Sweet Release.
With thee on board, each sailor is a king
Nor I mere captain of my vessel then,
But heir of earth and heaven, eternal child;
Daring all truth, nor fearing anything;
Mighty in love, the servant of all men;
Resenting nothing, taking rage and blare
Into the Godlike silence of a loving care.
I cannot see, my God, a reason why
From morn to night I go not gladsome free;
For, if thou art what my soul thinketh thee,
There is no burden but should lightly lie,
No duty but a joy at heart must be:
Love’s perfect will can be nor sore nor small,
For God is light – in him no darkness is at all.
George MacDonald, The Diary of an Old Soul
1 John 3:6 Anyone who continues to live in Him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who He is.
I have come to believe that 1 John 3:6 is completely true – without needing discernment – no conditions of heaven or a later time, but simply when we live in Him, when He is our everything and we let go of it all (the planning, the justice, the striving, the searching, the shame, the guilt, the joys, the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between), in those moments, we are without sin – even in this world. I understand shame and self are hard things to shed and all our little mistakes are so many, but when we ‘take rage and blare into the Godlike silence of loving care’, just like our shame and self-serving nature, our sin is also swept away. I can’t emphasize enough that I am not referring to worldly perfection but an abiding in the God who ‘is light – in Him no darkness at all.’
There is no reason that we should not go ‘gladsome free from morn until night’ except that we won’t let go of everything we think we know and everything we think we NEED to know – and simply trust a Good, Sovereign Creator and God.
Lord, bring me to You in sweet release. I want nothing more than to be yours, and if anything is hidden in my heart that does not align with my prayer, please bring it into the light. Amen.
Bobby shared with me the other day, I’m not sure the source, but that we are to look at our life here as a pilgrimage Home. It’s a far cry from achieving and building here but a sweet Truth indeed.
Maybe it’s the classical music playing in our house right now as I rest in these thoughts, but Psalm 34:8 is playing its own melody in my heart – Taste and see that the Lord is good, oh the joys of those who take refuge in Him.