Today, while waiting and praying for inspiration, the blind hog uncovered two acorns in the blogosphere:
- The first was in a daily devotional taken from Oswald Chambers’ work My Utmost for His Highest. (I’m paraphrasing it here to emphasize the personal nature of the observation):
When I really see myself as the Lord sees me, it is not the terribly offensive sins of the flesh that shock me, but the ingratitude and pride of my own heart in resisting the love of Christ. When I see my stubbornness in the light of the Lord, then conviction hits home for me. But when I surrender all that I have and all that I am to Him, God equips me to do all that He requires of me.
To become one with Jesus Christ, I must be willing not only to give up sin, but also to surrender my whole way of looking at things and be willing to let go … so I can reach for something else.I must be willing to let go of my goodness, my capabilities, my efforts to do better — all of which are wrapped up in my pretense and my self-deception. When I obey and give up my junk — back-breaking, heart-wearying, soul-destroying junk — then I can pick up the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).
- The second was Melissa Lathen’s recent blog that ended with these words: “Christian obedience is inspiration.” Oh. Inspiration is not a bolt from the blue, nor an isolated epiphany. Inspiration flows from the Spirit of God, who inhabits my totally surrendered heart. Surrender is the end result of obedience to God’s will. God is the source; my obedience is the key to my access.
So real inspiration boils down to this: Am I willing to give up my inclinations, my preferences, my idiosyncrasies to follow Jesus who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2)?
My choice: I can make the best deal in this world or the next by giving up painful junk, junk that I can’t keep anyway, to live here and now under the Lordship of Christ, as part of the kingdom of God. Or I can mutter, “No way,” hold on to my preferences, and keep rooting around in the muck of this world’s kingdom. Which will it be: deal? or no deal?