Curing Loneliness
Curing Loneliness
I read something this morning that caught my eye. John 12:24 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies it bears much fruit.” Jesus is speaking of himself in this parable and if you pay attention to the way he phrases it you see that he is, of course, speaking of his death and how his single death will bear much fruit. But if you look closer you will notice that he adds the line, “it remains alone”. Jesus is speaking of the many he will save by his sacrificing of his life but he is also speaking about loneliness. If Jesus decided not to give his life and he chose to return to the Father, he would have remained the unique God/man. No equal. No one like him in the universe. No one to share in his divine and human nature. Surrounded by angels and worshipers but alone in the universe. By giving his life, he produced life in others who will now spend eternity with him as his friends.
This quote by F.B. Meyer accompanied this verse, “Many people complain of lonely and solitary lives. They suppose their condition is due to the failure of other people. It is, however, attributable to the fact that they have never fallen into the ground to die, but have always consulted their own ease and well-being. They have never learned that the cure for loneliness comes from sowing oneself in a grave of daily sacrifice.” Put that in your pipe and smoke it! These truths, that come from God, are so contrary to our conclusions drawn from our sin soaked minds. We make our lives about ourselves and then wonder why we find ourselves lonely. We draw back from serving others because others have not reciprocated our efforts like we believe they should. We have been hurt and disappointed in the past. We find that when we reach out to others that we are awkward. So, we begin to make life about protecting ourselves and we demand from others what we are not willing to give. Instead of looking to feed others by giving of ourselves, we make everything about us. And, even in this age of social media, we are truly lonely. No other man was rejected and abandoned like Jesus. In his greatest hour of need, even those closest to him ran away from him. And yet, he chose to die so that he would not remain alone.
In order to walk with God we must die to ourselves. In order to not be lonely, we must die to ourselves. Daily we must choose a life that is not easy or self indulgent and we must give of ourselves to others. It is in this giving that our life will then multiply with the fruit of friends.
I read something this morning that caught my eye. John 12:24 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies it bears much fruit.” Jesus is speaking of himself in this parable and if you pay attention to the way he phrases it you see that he is, of course, speaking of his death and how his single death will bear much fruit. But if you look closer you will notice that he adds the line, “it remains alone”. Jesus is speaking of the many he will save by his sacrificing of his life but he is also speaking about loneliness. If Jesus decided not to give his life and he chose to return to the Father, he would have remained the unique God/man. No equal. No one like him in the universe. No one to share in his divine and human nature. Surrounded by angels and worshipers but alone in the universe. By giving his life, he produced life in others who will now spend eternity with him as his friends.
This quote by F.B. Meyer accompanied this verse, “Many people complain of lonely and solitary lives. They suppose their condition is due to the failure of other people. It is, however, attributable to the fact that they have never fallen into the ground to die, but have always consulted their own ease and well-being. They have never learned that the cure for loneliness comes from sowing oneself in a grave of daily sacrifice.” Put that in your pipe and smoke it! These truths, that come from God, are so contrary to our conclusions drawn from our sin soaked minds. We make our lives about ourselves and then wonder why we find ourselves lonely. We draw back from serving others because others have not reciprocated our efforts like we believe they should. We have been hurt and disappointed in the past. We find that when we reach out to others that we are awkward. So, we begin to make life about protecting ourselves and we demand from others what we are not willing to give. Instead of looking to feed others by giving of ourselves, we make everything about us. And, even in this age of social media, we are truly lonely. No other man was rejected and abandoned like Jesus. In his greatest hour of need, even those closest to him ran away from him. And yet, he chose to die so that he would not remain alone.
In order to walk with God we must die to ourselves. In order to not be lonely, we must die to ourselves. Daily we must choose a life that is not easy or self indulgent and we must give of ourselves to others. It is in this giving that our life will then multiply with the fruit of friends.
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