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The purpose of these email reflections is to stimulate the God-given longing we all have for that which is truly life-giving, and to encourage sacrificing the lesser, more immediate "satisfactions" for the greater, in all areas of life, so that one may Live and share that Life with others!
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Hello ,
What is your biggest enemy?
- Sheldon Swartz |
My Enemy
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"He will save his people from their sins. " - angel, about Jesus in Matthew 1:21
An enemy is defined as "someone who is actively opposed to someone or something" and "a thing that harms or weakens something else." (Google dictionary)
I looked through the Gospels where the word "save" is used. Most of the times that it is used where Jesus is involved, people thought of it having to do with being saved from physical death or suffering, or being saved for the life beyond this one. Remember Peter by faith stepping out of the boat and beginning to walk toward Jesus and then beginning to sink when he realized how ridiculous this was? "Lord, save me!" What was that about? Don't tell me he was thinking of his sinfulness at that point! He probably felt more embarrassed or stupid than sinful. And Jesus did save him from dying for his impulsivity!
I think it is important to remind ourselves occasionally of what Jesus came to save us from. The angel did not say Jesus would save people from suffering and death. He said He would save people from their sins, as though sin was the enemy.
It is normal to not want to suffer, and to see things that make us suffer as against us. Of course those things are against us if what we are for is being comfortable!
If it is sin that stands between us and all that we are meant to be in Christ, in God, then it is a problem, and indeed Jesus saw it as the enemy, and that is the enemy He came to defeat. He came to defeat what separates us from God, and that's what He did, through choosing to become the victim (the Lamb) of other people's sin. Strange way to become a Savior, don't you think?
If we go back to the beginning story and look at Adam and Eve, what caused Adam's problem and brought on such terrible consequences? Since his failure came through Eve, should we say that Eve was the enemy? Like, "if it wasn't for her, he wouldn't have failed" ? A lot of us men have wanted to believe that, and perhaps even some women for whom having control over a man is the goal!
Now I feel a bit for Adam, though he was dead wrong, as you and I have all been. Think of it, looking for days among the animals for someone like himself for human companionship, even looking into the eyes of a big monkey, hoping, but not seeing someone like himself. He was profoundly alone, as a human being.
God had already seen this, said it was not good, and so one night when Adam is out of it God sneaks Eve out of him and presents her to him as a human companion. When he sees her, something very restless within him settles. "She is it! She is what I have been looking for and need so I am not alone. I am ha-pee!" And God knew it was good.
And he is supposed to say "no" to her? Risk losing her? You have got to be kidding! How do you say "no" to the best gift you have ever experienced on this earth?
So Adam did what we've all done - say yes to what he knew was wrong. You would think God would ask, "Eve, what did you do to him?" He did ask her about her part, but not to find someone to blame for what Adam did.
And Adam did what we all tend to do when we know we have blown it. Hide. Apparently he didn't really believe what he had done was her fault, or he would have been calling on God to come and deal with her! No, he knew what he had done - just sacrificed his innocence and courage to avoid losing the God-given companionship he had just been given in the woman. And he lost his Life. She lost hers, too.
"He who seeks to save his life will lose it" someone said. Perhaps that is the sin - acting on our belief that on our own we have what it takes to live, seeking to save our own lives, instead of trusting Jesus to save us from that kind of chosen independence from the Source of Life.
It's an ongoing challenge. None of us have reached the place where we know, deep down, all the time, no matter what, God and all He chooses to give is enough. May we long for that depth of rest, so that we can hold loosely any blessing we may be tempted to hold onto and enjoy it for what it is.
"God, sometimes I just want to shut my eyes to the ways I still arrange to hold onto the gifts you give. Yes, sometimes I am like the sun, and try to arrange for the planets to revolve around me. . . . I can say my security is in You, and then live like it isn't. Help me to realize that anything I see that threatens my treasured view of myself, you are already seeing and are choosing not to turn away from, therefore there is no reason not to pray for further exposure of all that stands between me and You. I still don't like it, though! So it's kind of hard to say 'Amen'"!
I work with individuals, couples, and families to identify the ways of life and death in their lives and help uncover the motivation to choose that which leads to life, whether it be through counseling or spiritual direction. - Sheldon Swartz, MA/LMFT
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