More Than Enough

So it's been a couple of weeks since I last wrote and the reality is that I truly missed it.  I love being able to express myself through written word and it was refreshing to take a few weeks and allow the Lord to show me some of the work that He's doing around me. 

So since I last wrote April has arrived.  April is such a great month, full of springy tendencies while still holding onto the occasional day full of cold and blustery reminders of what has recently passed.  This coming Sunday is Easter and for the past week my mind has revolved around the Resurrection, Christ's death on the cross, and the tremendous sacrifice of Jesus.  I've been preaching out of the Book of Mark this season and as I prepared my sermon for this coming Sunday, I kept coming back to what Mark was trying to accomplish through his writing.  It's believed that he was writing to Roman Christians, Greeks and Gentiles, and that he was really trying to encourage them in their faith, build them up, and give them confidence that the Gospel mattered...that a commitment to Christ's death and ultimate new life as Lord and Savior was worth making.  Mark emphasized particular events, and in his emphasis he moves the reader along quickly and efficiently, highlighting the action-packed narrative with key information built on a foundation of training and encouraging the believers.

You know, this past week I've been allowed to pour into the lives of many people and I've had the opportunity to lead three people to Jesus; I'm baptizing one on Sunday.  I was talking to our five year old daughter Emma yesterday when she began describing an interaction she had at preschool.  One of her girlfriends stated that if someone hits you it's okay to hit them back...Emma bluntly stopped her and said, "No, that's not right...we treat others how we want to be treated."  When I asked Emma how her friend responded, Emma told me that her friend simply nodded and their conversation drifted in another direction.  Regardless of how it sometimes appears, my five year old daughter heard and applied the teaching of her parents!!!  For those of you with children you understand what an amazing realization this is...my girl heard something her mommy and daddy have tried for years to explain and she applied it in a context that mattered.  Whether I turn around tomorrow and find her choking her three year old sister for taking one of her crackers is irrelevant...she actually listened once.  Her friend at school heard her admonition...whether her friend applies it or not I don't know but the truth was said.

Each of these conversations...each of these moments in the past week can only come down to one word:  inspired.  Whether someone accepts the message of Christ or applies it has to return to the power of inspiration.  My words don't really matter at all, do they?  My teaching doesn't carry any weight if the foundation beneath those words are not inspired by God or my love of Jesus.  2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, 

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The idea of this verse is that Scripture is inspired...not us.  "God-breathed" indicates that Scripture comes out of the very breath of God...that God's Word (which we have in written form) is more than adequate to live a Jesus-centered life.  "The man of God is equipped.." through God's objective Word, through Jesus, and that equipping is the spiritual empowerment that he needs to fully live a worthwhile existence.  In many ways, this is what Mark was trying to reinforce through his book...that Jesus was enough.  Jesus' sacrifice was more than enough to rescue humanity from sin and lifelessness and eternal separation from God.  The individuals that were saved last week were saved not in the power and persuasiveness of MY words but under the power and influence of God Himself.  Emma's recall of the verse from Matthew was not because her mother and I repeated it often but because in her heart and mind she held onto those teachings through the inspired input of God's Holy Spirit.  The "teachers" were not inspired...the teaching was inspired.  The emphasis is never on those instructing in Truth...the emphasis is on the Truth.

My hope for us all today is that we will live "inspired" lives...existences marked by a dependence not on our own resources but fully on the provision and power of God Himself.  During this next week my prayer is that our perspective can grow and that we can realize that we are "inspired" only when we live and pass on the Message and that true inspiration has origins in Christ alone.  Thank God that He is not dependent upon us to be smart enough, influential enough, or persuasive enough...imagine carrying that burden on your shoulders.  Thank you Jesus that we are able to live inspired lives, dependent on You, and trusting that You will always be more than enough.  Amen.