As I’m nearing the end of Ed Welch’s book Running Scared, I came across this
comment about 1 Peter 5:6-7:
“Our natural
tendency is to go it alone, or, if the load is too heavy, to call a friend to
help. But Peter paints a different picture. In an act that could never have
been conceived by a human being, the King comes and beseeches us to lay our burden
on him… Peter is doing his best to persuade us to be a new people who call out
to the Lord. Let Peter persuade you. He begins by exhorting us to know that our
God is the Creator God. He holds history in his hand. He delivers with a mighty
hand, the grandest display being the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ… In
keeping with his character, he continues to serve; he invites us to cast our
burdens on him as we would cast burdens on an ox… In one of the amazing
paradoxes of the kingdom, when God takes our burdens and takes the position of
a servant, he reveals our inability and his sufficiency” (266).
Throughout Scripture God pursues relationship with people.
He made covenant after covenant (Noah, Abraham, Moses, David), not requiring
people to serve Him, but telling them what He wanted to do for them. God
delivered the people from Egypt before He gave them the law. His grace preceded
His standards. The people were to obey because
they had been delivered from slavery, not in
order to be delivered. He sent Jesus as the mediator of the New Covenant so
that we who are sinful and insufficient might become part of His eternal
family. And He continues to pursue us when we are wandering sheep. We can’t
make ourselves worthy of His attention or mercy.
In no other religion does a supreme being stoop down in love
in order to bring people up. What god is there that doesn’t first demand
obeisance and obedience before consenting to fulfill a request? What other god
says you can “cast all your cares on Him because He cares for you”?
I’ve slowly been reading Mark Twain’s Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World. He spent a fair amount
of time describing the religious practices in India and all the things people
go through to try to appease the many gods. It’s humorous but also sad that
people can expend so much time, effort, and money to curry favor with gods that
are no gods. The One true God “desires all people to be saved and to come to
the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4 ESV). And He makes it possible for
us to come to Him, not because of our obedience but because His grace and the
perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
He not only saves us, but invites us to come to Him with all
our cares and concerns. It’s really dumbfounding if you think about it. We can
quickly start to take it for granted if we’ve been around church for very long.
The God who created the universe and sustains it by His power desires a
relationship with us. His ears are attentive to our prayers. He knows our very
thoughts, because He is not a disinterested omnipotent being, but a loving
Heavenly Father.
As we enter this season of Lent and approach our Easter
celebrations, may we not forget the wonder of what we have because of Jesus
Christ. May the truth astound us and bring us to new heights of gratitude and
thanksgiving.
“For by grace you have
been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of
God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise
indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions
stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.
