Rule One. That’s what I call it whenever I feel submerged by troubles in life and stand guilty of failing Jesus. Here it is: “There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, who live according to the law of the Spirit and not according to the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1). That is Rule One: the most important thing to remember.
My late mentor, and spiritual father, John Price used to talk to me for hours about it. He would give me a lift back from the church cafe for the homeless, where we both volunteered. And he talked endlessly about the tremendous love of Jesus for people like me.
Young men like me. Clueless, lost, immature and carrying the burden of hurting other people. What is called ‘the gospel’ means an open invitation to failures and the lonely and the lost and the dying. ‘Come to me,” Jesus once called out amongst the crowds, “all of you who are weary and heavily burdened and… I will give you rest.”
How do we ‘come to him’ though? Is it an engagement of the brain? Or a physical act we are meant to do? I believe it is a conscious act of opening the inner man – the heart – to the Holy Spirit. Jesus called the Holy Spirit both the counsellor and helper. So coming to Jesus involves talking simply with him and inviting him into every area of our life. Holding his hand tightly every day.
And if we fall down, we have his permission to stand up and try again. For the life changing reason that he loves us.
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