"Will you still follow when it dawns on you that Jesus did not come to fill the God-shaped hole in your heart, but rather to call you, together with all the saints, to fill the cross-shaped hole in the world." ~Andy Holt 10/27/13
Andy was speaking out of Luke 9:57-62 about the cost of following Christ. In this passage three people approach Christ desiring to follow Him. To the first Jesus shares that there will be hardships. You will have to give up being comfortable. Will you still follow? The second wants to first bury his father, then follow Christ. The third wants to first return to his family and tell them goodbye, then come back and follow Christ. But Jesus let's them know that nothing can come before following Him. Christ must be the first in our lives. He must be our focus. Will you still follow?
Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is
fit for service in the kingdom of God." Luke 9:62
It is easy for us to get distracted by the thing in life - family, jobs, bills, circumstances, trials ~ all of these things (and others) fight for first place in our lives. Good things, bad things. But Jesus bids us to come, follow Him, put Him first. In Matthew 6:19-24, Jesus calls a divided focus "serving two masters" (vs. 24). In Andy's words, "There's no place for distracted disciples in the Kingdom...You cannot be a part-time disciple."
Andy's talk can be found on our church website here: http://gracetoledo.org/portfolio/eyes/
As I said, I can't get Andy's quote out of my mind. It is true that there is an emptiness in us that only being in relationship with God can fill. But we have made this all about us, as if this is Jesus mission. Jesus came to reconcile men to God. To be about His Father's work. His mission is our mission.
I love this post, Mary. Pascal's concept of the God-shaped vacuum in our lives is a little more on target in the sense that it implies our whole life needs Jesus; the God-shaped hole in the heart implies compartmentalization of the work of Christ in our lives rather than the whole of ourselves needing him. So the statement that Jesus came to show us how to fill a cross shaped hole in the world is powerful. (Though he does rejoice when each one of us allows Him to fill our lives individually).
ReplyDeleteYou have a wonderful gift with writing, Mary. I really appreciate your insights, and actually have your blog open on my phone browser, and I am going through your posts one at a time as they often serve as a lovely devotional.
Thank you so much for the encouraging words, Sarosa! I appreciate you following my blog. :)
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