I love how Matthew 5 starts. “Blessed be...” is something I can work with. I like to be blessed even if it requires a little effort on my part. Sure, I may not always want to be meek or mourning or peacemaking but if I’m going to be blessed it sure sounds good.
So Matthew 5 starts out pretty good but as it goes along Jesus seems to build up steam and, if I do say so myself, gets a bit demanding. He gets away from telling me I’m going to be blessed and says something over the top like pray for those who persecute me. Excuse me? Can you repeat that? Now, I’m great with the concept of prayer while I’m telling God all the people to cure and all the hurts to mend but this praying for those who persecute me business is asking more than I want to give some days.
I’ve tried it. I have prayed for someone who is persecuting me and I’m not very good at it. In fact, I’m still in a season where I kind of throw it back in God’s lap. My prayer goes something like this, “God, I pray for this person and ask that you touch their heart so you can work in their life.” Now, that doesn’t sound too bad I suppose but it’s nothing like the prayer for my children when I cry out for God to work, nothing like the prayer for his help in overcoming my sins were I plead and cry tears of pain, nothing like the prayer for the hurting parents who lost a child or a child who lost their parent too soon. Those prayers have a level of conviction that is palpable but my prayer for the persecutor is simple and not so heartfelt most of the time. Maybe it’s because I really want to ask God to allow me to seek retribution so that I may have the victory more than I want God to make them lovable and more in His image. My heart isn’t in the prayer for my persecutor like it is for the person who I can love/sympathize/empathize with easily. Jesus asks a lot from this prideful person when he asks that I pray for my persecutor.
Paul, in Chapter 12 of his letter to the Romans, goes so far as to tell them to bless those who persecute them. Do you think he means bless them by doing something for them? To reach out to them? Oh my.
God gives us commands that I don’t believe are so much about doing what He wants us to do as they are a check of where our heart for Him stands. If I can pray and bless those who persecute me, I am living a Christ-like life but if I can’t do that, it speaks volumes about where I am as a disciple and what is Lord of my life. I’m secure that God is not condemning me because my prayer is so inadequate right now. Instead, I believe He is reminding me of how much I can look like Him if I want to, if I’ll just let go of what breaks down and destroys and take hold of what builds up and glorifies.
There are times I wish following God was easier but love isn’t easy. It can’t be easy for God to love me at times but He does because God IS love and I know He is watching me and telling me that I can be love too. It’s what He hopes for me and what He wants for me and it’s who I want to be in my walk to reflect Christ in my life.
Jeff Jones
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