Contentment + Yearning

As believers living in a sinful world, we must learn two things: proper contentment and proper yearning. These two ideas—contentment and yearning—seem to disagree with each other. How can one be content with his lot in life while he is yearning for something more? Yet this is what we must do!

Our yearning must be for God alone. Jesus longed to be reunited with His Father, for the earth was not His home. What is my desire? Do I yearn to enter the presence of my Savior? Are my thoughts centered around the eternity that I will spend with the Father? One day I will enter His presence and see the glory of the Godhead—but until then, what shall I do? Shall I while away the remaining hours by gazing out my window and wondering why God is taking so long to call me into His presence? Absolutely not! 

That is where contentment comes in. Jesus prayed, “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15). No, the world is not my home! But it is where God has placed me for the time being so that I can bring honor and glory to Him. I must be content to live the life of holiness He has called me to until He chooses to take me to my eternal home. So then, I must learn to yearn for God’s presence, but to find contentment in knowing and serving God in this world.

What is it to You?

After Jesus had risen from the grave, He appeared to Peter, John, and five other disciples at the Sea of Galilee, and there He had a very important conversation with Peter. Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him, and Peter said yes. Jesus explained that Peter's willingness to love and follow Him would eventually cost him his life, and then He said two words that can make even the most courageous person tremble: "Follow Me." Peter looked over at John, another disciple, and asked Jesus, "What about him?"

Jesus' response was simple: "If I want him [John] to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!" (John 21:22, emphasis mine).

Those eight words -- "What is that to you? You follow Me" -- have been ringing in my ears and echoing in my heart ever since I read them a week ago. Is there a believer in the world who does not need this message? We are so easily distracted by the people around us. We compare ourselves, we judge others in self-righteousness, we puff ourselves up -- and yet, what is all that to us? 

Those eight words -- "What is that to you? You follow Me" -- sum up the cost of discipleship. Like Jesus, we are to keep our eyes on the joy set before us. We are to love others as He loved. We are to be servants, even if our obedience costs us our lives. It is a difficult task, to be sure, but our Savior, our Redeemer, our Creator has already won the victory over sin and death! We can go forward with the knowledge that He will supply us with the grace we need to complete the tasks He has set out for us. 

Throughout the past week, I have heard the still, small voice speaking John 21:22 to my heart. When my feathers get ruffled at a rude, thoughtless remark--
"Never mind that. What is it to you?"

When I am tempted to stumble at the actions of another believer--
"Never mind that. What is it to you?"

When I experience hurt at the hands of a friend or foe--
"Never mind that. What is it to you?"

When I am afraid or flustered about a future event--
"Never mind that. What is it to you?"

When voices grate on me and actions irritate me--
"Never mind that. What is it to you?" 

When I experience trials or undergo bouts of "spiritual dryness"--
"What is it to you?"

Before all else, I must concern myself with this alone: "YOU follow Me."

Pruning: "Though He Slay Me, Yet I Will Trust Him"

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit... Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned."  -John 15:1-2,4-6

One thing that makes it difficult for nonbelievers to acknowledge their need for a Savior is found within this passage of John: dependence. We are nothing apart from Christ—believers and nonbelievers alike! We cannot bring forth the fruits of righteousness that God desires if we are not rooted and grounded in the Son. Salvation is all about our dependence upon God. There is nothing we can do that will earn us the right to enter into His presence. Our efforts to please God are feeble at best. We are completely dependent on His outstretched love and mercy, and unless we humbly recognize our desperate need, we will be sentenced to an eternity of separation from God. 

However, since I have already accepted the blood of Christ as the atonement for my sin, does Jesus’ lesson have anything to do with me? Absolutely! The Father is the vinedresser who cuts away the dead branches (nonbelievers)—but He is also the vinedresser who prunes the good branches in order to prepare the way for more abundant fruit! Does a plant protest against the pruning of its gardener? No, of course not. Neither should I grouse and grumble when I undergo the pain that pruning brings. 

What happens to the pieces that are pruned from me? They die, because they are no longer connected to the life-giving vine. Am I willing to give myself completely into the hands of God so that He can take and slay the pieces of me—my desires, my hopes, my plans, my purposes—that are hindering my growth in Him? May my answer be a quiet, trusting “Yes, Lord—not my will, but Thine”!