Go be Grass

Sometimes I feel like I'm slogging through certain books in the old testament. In fact I was doing this just yesterday in 2 Chronicles, thinking to myself, "these kings are pure idiots..." when I was struck by a verse that just dug into me deeper and deeper.  It actually came out of the story of a righteous king, Hezekiah, who took major steps to return his people to holiness.  Chapter 29, verse 16 reads, "The priests went into the sanctuary of the Lord to purify it.  They brought out to the courtyard of the Lord's temple everything unclean that they found in the Temple of the Lord."

Our souls now (in the new covenant bought by Christ's sacrifice) are the temple of the Lord.  The HIGH priest, Jesus, has gone in and PURIFIED our souls (for those of us who have accepted his atonement), and we are made righteous through HIM!  Hallelujah!  BUT the second part of that verse requires something from us...the bringing out of the UNCLEAN ( opposite of morally uncontaminated, pure, righteous and holy.)

So what does it mean for us to "bring out everything unclean?"  "Bring OUT" struck me as infinitely significant:  it doesn't say "destroy" or "burn" or any of the equivalent, but more importantly, the stuff that defiled the temple didn't make the temple NOT the temple...the temple had dirty stuff in it, and in order to bring it into fullness, the unclean had to be removed from it-brought out into the light, so to speak.

All of us who come to Christ (and probably until we die) have areas of "uncleanness" in us...areas that erect a barrier between coming into complete intimacy with Christ AND entering into our destiny.

Case in point: I have a client I'm coaching, and no matter how many sessions we spent together, we cannot move past the main theme of her life: shame.  She is unable to believe she is worth God's love. She constantly is trying to be "better," to earn Christ's love and to be worthy of the sacrifice of his blood. No matter how much I repeat the truth: ("new creation in Christ," etc.), the fundamental problem lies in her belief system. She FEELS dirty, and no amount of truth preaching can penetrate that notion.

On a personal note, I consistently struggle with the sense that I'm not ENOUGH.  I am not spending ENOUGH time with God, I'm not reading the Word ENOUGH, I'm not helping others ENOUGH, I don't pray ENOUGH, I don't clean/exercise/watch my budget/ad infinitum ENOUGH.  After years and years of vowing to work harder, I recently found myself sidelined by a chronic illness onset. So now I scrape by, hoping to avoid absolute chaos, still struggling within, however, with the sense that I'm still not doing ENOUGH! 

So I'm bringing out that uncleanness: that area of pride that says I have to do MORE to earn His favor; to earn his love.  "Our righteousness is as filthy rags," states Isaiah 64:6.  This means our EFFORTS at righteousness, our attempts to atone for our own sin. HIS righteousness, that we appropriate at salvation however, is done deal. We don't add to it. A Billy Graham, Beth Moore, Graham Cooke, Joseph Prince, Joyce Meyers are not more holy or favored than any one of us peons.  We are equal and beloved children in HIS sight, the only sight that matters.   What we struggle with, the unclean parts of ourselves, the shame/pride, unbelief/fear, and so on, are the things we need to drag into the light. Let His light shine on those old, moldy, rotting thought structures.  As He shines His light and truth onto us, we are "changed from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 13:8)," no longer slaves to belief systems that chain us to mediocrity and unworthiness.

Pastor Andy this morning in church talked about his lawn and how beautiful his grass is, and how his grass didn't have to perform for the sun...it just basks in the light of the sun, receiving nourishment, and being what it is: grass, reflecting the glory of the sun.  We too don't have to perform for Jesus. We are His beloved and we are perfect in His sight.  Go be grass. And don't forget to drag the junk out into the light of His healing presence.