There was a moment I fell out of love. Out of love with the pretentious allure of this world’s facade…with the achingly false promise of satisfaction our culture implores…with the ever-lingering glimpse of a rotten hope. I fell out of love with the desperate rummaging through every avenue of gratification in an effort to find self-sufficiency. I fell out of love with the excessively gilded nature of a “living your best life now” precept.
There was a moment – a quiet, yet profound moment – when I fell out of love with this world and into an all-consuming awe of it’s creator. Into an inescapable chase after that which is not of this world, adapting a mindset not blinded by the popular belief that we are all striving to live our “best life now.” Because friends, if now is anything remotely close to our “best life,” we are in some dark waters. And the moment I realized the faulty nature of this motto that has plagued our culture is one that radically changed my life. It has brought me to my knees time and time again, constituting in my heart a radical pursuit of holiness over indulgence, of joy over happiness, and of utter reverence for our perfect God over the world-encouraged vanity that has weaved its way into the very fabric of our human nature.
There was a moment. And I often times forsake the magnitude of what God did to bring me to this instance. I wrestle with the grotesque fascination of temporal desires at the sake of drawing closer to our Heavenly Father. I fight the fight, only to lose the battle over and over again. Why? Because I fail to recognize my overwhelming inability to do anything on my own. I know with full certainty that I am not enough, but I too often fail to proclaim with all my might that Jesus is enough. I fear man, anxious to please others at the expense of pleasing our almighty God. How foolish am I.
You see, this world is fragile, shackled by its devastating inadequacy. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…” God is infinite, almighty, sovereign, never-changing, omniscient, powerful, sufficient…never shackled, but rather the one who sets us free. He is enough, and in His undeserved mercy, He bestowed grace for our failures, sending his perfect and precious son to die on our behalf, so that we might gain. Our reward? Immeasurable riches, adoption into His kingdom, everlasting peace, never-ending hope, overwhelming joy. And that, my friends, is the greatest love story anyone could tell. Wouldn’t you agree?
And so I pray, with great fervency, that God would bring me back to the moment I fell out of love with it all…that the all-consuming fire of God’s precious truth would reign over me, spilling into my every motive, my every word, my every desire. Until I one day come face to face with the one who gave it all…author of life, protector of man, prince of peace.
