I continue to be inspired by A.W. Tozer. Recently as I was studying some of his material, I read where wrote, “If you are a Christian and you are comfortably ‘at home’ in Chicago or Toronto, in Iowa or Alberta or any other address on planet earth, the signs are evident that you are in spiritual trouble. The spiritual equation reads like this: The greater your contentment with your daily circumstances in this world, the greater your defection from the ranks of God’s pilgrims en route to a city whose architect and builder is God Himself!” These are words that should cut us to the core. We have taken our eyes off of our Creator and have focused instead on material possessions and comfort. Do we think this course will end well?
To my dismay, I am encountering more and more professing believers whose lives look no different from their unbelieving counterparts. They live in large beautiful homes, drive late model expensive automobiles, and predominantly converse about their day jobs. There are no visible signs of giving glory to God for their success, being thankful for the blessings with which they have been entrusted, or awareness of the mission to which they have been called.
As followers of Jesus, our mandate is to love the Lord with our entire being and to love our neighbors in the same way (Mark 12:28-31). We’re to care for the poor, sick, hungry, thirsty, homeless, imprisoned, orphaned, widowed, and persecuted (Matthew 25:31-46; James 1:27; Isaiah 58:6-7). We’re to make disciples who make other disciples (Matthew 28:18-19). Jesus made it plain that we are not of this world (John 17:6-19). He told us we would be hated by the world and would face persecution (Matthew 10:22; John 16:31-33). Does this sound like the life you are living? I confess my own life falls woefully short.
We are in grave danger because we proclaim Jesus with our lips but have bought fully into the lies of Satan, as evidenced by the way we live our lives. We’ve allowed our focus to be shifted from the magnificence of God to the cheap imitations of possessions, comfort, and security. Nothing we will ever acquire on earth can compare to the glory of God. Nothing will ever fill the ache in our soul. Only God can fulfill our deepest longings and desires. He is everything that is missing in our lives.
Are you comfortable in this world? Is more of your energy directed toward your own success rather than in the efforts of bringing God’s Kingdom to reality on earth? We pray, “Thy Kingdom come”, but quickly set off to build our own tiny empire. I’m sick of all the excuses and rationalizations. We have one call and one mission. We are to serve one God and trust Him for all our needs. It’s all or nothing; Jesus or you. Where is your heart? What are your priorities? This world is not our home. If you’ve gotten a bit too comfortable, I implore you to do something before it’s too late.