“Dandelions”

Wednesday, May 08, 2013         Romans 8:1-2

“Dandelions”

God Loves you just the way you are, but he refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be Just Like Jesus. This is the long title to one of Max Lucado’s books, (Just Like Jesus, Max Lucado, Word Publishing, 1998) and it points to our conundrum as we seek the life in Christ as our way of life. If God loves me just as I am, am I supposed to love myself just as I am? Aren’t I supposed to hate my sin that nailed Jesus to the cross?

Anthony DeMello tells a story that helps me maintain a proper balance between the person I am today and the person I am becoming as Christ is formed in me. “A man who took great pride in his lawn found himself with a large crop of dandelions. He tried every method he knew to get rid of them. Still they plagued him. Finally he wrote the Department of Agriculture. He enumerated all the things he had tried and closed his letter with the question: “What shall I do now?” In due course the reply came: “We suggest you learn to love them.”” (Anthony DeMello, The Song of the Bird)

The Apostle Paul knew about the dandelions (sin) in our lives: “I want to do what is right, but I can’t.  I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway” (Romans 7:18b-19). Paul went on to say that Jesus is the answer to our dilemma of wanting to live for God yet continuing to stumble in our sin. Our good news is that “there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death (Romans 8:1-2).

The bottom line is that God does not have ‘buyer’s remorse.’ He knew exactly what he was receiving when Christ died for us “while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8b). The desire of God’s heart is that we will enjoy and take delight in Him now, as he enjoys and takes delight in us, now.

“For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God” (Romans5:10-11).

During this time between our transformation from the person we are today and the person we are becoming as Christ is formed in us, we learn patience as we trust in the truth that God is working in us, giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases him. (Philippians 2:13)

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  In addition to this BLOG they are distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com. The Kindle version will follow soon.

·        The second edition First Think – Then Pray has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.