Personal Challenges.

Friday, May 8, 2009. Christian faith is a major challenge. It is a challenge for all of us - just by its existence. The words of Jesus are there. We can read them and if we are interested in the human race, into the way humans live and think, into their goals, their purpose, their culture, then we will also read the words of Jesus. It might be that initially we read Jesus just as one of many, in a line with the texts of Islam, Buddhism, Hinuism, philosophy and modern science. But then these words take action. They unfold their power. They are not empty, not pure reasoning, not superficial and easy to push away. They are challenging, they are deep they address basic questions of life.

Christian faith is a personal challenge. If I start to take Jesus serious, I realize the full impact of what he has to say. It is really good. But it is most difficult to realize. It seems that he is from another world, from another sphere of life. And he is - the son of the most high, God on earth, life coming into our middle.

But seriously, it is easy to come to God. He offers his love and acceptance and we can just say yes, just confirm: my Lord. But he is so different from our world. He is so great, so calm and yet creative at the same time, so full of ideas and full of support. And he is so free from all the things which are important to our world. That is the main challenge: to let go, to be “in the world, but not from the world”. When we start to know him, we start to be linked to a source of power and wisdom, which is infinitely deeper and higher than the wisdom of a worldly view. The challenge is to live with the knowledge of this amazing God, and yet be within the limits of our social environment which we all face. The challenge is to realize just a little bit of what he enables us to be. The challenge is to be what we are: people who know him. [R.W.E.P., jesusnetwork.eu]

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