A Larger Life

Thursday, March 18th, 2010 | Lent Meditations

“The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self–all your wishes and precautions–to Christ. Christ says ‘Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked–the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: My own will shall become yours.’” -C.S. Lewis, Counting the Cost

“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” -Paul, Ephesians 2:20

“Are there no other stories in the world except yours; and are all men busy with your business? … How much larger your life would be if your self could become smaller in it…! …How much happier you would be, how much more of you there would be, if the hammer of a higher God could smash your small cosmos, scattering the stars like spangles, and leave you in the open, free like other men to look up as well as down!” -G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Father, help me to believe what is true: that You are the source of all joy and the path to real life. Show me what it would mean for me to live richly in Your life instead of living for self. When You show me the next step, please give me the courage and grace boldly to take it. Amen.

Tags: Lent 2010