Solidify

A few months ago I picked a word to define 2013. I picked my word to define where I thought God was going to lead and to remind me of how the Lord is working in my life.

I picked the word solidify. I picked it kind of on a whim. Last year, there was a lot of restoration the Lord did in me and I desired that his truth would become of more importance to me and be a deeper part of my everyday life.

It’s interesting to look back over the past few months how the Lord has been working on solidifying me.

I’m in a different spot than I imagined I would be in right now but I’m doing fine. I’m learning. I’m growing. And I’m pretty okay in the midst of everything.

I’ve prayed for myself to have faith for a long time because I’ve always struggled with not being able to see God tangibly. I might have some tangible struggles right now, but I’m not struggling with faith.

Tonight I was in my multicultural behavior class listening to a lady talk about Sekhism. I didn’t even know what that was until tonight. I thought it was a form of Islam or something. It is a religion that focuses on equality for all people. It is called the “universal religion”. The point is to live life performing good deeds and meditating to discover the god within yourself. You have to attain goodness so you can reincarnate into a new being and continue to be good throughout your future lives. The speaker talked about wanting peace in the world and happiness, but she seemed so lifeless and lonely. She talked about being unattached from the world to be good.

My friend who sits next to me was passing notes to me the entire time noticing how lonely she felt. We both pointed out inconsistencies in her religion and how odd it was that she would choose to follow a religion that was created in the 1600s and believe it to be true as the “universal religion”.

In one of his notes he wrote “she is so lifeless. She devotes herself to meditation on “the god within her”, but she seems lifeless and detached from any relationship”.

I wrote back “that’s because there is none. John 14:6 says “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” She seems lifeless because she is without the most important piece- Jesus Christ”

Then there was our professor who just kept affirming this woman in her beliefs. (the same professor who a week ago at the Hindu temple told a Hindu man that Christians are pushy, rude, and annoying, I might add, even though she is a Christian herself). She was so tolerant and it was just bothering me. I mean yes we had a speaker in our class so it was important to show her respect, but respect doesn’t mean being tolerant and affirming her religion.

I guess I point this out because so often in that class we discuss weather it is fair for all people to be held to the same standard. It is always presented this way “If there is a woman who is a devout muslim (or some devout follower of some other religion) and loves god in the way she knows him will she go to heaven? What if she has never heard of Christianity? Will God forgive her and let her go to heaven? How can God be so loving if he doesn’t forgive that?” The debates go back and forth. It hit me tonight more than ever before. Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only life. Period.

On Sunday my Pastor gave an illustration that I love so much. Imagine that you are about to hike a beautiful mountain (of course he had my attention with this because if you’ve followed my blog at all you know I love mountains more than just about anything). Anyways, you are getting ready to hike this mountain, but it is a difficult mountain to hike. In fact, it is so difficult that you have a special mountain ranger coming to meet you to show you the way. This mountain ranger knows that there is only one way to get to the summit. He knows that people following him might think there is a better way or an easier way to get to the top, but all these other ways are really not other ways at all. In fact they all are dangerous and only lead to death. This mountain ranger takes you up to the summit showing you the only way to get to the summit. If you stray away from the right path, it is just not tolerated. This is the loving thing because all the other paths lead to death. The mountain ranger is doing the loving thing in showing you the way.

That is exactly what is meant by Jesus being the only way, the only truth, and the only life. My role is to live in full faith by this. I will not be tolerant. I will love and respect, but I will not be tolerant because I do not serve a tolerant God. I serve a loving God. I have complete faith in that. I don’t need something tangible to show me that because He is solidifying His truth in me, which is important because if Jesus Christ is the only way, only truth, and only life than I need to be not only solidified in this truth but also sharing and spreading this truth.