My heart and mind do not normally, automatically know and understand the mind of God. My heart and mind are bent to my own desires, my own wanting, understanding, thinking, having, doing. There is nothing in my natural way of life that thinks like God, wants what God wants, does what God would do. Even if it looks or sounds good to others, my motives are often self-seeking and self-exalting, much to my chagrin.
If the goal is how others perceive me, I can fool a lot of people a lot of the time.
If the goal is how I perceive myself, I can also fool that person a lot of the time.
But what if that's not the goal? What if, all these years, all these moments and days, we've missed the goal?
Matthew 1:33 says, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which means “God with us.”
God with us. God will join us here. In this place. On earth. In the muck and mire, the sickness and decay, the wormwood and gal.
That was His promise to Israel:
Therefore Adonai Himself will give you a sign:
Behold, the virgin will conceive.
When she is giving birth to a son,
she will call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)
That is His promise for the end of time:
I also heard a loud voice from the throne, saying,
“Behold, the dwelling of God is among men,
and He shall tabernacle among them.
They shall be His people,
and God Himself shall be among them
and be their God...." (Revelation 21:3)
The goodness, the promise, the goal of God is not life without sin. It is not a life of fulfilled desires or a lack of unmet needs. The ultimate goal is God Himself--His presence, His dwelling, or living with, me. With you. Simply being. Being in the presence of and with Almighty God.
That requires forgiveness of sin. It will result in all things beautiful, pain-free and fulfilled. Those are the by-products, or results, of God's presence, not the goal.
This advent season, refocus. If God's greatest gift is being with us, that is what He values most. Being. Being who He created us to be. Existing as He would. The goal is not doing. Not giving. Not performing. I need time with God, in His Word, speaking to and listening to Him as a means of allowing Him to change my thinking, words, and behavior: enjoying Him throughout my moments and days. That, then, is how I come alongside and love others with less interference from my natural bent; my inclination to impress, do, perform, win, be heard and seen.
This Christmas season is a time to recalibrate my thinking to one of enjoying the gift of being with God and others. It is time to value time, not outcomes. People, not performance. Being, not doing.
