The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)
I’ve had a picture in my head recently of the front of a boat ploughing through blue waves in bright sunshine. Suddenly a cannonball fires from an unseen force to the side and sweeps across the front of the vessel. The boat manoeuvres quickly out of the way of the missile and, by doing so, heads in a new and far better direction. The realisation comes by those piloting the vessel that it had been on a path to destruction but the new route is safer, better and full of light.
Sometimes I think our lives are like that. We walk along a certain path, and I don’t mean just in terms of career, practical decisions, normal life stuff. But on a deeper level, in the way we relate to memories of the past or preconceived ideas of the future, or of the people in our life. In a nutshell, we can think, “Well, that negative thing is there in my personal story and it hurts, and that’s that.” We may feel hopelessly buried under an avalanche of remembering things done to us and things we did to others. We can secretly make plans to do wrong instead of doing the right thing and turning to God, trying to bury the emotional pain in drudge and sin.
Jesus came to free us of all of that. And a fresh revelation of what He did on the cross, let’s call it the cross fire, or rather the fire of His love from the cross… well, it’s like that cannonball making the boat change direction. There can be a moment where we try to dodge the bomb fired from God, wrongly and suspiciously expecting that He doesn’t know what’s best for us. But it soon becomes apparent that the cutting of an unhealthy relationship at soul level or a realisation that a presumption made about our lives is actually found nowhere in the Bible, or an owned identity which isn’t part of the calling to simply be a child-of-God… not an exhaustive list but essentially the death of unhelpful and unhealthy things – actually turns out well for us.
We find liberation in the forgiveness and love of God to turn and see life through new eyes. See with joy our amazing loved ones and the tranquil world around us. It may be discipline but God acts out of kindness because that is who He is. So let’s be thankful whenever we’re heading in the wrong direction for his cross fire, setting us on the right track!
Lord, It’s a narrow path following you but the only path I want to be on, carrying my cross. Keep me on the right track and fire something at me if I seem to wander. I commit to keep running the race with, and to, your arms. I’m so thankful for Jesus who makes it all possible. I’m going to get up again and run to you. Amen.
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