What makes you human?
That’s an odd question to ask as we catapult into this frenzied December, but stay with me.
Despite what you believe, what makes you human is NOT your mistakes and it’s surely NOT your weaknesses. (READ THAT AGAIN!)
What makes you human is knowing the One who made you.
In fact, we cannot live authentically human without authentically knowing the One who made us! It’s impossible!
Think about it. Animals have the capacity to live unaware of God. A collection of minerals can exist uninformed about the One who created them. But humanity? This crown of creation necessitates a relationship with its Maker before it can truly be itself!
Every human heart must know the One whose image they bear to understand their own image at all!
Once we truly encounter the essence of who He is, we cannot help but worship the One who made us. His extravagant love rushing toward us evokes a response we cannot contain! As we engage Him, we FEEL His Pleasure, and He BECOMES our pleasure in a depth of love our hearts have never known!
Friend, hear me. Relationship with God is not an addendum once other parts of you become established. This most primal intimacy cannot be undertaken only on those rare occasions you walk into a church. Relationship with God is the very centerpiece of your existence – your breath and your very heartbeat.
How have we forgotten this? “HE made us for Himself; we didn’t make Him!” (Psalm 100:3 MSG) If we take this essential core out of the equation, there is no humanity at all. It’s merely the appearance of a thing lacking the substance of a thing. It’s all a façade!
Y’all, we were made for HIM! Our hearts will remain restless and searching for ANYTHING to fill that emptiness until we find HIM!
What does any of this have to do with the holidays? Friend, this has EVERYTHING to do with the holidays.
During this hectic season, emotions run wild, don’t they? The festive joy surrounding us can leave us feeling like everyone has the perfect family while we suffer in silence, alone. We feel sure that if we had what others enjoy, all would be well.
How I wish I stood right where you are right now! I would look into your eyes and wrap my arms around you. I would tell you all the reasons you are not alone even though it feels like you are. I would help you see that another human’s love is wonderful, but it STILL doesn’t fill the hole in your heart made for HIM.
In fact, if you don’t deeply know who you are, you won’t carry the capacity to receive love in a way that heals your heart and makes you wholly you.
We will know ourselves when we know The One who knows every single nuance of us AND delights in us! From this place of deeply Knowing…we KNOW, and we are deeply Known. (Isn’t that what we all want, to be deeply Known?)
THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN!
Whoever you are, wherever you are in your conversation with God, it’s not too late to find yourself by knowing Him. He waits for you with arms wide open! It’s the WHOLE reason we celebrate this glorious time of year. HE CAME…to get where you are, but not leave you where you are.
Let THIS season be the moment that YOU become fully YOU!
For comments or prayer, please contact Dr. Lanier at HopeCommunityChurch.tv.
