The Heart of the Author

I love to read.  I am reading all the time, and usually have several books going at once.

My husband likes to read, too.  Sometimes we joke because he reads “slower” than me, and I finish books quickly.  

I used to, in the quiet of my heart, be kind of proud of this.  Ouch.  

But then, I discovered that when he reads, he remembers everything.  Seriously.  The man is a sponge.  He takes in the overarching, big picture message the writer is trying to communicate.  When you ask me what I read, I remember a lot of details, but not necessarily the author's central point and reason for writing.  

We were talking the other day about some friends of ours who are not followers of Christ.  I was noticing how similar we are to them.  I was troubled by it.  Actually, I think the woman in this pair does WAY more good works than me.  In truth, she is more sincere about being good than I am.  I was troubled by this, and asking my husband, “What makes us really different?  We look so much the same!  Shouldn’t we look obviously different?”

He just looked at me for a minute, seemingly puzzled by my mounting distress.  Then he said, “Honey, they are really good people.  But being a good person doesn’t get you into heaven.  We believe in Jesus as our Savior, and they don’t.”  

I love this man.  

I have spent way more time in my Bible, studying and praying and writing than he has.  But I had missed the heart of the Author.   

“Where is the wise man?  Where is the scholar?  Where is the philosopher of this age?  Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?... Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles...For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”  1 Corinthians 1:20, 22-23

Appearances are deceiving.  Only God knows the heart.  My heart is new, and not because of anything I have done.  It is different because of what He did for me.  

“This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ...For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”  Romans 3:22-24, 28

I could not earn it then, and I cannot earn it now.     

My works done in my human energy and with the motivation to “look different” on my own are like filthy rags to Him.  They are wasted energy.   

He just wants me to love Him, and let Him love me.  That’s where being able to love other people... really love them... begins.  

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  Matthew 22:37-38

The ‘being different’ will happen as a matter of course, as the abundance of His love overflows.  Day by day, piece by piece.  I can’t explain this, and I can’t predict how it will look.  But, I can humble myself by laying down my picture of how things are supposed to look, in deference to His, which is always, always better.  And I can honor Him by resting in this Truth.   

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His Power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen.”  Ephesians 3:20-21

A relationship, not a to-do list.  

A Guide, not a map.