. .
Les could speak and
preach on these verses
and what they mean
from the heart. And he
was remarkably and
reassuringly sensitive and
compassionate when he
could see those around
him involved in the battle.
He never stood apart,
frowned, or judged. He
was never shocked – just
accepting of where people
found themselves.
if we want it, a place is prepared for
us all.
He warned one young man of
the danger of his attachment to the
things of this world and urged him
to let go of them. Then, He said, “You
will have treasure in heaven.” (Mark
10:22) And it is a similar theme here
in these words in his Bible which Les
so heavily marked.
My own experience is that
passages in the Bible which
unusually or persistently catch my
attention – as this one did for Les –
are ones that speak to me of some
issue I need to attend to, mirroring
back to me some inclinations, or
even faults and shortcomings in
myself, that I need to face up to and
overcome.
We all know Les was upfront,
incisive, strong when it came to his
agenda, never short of a strong opinion and readily directive. But as I reflect on
these marki ngs here in his Bible I get a very real sense of Les working through
these words of our Lord in relation to his own life: denying ourselves, taking
up our cross, and losing our life to find it.
What, I have asked myself, did these words mirror back to Les? He knew
full well that the life we are to lose – as we have the opportunity to do in this
world and as an essential part of our being heaven-bound – is the life of selfpromotion and self-interest, ego driven, controlling and way, way, too much
focused on life in this world and getting on here. It is a battleground and I
very much have the impression that, within, it was for Les also – perhaps even
intensely so. A real battlefield: Les wrestling within himself with these traits
identified by the Lord; denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and losing our
life to find it.
And let’s hang on to this, friends: if as a minister or pastor you are not,
yourself, out on that battlefield, struggling and wrestling, conscious of your
vulnerabilities and of the inclinations that throw a dark shadow over you, you
cannot effectively convey the significance and importance of it to others, or
come alongside of them in their struggles and battles.
Les did both, because he could, indeed, speak and preach on these verses
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