"Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
Micah 6:7-8
This passage makes it seem really simple. How is it, then, that I continually find myself confused with what God wants us to do? One week I will feel passionately about it; I feel as though I understand what he's saying and I feel driven to live as though I believe it. The next week I find myself apathetic, confused, unsure... is it spiritual immaturity or human nature?
Is Kierkegaard right when he says:
"The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself accordingly."?
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind."
"Love your neighbor as yourself."
Jesus says if we do these things then we will live. Seems pretty simple to me. How do I keep confusing it?
"My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How would I ever get on in the world?... Dreadful is it to fall into the hands of the living God." (Kierkegaard)
I don't have any answers, and my questions may also be weak, but this is something I've been turning around in my heart for the last month. Maybe the reality is that I've been turning them around in my head instead of following what God has written on my heart.
3 comments:
whoo, scorcher.
thanks.
i really like that first bit of kierkegaard..
Kierkegaard's very insightful about such matters
That Kiekegaard fellow has some real potential, I think he will proabably do great things one day. . .
I totally hear what you're saying Chels, in fact I think this post is the most relevant post I've read online in sometime. You hit the nail on the head. We all know what is the right thing to do, we just simply choose not to do it. Top excuses include:
- My dog ate my spirituality
- I'm too busy
- Things have been really rough for me the past while
- I forgot I was a Christian
- I'm tired. . .
- I not always sure what is the right thing - I mean how can we even know the bible is reliable or Christianity is the right religion
I've used all those (mostly) and then some. The bottom line is doing! Action speaks louder then words.
I'm just finishing reading a novel called The Alchemist. It deals with all this kind of stuff. Give it a read, it'll keep this conversation flowing and probably at some point hit you between the eyes.
Thanks for the inspiration.
John
P.S. We really wanted to see you guys last week but you know how holidays get. . next time for sure!
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