Have you read that line in Colossians, “Your life is hidden with Christ in God,”?
That’s nice, right? Me and Jesus.
But think about it. Paul is suggesting that you are not the center of you. You don’t know you. You are not all there is to you.
What do we constantly do? We constantly try to figure ourselves out. We develop hobbies, meet certain friends, play particular sports. Someone might like wine tasting and watching Homeland. That’s what this dude (or dudette) does. And sometimes you get restless and try to figure out why. So, you maybe develop new hobbies or make new friends. What are you doing?
You’re trying to figure yourself out. You’re trying to find yourself. You always seem to be slightly out of reach from yourself. You are always pursuing some vision of yourself.
An article came out the other day that Cher doesn’t like Cher’s music. She thinks most of it is “crap,” (her words). Listen, I don’t like Cher either. But I would have assumed that Cher liked Cher. Nope. Cher would have preferred to sound like Bruce Springsteen or Joni Mitchell. What is Cher looking for? She doesn’t really know herself.
Like the Dan said to Rikki, “You don’t even know your mind. You could have a change of heart, Rikki don’t lose that number.” Of course that song is ridiculous. Just Fagen and Becker chasing girls around. But it is an interesting point: who knows, you don’t even know!, maybe you’ll call.
And back to Paul. There is a reason that you can’t find you. There is a reason Rikki doesn’t know her own mind. There is a reason Cher is not comfortable with Cher. You are not the center of you. Until you finally find your identity completely bound up with Christ, you will always be at a loss to know yourself.
To know Christ is to know who you are. To miss him is to miss yourself. Augustine probably would not have liked Steely Dan (which is a serious problem, since everyone should like the Dan), but what else was he getting at when he said, “Our heart is restless, till it rests in you,”? Your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Find him.
Search for him.
Long for the Rock and Refugee of your soul.
He is the fountain of eternal life.
He is bread from paradise.
He is your very center.
Tom+