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Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross! Philippians 4:6-8

During my personal study of God’s Word this week, I spread out two different versions of the Bible and a commentary to look at different aspects of Jesus’ earthly ministry. In the passage above from Philippians, we see the culmination of His time as a man – death on the cross. This single act saved me and continues to save me from sin and destruction. And this same salvation is available to anyone who seeks Him and receives His gift. Jesus’ death remains the most important and beautiful occurrence in history. What a gift. His death changes everything. And yet His life caught my attention as I studied.

If we back up to verse 7 in the text above, we see the first sacrifice Jesus made. “…he made himself nothing”. That’s a huge demotion for the creator of the universe. One commentary I read said He, “willingly girded Himself with the apron of a slave.” Mark 10:45 says, For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. He chose to give up all that heaven is and all He was entitled to so He could walk as one of us. Francis Chan put it this way, “He emptied Himself of all of His glory” to come down to this. I’ve been sitting with that this week.

Matthew 8:20 quotes my Savior as saying, Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. At the height of His ministry, He had nothing. Nor was He welcomed or accepted in His own hometown (Luke 4:24). In heaven angels worshipped and attended to Him, but here, He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. (Isaiah 53:2) Toward the end of His life, He was betrayed by one in His inner circle (Matthew 26). Those in authority spat on Him, beat Him and mocked Him (Mark 14:65). Jesus hung on the cross to make a way to God for us. But He relinquished so much before he ever made His way to Calvary.

I am eternally grateful for Christ’s death in my place. But today, I wanted to thank Him for His life.

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Love the LORD your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always. Deuteronomy 11:1 NIV

I spilled a lot of my personal guts last week. If you missed it, you can read it here. If you don’t want all the sordid details, obedience to God was the general gist. I think I need to continue the conversation because it’s heavy, and yet it’s the only way to true freedom and peace. We must push through the yucky feelings that initially come from conviction to reach the joy and relief waiting on the other side.

When we make a decision to change something about ourselves or our lifestyle after hearing the siren call (or gentle whisper) of the Holy Spirit, things often get uncomfortable for those around us. Most people can understand believing in God – even if they don’t. Praying, attending church even. But radical obedience seems, as a good friend of mine would say, cuckoo-cachoo. Getting serious about a sin like gluttony makes people particularly uncomfortable. In fact, upon my confession and request for prayers, one sweet friend patted me on the knee and suggested I was being too hard on myself. Albeit well meaning, would she have said that if I confessed to stealing, or lying, or cheating? In the United States our big portions of greasy, fatty foods have become the norm. And if not the norm, at least considered a “treat”. And why shouldn’t we “treat” ourselves? Because in Philippians, Paul warned that those destined for destruction are those whose “god is their stomach” (3:19)! And when the prophets spoke of the city of Sodom – that God chose to destroy – being overfed was at the top of the list of the people’s infractions (Ezekiel 16:49).

Don’t hear me saying in some legalistic way that your favorite food, or mine, is inherently evil. But if it is more than we need, it is a problem. And I still very much have a problem. I put all of this out into the blogosphere and almost immediately began to struggle in my resolve. Unexpected stressors and temptations hit me from all sides and I slipped back into old sinful habits. I got busy and started neglecting my time in the Word and in prayer. Then God gave me this verse yesterday,

“Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” Galatians 3:3

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Luke 11:28 tells us, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” I hear Him. I know what I should do. But as I stated in the title of this post, should can be contagious. Once I “should”, I will soon be “should-ing” all over the place. That’s not what I want my testimony to be. And it’s not the response I want to give my Lord and Savior. So today I have repented again. Today I rededicate myself to time with God. And today I’m choosing to replace my “shoulds” and even “have to’s” with “want-to’s” and “wills”. Not in my own power. I have none. But in the power of the Holy Spirit. Would you pray for me in this? It would mean so very much to me. And if there is anything I can pray for you about, I would be honored if you would let me know. If you don’t want to type it in the comments for everyone to read, click on the CONTACT tab and send me a personal email.

“And this is love that we walk in obedience to his commands.” 2 John 1:6

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