"To the two questions: What does God offer to man? and What does God require of man? the New Testament returns one answer: the life of Christ." -T.W. Manson
I have tried to structure my life around the following two biblical verses:
"Then He said to them all, If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." (Luke 9:23, NKJV)
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:2, NKJV)
Even though the first verse appears in the synoptic gospels, I have chosen Luke's version because he is the only author to use the word "daily." This reminds me that the choice to follow after God is one that is not only made once and then forgotten about --as much of the world seems to think-- but one that must be made hundreds of time each day. Do we give into our own wills or to God's? Is the choice I am about to make beneficial to my soul, harmful, ambivalent, or something else entirely? This is something I must consider over and over again, as if practicing what Brother Lawrence called "the presence of God."
This leads to the second verse, which is simply to live life as best I can and show Christ to others, rather than engage in prideful finger-wagging, as seems to be all over social media these days. Preaching is important and has its place, as does our testimony, but if we wish to make disciples of all nations as commanded in Matthew 28:19-20 then we must actually walk the talk, as it were. To this end, we must embrace the wisdom that Calvin writes about when he says, "Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves."
About these things, here is what I know: I know God to be faithful (Deut. 7:9) and good (Romans 8:28), with no darkness in him at all (1 John 1:5). I know that he sees the entirety of my life (Proverbs 5:21) and not just what's directly in front of me (as I think I can see, but am often wrong). I believe in the all-powerful, all-knowing, triune God (Genesis 1:26; Isaiah 48:12-16; Matthew 28:19) and that the only way to God is through the Christ (John 14:6). I believe that the only way to truly know Scripture is to have it revealed through the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2:10), and that having been shown something does not preclude God from showing you something else in the same passage at another time. I believe Scripture to be the inerrant (Heb. 6:18; Proverbs 30:5), living, breathing Word of God (Heb. 4:12) and, as such, I believe it can be all things to all people, as well as different things to different people (1 Cor. 2:13).
I believe that every human life has value (Psalm 139:13-15) and is known by God (Psalm 139:16; Matt. 10:30), even prior to our birth (Eph. 1:4-6), and that we are created to bring glory to God (Isaiah 43:7). As for myself: I only know that apart from Him, I can do nothing (John 15:5). With him, I can carry out his will (Philippians 4:13).
I believe in the providence of God, that all things come from him and that, because he is good, his creation is good, and that he continues to care for it. And I thank God that he is who he is! As Calvin writes, "It were cold and lifeless to represent God as a momentary Creator, who completed his work once for all, and then left it." But, although I could use scripture again to point to God's providence, I can instead point to the arc of my life: everything good has directly come from him, and all things I perceived as "bad" I can now see have strengthened me and prepared me for ministry and are evidence of his good work. My wanderings from God's side and my inability to "keep my heart with all diligence" (Proverbs 4:23) have brought me to understand that, when viewed through the perspective of the One who loves me, the One whom I now strive to follow, my sufferings were entirely acts of grace.
"[...] Have no doubt that a special providence is awake for his preservation, and will not suffer anything to happen that will not turn to his good and safety," writes Calvin, and this has certainly been true for my life. In his second letter to the church at Corinth, Paul writes, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God" (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NKJV, emphasis mine). In short: Suffering is not without purpose, and my praises to God for my suffering lie not in some twisted desire to self-flagellate, but in honest gratitude for God's constant care of his creation. They remind me that, although I had distanced myself from him for many years, he had not done the same to me. I was never alone.
Finally, because I have lived a life that was once steeped in my Creator (having been raised in the Roman Catholic church until moving in with my unchurched father at the age of ten), before isolating myself in a long, self-imposed wilderness and then finding myself drawn back to God in a deep and substantial way, this has been affirmed to me: one cannot have a meaningful life without the guidance and comfort that God provides through his Word (2 Tim. 3:16-17; Psalm 119:105). This is where I draw breath from these days: the living word (and Word) of God and the Body of Christ, those people he places in my path.
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