time for a not-so-intellectual question (at least to some people. to others, it may be extremely thought provoking)...
How interesting, on so many different levels, would a Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals be?
or even better, a Bulls-...wait, that's not going to happen at all =(.
you're back...go away.
"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." -2 Corinthians 12:9-10
"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen today: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." -C.S. Lewis
"What would Jesus do?" goes the cliché. have i ever stopped to think about what that actually means?
Mid-February of senior year. Yes, by now most everyone knows I'm going to medical school. Is that it? Does that mean that I know my future direction? My calling? My purpose in life? God's will for my life? Hardly.
I ponder what we mean when we say something like "this is God's will." What is God's will? What does that even mean?
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." -Romans 12:2
"If you want to know the future details of God’s will of decree [God's sovereign will - what He has planned for your future], you don’t want a renewed mind, you want a crystal ball. This is not called transformation and obedience; it’s called divination, soothsaying." -John Piper
I often just sit in my room, thinking, praying to God, asking for some kind of divine direction, either for the future or some immediate decision that may or may not be trivial in the grand scheme of things. What am I supposed to do, God? Show me what to do! I guarantee you that 95% of the time, I hear absolutely nothing. Does that mean I am praying wrong? Does that mean I am not listening well enough? I have no doubt in my mind that there are times that scripture directly reveals what is the best course of action to take. Yet, I the more I walk with God, the more I feel that that is generally the exception, not the rule.
God does not simply want me to know what the next step is and blindly follow. We are not meant to be children forever. Knowing the future and blindly acquiescing, that is merely behavioral change. External. God doesn't merely want a grumpy obliger (Philippians 4:4). From Romans 12, what God desires is the transformation of my mind. The whole world is dying to know what lies ahead. If I follow, I am still "conformed to the pattern of this world."
So back to the question: "What would Jesus do?" Is it really that cliché after all? Perhaps it's cliché because we think the saying is stupid. But I think that that is exactly the question God wants us to ponder when we wonder what we're supposed to do, what God's will is.
Why?
God is sitting (maybe standing, pacing, crying?, who knows) here, deeply desiring to make us into His likeness, to become "Christ-like" as we say - for that is, ultimately, what sanctification is. In the meantime, I am caught up in what girl I'm supposed to marry, where to go to medical school, where to serve in the future, urban/suburban?, what to study for the next small group. God is concerned with the "transformed;" I with the "will." All the while, I forget about that little word, "discern."
Discern. To separate (things, or one thing from another) as distinct; to distinguish and divide. To perceive or recognize the difference or distinction; to make a distinction; to distinguish or discriminate between. To distinguish (one thing or fact) by the intellect; to recognize or perceive distinctly. To have cognizance, to judge of. -OED
"What would Jesus do?" We don't really want to know the answer to that question, do we? We just want to know what to do so we can get on with life, right? It is like eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3) and then telling God that we don't actually want that power or responsibility anymore. We want it? We got it.
But then again, God's sovereign will acknowledges that we will make wrong choices and choose not to obey his "will of command" (refer to Jon Piper link). And I gather that God's plan is that we be transformed, to think like Him, to know the answer to the question, "What would Jesus do?" It's more about knowing how to act in accordance with Biblical truth rather than just knowing what to do.
To paraphrase Romans 12:2, "the will of God is discerned by the renewal of the mind." Renewal happens through transformation. Transformation through scripture, knowing the truths of God's word, and, just as importantly, the promises.
It might be cliché, but I have a hunch that it's the question God intended us to ask.
i'm laying in bed, trying to fall asleep;
i miss home; thinking of family,
and things we've done together that make me smile:
-spring break in florida;
-65 hour round trips to california;
-walking around the Vegas Strip with my sister at night, watching the Bellagio fountains;
-sitting around with brother, sister, and mother, late at night, talking about relationships and dating;
-thousand-piece puzzles;
-chinese buffets and yummy steakhouses;
and countless others...
in the last 4 years, i have never had a longing to go home, to be with family...until now.
spring break is a month away...=/
