"Jesus calls us to His rest, and meekness is His method. The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth the effort."
~A.W. Tozer
I'm reading a great book right now by Timothy Keller, called The Prodigal God. He talks about how many Christians gravitate towards the disposition of the elder brother in the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15, striving to control God by their good behavior. Our tendency is to perform, and in that we lose the joy of being a son or daughter of our merciful and loving Father.
Tozer says something similar, stating that we become so caught up in others' opinions of us that we are rendered incapable of experiencing the rest that Jesus died to give us. We keep polishing our image so as to appear perfect to God and others, and it's not until we catch a realistic glimpse of ourselves that we see that we're not worth the trouble. We're messy, and until we let others see that, no one is going to be very interested in the gracious message our Father wants to share through us.
Including ourselves.
My prayer is that you and I would operate in a method of meekness, so that we may experience the rest that we're meant to have. I hope that today we would consciously choose not keep up an immaculate "elder brother image." Instead may we realize that we are no more worthy of our Father's favor than any rebellious "younger brother" we may come across, no matter their past, present or future.
Struggling to earn the world's esteem is foolish. We already have a Father whose love erases any need to prove ourselves.
May we rest in that truth today.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."
~ Luke 15:20
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