Lectio
“The Christ present in our faith is the crucified one and the resurrected one. The eternity of the resurrected one is present within us, an eternity which transcends even our most sublime vision of a just universe.”
— Ted Peters, The Resistance of Self Justification to God’s Grace
Meditatio
Whatever we desire justice to look like, we are wrong. Whatever we imagine perfection to be, we will miss the mark. Whatever we think heaven, eternity, and divine union will be like, we will fall short of what God has prepared.
Only God is just, only He is good, and only God truly knows what is right, perfect, and eternal. For His ways are not our ways, His understanding exceeds our own, and His love is unfathomable (Isaiah 55:8–9).
Through Christ, however, we are given a glimpse into God’s ways, His justice, and His love. And through faith, we are able to share in these with Christ, whose Spirit dwells within us — not of our own understanding, words, or works, but in, through, and with the crucified and resurrected Christ who is present in our hearts (Galatians 2:20).
We can take no credit for whatever sense of godly justice, truth, or love we glean from Christ who gave himself to us — because it was our broken understanding of justice, truth, and love that could not receive him. It was for this brokenness that he gave his life, that we may be made whole and free with him: not by our efforts or our thinking, but by the grace gifted to us through his merciful sacrifice that unites us to the Father (Romans 5:8).
Through Christ, we are shown that our ways are not like God’s ways — that our ways lead to death, and God’s ways lead to life (John 14:6).
Through Christ in us, we are given a taste of godly justice and heavenly love.
In Christ, we are carried from sin and subjugation into freedom and eternal life (Romans 8:2).
Oratio
Christ —
be in us —
your love
your justice
your peace
for our ways lead only to death
but you who are
The Way
The Truth
The Life
in us
for us
with us
carry us to life
carry us to love
carry us to eternity
may we decrease
that you may increase
in us
for us
with us
now and forever
Contemplatio
Where in your life are you still trying to find your own way — and what might it mean to let yourself be carried?
Related Scripture
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.” — Isaiah 55:8
For Further Reading
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like When Grace Comes Calling: The Gift We Cannot Earn or Control, which explores the nature of grace as pure gift — something we can neither earn nor summon, only receive, and traces the surrender that allows it to transform us.
Robert Van Valkenburgh
Grappling With Divinity.
Wrestling With God.
Returning To Love.
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