Jesus told a man who had been paralyzed for years to pick up his bed and walk. But how can a paralyzed man do such a thing? He can not.
Jesus told an adulterous woman to sin no more. But how can someone habitually involved in such a lifestyle become completely holy? She can not.
Jesus told a dead man to come out of his tomb. But how can a lifeless corpse even hear the command, let alone obey it? He can not.
Nevertheless, the paralytic walked, the woman caught in adultery became a devoted follower of Christ, and the dead man – Lazarus – arose. It was not they who did the impossible on their own. It was Jesus who did the impossible in them.
Jesus tells me to forgive those who have wronged me; to be at peace in the midst of trials; to unconditionally love others, including my enemies. How can a mere human beings like me comply? I can not. But Jesus Himself living in and through me forgives, calms, and loves.
I must submit to Jesus… and do the impossible.
Somewhere around 56 A.D., an apostle named Paul wrote a letter to people who lived in the town of Corinth. It was a reply to a list of questions that those people had sent him previously. They asked for his counsel about lawsuits, factions and division, sexual immorality, marriage and divorce, and much more.
Fortunately, Paul’s letter has been preserved for us to read today. He replied in some detail to the issues, but he also gave a principle that could be applied to every situation in question, and to many others. The principle was this: You have been bought with a price.
The Judeo-Christian concept of redemption is exactly that. We have been bought with a price – the blood of a spotless Lamb. And since our ransom has been paid, our lives are not our own. We do not live to please ourselves. We are to submit to the guidance and will of God.
Paul felt that this understanding answered a multitude of questions. Isn’t that still true today?
How many of my problems would be solved if I lived in line with the truth that I have been bought with a price and my life is not mine to spend just as I please? How would my relationships improve, my sins go away, my anxieties diminish?
I have been bought with a price. That much is true. God help me to walk it out.
Exodus 13:17 & 18 say something amazing. The passage starts out…
“When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them on the road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest way from Egypt to the Promised Land…”
God sometimes does not allow us to travel the most direct route to our destination – physically, emotionally, or spiritually.
Verse 18 then says:
“… So God led them along a route through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.”
Traveling through Philistine territory might have been difficult, but crossing an entire sea was impossible. Nevertheless, God chose the impossible over the difficult for His children.
The Exodus story has a happy ending. God parted the Red Sea and the Israelites walked across it as though it were dry land.
I don’t know how some of the situations in my life will turn out. But I do know that God sometimes hands me the impossible instead of the merely difficult. Like Moses, all I can do is listen for God’s direction, obey in faith if God speaks, and hope to eventually find myself on the other side.
This week I had the privilege of jogging across the Williamsburg Bridge that connects New York City’s Lower East Side to Brooklyn. It’s a concrete walkway high in the sky – over vehicles and trains – used by pedestrians, runners, and bicyclists. It’s been discovered by graffiti artists as well.
I was truly enjoying the experience, aware of what the exertion was doing to my body, and pondering in my spirit, as comes so naturally while jogging. Looking down near my feet I saw the word “Love” written in beautiful graffiti. A few steps later, in the same script was the word “Is.” Soon after, the word “Always.” I finally realized that this was a message, given one word at a time so that it unfolded as a person moved along.
The full message read:
Love
Is
Always
The
Appropriate
Response.
Jesus said that everything God requires is fulfilled if I just love the Lord, love myself, and love my neighbor. I’ve read that many times on onion skin paper with gold edges, inside a leather bound Bible. Some preachers tell me that the God-Man who quoted those words had a serene face with a glow emanating from it. Here, in spray paint on cement, put there by who-knows-who, was the same spiritual truth.
Simon & Garfunkel, in the song “The Sound Of Silence” told us that “the words of the prophets are written on subway walls and tenement halls.” No doubt the prophets have also visited Williamsburg Bridge.
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