The Unspoiled Man

One of the most fascinating things to ponder about Jesus is what it would be like to know a Man who had no trace of cynicism, pessimism, world weary, worn down complaint and unfulfilled bitterness related to regret, or offense, or petty spite. He is a Man with no insecurity, no need for our approval, or any desire to use us for His own emotional gain or personal benefit. He loves and enjoys us with a free heart with no brokenness.

When I think about Jesus, I try to picture what it would be like to interact with a Man for whom everything is like the first time, every experience is new, and fresh, and still full of the life and joy of unspoiled surprise.

I think that’s the word: “unspoiled”. Jesus was a Man untouched by the defilement of the world around Him, a Man unmoved by the cynicism and negativity of His generation. He was like a child in the best sense of what endless wisdom looks like when expressed through unspoiled anticipation.

What would it be like to experience the full spectrum of the pain and the messiness of the human condition, yet remain fresh and vibrant, bursting with the hope of new possibilities connected to an endless fountain of delight and wonder? What was it like to interact with a man who knew no sin?

What’s astonishing to me is that the interior life of the Holy Spirit offers us the invitation to both know Jesus in this way now *and* repent and reach for the grace to experience this ourselves. We can have the cynicism, the weariness, the bitterness washed from our hearts today.

We can experience the freshness of a life unspoiled and the renewal of joy unspeakable, if we want to. That is the beauty and glory of what the life of Christ offers to us - daily and continually - as we drink of His streams of living waters, and the "sap" of His vine as we abide in Him.

Maranatha!