Tuesday-Enough

For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you.

1 Peter 4:3,4

I can still hear it. The sound of my dad’s voice. Even though he’s been dead for a good while, his words still live in my head and heart as if he just said them to me. While there were many things he said to me, none is as memorable as when he told me that it was time to stop.

Most of the times he told me enough was enough. He was motivated to do this to get me to stop talking. If I had an opinion, I would be like a dog on a bone. I wouldn’t let go. I wouldn’t stop. I just kept bringing it up. And up. And up. Eventually he got frustrated with me and told me in his own creative style to stop. Good manners and polite speech make it impossible to retell his exact words.

When we got onto our boat, my job as first mate was to go and stay on the front and take care of things. When he was ready to leave the dock, I untied the boat and carefully hooked the ropes onto the poles. You didn’t do this too early or too late. You did it at his command.

After taking us to a spot where the fishing might be good, he’d tell me to drop anchor. After it hit bottom, I pulled on the rope to make sure the anchor was secure. I tied it off and we began fishing.

Eventually it was time to leave. Maybe the fish weren’t biting, or there was a change in the weather. No matter the reason, he gave the order that it was time to stop. I reeled in my line and pulled up the anchor. He started the motor, and we were off.

We may not like to talk about it, we might want to delay it, but there are times in life when we just have to stop. Stop saying something. Stop doing something. Stop thinking something. It’s time to move on. Time to start a new way of living.

And when we stop, we never do nothing. We can’t just sit still. It’s time to move on. it’s time to start something new. Move in a new direction. Begin again with a new direction. Start over with new energy and purpose.

God does the same thing. When we come to him and receive his undeserved gift of salvation in and through Jesus, he becomes our Lord. We receive his complete forgiveness in addition to his becoming our eternal king and loving Heavenly Father.

So, the question comes, why should we do what God says? Is it out of guilt for our past sins? Or is it because of shame for all the embarrassing things we’ve said or done? Or is it some kind of payback where we think we can earn his kindness? Payback his salvation?

The short answer is that none of these things will work. How do I know this? Because I’ve tried them all and more. I went down the road of trying to get God’s attention, but always coming up shout. I let guilt and shame push me into doing things but to only feel empty and dirty inside. And then there was the fear that God was just looking for a reason to hit me upside the head for doing something wrong. Not doing enough.

So, what’s the only thing left? What could possibly motivate us to not just stop, but to start something new? Where’s the power to live life to the full without all the messy guilt and shame? Only love can do all this and more.

But what’s love? To change a life, it’s got to be a whole lot more than a feeling. It can’t be like a bus that pulls up, stops for a minute, and then moves on. It can’t be a beautiful sunset that starts out with brilliant colors, and then grows dim until it eventually totally disappears.

I’ll tell you what love is. Love wants nothing but the absolute best for the other person. Period. It’s never about us and always about them. It’s where we gladly give up any rights or things that we think we deserve and willingly hand them over to someone else. Love is tough. Love is hard work. Love is a gift freely given to please the one we love.

How else could Peter ask these people who “have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do” to change? Why stop now? Or why not do a few Jesus things while keeping one foot in their old habits and world?

Now I love reading the Bible and discovering everything I can about God. I listen to sermons from around the world, trying to pick up anything and everything I can. Yes, I want a Biblical world view. And I have one, built over 50 years of serious Bible reading, prayer, and meditation. But a Biblical world view doesn’t have the power to make me change.

Only experiencing the freeing love of God through Jesus has the power to change a life. As we see his love for us, we’re motivated to live for him. His Holy Spirit empowers us to live like Jesus. To stop anything and start whatever he wants. To change our life, not to fit into some list, but in response to his love. This is the only thing in the entire universe that’s enough to change a life. To change your life and even my life. To take a spiritually dead corpse and make us alive just like the risen Jesus from the dead. He’s enough to make us new and whole again. It’s time to respond to his love starting now.

Noodling Questions

• Describe a time when someone said “enough” to you.

• What makes you want to shout “enough” at someone. Describe.

• How can God’s love be enough to change our life?