Just as we entered the Lenten season, I was reading from the book of Joel. I remember being slapped in the face with an incredible revelation that I've been wanting to share. Still geared up on caffine from an "Amy" (the local ice cream/ coffee shop's signature chocolate espresso milk shake), I reminesce over my conviction. Please ablige me.
(Warning: This verse may seem a bit "in your face.") "Wake up you drunkards and weep!" (Joel 1:5) Who me? What could I be drunk on? Sure, I like a good glass of wine or a cold beer on a hot day, but me, drunk... drunkenness... What keeps me in a stooper where my vision is blurred and my mind is clouded? (Ouch! This may hurt!)
The world... the insatiable lust for more... the desire to be more beautiful so much so that I am not satisfied in my present state... discontent! Me! The world keeps me drunk on ME! My thoughts consistently steer toward me and my happiness, unhappiness, appearance, wants, hurts, joys, rights, fears... irrelevant of anyone else. Inebriated, I am unable to clearly see, hear or even understand God's desires for me.
God wants to share himself with me, but cannot because there is not room for Him in someone totally self-consumed. He's calling me to sober up and be remorseful of my state of drunkenness. "Turn to me now while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Don't tear your clothing in your grief, but tear your hearts instead." (Joel 2:12-13) We need this reality check...
But, the point is not a self-loathing attitude either. This is just the opposite end of the pride spectrum. The point is not the person at all. The point is Christ... Christ being lived through the actions and attitudes of those He inhabits. This is work! It requires a constant checking and re-checking of thought patterns and the actions that overflow from them. Choosing to live by the Spirit, not the flesh. Yes, it is a choice, sometimes a very difficult choice, but a choice is what we are given. "So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves." (Galatians 5:16)
So, "I pray that from his glorious unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit... [May] your roots grow down into God's love and keep you strong... Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:16, 17, 20,21)
