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To My Dear Class....
My Dear Class,
I know it has been forever, and I'm truly sorry. I am confident that the
Lord is still holding you in the center of His hand and that He delights
in you every day.
A young girl from a poor family crawls up into her Father's lap one day
and he gives her a simple box. Inside is a string of fake pearls,
plastic, tacky, pearls. Yet from the look on her face, you would think
she had been given the world. Everyday she rejoices in her gift,
treasuring it in her room, admiring the way it hangs around her neck.
Then one day her Father comes in and asks her for the pearls. She's
shocked and confused, why would her beloved Daddy take away her precious
gift? He asks her simply to trust Him, but the pearls are her treasure
and she cannot. She knows this pains her father. She spends the night in
anguish, yet in the morning, her love for her father overcomes her love
for his gift and she places the pearls in his hand. Tears pour down her
face as she lets go of her treasure. Her father is also crying tears of
love and joy, for only when the girl's hand is empty can he give her a
treasure so much greater than that which she clung to, a beautiful
necklace of genuine pearls.
There is a very ominous passage in Luke in which we are actually
commanded to hate. "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father
and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters -- yes, even
his own life -- he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry
his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26-27)
Jesus definitely did not water down the truth, and although these may
not be the first verses I'd share with an unbeliever, they are of great
importance in our walk with Christ - the cost of discipleship=surrender.
What Jesus is calling us to is not a life of hate, but a life of love.
He commands us to love Him so much more than the other people, roles and
things in our lives. The Lord refuses to be replaced as the first and
greatest love of our lives. C.S. Lewis says, "We are half-hearted
creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite
joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making
mudpies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer
of a holiday at the sea. We are far to easily pleased."
We hold onto the cheap trinkets of this world, whether it be a dream, a
relationship, a possession, while God offers us the immeasurable riches
of Himself. And our Father, all gracious and compassionate, urges us to
release and trust. He desires to give us the greatest gift of all,
Himself, but it will cost us. We must let go, we must love less, we must
cease our idolatry and devote our hearts to God.
I know that I am so often guilty of this, afraid to let go of my
relationships, my achievements, and my comfort. Yet in my heart, I also
know that my holding on costs me so much more, a radical life of
surrender, a life of deepest treasure.
As we start a new year of school/work, what are we clinging to? What
cheap trinkets are we settling for? Are we ready to "hate" those
things/people/activities in order to recieve and delight in the most
valuable treasure of all?
I pray that we would be ready to count the cost.
Love and prayers always,
Becca Boo :)
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