I Cannot Do It

We weren't created to figure out life on our own. We are dependent creatures. We started out that way, we continue that way, and we will forever exist that way. God breathed life into Adam, he did not find life himself. He was dust, and God created an image-bearer. We were all knit together in our mother’s womb, a beautiful picture of dependency upon both God and our mother. We have literally never existed as an individual entity, cut off from all external sources.

This reality never ends. As I walk through the ups and downs of life I have grown to understand the absolute essential truth that God created me as a dependent being. I need Him and I need people. I need my wife. I need my friends. I need my church. I need God’s strength to fight temptation. I need His Spirit to pray on my behalf when I literally don’t know what to say or do. I need Jesus to intercede for me every second of every day. I need His love for me, His mercy, His grace, His patience, His discipline. These are essential needs, daily needs, and this dependency won't stop.

Eternity with the Father, Son, and Spirit is not our ultimate hope because it brings absolute independence and personal achievement apart from all other beings. It is not eternal joy because we no longer will have to deal with relationships and community. Heaven is not an individualistic claw machine where I can cash in my personal achievements and receive everlasting prizes and gifts and pleasures. No, eternal life found in Jesus Christ alone provides the deep, abiding, all-satisfying relationship with a God who sacrificed Himself to receive you with open arms. Salvation is about communion, and we were created to experience it both in the highest of highs and lowest of lows.

Jesus is truly your all. 

PJH