How can you rise above the mediocre? Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a fresh vision of your salvation; and to search your heart and expose familiar sins. Then, read the gospels where you see Jesus loving, serving, giving, sacrificing, praying and dying for you.
SHAUNA: Hi, I’m Shauna on Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. And Joni, you’ve got a word about familiar things, don’t you?
JONI: When Tim, an elder at our church moved into his home in the Santa Monica Mountains some years ago, he was awestruck by this enormous rock formation that was set back from the main road. It’s a lofty rock; it looks like a citadel towering majestically above the waters of a lake right by the road. Now, when Tim first moved to the mountains, he said to me, “You know, that first year, I nearly ran myself off the road and into that lake half a dozen times. I mean we’d come around the corner and I’d be rubbernecking to get every view possible of that magnificent rock. I really loved driving the road during different times of the day so I could see this huge rock in different kinds of light.” Tim went on to explain: “Joni, the sun made all the cracks and crevices so dramatic. If that towering fortress were in the middle of Kansas, I tell you, it would draw a million visitors a year! Well, a few months ago, Tim was driving a visitor from the airport to his home. They were driving down that same road, came around the corner, and his guest said, “Whoa! Look at that rock!” to which Tim replied, “Rock? What rock? Oh, that rock!”
The next week in church, Tim blushed as he told us about the incident. He confessed, he said you know, it reminded me of the ‘sin of familiarity’ – a sin which only those who have seen and loved the grandeur of our rock of salvation, Jesus Christ. It’s a sin that only we can commit. My elder friend went on to say that familiarity with Christ keeps us from enjoying true intimacy with the Lord. You know how it is – you listen to Christian talk radio, thinking that it suffices for your daily devotions. Or you reach for an article on the latest theological controversy and fail to reach for the Word of God itself. We listen to a great sermon and decide that it suffices as a personal Bible study for the week. We pray over our meals and offer up a few words to the Lord before going to bed and we assume that we’ve “prayed for the day.” This sort of half-hearted, obligatory tip-of-the-hat toward the God of the Bible denudes him of his majesty and grandeur. He becomes way too familiar – and I don’t mean familiar like knowing him better; I mean familiar in the mediocre sense. God becomes commonplace. Bible reading becomes run-of-the-mill. Prayer becomes humdrum. And nothing kills intimacy with Jesus quicker.
So how do you life your spirits above the mediocre? Well, the Bible says to fan the flame that is within you. And nothing stokes the coals of passion for the Lord better than asking the Holy Spirit to give you a fresh vision of your salvation; asking to search your heart and expose familiar sins. Then, read the Gospels – not the Old Testament, or the epistles, but no, get into the Gospels where you see Jesus loving, serving, giving, sacrificing, praying and dying for you. Friend, he is your rock of salvation. All things majestic and mighty begin with him.
SHAUNA: Well friend, if you need a little help with the gospel message, please, go to our radio page today at joniradio.org. You’ll find great resources and biblical encouragement there. It’s joniradio.org. And finally, let me pray with you, “Lord Jesus, you tower over everything in our lives. Forgive us when we take for granted your grace, and may we never allow you to become ‘familiar.’ In your name we pray, Amen.”
© Joni and Friends