This week, we’ll be looking at another obstacle that gets in the way of experiencing the “eternal kind of life” Jesus is inviting us into—responsibility.
“It’s all up to God.”
In some senses this statement is true. There are certainly things that are all up to God. While it is true that humans have the choice whether or not to believe in Jesus, Scripture teaches us that the only One who makes it possible for us to be saved is God (Eph. 2:8). Salvation starts and ends with God—our only role as people is to say yes or no to the gift. “It’s up to me,” is not a valid statement when it comes to salvation according to Scripture. This concept that we are only made right with God through faith in Jesus alone is called “justification.” If we confess Jesus as the Lord of our lives, we can trust that our sins are forgiven and that we will have eternal length of life with God.
However, I think that some of us have applied this same logic to how we think about the way that God shapes us to be more like him—something called “sanctification.” Put another way, I think some of us expect our everyday lives and characters to be transformed from one day to the next; “If I believe in God, shouldn’t He do the rest?” It doesn’t take too much time following Jesus to realize that it often doesn’t happen this way. Life often feels similar, and circumstances may stay the same even after the most dramatic of encounters with God. This can be confusing if not frustrating; “I gave my life to Jesus; shouldn’t he be making a difference in my life?” If we don’t feel we’re growing spiritually, are still struggling with the same issues, or can’t seem to experience God in a meaningful way, it can be easy to begin to blame God, give up completely, or resign ourselves to a half-hearted hope that secretly believes that faith in Jesus doesn’t really affect our everyday life.
Responsibility
Pastor and author Erwin McManus shares that while not everything in our lives may be our fault, it is our responsibility. The circumstances you find yourself in may not have been caused by you, but how you respond to those circumstances is up to you. McManus goes on to say that we have no power to change anything in our lives that we do not take ownership for. In other words, when I blame others for any situation I find myself in (even if it may seem to be legitimate), I give over to them my power to change. I can only hope to change if I take personal responsibility for my life.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” Matt. 7:24-27 ESV
In this simple parable, Jesus tells each of us that we have a high degree of autonomy in regards to what we build our lives on. He then goes on to tell us the consequences of our potential choices. The person who hears the words of Jesus and does them stands strong through any storm like the house of the wise man in the story. The person who hears the words of Jesus and does not do them is bound to be swept away by the storms of life, as the house of the foolish man in the parable.
One of the most beautiful, and one of the most stressful things about God is that he respects our free decisions. He will not shape our lives if we don’t let him. God has given each of us the responsibility to build our houses, and choose what we build them on. In other words, God has given us each the task of building our lives and the freedom to choose whether or not we build them on His words.
Let’s be honest . . . it’s going to be difficult to experience the eternal kind of life that God is inviting us into if we choose to sleep only four hours a night, are so busy that we don’t take time to read the words of Jesus on a daily basis, only pray or think about God during church once a week, or constantly overload each of our free moments with distractions. God gives us the freedom to do each of these things if we choose—we can build our houses wherever we want. If we want to build our “houses” on the teachings of Fox News, CNN, social media, our careers, pop culture, or anything else, we are totally free to. But if we do, we cannot also then expect to experience the eternal kind of life of Jesus—a life characterized by a closeness and intimacy with the Father.
If we want to experience the eternal kind of life, we must build our lives on the teaching and example of Jesus. With his help, we must let him influence every part of our lives and characters. We don’t do this to earn his love, for he gives it to us freely. We do this simply to accept his invitation into real life, his own life, bursting with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness . . . (See Galatians 5:22).
You’re building a house—it’s called your life and character. What will you build it on?
How?
Building a house is a process—so is building a life (see last week’s devotional). Take one step towards building your life on Jesus by, asking the Holy Spirit for help, hearing and doing one of his teachings this week.
Read Matthew 5. Pick one of Jesus’ teachings on life that especially resonates with you (ex. Not insulting your brother; verse 22). Asking the Holy Spirit to help you, start training this command into your life.
If you’re not sure where to start, or you would like to pray or talk with someone, feel free to email me at ianreyes567@gmail.com, or another member of the Canyon Creek Project team at hello@canyoncreekproject.com.
I love you Canyon Creek Project,
-Ian