NOTHING TO ME:

NOTHING TO ME:

You will say, “How I hated discipline!

   How my heart spurned correction!

I refused to obey my teachers

   or listen to my instructors.

And quickly I was in serious trouble…”

-Proverbs 5:12-14a

The spirit and truth with which we live our daily lives is the greatest testimony of what Jesus Christ means to us. Sadly, many of us stand with squeaky clean whiteboards - our way of telling God Almighty, "Nothing. You mean nothing to me."

This morning I heard a song that came out back in ‘99. I recognized it immediately, and even know all the lyrics. It took me back to a time before God blessed me with the gift of faith - before God allowed me to  flush my life down the proverbial toilet.

As I was singing along to the song, “Everything You Want” by Vertical Horizon, I realized I was subconsciously exercising a spiritual habit/discipline that comes from 2 Corinthians 10:5, “...and we are taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” As I did I actually listened to lyrics I’d probably heard - and sung along to - dozens of times before.

He's everything you want

He's everything you need

He's everything inside of you

That you wish you could be

He says all the right things

At exactly the right time

But he means nothing to you

And you don't know why

I suffer from various types of back pain daily. I was a scrawny kid in high school, so when I turned 18 I joined my first gym. I spent the next 15 years lifting HEAVY, and it took a tremendous toll on my body. Mix in a few auto accidents - hard core mountain bike riding and the gnarly wipeouts that come along with it - and years of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu - VIOLA! I have neck pain, upper back pain, mid back pain, lower back pain, and intermittent sciatica.

Yesterday was one of the first days in a VERY long time that nothing hurt. Chronic pain can be like white noise - after a while you don’t even pay attention to it. Ever notice how when the power goes out in your house things get eerily quiet? Yesterday was kinda like that, but with back pain. Yesterday there was nothing hurting and it left me feeling almost euphoric. It gave me more than just an appreciation for the absence of pain - it caused me to treasure the goodness and to give thanks for it.

I shared with my wife that being "pain free" caused me to reflect on why God allowed us to rebel and fall into such self-imposed chaos and hopeless depravity. People who have never experienced chronic, debilitating pain and the derangement and delirium it causes - have zero appreciation for the blessing of being pain-free They certainly never think to give thanks for pain’s abatement.

We come into this world broken and dead in our transgression against our Creator (Psalm 51:5). We are not “essentially good” (Rom 3:10-12). Good is an objective standard defined by our Sovereign Creator - God. It is not something derived by polls, opinion, ruling classes, counsels, courts, governments, political systems, individuals, or any synthetic means - but by God alone.

When we subjectively define “goodness” then we simultaneously reject God -and- stymie any hope of experiencing or appreciating authentic goodness, i.e. a reconciled relationship with God in Christ.

If you're not living for Christ, then you may not know why He means nothing to you - but God does. Thankfully, He lovingly and graciously pursued you - all the way to the Cross in order to extend the olive branch of reconciliation.

In His goodness He allows us come to the end of ourselves and wreck our lives - all in the perfect expression of divine love to bring us into His presence - to bring us, to bring you, home.

He's everything you want

He's everything you need

He's everything inside of you

That you wish you could be

He says all the right things

At exactly the right time

But he means nothing to you

And you don't know why

So what's on the whiteboard of your life? Are you continuing to hate discipline? Are you still spurning correction? Do you refuse to obey and listen to teachers and instructors? Does He mean nothing to you -or- does He mean everything? Our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ, God Almighty, will have it no other way.

Blessings,

-Kevin M. Kelley

aMostUnlikelyDisciple.com

PS a friend or family member might need to hear this today. Thank you for liking, sharing, and reposting on social media.