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I think you need to be committed!
And it was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, the sun being obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus crying out with a loud voice said, “Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit.” And having said this, He breathed His last. Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “certainly this man was innocent.” And all the multitudes who came together for this spectacle when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts. And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things.
It seems as though today, I stand at a distance and look at the cross not fully comprehending the depth of my own sin, the depth of Jesus’ suffering, and the depth of God’s mercy and grace.
When I think about Matthew’s account… when there was darkness in the middle of the day, the veil was torn from top to bottom, rocks split, there was an earthquake, tombs opened and dead saints walked around… I can also say “certainly this man was innocent” and “truly this man was the Son of God.” But do I beat my breast from the realization of how much the innocent One suffered for me?
Am I willing to say to God, “Into Thy hands I commit my spirit”, completely willing to give up my earthly life while still living on this earth?
“Die to self” has almost become a churchy cliché phrase for me. I have heard it so many times but never truly got it… until I had children. I’m just beginning to comprehend what these passages are saying: “present your bodies a holy and living sacrifice” and “let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
I pray the chorus of a Third Day song…
Please take from me my life
When I don’t have the strength
To give it away to YouPlease take from me my life
When I don’t have the strength
To give it away to You, Jesus
this was good for me to read. we’ve been talking a lot about “I no longer live, but Jesus lives in me” at CCC.
I hope these are real words, and not just cliche.
Thanks for putting your heart and honesty to paper.
This is a good morning read for me… and I’m sure many others.
Blessings Kari,
alan
Amen.
Oh if only, there was more commitment to our Lord. Our world is so sick and selfish. If only, we could learn to commit to the Lord our lives and love the ones that He puts in our path. How do we help others let go and let God when we so struggle with this ourselves. If only, we could love the Lord with all our hearts and our neighbor as ourselves! Thank you for your words.
Kari: This was so moving that it drew me back through the thread of previous entries all the way to the October 28th exposition of Luke 23:4 about Pilate (which expresses a similar concern to yours) while all along the way being deeply affected by the tangible presence within these writings of the spirit of the invisible Church—the body described in I Peter 2:4-5, “Coming to Him as to a living stone…you also, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ”
Therefore, as I began to read backwards towards October—the impact of today’s message was amplified by the vision of continuity as God’s people speak with one voice–in fear and trembling, rightly so, of missing the depth and the point of the meaning of His cross and the necessity of ours. You say, Kari, and it resonates in my heart as well: “It seems as though today, I stand at a distance and look at the cross not fully comprehending the depth of my own sin, the depth of Jesus’ suffering, and the depth of God’s mercy and grace.”
That’s awesome, as is Matt’s expression of the lesson of Pilate: “…Pilate ends up embodying my personal Christian nightmare – encountering the living Christ and never having that encounter truly manifest in my life. You know which life I mean; the one behind my church smile. Go to work, go to church, raise my child, collect my stuff, read my Bible, and miss the point…”
I agree…and agonize over the same thing…every day…looking very forward to more of this story in Sunday’s sermon.