Heart Tracks - I Want You

     The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:15, "I will gladly spend myself and all I have for your (the Corinthians) spiritual good." Commenting on this, Oswald Chambers said of Paul, "Jesus Christ helped Himself to his life.  Many of us are after our own ends, and Jesus Christ cannot help Himself to our lives."  In response to all of this, I wrote in my prayer journal some time ago, that He would be able to help Himself, at any time and place, to my life.  A noble request perhaps, but I know there are still too many instances where I have placed a barrier, a boundary line, that prevents Him from fully doing that.  In too many places, and in too many ways, I'm still after my own ends.  How about you?  The King James renders the above scripture passage from 2 Corinthians, "I will very gladly spend and be spent for You."  Will I?  Will you?

     Just how much of our lives can He really help Himself to?  We may work to the point of exhaustion for Him, yet hold back great portions of ourselves from Him.  Can He really help Himself to our lives in any place at any time?  Before we give a quick "religiously correct" answer, know that He will likely seek to at the most inconvenient time and most inconvenient place.  He may, indeed will, help Himself to us by putting us in front of the most difficult and unlovely people.  He will put us into places where our flesh is distinctly uncomfortable.  In fact, He will be fully willing to shut down all of our outward activity and busyness so that all that is left before us is Himself, and in that place, He will truly "help Himself to our life."  We make huge investments of time, energy, talents, and money in many things, and many things that are for Him.  But how little of ourselves we are willing to invest in Him alone?  We spend and are spent, but have, what His Word calls, "poverty" in our relationship with Him.
    We are such an activity centered people, that we can read Paul's and Chambers words and think that what the Lord seeks from us is "more." More work.  More activity.  He's not, and Paul makes this clear in his words, which flow from the heart of Christ as His words, in verse 14, "I don't want what you have.  I want you."  When He truly has us, He has what we have, and what we do.  And what we have, give, and do, all flow from the beauty of the truth that He does have us.  He is then able to "help Himself" to us at any time and place.  There are no boundaries established, no limits to His accessibility to us.  He then "spends" us according to His purpose, and not our own.  The beauty is that though we are "spent" by Him, we are never exhausted by Him.  Always to and through us is the Living Water of His Life.  We are then His Bread, Water, Light and Life, being spent, but never running out.  He helps Himself to lives that overflow with His Life.  Can He help Himself to our lives today?  Can He spend us?  Or, do we still want to hold the "purse strings?"

Blessings,
Pastor O