This is a modified re-post of the “Come to Me” article from February 2021.
Friends, have you ever been advised to “Follow your heart,” or encouraged with the phrases: “It’s always been in you,” or “You’ve got this!” Most often folks say these phrases as thoughtful exhortations meant to uplift and inspire. However, should we??
“If you’re OK and I’m OK, what was Jesus doing on the Cross?”
Elisabeth Elliott
In the Bible, God lovingly teaches us repeatedly that trusting our own hearts can be exceedingly harmful… not only for ourselves, but for those placed in our paths as well. (Jeremiah 17:9; Prov 28:6; Matthew 15; Philippians 3) There will be gut-wrenching moments in our lives when we recognize that our hearts are not capable of leading us wisely nor selflessly. We need to see just how “faint of heart” we actually are, …all the while combatting the collective voice of society that unapologetically promotes another way… A message of “looking within” as the answer for all of our needs. A false gospel that both depletes and destroys. “You got this!” “You’re enough.” “Stay strong.” “Think positively!”
“The flesh is always self-reliant, while the Spirit creates Christ-reliance. The flesh always trusts in its performance; the Spirit gives confidence in Christ’s performance.”
Steven Lawson
As you read above, we will daily encounter temptations to yield to the calls of the heart… But God knows this. Adam and Eve were given the opportunity to walk with God freely and intimately and yet they readily chose the desires of their own hearts anyway. We are thousands of years removed from the Garden, and yet we continue to make the same foolish mistakes… over and over again. Our ceaseless propensity to make selfish decisions is both altogether distressing and incredibly humbling,… but God remains Faithful. He doesn’t put the heavy weight of “enough” upon our shoulders… We do that to ourselves.
“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
Deitrich Bonhoeffer
Instead, God sent His one and only Son to be enough FOR us. The voice that faithfully calls, “Come to Me,” is the very same one that daily invites you to stop striving. We need help daily to abandon that fleshly tendency to re-carry the legalistic yoke of self-reliance. We need to rest in the finished work of the Cross. Jesus came down from Heaven to be our substitute…to pay the debt we owe due to our sin. We need His Grace and Peace as to not fall into the fragile arms of Pragmatism (“whatever works”). Sister, instead of incessantly leaning into the reasonings of our own ferociously fickle hearts, let’s take a breath and get on our knees… confident not in our own abilities but resting in His. Jesus is the only one able to be enough for every situation. (John 6:29; Gal 6:9)
His,
Meridith
Hold Fast 