Morning Devotions

This morning I was reading an exerpt from Blaise Pascal. He was talking about the amazing contradictions that we are as humans. There isn't another creature on the planet with the same kind of duality that we have. On the one hand we, who were created in God's image longing for a restored relationship with Him (even when we don't know that we long for it). We are capable of great love, service, and devotions through God. Yet on the other hand we have our fallen nature. We do the wrong thing more than we do what we know to be right. We seek out all sorts of carnal desires and pleasures and we lie, steal, and hate without thinking twice. No other species in the world could produce an Adolf Hitler and a Mother Theresa in the same gene pool.

Pascal went on to say that for him, no other religion gives a satisfactory explanation for this dual nature that we all have inside us besides the Gospel of Jesus. Even the shadow side of our hearts scream out and testify to the name of Jesus Christ!

I was thinking about this in my own life. I know that I have a long way to go before that final nail gets driven into my flesh and he stays down for the count. I daily have to pin him to the ground and tune out his protests. But he does not control me anymore. What a blessing to have the strength of Christ in my arms as I wrestle to the ground the old me and remind him that Someone Else is in charge now. What peace and what joy to finally have clarity of thought and a clear vision without all the duality that plagues us all. I am so thankful that I'm on the road to be a singular person, a person that imitates Jesus Christ. When I look back just a couple of years and see the things I've done or the way I've treated some people, I am humbled. I know that I will probably have that same experience a couple years from now when I'm farther on this daily journey with my Lord and Savior. Above all, I'm thankful that if we just open oursleves up (with all our filth and duality) God's Spirit will enter in, and that before long when people look at us they'll see Him instead. That's the ultimate goal.