March 30 - Luke 21: Compelled

The short paragraph at the beginning of this chapter is few in words, but big in impact.  The widow "gave extravagantly what she couldn't afford - she gave her all."  What compelled her to do that?   She hadn't been healed by Jesus.  She wasn't "favored" as some would call it - no husband, little money, overlooked.  Why would she give her all in this place of worship when she apparently received no outward blessing in return?

So seek God and live!  You don't want to end up with nothing to show for your life but a pile of ashes, a house burned to the ground.   (Amos 5:6)

She got it, in some way, that in God alone is life.  The rest will all burn away.  She was compelled by the truth that her hope wasn't in her circumstances.  She was a living example of Jesus' later words,

...every detail of your body and soul - even the hairs of your head! - is in my care; nothing of you will be lost.  Staying with it - that's what is required.  Stay with it to the end.  You won't be sorry.  You'll be saved.  (21:14-15)

...be on your guard.  Don't let the sharp edge of your expectation be dulled by parties and drinking and shopping.   (21:34)

My compulsions are so often distorted by these very things - keeping my home more than keeping my soul; caring for my body more than caring for my God; dulling my pain instead of sharpening myself to stay with Him to the end.  I am compelled by self-protection, by selfishness, by self-condemnation.  Oh God, forgive my self-absorption.  Work a new work in me, a single compulsion coming from the hope of You living in me.

What a relief it is to know
I’m a slave to Christ
Of all the masters I have known
I’m compelled to live this life
Free for you

I'm on the other side of something. 

I have a new hope that blows away
The small hopes I knew before
And at the end of the day I am yours
And I am compelled

You’ve written on my very heart
Where no man can legislate
The law of your love has taken hold
With your holiness and grace
There’s no mistake

I’m on the other side of something
I’m coming out the other side, the other side

I have a new hope that blows away
The small hopes I knew before
And at the end of the day I am yours
And I am compelled

I am drawn and driven, I am compelled
You have written it, I am compelled
You live in me
And I can’t help myself
(Sara Groves, http://www.myspace.com/music/player?sid=28350668&ac=now)