Picture: view of the pass and after the pass, NZ
On our way from Arrowtown, New Zealand, our tour operator took us on a small
detour, over a small, narrow rocky mountain pass. I had no idea what our driver
would do if we met traffic head on, as the pass was only large enough for one
car.
The road itself had been built over a seven year time period. Quite a long time
for such a narrow, rocky road! The builders had some challenges to face though,
like manually create a couple of passes through hard rock. Interestingly enough
it took them three months to build the pass called "Hell's Gate", while it only
took them one month to build the one called "Heaven's Gate"!
Seven years they worked on that road that lead to a small village far in the
mountains. So far, in fact, that its name eludes me. But they persisted for
seven years, and they succeeded. And it was well worth the wait for these poor,
isolated villagers!
Our tour operator dropped us off in a location with an outstanding view. He told
us he would be back, as he had to turn the car around somehow. With a precipice
on one side and hard rock on the other side, we wondered how he would succeed.
After taking several snapshots, we started to wonder if our tour guide would
ever come back for us. We had no choice but to wait. It's amazing how annoying
waiting is for most of us, especially if it seems like an eternity! But for
those who do wait, the reward is so sweet! Welcome back Landrover!
The weight of waiting is far from over for most of us through, especially when
we crave victory over our annoying weakness. Will we ever reach maturity? Will
we ever attain real living as promised by Jesus?
If we have such questions, it is of utmost importance that we contemplate the
following words from Jesus "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would
come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For
whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses
his life for me will find it.'" (Matthew 16:24-25 NIV)
What does that have to do with the questions at hand?
Everything!
Did you notice the repetition of the word "life" in that text? In the original
Greek text, there is no mention of life at all (or "bios" or "zoe"). The Greek
word used here is "psuche" which means "soul". Let's read the text over again,
with the word soul as indicated in the original text:
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and
follow me. For whoever wants to save his soul will lose it, but whoever loses
his soul for me will find it."
Wow! In this context, it makes completely sense! As long as we continue to exalt
our soul ("psuche"), we will never find what we are looking for! However if we
are willing to lead our soul to the cross and starve it with all its egotistic
longings and bombastic self-exaltations ("It feels so good!"), we will find what
we are looking for!
Jesus' soul also clamoured to be heard over Jesus' decisions! "'My soul
is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,' he said to them."
(Mark 14:34 NIV)
However He didn't let it dominate Him. He let God reign over Him: "Going a
little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, 'My Father, if
it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you
will.'" (Matthew 26:39 NIV)
The soul will do anything to survive: mess up our emotions, make us feel sick,
fill our thoughts with unwanted obsessions, and make us feel miserable. It will
want its voice to be heard and will always offer us tempting alternatives, as
long as it can continue to be exalted over anything else!
If we want to participate in the victory promised by Christ to us, we need to
let our soul starve to death. There is no other way! "I tell you the truth,
unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single
seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life
("psuche" in the original) will lose it, while the man who hates his
life ('psuche" or soul) in this world will keep it for eternal life."
(John 12:24-25 NIV)
Our soul really stands in the way of victory! It also stands in the way to our
salvation!
Too often we hear preachers encouraging us to accept Jesus as our Saviour,
without any mention of accepting Him as our Lord as well! No wonder we lead a
life of defeat! Our soul never died! We haven't changed! Instead we have taken a
life policy, hoping it will pay out for eternity. Defeat is the norm if we
insist on letting our soul have control of our lives!
Only One can conquer our soul. He is the very One who set His soul aside to do
God's ultimate will. He is the One who earnestly died for us with the only
purpose of bringing us real living, without any hints
of any kind of defeat. He is the only One who can bring us victory! He is the
Only One who will fulfill what we long for the most. He is the answer to our
ultimate questions! Our wait is over, Jesus is our answer!
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have
life (In Greek "zoe" or life), and have it abundantly." (John 10:10 NASB)
"…But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
(1 Corinthians 15:57 NASB)
Isn't it time we experience utter victory? Isn't it time we lead our soul to the
cross and let it remain in the ashes where
it belongs? Isn't it time we
let Jesus be in control of our lives and experience a real "zoe" life? Let's go
after Jesus and deny our souls. May He be exalted instead! May He lead us
instead!
"He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30 HCSB)
It sure is worth waiting for the Lord to shine over us. When we humble
ourselves, we can be assured that we will receive grace. The other way around
(Exhalting our soul) leads only to constant headaches and disappointments.
The cross was ultimately designed to dethrone our souls from their lofty places
and reverse the consequences of sin. Now it remains for us to determine what we
will do with our souls and with the One who is called the Christ.
The view is sure awesome over this rocky pass!
Rob Chaffart
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