Reaching Back

It was a weird feeling, fumbling through a big box of art supplies that I hadn't even looked at for probably 15 years. But there it all was just as I remembered it. A dusty little box of pastels, a mechanical drawing pencil, some color chips from color theory class 26 years ago, and even the object of my search--a medicine bottle full of pen nibs. I pulled out the nib holder, grabbed the nibs and an old bottle of india ink and made my way back to my graphic design office. It was kind of fun to look through all those old familiar tools but the real reason for the trip down memory lane was to create a pen and ink drawing for a newspaper advertisement. Computers have replaced almost all the need that I have for those art supplies, but there are some things that I can't do on the computer--and drawing cartoons is one of them. So after a few minutes of experimenting with the dipping, drawing and dipping again, it was all coming back to me and within a short time I had the cartoon completed. I was reminded again that sometimes the only way forward is to reach back.

Are there times in the life of the modern day Christian when God would have us reach back and return to some of the simple truths that we have all but forgotten? As years turn into decades, sometimes simple, yet powerful thoughts from earlier times get lost in the shuffle. Slowly but surely, we are molded into the shape of the current evangelical culture (weak as it is). Everything seems to look ok on the outside (especially in comparison to some Christians around us), but inside there are raging issues that most of the latest books from the Christian bookstore seem powerless to address. What about the Christian who privately struggles seething anger? Or one who finds it difficult to develop a real and earnest relationship with God? How is it that God helps a person deal with skeletons of their past? Or enables them to get close to others? How does he empower a Christian to overcome a secret habit?

Sometimes the only way forward is to reach back. When the church at Ephesus was found to have lost their way (Rev. 2:1-5), Jesus identified that their real problem was that they had lost their first love. Although outwardly they seemed to be doing all the right things, their hearts had grown cold toward their Savior. The Lord's instruction for them was to Remember, Repent and Return. That is, Remember how it used to be when they were close to Jesus and how far away from Him they had moved, Repent for allowing their hearts to grow cold towards Him, and Return to the manner of life they had left behind. Jesus didn't point them forward to a new approach to their problems or a new set of hoops to jump through in order to overcome, he pointed them backward to acknowledge their failure to love Him. And to embrace Him again, doing anew the things they had done back when they were close to Him.

The process of turning back to Jesus is not complicated, it is very simple really. It is laying down the self-sufficiency and self reliance and looking to a Person to make us whole and strong again. It is walking by his side through our days, with our Bible in one hand and heartfelt prayers about all that life brings in the other. It is choosing to make loving Him the goal instead of serving Him or even imitating Him. It is remembering again how selflessly and sacrificially He has loved us and responding with a lifestyle of gratitude and wonder.

Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Jude 21