion they have with God?
I walk down 6th street in Austin and I encounter prostitues, gays, gang members, transvestites, wandering businessmen...all people of whom I have very little in common with and I frankly cannot understand. But, I see something deeper going on...call it a curse or a gift, I feel like sometimes I can see into people's hearts. They all have a longing.
Jesus loves them. His love covers all people, the sins of the whole world. Even those people on 6th street need Him, they may just not be reaching out in the recognizable ways. But they are reaching out, they are screaming for attention through their actions. We ALL need Him.
"Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these, put on LOVE which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful." Colossians 3:12-15
May we all try and open our hearts and our minds to how Jesus views the world. Jesus, awaken us to your heart for others and may we then intercede for them in response to your love for us.
"For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God." Romans 5:6-8
That is why we are here. That is our meaning. That is our significance. To live is Christ.
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