Hating Life, part 4

It is not natural for us to willingly hate our lives. In fact, most everything in our human flesh completely resists it. What would cause someone to obey, serve, and submit one's plans? What is the motivation?

Get to know Him.

As Schilder says: "Hear him, hear him."

What other answer is there? What would cause Mary to give of her most valued possession in such a humbling, awkward, extravagant gesture? She knew her savior. How did she know him? She sat at his feet at every opportunity.

You can try as hard as you'd like on your own strength, but if you don't know the depths of the character of Christ, you won't care to give up very much of your life for Him. Why would you even want to? But as you get to know him and the extent of his sacrifice for your sake, the depths of what he's made possible, your paycheck and picket fence simply won't seem as dear to you.

To the unbeliever, all of this sounds preposterous. And it should. But get to know him, and no longer.

This is what enabled Paul to say that he counted his resume and popularity as complete garbage compared to the riches in Christ.

This is what inspires Over the Rhine to sing that in view of the Trumpet Child, the rich forget about their gold.

And in a passage that puts a knot in my throat pretty much every time, Isaiah tells us that when we see the Lord, we will consider our most precious possessions to be utterly worthless, as filthy and disgusting and disposable as a used tampon, of all things:

"O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.' Then you will defile your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, 'Away with you!'" (Isaiah 30:19-22)

There are plenty of things in our lives pulling our attention away from the spiritual, the transcendent, the unseen. To know Christ and yet still hold on to them so dearly is as foolish and unthinkable as holding on to a used tampon, placing it in the jewelry box instead of the precious diamond necklace.

And yet, that's part of our cloudy vision as humans. One day that will finally change completely, everything in its right place:

"Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears,we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2)

And so for now, with the Father's grace and the Spirit's help, get to know Him.