I thought this title may get your attention. And, actually I anticipate my Fodder meter count to be higher today just because of the title. They say "sex sells," you know?
So, where am I going with this? Well, first to one of my favorite passages located in Ezekiel 36. Then says the Lord, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take out your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." NICE!
Why is having "a heart of flesh" important? Because a "hard heart" is unaffected and is not easily moved by emotion. We must engage our heart in order to comprehend God. One cannot think their way into a relationship with Christ...it must be experiential.
If you have spent anytime listening to preachers expound on the Old Testament then you have probably heard that the Hebrew root word for "knowledge" and "intercourse" are one in the same. In biblical Hebrew, one cannot know something just through observation, one must come into contact with it. I think you are probably starting to get the gist of all this: the only way to know Jesus is through an up close and personal relationship. Feelings are required! We must have passion, participation, involvement, and faith. To know Jesus involves our whole being and through faith Christ brings our heart alive affectedly.
What else am I saying? We not only need to have passion "for" Christ but the passion "of" Christ as well. That is the true litmus test for our faith. If we are not moved to compassion over the things that Christ was, then something has been left undone. If passion is eliminated then faith no longer exists. James' phrase for this is "faith without works is dead" (2:17). We have to engage our hearts to truly understand Jesus, to become like Him, and to follow Him.
Are you emotionally connected to the Savior? Ah wait, that was to easy. Let me ask you another question. "Are you demonstrating you relationship with Christ through your passion for the marginalized people of our society? Now that's a "big boy" question? What say you? Isn't it fun talking about sex? :-)
Thanks for stopping by!
------
Adrian
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1: connection or dealings between persons or groups
ReplyDelete2: exchange especially of thoughts or feelings : communion
Interesting definitions of intercourse by Webster. Can you "connect" with someone casually? Or does it signify something more inimate? To move on to definition 2, exchanging thoughts is one thing, but exchanging feelings is something entirely different. God knows our thoughts as well as our feelings, but expressing them to Him changes the dynamic. It's something that requires effort as any real friendship requires. Intimacy does not just happen. It takes work. Christ bids us to "come unto Him".
That sounds like it requires effort too. I don't think a passive relationship with Christ is possible. "Follow me, come unto me, hear me" . . . all require action and a moving toward. You can't listen if you're too far away. Following from a distance requires much more effort than following closely as things come between. The good walk requires intimacy which is achieved through effort. Intimacy will never just fall in your lap and stay. When one becomes intimate with Christ, works naturally follow because His heart becomes instilled in us. Have you ever looked at a crowd and felt compassion for them? A sense of helplessness in how to reach out to them? A sorrow for their lack of what Christ offers them? Can you do all that and do nothing? I have to question my heart when I can do nothing.