Goodbye Old Man

(Quotes are from A.W. Tozer, "The Pursuit of God")

The sunrise this morning was gorgeous. I wonder what colors the sky gave to the visitors to Jesus' tomb so long ago. They probably never noticed. But, this morning in West Michigan, the sunrise declares itself the proud eye-witness to Jesus' resurrection. So I wonder.

I'm thinking about Gethsemane this morning. I'm thinking of Jesus' intense wrestling with his call, his ties to to the world, his humanity. Why did he go through the agony of Gethsemane when we all know that he was destined for the cross? What was the point of asking the Father to take his cup of suffering from him? Wasn't the cross his call? The whole reason for him to live and walk among us?

It's a mystery to me, how Jesus, being God, allowed his humanity to touch him so deeply that he wrestled with it. If I were Jesus, I would want to flip on the God switch and detach through the whole thing. You know, let's get on with inevitable; just do it. But, I'm so not Jesus.

I don't know why there was a Gethsemane for Jesus. I can guess, but I have so much to learn about him, and I won't pretend to have him figured out. But, I have learned something from his suffering, for which I'm thankful. A roadmap for me, based on choice, submission, and hope.

I read this from Tozer this morning, about the "old man":

"The ancient curse will not go out painlessly; the tough, old miser within us
will not lie down in obedience to our command. He must be torn out of our
heart like a plant from the soil; he must be extracted in agony and blood like a
tooth from the jaw. He must be expelled from our soul by voilence...we
will be brought one by one to the testing place, and we may never know when we
are there. At that testing place there will be no dozen possible choices
for us - just one and an alternative - but our whole future will be conditioned
by the choice we make."

Perhaps part of the reason Jesus allowed us to see his suffering at Gethsemane was to show us there are no shortcuts, even for him. I find hope for my redemption, and the redemption of the world, in the fact that Jesus wrestled, even though he was without sin, before he willing submitted himself to the Father. My daily choices gain importance in the light of God's call. And, the part of my heart that clings to the world is revealed in this light for the tough old miser it is. The old man can't live in the light of God's presence in my heart; he has to die in the darkness of Gethsemane, and I have to put the knife in my Father's hand. Lord, help me to be faithful to submit to your hand.

Goodbye, old man.

I've said goodbye to that old man many times. He drags his feet, but, in bits and pieces, he goes. And he's still going. Through my choice, to submit to the Father's will, by hope in the resurrection on the other side.

"Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it, for
Thyself wilt be the light of it, and there shall be no night there. In Jesus
name. Amen."

Good morning, Jesus. Thanks for the sunrise.