The President's List [guest]

The biggest victory of Satan in this battle against the people of God, in my opinion, is his campaign against rest. Despite his irrefutable win in this match, perforated by oh-so-many fouls against humankind… nobody is blowing the whistle. I have watched him work this dark magic even in my own life and have done nothing, and now I have come to this conclusion:

I am tired.

My path of late has taken me through territory that I have not seen for many years in my walk with Christ. Lately, I learn the lessons of the beginner…

Jesus is God
Jesus was a man
God Is

God is love.
God is gracious

A great man once said that grace is the one ingredient that sets Christianity apart from the other world religions. To me, that poses a solution and a problem. In this faith, there is no need to prove yourself and no way to earn your place. Adoption is completely unearned and stems not from our own merit, but from the Father’s benevolence. What that means to me is that I do not need to DO anything… no that is untrue, I have one thing that I must do. I must accept a gift. Acceptance of that gift just happens to be the one thing that is so hard for people in our culture to do. We would much rather work our fingers to the bone trying to earn the favor of God that He gives so freely.

I am such a silly Martha sometimes. Oh, come on… You know the one I mean: Martha, the woman who had Jesus over for supper and forgot to talk to Him because she was so busy cooking dinner. Yeah, that’s me bustling around in the kitchen grumbling because there is nobody there to help me. I feel like I have to earn favor, either God’s or someone else’s when what God wants most of all is for me to come sit down and have a chat with Him. It is not that my choice is so displeasing to Jesus it is that I overlook something much better. Let me put my situation in a more practical way; I am on the President’s list at my university. That means I have a high GPA, and ultimately, it does not mean anything. It means that I work my tail off and burn the candle at both ends; it means that I obsess about grades and worry about failure. It is also a quiet arrow pointing to a problem in my heart.

I have forgotten one of the most brilliant gifts of a Father who loves me.

“Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.”
“Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”
“It is vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, and to eat the bread of painful labor. For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.”

We humans have methods by which we attempt to distinguish ourselves from our peers. We fight and claw our way up the social food chain and forget that the only President’s List of lasting value is the Lamb’s Book of Life. I forget, but I need to remember, that when Paul said “…run in such a way that you may receive the prize” he spoke of an attitude of the heart exhibited in the constant pursuit of the goal. The goal is not to beat the person running next to you. The goal is to please your Savior.



Elizabeth Olwin is a (somewhat busy) student at WWU who is nearly finished with spring quarter. She enjoys driftwood treehouses and tidepools and is learning to take the time to talk to Jesus.