It’s the additives that addict us. The things we add to make our lives instantly palatable, even though we are invited to taste and see that the Lord is good all by Himself – no additives.
A friend of mine recently preached on the topic of lordship and obedience, and he made an assertion that stuck with me: we are always trying to add something to the gospel, as though Jesus + [insert your own ideas here] = comfort. In truth, he said, Jesus + Nothing = Everything.
Yet we continue to add our own ideas to His truth.
It’s the additives that addict us. The things we add to make our lives instantly palatable, even though we are invited to taste and see that the Lord is good all by Himself – no additives. We become addicted to our own version of things when God already prepared a table for us.
I’ve been thinking about what this looks like practically in our lives when it comes to the Word of God. Have you ever noticed how much we add to scripture? We may do it with the very best of intentions, but good intentions don’t equate to good outcomes.
Have you ever noticed how much we add to scripture? We may do it with the very best of intentions, but good intentions don’t equate to good outcomes.
This came to a head in my life recently when I had a few relational issues with a friend. I found that our discord led me to an overall bad feeling about this person, and that wasn’t serving anyone, least of all God. Because this person and I both desire to honor the Lord in our lives, I went back to Him and asked for help. The conversation went something like this…
“Lord, I don’t know what to do. We’re just missing each other and nothing seems to get us on the same page. I know you can turn this around, but why aren’t you?”
“What did I tell you?”
“I don’t know, I’m asking you.”
“Nope. Already answered. Read what I gave you.”
I didn’t read it. I went about my day.
That night, I got in the bed, ready to welcome sleep. But sleep didn’t come. Turns out, the Lord doesn’t like disobedience, and we are likely to experience frustration and anxiety when we knowingly avoid the things He asks us to do. I couldn’t sleep. I counted the hours as they ticked by doing everything I knew to bring peace to my pounding heart.
The Lord doesn’t like disobedience, and we are likely to experience frustration and anxiety when we knowingly avoid the things He asks us to do.
“God, I’ve given this situation to you, so I thank you for rest tonight. I will not be anxious for anything. I’ve made my requests known to you…”
It wasn’t working because I hadn’t done the work.
Then, out of nowhere and certainly not an idea of my own cognition, I was praying for the person with whom I’d experienced frustration. Asking the Lord to bless them. Thanking God for their life. No longer praying for the discord to be resolved. Only praying for this person. A Holy Spirit interception of human understanding.
And before I knew it, I was waking up from a night of good, deep sleep.
That morning, I googled “scripture about praying for your enemies” because, as much as I’d like you to think I know scripture references like the back of my hand, I don’t. I might know the gist of the word, but I don’t always know where to find it.
If we want true friendship and intimacy with God, then we must do what He says without adding our own interpretation, ideas, or intentions.
Even though my Bible study is locked in to 2 Kings at the moment, I took a detour that morning and meditated on the result of my google search: Luke 6:27-27. Take a look:
27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
Now, I should probably take a moment to talk about Matthew 18, which instructs us to go to our brothers and sisters in Christ and work out our issues, to take a third party with us when things aren’t work-out-able with just the two of you. Please know that these steps were taken first, but a sense of discord remained, and so, with godly counsel, I chose to step back and entrust the circumstance to the Lord.
Back to Luke 6.
Where in those two verses (or the rest of the chapter, if you are so inclined to study) does it tell us to pray about the situation?
Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. We are instructed to pray for the person. No additives.
When we pray according to what makes sense to us, we only leave room for outcomes of our imagination.
But the Lord desires to do more than we can imagine.
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