This evening I was trying to explain to myself what it is about living life with Jesus. I was thinking a little about the various people I used to meet while working with Global Youth Network, who would call themselves "spiritually open" and who wanted to be involved with the organization because we didn't shy away from talking openly about faith. People always loved hearing one another's "Life Story" while living on a boat in the Amazon, or sitting around campfires in Thailand and I've never had any trouble sharing the parts of mine that include God speaking to me and me choosing to follow His guidance in my life. But tonight I was thinking about just how does a committed Jesus-follower really present what it's about and why it's so much more than just being "spiritually open".
I happened to pick up a book I bought well over a year ago that I'd only read a few chapters in and tried to figure out where I was and decided to read the next chapter, titled "Union". The book is Brennan Manning's The Furious Longing of God. Perfect chapter for my mullings and here is a quote he included from John McKenzie about Jesus:
We recognize that the person whom we have encountered speaks to our innermost being, supplies our needs, satisfies our desires. We recognize that this person gives life meaning. I do not say a new meaning simply, for we realize that before we encountered this person life had no real meaning. We recognize that this person has revealed to us not only himself, but our own true self as well. We recognize that we cannot be our own true self except by union with this person. In him, the obscure is illuminated, the uncertain yields to the certain, insecurity is replaced by a deep sense of security. In him we find we have achieved an understanding of many things which baffled us. We recognize in his person strength and power which we can sense passing from him to us. Most certainly, if most obscurely, we recognize that in this person we have encountered God, and that we shall not encounter God in any other way.
I like this.
