I really enjoy Sudoku. It’s a challenging game of logic, and I’m (for the most part) a logical guy. I like knowing exactly where the digits one through nine are supposed to go, using logical deduction and inference to fill in all of the squares.
If I had my choice, all of life would be this logical. Simple. Neat. Well-defined. Clear. Easy. But, much to my dismay, it’s not.
If I’m following the example and teaching of Jesus, life with Him is anything but logical. Think about some of the paradoxes Jesus Christ taught and lived—
- To advance, be humbled.
- To have more, give away more.
- To possess everything, desire nothing.
- To connect with people (social), spend time alone with God (solitude).
- To bring people in, go out.
- To be a leader, be a servant.
- To fill up with God, empty yourself of yourself.
- To come first, come last.
- To gain wisdom, become foolish.
- To gain strength, become weak.
- To live, die.
A.W. Tozer wrote about a godly man: “He has accepted God’s estimate of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God has declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at the same time that he is in the sight of God of more importance than angels. In himself, nothing; in God, everything.”
It isn’t logical, but it’s true: God loves me. And the greatest of all paradoxes: when I was the least worthy of God’s love, that’s when Jesus came to die for my sins.
God’s love for me—the greatest of paradoxes—helps me live these paradoxes Jesus taught. And His love will help you, too.
What other biblical paradoxes have you discovered?
Craig T. Owens 