The stories that emerge from the Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) culture testify that humans were created by the dirt from the earth and the blood of rebel gods that the victorious god had defeated.
Good Morning!
These ANE gods created the humans, not out of love, but out of convenience, so that the humans might do the dirty work the gods did not want to do. There was no relationship, only transaction - “be there when I need you, do what I tell you, make sacrifices to me so as to not upset me” - this would have been the attitudes of the gods towards the humans.
Not very endearing, is it?
Therefore it’s comforting and fascinating to read the story of the Bible in that God did not create humans for convenience but out of love and that he relates to us in love and loves to be in relationship with us. God isn’t out to have a transaction with humans, but a relationship with humans. God loves his image bearing humans. Pure and simple.
Starting with myself, I miss this some days. I treat God like a convenience to be used when convenient. I turn my relationship with God that Jesus bought with his blood, into a transaction as I only go to him with my needs, desperately asking and expecting Him to do what I tell him to do. In other words, I do not give God the glory due His name. I fail to live out the truth that He is Savior of my life and He is Lord of my life.
Can you relate? Do you treat God as someone other than God? Is your situation with God relational or transactional? God, if I do this - you do this. God, if I ask for this - you give me this.
I don’t ask to condemn, I ask to set free.
Judas, I believe, had fallen into this trap. Upon his arrival into the garden, Judas the Betrayer, greeted Jesus with this title, “Rabbi”. Now, to be far, yes, Jesus was a Rabbi - but that’s it? That’s how you are going to greet him? I wonder why?
Maybe, just maybe, Judas has turned Jesus into a means to an end. Maybe, just maybe, Judas viewed Jesus as a way to get what his deceitful heart truly wanted. Maybe, just maybe Judas saw Jesus as a ticket to a better life, instead of the Lord of his life.
So he sold out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. He got what he wanted and he gave up Jesus to get it.
Let’s ease off Judas for a moment and have the guts to examine our own life, let’s Psalm 139:23-24 our life. Let’s let the Spirit search our hearts for how we treat Jesus. Is he merely a ticket into heaven, assurance that we aren’t going to hell, do we use him to get what we want?
My heart breaks for Judas because he knows what he did.
Do you know what you are doing with your life? How did you treat Jesus?
Do let your voice be like the voice of Judas and look at Jesus as only a means to an end.
Because Jesus isn’t a means to an end, He is the endgame, He is the goal. When we turn to Revelation 19 we see we (the church) are going to get married to Jesus, to be with him forever, to be in a relationship with him forever - with Him as our King and we His beloved bride.
The voice of Judas shows us what the deathly danger of treating Jesus like a transaction can do to a life (see Matthew 27:5).
Press on to Jesus, dear friend, be in a relationship with him. Tell him what you need and ask him what He wants you to do for him.
Amen & Amen.
To watch the video for this devotion: https://fb.watch/r3PJnAidLw/
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