Prone as we all are this time of year to focus renewed energy on resolutions of our own, I was both braced and blessed by a poetic reminder from Fred Moeckel, an old seminary colleague of mine now home with the Lord, on what really matters looking forward.From one collection of his poems we published in 1969, now out of print but perhaps still available through sources like Amazon, I came on the following poem he called "Objection." Read it, and re-read it carefully as I am doing, and respond yourself to the Lord's clear intention for all of us--not to project our will onto the future but to accept his, surrendering our souls to the power of his Spirit.
If Jesus had only argued,
we could have answered Him.
If Jesus had only said,
"Don't you think ... ?" instead
of "You must believe ..."
we could have answered Him.
But since He came
with all the authority of eternity
behind His every word,
and since He was Himself the Word,
we have no way to argue,
no way to connive, debate;
no right to speak.
If Jesus had sought an argument,
we might have given one.
But He seeks our souls.
Braced by my brother, and the Lord speaking through him, my resolutions seem vacant and pale indeed. What God wants of me is not my energies first, or my determination to do better in the new year. He wants my soul, that in and through it he may work his will in his world for his people. Have you given him yours?
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