We are taught almost every day of our lives that we need to be in control of our own destinies. That is up to us to either make it in this life or not.Whenever we go, the pressures there.In fact,this is the attitude that is passed down from generation to generation.So from a very young age we are encouraged to take full control of our lives.In that we become driven and maybe even obsessed in trying to control everything.
I have recognise this in my own life and over the Lenten period I have decided to take a backseat. Often we have to realise that we control our lives so much that we stop living by faith. We want to control everything! This can be profoundly destructive in our lives. So over the Lenten period I decided to give up image. In short, it's all about elevating Jesus more whilst I become less. And in doing so, take the back seat of my life and allow Jesus to take the reins.
John the Baptist got this right. He was a master of putting Jesus above all. When Jesus really started rolling in his ministry, John started moving to the backseat. He worked his butt off proclaiming the way of Jesus, and then, when Jesus started gaining momentum, John faded into Jesus a shadow. This was a great attitude.
Just like John, we must work hard and know, we must become less and Jesus must become more. John 3:30, “He (Jesus) must become greater; i must become less”.
I am 10 days away from the end of my Lenten journey. In 10 days time my fast will end and I will shave off my beard. But over the past 37 days I have come face-to-face with my own self absorbed image and I was able to consciously except that I am less and Jesus is more. Not shaving my head and my face was a trivial thing, but it gave me powerful teachings and lessons into myself and into allowing Christ, to live more in me and through me. The objective of my fast as for people not to see me but rather to see Jesus in me (which might have been easier seen that I had a beard like him). To be honest it was very difficult for me to grow beard as well as my hair. The temptation was there to take full control, justify why I can accept defeat by saying things like, “well, I'm not Jesus so for me to fail in Lent is okay. Just as long as I can shave the stuff of my face.” But my conviction in Lent was to give up control of my own image and so I have not shaved - even though it feels like ants crawling all over my face. And, truth be told, on many occasions I would feel self-conscious but that and I would remind myself that it's not about me it's about Jesus. And so I took the backseat.
My encouragement is this, don't allow yourself to be god of your own lives, but rather take the backseat and allow Jesus to drive. Don't fall into the temptation of trying to control everything, but rather, in faith allow Jesus to rule over everything.
Keep becoming less and allow Jesus to become more.
Keep the SON in your eyes!
