It snowed again last night. Here in the south, we rarely see two snows in one winter, much less in one week! As the temperature neared fifty midweek, the first snow melted, leaving sketchy patches of snow across the dormant grass. Bermuda turns straw-colored in winter but remains thickly thatched year round. It’s very much alive underneath the snow cover.
The Danes ran unhindered across the yard for the first time in days, basically ignoring me as they investigated icy patches, munching contentedly. Ice is one of their favorite treats so they’re like kids in a candy shop.
My eyes settled on a patch of ice that resembled a heart and my mind drifted to Jesus and His first followers.
“Then his disciples began arguing about which of them was the greatest. But Jesus knew their thoughts, so he brought a little child to his side.
Then he said to them, “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me also welcomes my Father who sent me.
Whoever is the least among you is the greatest.””
Luke 9:46-48 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.9.46-48.NLT
“Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said,
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.
Is anything worth more than your soul?”
Mark 8:34, 37 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mrk.8.34-37.NLT
Give up your own way. Imperative. Jesus gives this authoritative command of vital importance. Crucial. Literally “cross-shaped.” From the Latin “crux,” or cross.
Giving up your own way goes against the very fiber of our self-aware, self-gratification based humanity. Self-realization may be a modern catchphrase but it is not a new concept. Selfishness is ingrained in the fabric of our sin-stained nature, but thank God, His command comes with every provision for my obedience.
“I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.
I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.
Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?
Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 7:21-25 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.7.25.NLT
For two excruciatingly long days and nights, Jesus’s body lay encased in stone, lifeless, until the morning of the third day when sin and death were defeated once for all time.
“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
2 Peter 1:3-4 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/2pe.1.3-4.NIV
Now we have everything we need for living a Godly life through His power in us. Everything. Not one thing is lacking. And so we walk by faith, not by sight.
“Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us.
Strength is for service, not status.
Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”
That’s exactly what Jesus did.
He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out.
“I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it.
Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us.
God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next.
May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all.
Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!”
Romans 15:1-6 MSG
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