RISE
Day Twenty-nine – Today is day twenty-nine. Today is the day we think about shedding excess baggage….do some spring, spiritual cleaning…cut off the dead wood…pluck off the dead heads so we can thrive. In every transformation there are moments when we realize that some things just clutter our lives. Some attitudes hold us back. Some actions make for backward thinking and lead us nowhere good. Some habits, though hard to break, are keeping us from reaching our spiritual potential. We rest in them, get comfy and perhaps lazy to the point where spiritual discernment is all but absent.
When Christ spoke with the rich young ruler he brought this issue out. He seemed like a fine young man who had it all together. He kept the law, seemed to have a great love for God and you can just about bet that he was what you would call a “church leader.” All of that is well and good, but in our transformation we are called deeper. Christ told the young man that he lacked “one thing.” Christ then asked the man to sell what he had and give to the poor and follow Him.
You know what is funny about that text? Christ says “one thing,” but then mentions at least three distinct actions. We tend to focus on the riches and say something like, “He just couldn’t part with his wealth.” In reality I think the issue was a condition of heart that did not allow the man to make that level of commitment. Wealth does not exclude us from being Christian or doing great good. Neither does Christ call us to live as spiritual hobos with nothing but a stick and bandana.
What he does ask is for full commitment. The young man’s dead wood just happened to be wealth, but for many it will be other things that are or may not be inherently sinful, but nonetheless interfere with our willingness to put him first.
Today is day twenty-nine. Today is a day to clean house. It is a day to cut the dead wood free and fly.
