are you walking on a treadmill?

Resting on Self-Righteousness

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.  Romans 3:20

God is not a mean tyrant, but some of us see him in just that way--hard to please, tapping his celestial finger in impatience with our imperfections, and willing to hand out blessings only when we're arrived at certain spiritual heights.  Nowhere in Scripture do we find such ideas about God.  But that is the image we are going to wind up with if we try to win God's approval by what we do and say.  Surely we want God's acceptance, but we just aren't up to obtaining it.  Seeking the blessings of salvation by self-effort will get us no farther than walking on a treadmill.  We will find ourselves living under an ever-thickening cloud of fear, because nothing we do can make us right with God.  Only Christ can do that.

Perhaps you have taken Jesus as your Savior, but you are still lacking assurance that God accepts you.  No matter what you do, you can't grasp the idea of a kind, loving Father who longs to relate.  If so, what have you been doing about that?  Perhaps you have doubled your efforts for God--more serving, better attitudes--in an attempt to secure the divine favor that you seem to be missing.  If this is your default in your dealings with God, chances are good that, instead of the love and joy you long for, God seems more remote than ever.

There is only one way out of the tangle, and that is to stop your efforts.  Stopping feels counterintuitive, but it's actually the only way you find restful assurance that God accepts you.  When you stop trying to get yourself right with God and instead simply rest in Jesus, you'll see that God doesn't go away.  You will be surprised to discover that your efforts to clean up for him were actually contributing to your sense of distance from God.  The only way to get near him, the only way to know him as Father and Friend, is to forsake yourself and rest in Christ.  'Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you,' wrote the apostle James (James 4:8), and the only way to do so is by looking at Christ.

We believe in our hearts and declare with our lips that Jesus is the only way--we believe it, but often we don't live it.  If we profess Christ and sing his praises, yet we aren't enjoying the peace that comes through him, let's see whether there is a performance treadmill under our feet and make a decision to step off.  By uniting us to Christ, God has set us free from bondage, and our liberty is there for the taking.

Trust: A Godly Woman's Adornment by Lydia Brownback