eNews - 13th October 2023

When we come to God's word we come with a whole lot of baggage!

Some of that baggage will be our experience of life. The joys and sorrows, the achievements and regrets, the encouragements and discouragements of life all come with us as we read God's word.

We also some to God's word with the baggage of our culture. Whether that be kiwi culture which values individualism in a warm and stand-offish kind of way. Or maybe another culture that places more emphasis on honour and shame, or is more communal, or confrontational.

We also come with our own hearts filled with hopes, dreams and fears. We bring our vision of 'the good life' or our deepest longings or even our greatest fears and insecurities.

As we come to God's word, bringing with us all the baggage of life, culture and our own hearts, we need to always be willing for God's voice to challenge us and the things that we bring. We are who we are, our culture is what it is, our heart feels what it feels and God's word will have a lot to say about all those things as we seek to live a life following Jesus wholeheartedly. 

We will generally know we've stumbled across something in God's word that challenges these things when we begin to feel uncomfortable and maybe a little defensive. We might even think, 'Well that's not how we do things around here.'

But God is calling us to be wholehearted followers of Jesus with an all-of-life worship of him. The Apostle Paul writes this in Romans 12

'I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.'

Beginning with the mercy we've been shown in the gospel - Jesus' atoning sacrifice for our sins - we're to offer God wholehearted, whole of life worship. And this worship begins by having minds and hearts and lives transformed by His word. As they're transformed, they will no longer conform to the world around us, they'll not be dominated by our past experiences and God's word will reshape our future hopes and dreams. 

So what are you bringing to God as you read his word? Are you coming with an open heart to change and be transformed? Is your greatest desire to live a life that is honouring to the God who has loved you with an everlasting love?

Let's pray that we will live out a gospel culture, putting our hope in God's eternal kingdom and experiencing the freedom that comes from knowing our lives are not defined by past pain but by Jesus and the hope we have in him.

Grace & peace,
Andrew