There are in life situations where we make a commitment. Signing a contract or buying a car or a house, the buyer makes a commitment and so does the seller. We have all heard the term “buyer beware” and “it’s all in the small print”. These allude to the fact that when a deal is not “above board” there are things deliberately hidden that if known would kill the deal.
When something seems “too good to be true” there are hidden strings that will bring regret when they are eventually discovered. My old high school teacher used to pound into us students his warning, “You can’t get something for nothing!” His message was: look out for the strings attached and buried in the deliberately very small fine print.
We ought to be wary when buying or entering into any contract. Go with our eyes wide open for the hidden strings. But we also need to consider our conduct relative to our commitments that we make in our life. Do we operate with our own hidden strings, or does our fine print that deceives the other party exist in the agreements we make?
At this point you might be wondering where I am going with this. I am considering the spiritual commitments we make in our relationship with our Lord. Jesus was well aware of the human condition that couldn’t be missed during his 30 years of growing up in the society of His time. He surely saw many instances of “fine print” and “strings attached” in the activities to which He was privy.
As Jesus assembled His followers, He taught them what He needed and expected from discipleship. There was one very telling moment that revealed His “no strings attached” condition. He had answered a rich man’s question as to what he needed to do to get to heaven. Jesus told him to sell all that he had and follow Him. Sadly, the “strings” of his wealth were attached to his soul, and he walked away. Then Peter speaking for the others said, “we have given up everything to follow you!” And Jesus answered.
Matthew 19:29 [New King James Version]
29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.
And in the Message translation, the thought is amplified:
Matthew 19:29-30 [The Message]
28-30 Jesus replied, “Yes, you have followed me. In the re-creation of the world, when the Son of Man will rule gloriously, you who have followed me will also rule, starting with the twelve tribes of Israel. And not only you, but anyone who sacrifices home, family, fields—whatever—because of me will get it all back a hundred times over, not to mention the considerable bonus of eternal life. This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.”
We know from John what eternal life is for us.
John 17:3 [New King James Version]
3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
As we progress in our knowing the Triune God, we make more and more progress when we can cut the strings attached to our being. Each of us has our own unique strings. Jesus noted that the strings that hold us back and bind us are not trivialities, but things we hold very dear. It serves us well when we can raise the level of our thinking to that of our God who tells us “Your ways are not My ways, and your thoughts are not Mine; for My ways and thoughts are higher than yours.” [Isaiah 55:9]
I am reminded of another experience with Jesus when a woman accused of adultery was brought to Him. The accusers, armed with the stones designed to mete out the expected judgement of death by stoning asked Jesus for His judgement. With pregnant pause Jesus said, “he who is without sin, cast the first stone.” One by one, stones were dropped harmlessly to the ground as the accusers humbly left the scene. Our stones are the prejudices and opinions we tenaciously grip. They too are strings that must become unattached to us.
So how do we raise our thoughts and my ways? Seek communion with the Holy Spirit. He will gladly lead our thoughts to be elevated to see our stones that need dropping and our strings that need trimming. Then on the Day of the Lord, we can stand prepared to go with Him, NO STRINGS ATTACHED!
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TURNING POINTS
Preparing ourselves for the return of Jesus, we need to do personal appraisals of how we stack up to our God’s expectations from and hope in us. A significant part of that preparation is the assessment of our thoughts and prejudices. What strings do I yet need to sever and what stones do I need to release. We need to become like little children with their free spirituality that adult reality steals from us and ushers in cynicism. Our trust in the Lord must be deep and authentic enough to negate our insistence on understanding. Reaching a state of acknowledging our God and His love for us opens our hearts and mind to the whisper of the Holy Spirit as He seeks to guide us in word, thought and deed.