I’m learning that the Lord doesn’t ask for small things. Today, I’m going to ask all of us to really think about something that can be a bit tough to understand.
“Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” Leviticus 19:2
Oh, sure. No problem. That won’t be hard. (said with just a small amount of sarcasm.)
You call me to be HOLY?
You, Lord, are Holy. How could I become even a fraction of what you are?
Only with your Grace would that even be a remote possibility.
And still, I often put limits on how much that Grace will change my heart.
Is that fair to You or me? Is that a real understanding of what You are calling me to and what You are capable of doing?
I don’t think so, but I seem to want to limit Your power in my life. The question is why?
Maybe I truly think that You can’t do it. Or do I, deep inside, not feel worthy of what You want to do in my life? Maybe I’m afraid that if I truly reach for holiness, step forward and try to grow more like You, I will fail?
There is also this. How hard is it going to be? If I’m honest with myself, do I really want to work that hard? Now there is a big question. I know, couldn’t You just snap Your fingers and make me holy? Sounds like a good idea to me!
Yea, You could do that, but it’s not how You work, is it? Your Son, Jesus humbled himself and took on human flesh, carried his cross, and suffered. He did the HARD things and I am called to imitate him.
I know that I won’t become God, but He does call us to theosis or divinization*. What does this mean? The Bible promises that we will be like God. I know, it sounds kind of strange. It can even seem blasphemous. But, check it out…
“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature.”
2 Peter 1:3-4
(See more here: 1 John 3:1-3, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, Romans 8:15-25.)
God is calling us to be more and do more than we think we can. Therein lies our challenge.
Okay, so if I accept that my life is to be spent growing more and more like Him, then I have to be ready to work at this. All stems from His Grace in my life. I know that. But, I do have to cooperate with that Grace, because as much as I want it to be a quick snap, where I believe and He does it, it appears that He has other plans.
In Matthew 25, Jesus very clearly says to be among those to whom the Son of Man will give the kingdom of heaven, you must have done something, not just believed something. It’s a sobering thought. That what separates the sheep from the goats is not whether or not they knew Jesus. They both did. It’s what they did or didn’t do, that makes the difference.
Now, what does that mean practically in my life? I’m going to draw inspiration from St. Teresa of Calcutta’s words.
Stay where I am. Seek after those God has put right here in front of me. Seek after those situations where He wants to use me. Then, remember that “You did this to me.”
See Christ. Be Christ.
And in the process, I will become His adopted child, not only in name, but reflected for all to see, in my actions. This is a quote from St. Athanasius. Read it more than once. Read it slowly, I mean, it is a quote from the 4th century. It can almost feel like a foreign language.
We are not taking on God’s Divine Nature, but we will share in it as adopted children and can offer what He give us to others. This is theosis. This is what will allow us to be Holy as God is Holy. And with this strength, we can serve our Calcutta and be counted among the sheep who did this to Jesus.
I think it’s worth the work. What about you? Where is your Calcutta? Will you do the work to become Holy? Will you allow Him to help you?
XOXO,
Barb
Monday’s Readings (Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18, Psalm 19, Matthew 25:31-46)
* Word on Fire Blog (divinization) Learn more about this topic here.
Reflections of a Cute Lil Mom 