I’d rather die my way than live yours. —Lauren Oliver
The Bible says we are dead. That’s kind of creepy. It doesn’t sound like the “Good News” everybody needs to hear. But actually, it’s one of the most amazing, powerful truths in God’s Word: We were crucified with Christ and we’ve died. But what have we died to? That’s the question. What have we left behind? (It’s certainly not the capacity to sin. As of this morning, I was still capable!)
“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live…” (Galatians 2:19)
Whether we realize it or not, whether we act on it or not, we are dead to the laws of performance-based acceptance. We are dead to the notion that we can do anything to earn additional favor from God. That’s powerful! With clarity, we can embrace the truth that only Jesus can do what we never could.
Somehow, in some way, when Jesus died on the cross, we did too. Reaching across time, our souls cried out in anguish—the same anguish as Jesus on that cross—and right there, on the cross, we released our last breath and said so long to a life of our dizzying need to perform and do it all for God’s sake.
And oh, this death serves a most beautiful purpose.
“So that…” When I read this tiny transitional phrase in Scripture, my eyes are peeled for purpose. For what purpose did I die to the law? For what purpose did I try to stop gaining God’s favor through ritual and performance? “So that I might live.”
Friend, in my new life—filled with His breath—I am calling to all the exhausted, to all the marchers whose boots are so heavy with mud and muck from self-induced guilt and shame. I am calling to you to leave the boots in the mud and approach Him with bare feet dancing.
You are on the most sacred of dance floors.
Leave the boots behind, my friend. Leave them in the pile of funeral attire. Die and live.
Giver of Life, what an invitation! What an exchange. You are calling me to leave behind a life of rules and “not enoughs” so You can give me a life of acceptance and “more than enoughs.” I accept. Wholeheartedly, I accept Your call to live. Amen.