For All Of It

"Jesus' blood cleanses us, our sins don't ruin Him."

HE DOESN’T want hours of your time. He wants your entire life. Every minute of it that you live as you work, as you eat, as you relax, whatever you do should be with Him. We have two images. Either of an hour’s prayer time, dedicated to Him, and then we go our way. And also of that time, us on our face, pleading earnestly. Because we think He won’t hear us otherwise. This image is wrong. He is far closer than that, far more merciful, and incredibly good natured. He knows we need to eat, need to drive our kids to school, would like to golf or watch football. He knows we’d like to spend an evening with our spouse, with our parents, with our friends. He designed us. He lives in us not just for that earnest, pleading prayer time, but for all of it.

Is He disappointed when we don’t throw ourselves at His feet in prayer? Is He disappointed because we only spoke to Him for an hour? What my seeking Him, found of Him, was that He is not here only in a “move of God,” nor is He waiting to “fall like rain,” but He is always. We’re simply not paying attention, not listening, not sensitive to Him. We’ve made Him too holy. So holy, He’s untouchable. But Jesus lived as a man. He saw every aspect of human life, including death. The Spirit of God breathed life into us. He caused soil to walk and talk and think.

They are holy – Father, Son, and Spirit. But holiness is misunderstood. It is not that we can taint them. They are not tempted with evil (James 1:13). Jesus laid His life down voluntarily. No man could take it from Him. The Scriptures tell us men wanted to several times before His crucifixion but couldn’t (John 8:20,59). Holiness is not dirtied by sin but sin is erased by holiness. Jesus’ blood cleanses us, our sins don’t ruin Him. The Holy Spirit lives in us. He’s on this earth, amongst all types of sin, yet He’s still holy. Jesus and the Father are one (John 10:30). They cannot make a bad decision or do anything unjust. They are, all of Them, the standard we are to look to in every thought, decision, and action.

Our worship is as much a song well sung and the honor we give Him for being the meaning of it as it is the laughter of a child, a prayer for a passerby, and a short ditty about Him that we invent to words that just “come to mind.” God is in the Word preached in the pulpit and in the verse we meditate on while we run errands. We can talk to Him continuously because we love Him and enjoy His company. It doesn’t have to be solely in a church service or only in a prayer room. In Galatians 5, we are twice told to “walk in the Spirit.” The first word “walk” means to conduct one’s life. The second use, “walk,” is the march of a soldier (Galatians 5:16,25). Both are forward progress and include all parts of life. They are how we live.

The more I read the Word, the more I take it in, the more I see Their heart for us. For with Christ in our heart, they have promised never to forsake us, never to leave, but that life with them is abundant and eternal. Yet we relegate holiness to a planned moment in time and the love of God in us toward people as a struggle. But the closer we come, the deeper we go, the more we surrender, the less distance there is until there isn’t any at all.

“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:6)

“I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” (John 14:18)

“Let your manner of life be without love of money, being satisfied with your present circumstances. For He himself has said, and the statement is on record, I will not, I will not cease to sustain and uphold you. I will not, I will not, I will not let you down. So that, being of good courage, we are saying, The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What shall man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5, Wuest)

Photo by Meghan Schiereck on Unsplash


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com