Saturday, September 15, 2007

Believing (again)

So where do I stand? I have over the last few months journaled right through the Gospel of John, only to find myself, it seems, merely at the threshold of something, rather than "further up and further in." Looking back along the path I’ve come, I can see that I’ve wandered off on many side-tracks and deceitful detours, following will-o-the-wisps in the name of faith. But reading the Gospel of John again and again in the past few months, I come away humbled by the disciplined simplicity of Jesus’ message. "I am the way, the truth, and the life. Believe in me."

Believing, believing in Jesus, that is the hard nugget I come away with after all this mining. You dig it up, brush the dirt off, and realize it was something you once possessed, but somehow it had gotten lost in all the craziness and turbulence. Faith is the other word for it. Do I know what it means? Do I know what it entails? Do I see and understand where the journey of believing in Him will take me? Undoubtedly not. That's what it means, I suppose, to be a fool for Christ. To follow, though you know not where.

I was thinking to blog about loving Jesus, and about abiding in him, but I find myself daunted for the moment. I have no wisdom to impart but this: Go to Jesus. For one man who did (John, the son of Zebedee) Jesus came to be the hard core center of his long life (see here, for example).

Everything important begins right here: believing in Jesus. Do you yearn for holiness? Long for joy? Wish dreamily for peace? Go to Jesus. That's all I can say. All these thing and more are found in him, and only in him.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

God is not simple,but, i think what we are asked to do is simple. i think God ment for it to be simple for us. and i know it is simple, but, i do not mean to imply that it is easy. turn your eyes upon Jesus, look into His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangly dim, in the light of His glory and grace.

Anonymous said...

is it not a blessing to be able to believe in Jesus? ahhh, what a blessing and a peace.