An excerpt:
"...If you’re holding on to something…anything…you aren’t giving yourself to Him (God).
Now, in reality, this is a tough thing to do. I’ll spend my whole life trying to recognize the things I’m holding on to and giving them up one at a time. But I’m committed to doing that."
I agree. I know I regularly assess my life in an effort to try to bring it in line with God's plan.
It's a constant battle in the Christian life to both remain aware of current events and yet remain "sold out" to God. To not get over-invested in the world.
How involved and how much head room should a Christian give to things that are going on in the world when their goal should be all about what is to come...our treasures laid up in Heaven?
That is a question I have grappled with throughout my entire Christian walk. I wrote about it here and find myself regularly returning to that entry and regularly referring to it in other entries, such as this one.
Sometimes the Christian life can seem like a balancing act. It is vitally important that each of us regularly examine our hearts the way God required of Elijah in 1 Kings 19:11-13:
"11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" (NIV)
p.o.s. 51's writer is correct when he writes:
"...our purpose - the reason God created us - was to bring Him glory."
The balance, for lack of a better term, has to be, in my opinion, about whether what we are doing, are we doing it honestly? Are we doing it according to scripture? Are we giving God the glory for the talents we use in the world? Do we hold the things we involve ourselves in loosely?
If God impressed upon us tomorrow that He wanted us to give up the thing in life that we most enjoy, could we make that sacrifice for God? If the answer is no, if it is true that we enjoy our work, our play, our habits, our routine or our politics more than we enjoy God, more than we love God, then we have a problem.
Each Christian is set apart by God the moment they accept his gift of salvation from sin and the gift of life made available through the blood of Christ and his resurrection. Our lives are truly no longer our own. We were bought with a price.
Though it seems these days that I am spending less time blogging about God and more time focused on other issues, He is always in my heart. He walks with me wherever I go and believe me, I often hear that voice asking, "What are you doing here, Jacke?"
It is important that when that question comes that I look at it honestly because God already knows the answer. God asks this question because He wants us to know the answer too.
No comments:
Post a Comment