Make Me Like…a Clingstone Peach

Hast Thou not bid me love Thee, God and King?
 All, all Thine own, soul, heart and strength and mind.
I see Thy cross; there teach my heart to cling:
 Oh, let me seek Thee, and, oh, let me find!

Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart
By: George Croly, 1780-1860

Listen as you read.  This is a lovely piano solo version.

On Tuesday we considered the first two lines of this stanza, and with them the rhetorical question of how God invites us to love Him.  We turn our attention today to the clearest reason God gives us to do so, the cross, and conclude with a prayer asking the Spirit to help us seek and find Him.  Let’s think about this.

I See the Cross

It is one thing to be able to identify the two lines which intersect and from the cross, it is another thing altogether to discern the instrument of your salvation.  Everyone with functional eyes can see the cross in the image above, but only those with eyes of faith can will cherish this emblem of suffering and shame because they understand the transaction that took place there.  The Holy God  allowed His Son to become sin for us to redeem our lives from His wrath.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8 ESV

This is a story with which we become casually familiar.  We know it so well, that we can easily become guilty of regarding it with no greater reverence than the ones who hang a gilded, gold version of it around their necks with little care their lives bear no resemblance to the One who changed the course of human history when He gave His life on it.  We must to more than just see the cross.  How will your life evidence the fact  today that you have seen the cross, and understand its significance?

Teach My Heart

When the Spirit has done His work of allowing you to see the cross for what it truly is, then you are in a position to have Him do the next very necessary part of His work, teaching you to cling to it.  This is a needful activity to engage in for every believer, holding tightly to the cross.  Why?  Think of it this way.

When we hold tightly to the cross, we are not able to take hold of other things.  Things that actually preoccupy us from clinging to the cross.  Things like hurts from the past, habits that eat into our discretionary time and energy, and hang-ups that paralyze us from pursuing health and happiness.   The cross delivers us from these things by being a place of healing, discipline, and freedom.

This makes me think of Clingstone peaches.  You know, the kind whose flesh clings to the pit of the peach, making it nearly impossible to remove without bruising the peach.  We need to be like these peaches.  Ever clinging to the cross, forcing any attempts to remove us from its presence to leave us bruised.  If we are more like Freestone peaches, the ones where the pit is easily removed from the pit, the smallest things will serve to break us free from the presence and influence of the cross.

So which type of disciple will you be?  Clingstone or Freestone.  Cling-to-cross or free-from cross.  Decide today.   That will make it much easier when the hurts, habits and hang-ups come to peel you away from the cross.

But it is not enough to simply cling to the cross either.  In a sense that is our position or our standing.  We must also be mindful we are in process.  Acknowledging I have not arrived, my journey is not complete.  My standing is in the cross, but I must work its reality into my daily living by continually seeking the One who was crucified there.  How do we seek?

Let Me Seek Thee

Rather than focusing on do’s, let me mention a couple don’ts.

The cross teaches us one of the first lessons in seeking when we deny ourselves.  We can not seek God if we are consumed by other  things we are desiring for ourselves.  Lesson, don’t seek after other things.  Are there things that are keeping you from seeking?

Our learning to cling to the cross also promotes seeking in that it helps us to realize that God always has a better plan, even when we have to face pain.  This close proximity to Jesus also helps to foster a longing for even more because it eliminates His competitors.  Truth be told, He has no real competitors, but there are many things that vie for the affection He deserves.  When we  systematically remove those things, what remains is a single-hearted devotion that virtually insures success.  Based on what?  His promise.

You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 ESV

Let Me Find

If we believe this, then the real issue is removing hindrances to seeking,  Deuteronomy 4:29 says “You will find [God] when you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul.”  The hymn writer offers a simple prayer. Echo that prayer, “God, let me seek You.”

Determined Thinking!

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