always concerned me as to what exactly he meant
there I focused on trust
sometime before that I focused on humility
..
i read something this morning that led me down a path with a different view, another window .. sorta
i've been reading the biblical book of Hebrews; we don't know the author, and I think that's very cool – the book references Melchizedek, and we don't know him either, although we know a little, so miscellaneous author fits well, in my mind ..
(it also disallows the intellectuals from categorizing the author and giving him/her 'agendas')
personally, I think this letter to Jewish christians is the entirety of scripture encapsulated ..
I love it
being written to and about God's elect nation, the letter makes numerous references to the 'old testament', the old covenant, in which Israel was supposed to abide by certain legal requirements in order to keep their side of the covenant in-play; as for God's part – God would bless them and watch out for them
they hardly kept their end .. rarely
but God was faithful to it nonetheless
then God says something: God says there's going to be a new covenant with Israel, one in which God will no longer have Law written on stone and scrolls, but on the minds of the people, and in their hearts ..
and there won't be any need for them to admonish one another to pursue God, for they all will know God, from the lowest on the social ruler to the highest
“ .. and I will be to them 'God', and they to me 'my people'.”
wonderful stuff
it's a huge move from having to refer to documented regulations and fall-in with the Law-police (Levites) to meet God's expectations, to having God's desires written on their hearts, their consciences witnessing to it, either approving or disapproving their choices
God removes the burden of the people having to know God's 'law', and internalizes it
one other referent ..
when God covenanted with Abraham, the progenitor of Israel, because there was no-one on God's level to covenant with, God made the covenant with Godself – Abraham was removed from the picture (in fact, he was put to sleep during the ceremony), although he was one of the covenant parties ..
God guarantees the covenant, period
.. . . .
“unless you become like little children you will not be able to get into the kingdom of God” ..
perhaps one aspect of that is this: we bring nothing to our relationship with God
we have nothing to bring
God does it all
all that's required is our agreement to be 'in'
no bargaining – nothing to bargain with
straight-up “i'm in”
God covers the rest
children in their infancy have 0 to contribute
in fact, they only know how to cry-out
they cry when they need something, and can't even explain it
parents are attentive to their cries, and know rather quickly what to do to satisfy the need
it's not rocket science ..God says to us, “I got this. Simply fall-in. Trust me. I'm the parent, I got you.”
and God does not expect us to contribute anything to the deal, simply let God do it all
.. . . . .
maybe that's part of what Jesus meant
it's kind of like .. there's no choice in the matter if I want in; God supplies it all, guarantees it all, and covenants with Godself to fulfill the requirements
we bring nothing to the table
except show-up
and know that Papa God will surely have 'nanas and smashed peas and punkin' and applesauce when i'm hungry, and will feed me
and if I need to potty MamaGod takes care of that too
i simply am
PapaMama takes care of everything
i have no choice, because there's nothing I can do about any of it
nothing I have that God needs ..
except me
we want to estimate ourselves and bring our 'stuff' to the party – the stuff that qualifies us to be in
we are either prophets or priests or kings
we speak in God's name, and walk about judging
we represent God to people - “I know who God is! My God is the true God!”
we bargain with our wealth – money, educated knowledge, status in this world ..
God says we have nothing valuable, nothing to offer to the deal, nothing God needs
except .. us
and he wants all of us
all of me
heart and soul and mind and body and possessions and power and passion
all
God wants me
love drives that
love powers that
PapaGod is love, and love needs a 'loved' ..
i get to be the loved
that's childish
that's the kind of God Jesus points to
simply trust Papa
Mama got you ..
i love you, PapaMamaGod
thanks for parenting me
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