Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in the latter days of his life, knowing his end was in all likelihood drawing near, was taken up with a concern for others. Life in the will of God in Christ was not about his own troubles but the troubles of others. He was concerned for his fiancee who he lamented had suffered recent losses and was now troubled over his plight. And he was concerned for others around him in prison, who testified of the peace he lived in as he served them, right up to the end. All was centered for him, in the struggle of his life, in the love of God found in the will of God in Christ Jesus. This was his passion, to find that will and live in it.
What about us? What's it all about for us? And why? Do we give in to difficulties or seemingly insurmountable issues that would subvert us away from the will of God in Christ Jesus? We know this will is provided for us in Christ Jesus, in the grace of God. It is something we cannot either merit or achieve on our own. And that is certainly ongoing.
But this should be our passion. To keep looking for and finding the will for us in Christ Jesus, daily, in all of life, in the hard circumstances of life, knowing that in this is all we need in ongoing forgiveness and new direction and life for us. This is something I'm working on in thought and life. It involves much more than what is stated here. But this is an important paradigm in which we're to live together in this world. A life taken up for others, by the Spirit, as we lay our own wants and concerns, our own will down at God's feet, through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Anything you might like to add here?
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2 comments:
I think that's interested that he was taken up with concern for others as his life was nearing an end. Did he know his time was short? Or do we simply know it in retrospect?
I wonder too if "numbering our days", as the Psalmist says, might produce the same response in us.
L.L., He pretty much gathered that the end was drawing near, and as it did he more and more realized that, but acquiesced to it with peace and in concern to help the others there. And he stated that this would be for him, his execution, the beginning of life.
This is all according to my recollection.
Good thought, I think that Psalm could certainly help.
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