In my daily time with God I have been in pursuit of added intimacy with my Savior. I know this will not often happen when I offer mere minuscule moments to Him without focus. However, last night, I wanted to "get it over with" so I could get on with my reading in a book. (I have decided to read my Bible or the Daily Bread devotional before I read for pleasure so that I do not put it off until I am too tired.) It is easy to make excuses as to why I do not need to read and investigate more in my Bible but they are reasons that push me farther from the Rock. And, coincidentally, the book I was reading for pleasure was a book subtitled "Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation" which talks about creating a lifestyle that optimizes ways to serve, worship and grow in God. That certainly is not done by rushing through Quiet time with Him!
Anyway, aside from the irony of trying to rush through my Bible time to read this book, I did the quick version by reading the Daily Bread. I had a rare moment of an impactful message during a "get it over with" quiet time. The passage that it highlighted was 2 Timothy 2:1-7. Although the whole section is good, the verse that especially spoke to me last night was verse 4. It says "No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as soldier." I really appreciated this verse. It helped to remind me that we need to let go of petty and insignificant battles that are meaningless in the scheme of His plan. If we are wasting our energy, time, funds, thoughts etc. on meaningless affairs, we have lost sight of the big picture. I can get frustrated when the gas light comes on in the car and I was not the last one to drive it and I can be selfish in thinking I should not have to do all the laundry myself and I can be just wrong when I think that people should only watch what I think is acceptable at the theater. But, these are not causes to squabble about because they are pointless when it comes to the purpose of life.
In the devotion part of this day's reading Hia states: "There are many attractive things in our world that are so easy to get entangled with-hobbies, sports, TV etc. These start off as "refueling" activities but later they can take up so much of our time and thought that they interfere with the purpose for which God created us; to share the good news of Christ, serve Him with our gifts and bring glory to Him." Our job is to please Him. I want to be purposeful in pleasing Him. I want to be purposeful in using the gifts He gave me to serve Him. I want to be purposeful in bringing Him the glory.
I am enlisted in His army. "Although I live in this world, I must declare my allegiance to Heaven."
And even beyond petty battles, if I were to die tomorrow/this week/this month is this purchase/conversation/action/inaction going to be useful for affecting God's Kingdom while I am still here? Because all other reasons come from the earth. It's a good way to simplify life so that you can keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.
ReplyDeleteYes, very true indeed. When we evaluate what really is valuabe, it is almost embarrassing to look at how much has been accumulated and how easily we can put off personal relationships with others because something else (often technical, for status or for financial gain) can not wait. Reprioritizing glorifying God and having purposeful and fulfilling relationships with people to be at the top of our values and desires would be a remarkably successful change when looking at our personal goals instead of more, bigger, faster...etc. If only God and people came first...
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