I am a notorious enabler. You want that cookie—eat it! You want a new car—go for it! You want to move to Japan—I’ll help you pack!
There are three exceptions to this gung-ho, YOLO, treat yo’self attitude, however. And they all live under my roof.
The most common answer my husband and small child hear to their wants, whims, and whines is NO. No treats until you eat real food. No new video games. No, you can’t stay up late. No, I’m not driving you to your friend’s house. (I’ll let you figure out who hears what.)
Lest you think I’m too terrible, though, the person who hears my “no” is most often me. No, you can’t have a cookie. No, you can’t buy new clothes. No, you don’t have time for sex. No, you can’t sleep in. No, you don’t need more office supplies.
No, no, no.
Realizing that I’m not the yes-man with my family that I am with my friends is, suffice to say, a bummer.
And I’m not sure that it’s entirely Christlike.
Because Jesus enables us, his nearest and dearest. Not (just) in our desire to have cookies, but in our desire to have true, abundant life.
The entire point of Him coming to the earth, of dying on the cross to defeat sin, was to set us free. His sacrifice and the Holy Spirit’s power living inside us enables us to yes a real, holy YES to the goodness that God is longing to give us, to the greatness He’s prepared for us before the foundation of the world—without leaping off the cliff of hedonism, anarchy, and self-destruction.
More than that, once we see God for who He is, it’s so bafflingly clear that we’re actually unable to do anything without Him. That everything we do in this life is through His power, by His Spirit and the blood of Christ, to receive every blessing and promise and dream of our heart. That He is the ultimate enabler.
And that’s good for more than cookies.
For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. [2 Cor 1:20-21 NLT]
This post is part of Five-Minute Friday. This week’s prompt is ENABLE. If you’d like to join in the fun, click here!