Monday in the Sixth Week of Easter at Mississippi Abbey

Jesus warns His followers, “I have told you this so that you may not fall away…so that you may remember that I told you.” Sounds grim. Following Jesus Christ, the guy on the cross, is not going to be easy. Duh. But… it will be rewarding; “The Father and I will come to her and we will make our dwelling with her.” So apparently the first thing to remember about discipleship is “First the heat, then the light.”

Discipleship will take character. Character consists in what we do and the reasons we give for doing it that way rather than another. And the first reason Jesus gives u is fidelity.

Fidelity is continuity to a way of life that gives the person inner consistency and unity. It is holding firmly to those truths and values that one has already discovered. That truth is a person: Jesus Christ. Value is beautiful, good, and true. Jesus’ value cannot be calculated…but…it has to be experienced. So, He will send His Spirit.

That is the Spirit of Truth that proceeds from the Father. A life centered on the ultimate truth hangs together, it has integrity. It is not dominated by passing impressions. This is because the person of the Truth is lodged in the deepest part of the heart.

It got to the deepest part and was faithfully adhered to because the heat was patiently endured. And in that deepest part He and the Father make their dwelling. That’s the light.