“I do nothing independently—I can’t do it! My judgment is based on what I hear my Father
tell me, and as a result it is the right thing to do. You see, my goal is to please the One who
sent me and not to please myself.” John 5:30 EFP
What must it be like to be totally
dependent? Totally! I find it interesting that Jesus is in this
predicament because he brings a man totally dependent on others for his
well-being into physical self-dependence by being totally dependent on his
Father for direction and purpose. He
passes judgment on the crippled man because his Father leads him to do it. He heals a man who has done nothing to
deserve it. As far as we know, he
couldn’t even approach Jesus and it does not appear as if he called out to him
to heal him while on the ground prone and helpless. The man simply responds to Jesus’ query, “Do
you want to get well?”
Living as a Christ-follower is
counterintuitive to me. It goes against
the grain of my independent spirit. It’s
easy to say “I do nothing independently,” but it is a long way from living that
way. Yet Jesus entered that arena. The
question for me is, “How can I live to please another with no consideration for
myself?” Jesus did! There is no way he could have lived the life
he did and go through what he went through if not for the fact that he was not
living a self-serving life. But in the
end, his dependent life, his just judgment, his desire to please the One who
sent him, became his pleasure as well.
His joy will be made complete when he see us with him in his
kingdom. It will be worth it then…but
how do I live like him now?
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