Being with Jesus

Rocky Mountain National Park

I know quite a few married couples who have not only survived but thrived in their relationships with the frequent use of a “Honey-Do” list. I’m always impressed to hear how they negotiate the countless things that need to be done in and around the house by simply writing them out and getting to work.

“Honey-Do” lists don’t really work in our home. I think I have a lifelong aversion to chore lists. Thankfully, Rebekah and I have managed to work through my issues and have found other ways to share what needs to be done.

It’s not a question of our desire to serve one another. There’s nothing better than Rebekah coming home after several days out of town and learning that I watered her flowers while she was gone. She could’ve asked, and I probably would’ve complied, but it’s so much sweeter when we recognize and participate in little acts of service with great love…without being asked or told.

Because we are relational beings, created in the image of a relationally constituted God, we are always engaged in the process of navigating and negotiating the conditions of what we consider healthy relationships. We instinctively know what loving relationships entail - care, communication, commitment, cooperation and companionship. Equally true, we all have more than our fair share of unhealthy relationships to, hopefully, learn from. In the process of healing and growth we discover the kind of people we want to be and the kind of people we want to be with. Our “doing for” comes freely and naturally when we finally know who we are and who we’re with.

The same is true in our relationships with God. There’s a big difference between doing a lot of good work for God and learning how to consistently “be with” God and live out of the overflow. It’s a different posture, to be sure. One I’m not sure we’re comfortable naming, let alone practicing.

The ministry of soul care is vitally important for this very reason - we don’t fully know who we are or who God is. Our identity is wrapped up in what we do for God, which means if we don’t feel like we’re doing enough, or if we’re not doing the right things the right way, then we naturally assume God is displeased and disconnected. We put our heads down, double our efforts, and do whatever it takes to please God and hear those cherished words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21)

Healthy relationships grow out of healthy souls, and healthy souls are strengthened through healthy relationships.

No one models this reality more than Jesus. We remember these deeply relational words, “This is my beloved son, in whom I’m well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) But do we believe such words could ever be spoken of us? Is this sentiment reserved for Jesus alone? I used to wonder this very thing, but then the Holy Spirit lovingly opened me to the following prayer of Jesus, allowing me to dare to believe:

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20-23 NIV)

We ARE God’s beloved children simply because we are loved with the same love. John reinforces this message:

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:1-3 NIV)

I regularly need this reality reinforced in my own soul. Thankfully, God is not wearied by my exhaustive and exhausting attempts to try to prove my worthiness. Quite the contrary, God rushes in to strengthen my soul and remind me of his everlasting love. Jesus invites me to rest in his love, to daily learn how to be with him, to “learn the unforced rhythms of grace,” and to live with his love as the driving force of my identity and my activity. The invitation, always, is to “be with Jesus.”

I recently enjoyed a month of Sabbatical, something I haven’t intentionally done in thirty years of ministry. The timing was significant - no doubt, a gift from God at a very important moment on my journey. Sensing a desire to commune with God in nature, I hiked about 100 miles in the beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park. The key takeaway from my time away was that I truly enjoy being with Jesus. Even more than that, Jesus enjoys being with me, too.

I wish I could sit down and talk with you about my time in the mountains and the countless ways I experienced God’s love. Even more than that, I wish I could sit down and listen as you explore the countless ways God is actively drawing you into deeper relationship. Oh the joy of recognizing and responding to God’s loving gaze.

The timing of my sabbatical is important because there are many things I hope to do with the ministry of Lifepoint Resources. If I don’t start from the right place, it’s unlikely that I’ll be hearing well. Like Jesus, I want my life with God to inform every decision, every conversation, every impulse. I need to practice the presence of God, which can really only be developed if I’m starting from a place of trust and surrender, two postures that reveal a healthy relationship and a healthy soul.

So, over the next several weeks we will unpack several elements of a healthy relationship with God and others - care, communication, commitment, cooperation and companionship. This is not an exhaustive list, but it’s a good place to start as we consider the point - the end goal - of life:

Being with Jesus. Becoming people of love.