I ENDED my opening comments last week with the question, do you enjoy be discomfited? The answer to that is “probably not, not really.” But if we have learned anything in life it is that nothing comes by ease and without effort, especially the truly valuable things. As Mattie Ross puts it, “There is nothing free in this world, except the grace of God.” (True Grit) The problem is, that is not a tune we like to dance too, and as we are prone to resting on our laurels, we forget that perseverance is a consistent process in discipleship and sanctification. To quote another deep thinker and philosopher named “Pogo” – “We have seen the enemy, and he is us.” To that observation the Apostle Paul would say “Amen” (Romans 7), concurring with Isaiah’s experience we saw last week in Isaiah 6.
I HAD a couple of discomfiting things happen recently, things I would just as soon have avoided if I could. The implications and unpleasant necessities they presented – well, were they really necessary? Lord, do I really need to deal with these aggravations now with everything else going on? … Our author opens up the closing section of this chapter on Discipleship with this comment:
Adolph Saphir wrote: “The narrow path, commencing with the cross—‘Ye have died with Christ’—ending with the glory of the Lord Jesus, is the path on which the Lord draws near and walks with His disciples.‘
AS I awoke in the middle of the night from a fitful sleep, found myself sitting on the den couch at 1:30 in the morning ruminating on my concerns. I realized once again my failure of relying on “self” rather then the Lord’s faithfulness in all things, forgetting once again the blessing that even “[these things are] the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning [me].” (1Thes 5:18). How often I watch the children at school, friends and family, and the culture around me and realize once again that the biggest enemy we face is ourselves, the most difficult of the three-fold enemy to overcome. Herein resides the necessity of the cross, the only answer to the serpent coil hold of sinful self that hampers the heart and mind wanting to follow Christ. Praise God for the old rugged cross, upon which I was crucified with Christ. May it do its work that I may truly live unto Him as I ought!
THE battle never ends, but the weapons are eternal and more than adequate.
NOW to today’s consideration…..
PS: I never took note of Adolph Saphir before. You may want to goggle him. Interesting fellow.
In the inexorable blessings of Christ,
Joe
Neh. 8:10, Isa 30:15, Jas. 1:2
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Chapter 13—Discipleship conclusion
Adolph Saphir wrote: “The narrow path, commencing with the cross—‘Ye have died with Christ’—ending with the glory of the Lord Jesus, is the path on which the Lord draws near and walks with His disciples.‘
“’Christ liveth in me.’ The Lord within lives as the sole source of life. The old ‘I’ has no contribution he can make to Christian life and service; he can never be harnessed to the purposes of God. Death is his decreed portion. There cannot be two masters in our lives. If the old ‘I’ is in active possession of us then Christ cannot be. But if we gladly take hold of the great fact of redemption—‘I have been crucified with Christ’—then Christ by His Spirit takes up the exercise of the function of life within us, and leads us as His bond-slaves (disciples), in the train of His triumph.”
