“Mediocrity is the signature of chronic inconsistency” writes Jim Collins in his latest book, “Great by Choice”. This should serve as a stinging rebuke to most of us as we consider our walk with Jesus. The follow through on our devotion to Him is pathetic, as evidenced by the condition of the world around us. We long to make an impact for Christ, but we sputter and hesitate, stuck in an endless loop of starting and stopping. New Year’s resolutions to read our Bible and pray every day are forgotten by February, and we disengage our commitment to the poor as soon as we hit a rough financial patch. The problem is we lack the disciplined consistency to truly follow Jesus.
Archives for August 2012
Playing With Fire
We hinder our ability to live as fully devoted followers of Christ when we allow sin to linger in our lives. We were created in God’s image, to live holy and obedient lives that will glorify our Creator. Every time we sin we are engaging in behavior that is diametrically opposed to who we are. We are spiritual beings living life in a physical body. The more we feed the physical rather than the spiritual, the less we look like Jesus. Our focus must be on nourishing the soul. This is accomplished only by pursuing those things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and morally excellent (Philippians 4:8). In other words, we feed our souls by pursuing Jesus.
A Morning Prayer
Bill Hybels recently concluded a leadership event with a challenge to those in attendance. He read a prayer he encouraged us all to pray for the next 30 days. You can download the prayer by clicking here. Essentially the message is to commit yourself each day to fulfilling your purpose in God’s plan. You’ve probably prayed similar prayers at various stages of your life. It has almost become rote to commit our lives and our hearts to Christ each day. However, some of the other specifics of this particular prayer challenged me to consider how I live my life with a new perspective. Three of the commitments that have changed the way I approach my day are pledging to use my talents, energy, and creativity to fulfill my role in building His church.
The Light of the World
There are a lot of great songs that have been written about the light of Jesus. From classic hymns like Phillip Bliss’, “The Light of the World is Jesus” to more modern hits like Charlie Hall’s “Marvelous Light”, the light of Jesus has always brought us comfort as we seek to bask in it. There is something reassuring about light. We get energy from light. So why is it that we can sing about the light of the world, yet in reality the world grows darker every day? As followers of Jesus, what are we missing?
Do It Now
We all have things we have been putting off, tasks that never seem to get done. Generally the things that get pushed aside are things we know we should do but are also things that will require some sort of sacrifice from us. Our tendency is to lean into things that don’t require much time or effort, but shy away from the duties that eat into our “me time”. While this may never be a great habit for getting things done, the habit of procrastination becomes absolutely lethal when applied to our spiritual lives. With no guarantee of another breath, it is imperative we seek Jesus In this moment and do whatever he tells us to do… right now.