Life at the Well

Learning to love Him

Why do you do what you do?

Is it a question you ask yourself often? Ever? The great preacher John Wesley was once asked by a skeptic why he preached to crowds of people every morning and every night. "What would you do with them? Where would you lead them? What religion do you preach? What is it good for?"

What a question to familiarize ourselves with as we attempt to follow and emulate Jesus: What is our religion? What is it good for? Why are you a Christian, or why are you seeking a deeper understanding of the religion of Christ? How you answer holds no small sway over how you progress toward spiritual maturity. Wesley's response is both telling and informative:

"You ask what I would do with them: I would make them virtuous and happy, easy in themselves and useful to others. Where would I lead them? To heaven; to God the Judge, the Lover of all, and to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant. What religion do I preach? The religion of love; the law of kindness brought to light by the gospel. What is it good for? To make all who receive it enjoy God and themselves: to make them all like God; lovers of all; contented in their lives; and crying out at their death, in calm assurance, ?O grave, where is thy victory! Thanks be unto God, Who gives me the victory, through my Lord Jesus Christ.'"

Being a disciple of Jesus is much more than a mental or intellectual affirmation of the very thing that even the demons all know to be true. Being a disciple of Jesus is much more than practicing a laundry list of approved behaviors (and not practicing the list that is un-approved), in order to produce a façade of morality. Being a disciple of Jesus is more than managing your behaviors and conforming your dogma .. it is living life as Jesus lived it. In the kingdom of love and light, in companionship with the Great Lover of Our Soul, Who created the universe.

And while this thought is true, and even beautiful, it doesn't answer the question of What good is it for? And herein lies the ?secret': in the pursuit and development of such an intimate relationship with God, we are transformed in how we live every day life so that our ?religion' enables us to live righteously, contentedly and lovingly. Crucial to the value of my faith is not to measure it by outward standards that some put such stock in, but instead to measure whether my relationship with my Heavenly Father is the center, or ground zero of my life. Am I living my life around a steadfast faith in Who God is and what His character is like?

Asking and very intentionally trying to answer that question allows the Holy Spirit to reveal to me why I am doing what I do. Some days the answer is not one I like to hear, for I discover that my motives (even as I act ?religiously') are selfish and mere attempts to manufacture my life without inconvenience, without discomfort and with total enslavement to my own desires. Hardly the mark of Christ. Thankfully, with God's conviction also comes God's grace, and so I am learning to make this process a regular part of my spiritual life, so that I may enjoy God's restorative Presence in my everyday life. What I am aiming for is a life that more consistently answers this question by saying, "Because I love Him."

Learning to love Him,

harry