Easy In Easy Out

As I sat watching and listening to my Keith Green DVD, the live experience; and as he sang that great song Your Love Broke Through, I began to have this thought about Kingdom access.

For the presumptuous and proud, Kingdom access may be challenging if not virtually impossible. But for one with a broken and contrite heart, access is relatively easy.

The Bible tells us that God is close to the broken hearted. He’s relenting toward the heavy hearted and lowly in spirit. So with that in mind I thought back to when His love broke through to me. Or should I say each time that His love broke through to me; and I asked myself what was the condition of my heart?

The answer without a doubt was always some state of brokenness. It was always at that place where God met me. And access to all He had for me was powerful and easy.

Brokenness can be based upon gratitude or thanksgiving. You know, a sense of need and humility that emerges out of a realization as to how awesome His love and mercy really are. Brokenness can also be just plain broke and in pain. Broke emotionally, financially, relationally and even spiritually; but nonetheless broke.

When we find ourselves broken either by our realization of His mercy or the realization of our depravity and deficit – that is what Easy In is all about.

Jesus said; when we are weighed down by life in any way, we are to come to Him, because His way, His guidance, His yoke is EASY and His burden is LIGHT.

Yet if we are not careful, we can find ourselves in the Easy Out path.

The Easy Out path holds grave consequences and is found in the ease and familiarity of my own way. That’s right; the presumption that my way is the BEST way can rapidly get me in trouble if not brought into submission to His way.

Solomon tells us that there is a WAY that seems right unto a man, but it most often ends in destruction or defeat. A way, my way, our way, versus God’s way is at the heart of the Easy In Easy Out message.

As quickly as we may find access to the grace of God, if we are not cognizant of the potential for loss, we may find ourselves holding onto our thoughts and our ways more than His. And you can be sure that there are plenty of religious voices out there who will by their own lusts, pull you away from God’s way. Just read 2 Peter chapter 2 and you’ll see the potential for Easy Out.

I don’t point out this risk so as to scare us straight so to speak, but I do point out this risk, because it is real. We live in a world of EMPTY WORDS that tend to fill our souls with false concepts and hopes. And the tragedy of that is; most of us don’t seem to be able to discern the difference between empty words and WORDS OF LIFE.

Granted, some of you reading this may feel patronized by this suggestion, but let me tell you, pride ALWAYS goes before the fall. Many have fallen prey to empty words that puff up the soul in its own eyes, but God tells us to take heed lest we fall.

Let me end by saying this: Kingdom access CAN be easy for the humble and broken hearted, but Kingdom exit CAN also be easy for the proud, the self-righteous and the self-sufficient. And isn’t that the lie our enemy and this would has been selling us for centuries?

Keep in mind God’s ways are not our ways and our way has ALWAYS been at the heart of the broken relationship between God and man. Isaiah 53:6.

Last thought, don’t get caught in the revolving door of indecision. Albeit going around and around in a revolving door can be fun sometimes, in the end it will take you no where and only make you dizzy. Joshua 24:15.