theROCK

Unconditional Love

I like dogs but was not a dog person. The best dogs were those of the neighbors because they went home. My wife and I had a dog for 21 hours . . . a story for another day. Five years ago, my wife and our son brought Bella home. While not completely surprised, I wasn’t totally on board. After a breaking in period, she became part of the family.

While living with us, the garage door going up signaled her to run to the window, so excited to see those she loves. She visits now. The other day she was already in the house when I came home. There she was in the window, and then at the back door, so excited, wagging not only her tail but her entire body. Pet me, love me, let me take your struggles away. I am here for you. Unconditional love.

If you leave to go to the store, she runs to the window. Where are you going, when will you be back? I will be here. . . waiting for you. Even if gone for 5 minutes, the whole thing plays out again. Don’t you know you are my world?

It is that way with God. Every day, He anxiously waits for us to come home or to talk with Him. I imagine how genuinely excited He is to see us, to hear us, to help us, to love us. Can you hear His voice saying, “Love me, let me take away your struggles. I am here for you. I love you. You are mine.” Unconditional love.

Do you hear Him saying, “Where are you? When will you be back to My Home . . . to me? When will you call on me? I am yours. I will be here . . . waiting for you.” If you do hear these words, it is time to change a habit. Start by talking with Him each day. You will be forever changed.

Are you excited to see or talk to Him? He has given us everything we have. He gave us His Son. He is our true reason for being. Love Him, place yourself in His hands. Give him your unconditional love.

Listen to Him

I have been pondering the reading about the Transfiguration of Jesus as told in Matthew 17, in which it states that Jesus’ clothing and appearance changed right before the eyes of Peter, James, and John: “His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” It is in this very moment that Jesus is confirmed to be the bridging point between Heaven and earth – the confirmation of his own divinity and the fulfillment of Old Testament prophets/scriptures. And, in that very moment, God spoke to the three of them who were gathered with Jesus in a very concise manner. God said: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

And that was all God said – but such gravitas in those words that were spoken! I am especially drawn to those final three words and how simple a command to give. And, yet, for many it is so very hard to do. Jesus tells us to not harden our hearts against those who are in most need. Yet, our world is torn apart by violence, hatred, and bigotry. Jesus tells us to love one another and to forgive those who have wronged us as we expect them to forgive us when we wrong them. Yet, pride is a potent poison that seeps deep inside of us and ensnares us mightily. Jesus asks us to give up what we have, pick up the cross, and follow him. Yet, we allow ourselves to be dragged and weighed down by material possessions, worries, and uncontrollable forces. As hard as it is, we have the greatest guidance in how to alleviate these issues from our hearts and souls:
Listen. To. Him.
He hears us – especially when we pray.
He sees us – in our moments of elation and in our moments of sorrow.
He loves us – always and forever.

Rationalizing Sin

About a year ago I was hanging out with some friends I had a not seen in a while. During our conversation one of my friends said something along the lines of, “that’s wicked,” to which another friend said, “do you mean good wicked or bad wicked?”

While in the context I knew why my friend asked that question, it was tough to know if wicked was being used in its proper form or as a slang way of saying “that’s cool.” I could not help but think how that question reflected all of us. The word wicked properly means morally wrong or evil, in slang it means awesome or excellent. How a word can have very different, even opposite meanings, may seem strange, but I do not think so if we take a minute to realize how often we do this in our own life.

We love to rationalize and put a positive spin on things, especially when it comes to things which are by definition evil or morally bad. This is becoming more and more prevalent in our larger culture, but we do this with ourselves as well. We try to make the sin or bad habit in our life “good” by changing what it is, think of a “white lie.” We rationalize the bad that we do and say, “well it isn’t that bad” or we justify the sin of others saying, “he’s a good person, he doesn’t mean to hurt anyone.” Now both of those can be true, but it is also true that wicked is wicked, evil is evil, sin is sin, and no amount of slang can change that.

This simple exchange between my friends clearly stuck with me and has become a point of reflection that I go back to every so often, which I would like to invite you into as well. What is the sin or bad habit in my life I am trying to redefine and make good? What am I trying to place “good” in front of so I can keep doing it?

This is the opposite of what Christ does and what he invites us to. He does not redefine things to make it easier, he changes and invites us to conversion. He does not want us to be “good” sinners, he wants us to be saints. This is far more challenging than a redefinition, but it is also far less confusing. For with Christ we never have to ask, “do you mean good holiness or bad holiness?”