I know that there is a time for self-examination, but it should never overshadow meditation on Christ and the cross! Here is a quote from Robert M. M'Cheyne that really touched me this morning as I thought about self-examination and the cross.
"Now, do not look so long and harassingly at your own heart and feelings. What will you find there but the bite of the serpent? You were shapen in iniquity, and the whole of your natural life has been spent in sin. The more God opens your eyes, the more you will feel that you are lost in yourself. This is your disease. Now for the remedy. Look to Christ; for the glorious Son of God so loved lost souls, that he took on him a body and died for us--bore our curse, and obeyed the law in our place. Look to Him and live. You need no preparation, you need no endeavours, you need no duties, you need no strivings, you only need to look and live... Do not take up your time so much with studying your heart as with studying Christ's heart. 'For one look at yourself, take ten looks at Christ!'"
That 1:10 ratio of looking at self and looking at Christ seems to be the opposite proportion of what we see in bookstores and on the internet. The How-To and How-Not-To books seem to far outweigh the Here, Have a Drink of the Living Water books. Reading and contemplating how to be more Christ-like somehow doesn't quench my thirst the way that reading about and contemplating Christ does. I think maybe it is designed that way. "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit," 2 Cor. 3:18.
According to this text, as we behold the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed into His image. So, in contrast, if I am constantly beholding myself, looking inward, into what am I being transformed? Scary thought! I certainly don't want more of myself! "Jesus, Savior more of thee, Come and ruin me with Your love, So no other is enough."
"Lord, do come and ruin me with Your love! I am so weary of contemplating myself. Thank you for brothers and sisters in Christ who point me to You. Not only the ones near to me, but the authors and teachers who have labored for Your glory and have kept You at the center of all that they write and teach. Show me my sin for what it is, Lord, dark, disgusting and wretched. But I will be devastated if you don't then show me Your glory, bright, infinitely beautiful, and given to me at the cross! Let me be transformed into the image of Christ as I gaze on His beauty."
7 comments:
Very timely. I'm linking this to a friend...
:)
Amazing, how Robert M'Cheyne's quote was an echo of how I was affected by Say 1 of Comforts from the Cross!
At the onset of this study, I am comforted, knowing that while I felt "disconnected", I was reassured that I'm every bit as "connected" as I'll ever be!
Priase God for this timely study, and your blog post!
Amazed at the way that the Lord continues to open our eyes and transform us into the image of His Son!
What a hope we have "In Christ"!
Thank you for sharing this, Amanda.
Wow Amanda ~ my reading this morning from "Counsel From The Cross" was on 2 Cor.4:18 also! Here's what it said, "If we want to see God's glory, if we long for ourselves and others to be transformed into godliness, we must dwell on the gospel, where his glory is most clearly seen. It is the gospel into which we are to look, and it is by the power of the gospel that we will be changed."
This then reminded me of this C.S. Lewis quote: "Christian humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less. Blessed self-forgetfulness." The verse I have been meditating on for the last two weeks is Psalm 27:8 "You have said, "Seek my face." My heart says to you "Your face, Lord, do I seek."
So this lengthy comment is just to let you know how the Lord is speaking to me through this post of yours!
Amanda, Knowing you as I do, I pray that you will take what I am going to try to say as an expression of "gratitude" and feeling of being blessed more than a "compliment."
Through my daily struggles with life, and my much desired relationship with Christ, I feel so blessed to come to your blog site and be able to read always what I need from scripture, and yes, from your heart. I am so blessed to have a daughter like you who has such a passion for life and such a love and devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ, to your children, your husband, and anyone who may need the love of the Lord in their life. All I can really say to sum it up is THANK YOU JESUS. I love you...MOM
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