Cross View Blog

When I began the 40 Day Red Letter Challenge 14 days ago, one word I totally underestimated was "challenge." I understood the 40 day part, but I had no idea how difficult actually doing the words of Jesus could be! That is, when I do not gloss over His words but take them seriously.

Why do I so consistently fall short of my intentions?  Why is it so easy to undercut Jesus' priorities and revert back to my priorities? I keep feeling like Peter who faced Jesus again and again with failure.

"You know I meant well," was his continual excuse.

The very words of Jesus keep turning into Law, accusing me of failure, or at least utter weakness. I simply can not do them. He seems to be aiming too high for me. He could practice what He preached because He was the Son of God. Clearly, I am not.

Then, I remember that "doing flows out of being." Yes, of course, I cannot do the words of Jesus even for one day, much less 40 days. Despite my intentions, I am still a sinner and will always be. "Do this and you will live," proves to be a threat, not a promise.

The Good News is that Jesus already knows that I cannot keep His words perfectly. That's why I need Him for mercy and forgiveness. My hope lies in trusting Him for forgiveness, not in keeping His words.

He is fundamentally my Savior, not my new Law Giver.

Each and every day my prayer is, "I need you, Jesus, to forgive and help me in this challenge. Only You can accomplish your words in me.

It's all about You, not me. Where I fail, I have your mercy because you know my weakness. You understand. You're on my side. You want me to succeed. That's why You gave me this 40 day challenge."

So, the 40 day challenge is not about doing this thing perfectly. It's about using His words as a guideline to accomplish His will, not as a means to gain His favor. The Reformers called this "The Third Use of the Law." *

In this sense, we can love His law because it shows us what pleases Him. His Law is good like precious gold, not bad like a list of accusations.

Furthermore, I should not be surprised that this is a huge challenge. After all, I still must contend with the "unholy trinity," the devil, world, and my sinful human nature. Considering the potential power of these three forces, it would be unrealistic of me to expect the holy life to be easy.

Rather, I enter in the battle knowing the victory is already His.

Where I fail, I have His mercy, not His judgment. Knowing that, I can say, “bring it on!" If it weren't a challenge, it wouldn't be worth doing.

Paul Emmel is a retired pastor in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, having served as a parish pastor, a correctional chaplain for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, and a hospital chaplain and a community counselor. As a retired pastor, Paul continues to serve the Lord and His people, including establishing the Minnesota South District’s “Pastors to Prisoners” ministry.