Lessons from Jake

It has long been known to me that I often am very critical of myself. Criticism comes largely because of my own sinful love of myself. Often I find myself in the midst of verbal self-flagellation, despising who I am because of some ungodly standard that I try to measure up to. I have come to treasure certain aspects of the freedom we have in Christ, namely for this discourse, viewing myself through God's lense. How freeing it is to know that I am the "beloved of God", that I am "fearfully and wonderfully made", etc. "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." I recount one incident late in the year of 2003. I remember all to well walking out of the dentist office and viewing for the first time the metal that took up residence in my mouth, better known as braces. Those things were all jacked up. They did not look uniform, they were all crooked, and when I got to my truck I vowed that I was never going to smile again. Over the next several months the Lord begain to reveal to me the selfishness and pride that was surfacing as a result of the metal in my mouth. I never realized how much that I adored and loved the opinions of other people. This is an ongoing lesson for me; basking in the truth that I am the beloved of God, for no sweeter words could ever grace the ears and hearts of those wallowing in a pit human approval. Often the most profound lessons come through the simplest channels. So, my flogging as of late has correllated to the great amounts of frustration I feel when things are more appealling and beautiful to me than that of the resurrected Christ as presented by the Scriptures. This week the channel the Lord chose to use was that of a hairy, rambunctious member of our family named Jake. Jake has an incredible spiritual gift, and it is often seen in his ability to be single-minded and keep his eyes on the task at hand. He has taught me a very valuable lesson this week. He is only as effective as he is content to keep his eyes on the master. There is no question in our household as to the fact that Jake is a daddy's boy. Jody and I often chuckle when Jake can seemingly be in a deep sleep and all I have to do is sit up or take a step and he is immediately on his feet wondering where his daddy is going. He has been known to not eat for a couple of days during my absence. He loves his daddy! This reminds me of the story of Peter walking on the water in the gospels. Matthew recounts this in chapter 14 verse 29-30, "And He said "come!" and Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" I love these verses as well, "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entagles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." I am learning that I am only as effective as I am content to keep my eyes on the Master as well. When other things cloud my vision and seem more beautiful to me than the resurrected Christ in all His splendor and radiance and glory than I know that I need to take inventory on what is really important to me. God grant me the strength to abandon myself to You alone, grant me the eyes to see only Your beauty, grant me with the simplicity to learn from the simple things in life, amen!