John 1:12 But whoever did want Jesus, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves.
This is a one-line synopsis of what Jesus is all about. Sometimes we can think that what God wants is to punish the bad in us (heck, that’s what we’d want to do if we were God). Sometimes we can think that God is looking for a bunch of butlers and house maids busily running around doing God’s bidding (heck, we’d all like a few of those ourselves). But what this passage says is that God is all about letting us become the person we were always intended to be. I was away the past eight days spending some time thinking about who it is that I was always intended to be (did you miss last week’s afterthoughts?). It takes some time to get through the layers of messages and expectations that accumulate through the years that can potentially hinder that thought process. I don’t know that I came to any grand new insights. But I did feel renewed in the conviction that there is indeed a “true self,” a “child-of-God self,” continuing to form and unfold and grow. May you want Jesus this Lent. May you believe he is who he claimed. May you do what he says. And in doing so may you become your true self, your child-of-God self.
Logan Memorial Presbyterian Church 