Lord, to be an exemplary disciple of Jesus Christ I must learn to develop a hardness. I notice that Jesus Himself was a mixture of tenderness and hardness, and unless I develop the same mixture I will either drift off into maudlin sentimentality or else become excruciatingly rigid.
Jesus never became hard toward His Father's will, but always toward those things or people who might prevent Him from doing that will. "He resolutely set His face to go to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51). If I decide to follow Jesus I will be pulled in many directions, all for my good and to save me from myself. The disciple who does not deliberately develop a hardness will find himself too weak to resist the siren calls.
Jesus also developed a hardness toward people, even His closest friends, whenever they appeared to block His path in doing God's will. I think of statements like "Get behind me" (Mat 16:23); "What is that to you?" (John 21:22)
"Woman, what do I have to do with you?" (John 2:4); "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me" (John 13:8); and others like them and notice how stern Jesus sometimes sounded.
I must always be soft, Lord, toward human need but incorrigibly hard against human shortsightedness. Who is shortsighted but he who in the name of God prevents me from doing the will of God? That is why I must always love my friends and family, but always keep a sharp eye on the one who would self-indulgently make my softness become downright sin. Where does the strenght come from to follow Him so closely? "Our sufficiency is of God," Paul said (2Corin. 3:5). That was the sufficiency that enabled Paul to set aside his beloved obstacles and say "I am ready not only to be jailed...but also to die for... the Lord Jesus" (Acts 21:13).
"No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier " (2 Timothy 2:4)
--Daily With The King. |
