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Lean On
Me
very new monk was walking with a very old monk. The youngster
asked, "Father, do you still wrestle with the devil?"
"No, my son,"
replied the monk, "the devil and I have grown old together, I
no longer wrestle with him. Now I wrestle with God."
Surprised
by this answer, the novice asked, "And do you hope to win?" "No,"
said the old man, "I hope to lose."
Do you find
this story puzzling? Does the thought of wrestling hoping to be
beaten confuse you? It did me too for a while, but when I thought
about it, it began to make sense.
Think about
it like this. We all, like it or not, need someone or something
to lean on that is bigger than we are. How can God be beaten by
me and still claim to be God? In the 30-odd years since I gave
myself to Jesus, I've had many conversations with people who,
one way or another, said that religion is just a crutch. I can
see why they would say that, and to some extent they're right.
We all face pressures and stresses in our jobs, in our family
relationships, making ends meet, facing the future, the past,
illness, and so on. But what I noticed was that most, if not all,
of those people smoked, or drank, or had some other habit (some
of them chemical, some not) that they relied on to get them through
the day.
 he
truth is, all of us are inadequate, and it's the honest ones who
face it. We try to kid ourselves that "I'm OK, I'm in control,
this is just something I like", but if we're not careful, our
habits - what we rely on to get us through the day - can begin
to control us, and can end up being the death of us.
Jesus came
that we might have life, and have it more abundantly; the devil
seeks to kill, steal, and to destroy. It's the devil who wants
you to feel you are OK, you're in control, while all the time
he's slowly poisoning you one way or another. Would you rather
put yourself under the influence of a chemical or uncaring line
of philosophy (Tony Hancock the comedian thought that he was "the
last in a long series of accidental survivals")? Or would you
rather trust a loving God who will give you a purpose and a goal
bigger than yourself? He will demand your life, obedience and
loyalty, but isn't it worth it? You can't keep your life anyway.
We all have to face death eventually. Why go through it alone
and fearful, why go through life like that when you can have the
King of Kings, and Lord of Lords walking with you?
Chris
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