For Lord, that could not be;
This heart would still refuse Thee,
Hadst Thou not chosen me.
My heart owns none before Thee,
For Thy rich grace I thirst;
This knowing, if I love Thee,
Thou must have loved me first.
The chains of performance truly fell off when I began to take the Bible at its word when it spoke of grace.
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. -Rom 5:8
For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. - John 6:44
God did that. There's nothing about my moral effort in this, all God.
Let me ask you this, if we were not involved in this process of atonement (God making everything okay), if it was Jesus that paid for our sins (while all of our sins were in the future) and God the Father that is drawing us to Him now...why are we so focused on our own performance?
I once heard the term "Christian Narcissist", which I think does a good job of summing up the problem. We spend all of our time gazing at our self to gauge our spiritual progress and it's exhausting. Our time would be better spent gazing at Jesus.
There's a Tim Timmons song that eloquently expresses this idea. It goes...
Everybody waits for the moment the bride comes out
Open up the doors and watch her walk down the aisle
Is she lovely, is she shining, is she looking at the one she loves?
Everybody's watching, what are we all about
When we open up the doors is religion all that walks out
Are we lovely, are we shining, are we looking at the One we love
Or is His glory divided 'cause we're looking at ourselves too much?
When's Stephen was being stoned outside the walls of Jerusalem, was he looking at his life saying, "I wonder if I've been good enough for God to love me?"
Nope...
Instead he is gazing up at Jesus.
When you lock eyes with Jesus, something wonderful begins to happen. The power of Jesus is so beautiful that just gazing upon it begins to change you into something beautiful. As Stephen is looking up to Jesus his heart is filled with the love of Jesus. Instead of feeling anger towards those that are killing him he reflects Jesus himself as he prays for the forgiveness of those who are in the very act of murdering him.
We are transformed into the image of Christ for the sake of others. Stephens transformation in the midst of agony had a part in the conversion of Saul to Paul (the man whom The Lord used to write most of the New Testament).
Are we looking to Jesus or does our gaze stop at our own actions and behavior?
I was watching a survival show that was simulating how to find your way out of the woods if you ever find yourself in that situation. One of the pieces of advice that was given is to determine the direction that you want to head, then find a landmark and fix your gaze on it. If you keep your gaze on the landmark and continue walking towards it you will get where you are wanting to go. If you don't keep your gaze fixed on it you will begin to wander off in the wrong direction as you travel through the terrain.
That's what the Christian walk is like. If our eyes are fixed on Jesus and what He's already accomplished for us on the cross we will continue to grow and become more like Him.
And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. -Heb 12:1,2
When we stare into the eyes of a God who withheld nothing in order to love us, our hearts are changed. Trying harder doesn't work...beholding the glory of God in Jesus Christ is what changes us.
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. -2 Cor 3:18
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