There is much in this life that causes anguish:
- A favorite sports team loses in the championship;
- We misplace a prized possession;
- Someone that we care about treats us poorly.
The list could go on.
Talk to any given person during the day (or simply read a collection of Facebook statuses), and it is easy to see that we are prone to hurt feelings, disappointment and declarations of broken hearts. Even people who declare that they aren’t the “touchy-feeling” type are still likely to vent their angst when things don’t go as they desire.
Yet in all of this I find myself wondering if the things that we treasure and the disappointments that we concern ourselves with are the same things that Christ would focus on if He was walking this Earth.
After all, when He did walk this Earth, His sadness is recorded twice. Once, when His good friend dies He weeps as He sees the sadness of those who grieve the loss. In his commentary John MacArthur writes, “His tears here were not generated out of mourning, since He was to raise Lazarus, but out of grief for a fallen world entangled in sin-caused sorrow and death” (p. 1396).Secondly, Christ cries as He looks out upon Jerusalem and reflects on their unbelieving hearts (Luke 19:41-44). When people persecuted Him, we don’t see Him feeling sorry for Himself. When His disciples walk away, we don’t read a record of His tears. Instead His heart breaks for the toll of sin and for those who don’t believe in Him.
It’s a convicting realization. Claiming to treasure Jesus above all else means treasuring the things that He does. Yet too often my disappointment and tears reveals that my heart is not broken by the consequences of sin and for the loss of this world, but instead by my own priorities and concerns.
In Hillsong United’s song “Hosanna” the artists sing, “Break my heart for what breaks Yours. Everything I am for Your Kingdom’s cause. As I walk from Earth into eternity.”
May increasingly the cry of our hearts echo these words.
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