Brokenness

The reality of brokenness can be felt and seen in so many places in the world. The core piece of the brokenness we experience is because of the broken relationship humanity has with its creator. When that relationship became broken, the effects were felt throughout all of creation...especially within ourselves. We are scrambling to find wholeness and significance and peace for the internal part of ourselves; searching for that sense of well-being and being restful. We search and search for ways to fill that void, to alleviate that emptiness--even for a moment. The problem with looking for solutions either within ourselves or in the things of the world like careers, sports, other people, food, technology, social media, activism, etc. -- they are, as Jeremiah said, like broken cisterns that hold no water. Sure, there is a temporary relief from the internal struggle and striving, but it is just that--temporary. It doesn’t last--they overpromise and underdeliver. We have to keep chasing the next feeling of relief like a drug addict or alcoholic chasing the next fix. That’s why we have to keep going to the next thing, the next cistern because that one eventually dries up -- someone betrays us or lets us down -- the “coolness” of whatever activity we are engaged in wears off and we are left wanting once again. The path toward wholeness and deep satisfaction and joy and, dare I say, happiness -- is the restored relationship with our creator through Christ. In Him we find our sufficiency--our wholeness--He is the well that never runs dry. Are you feeling the effects of your brokenness today? Run to Christ -- run to the well that never runs dry.

Disciple

The root meaning of the word disciple is “learner”. In fact, the Greek word translated disciple is the word mathetes. Yep, we get the word mathematics from this Greek word. Since I’m a math teacher, that makes me happy. Ha ha. So, in a general sense, we are all learners; we are all disciples. The only question then is this: who/what is discipling me? From whom am I learning? From whom am I receiving counsel? To what am I turning to inform and shape my thinking? Christians are “disciples” of Jesus. He is our Lord and Master. His Lordship is mediated through the scriptures for how we live, think, strive, desire, feel, etc. Therefore, as a disciple, our thinking should be shaped by the truth of scripture in every facet of life.The scriptures must be our starting point; they must be our foundation. They are, truly, our starting point AND our ending point. No matter what the topic, we must begin our examination of that topic from the scriptures as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Our worldview should be shaped by the scriptures as the guardrails for our thinking to keep us on track in faithfulness and loyalty to Christ as Lord. The world system, the secular culture, is seeking to “make disciples”, too--it really is. It is not neutral (1 John 5:19). There is a system at work to deter and pull people in its direction following the evil one--it is a system designed by the evil one to “disciple” people away from God’s ways and God’s truth. As “disciples” of Jesus Christ, we are oriented toward the Father--oriented away from the world system and toward the scriptures. Yet, we can fall prey to the secular worldview and its arguments if we are not grounded and saturated in the scriptures. In a world of bobble-head commentary and social media pundits, as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, hold fast to the scriptures--anchor your thinking in the scriptures--so that no matter how the waves and winds of this world crash and blow, you will remain steady and stable on the Rock--even when the mountains give way and the seas roar around you.