Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

Too Busy?

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I read an article the other day that was talking about the new phenomenon of “funemployment” (http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009906070348). The article described the “funemployed” as people who had lost their jobs, but instead of getting depressed are finding immense joy in their newly found freedom. They are rediscovering balance in their lives, realizing there is more to life than work. They are realizing that they had allowed work to dictate the priorities in their lives. I think there is a great lesson to learn here.

For those of us who profess to follow Christ, who or what are we allowing to dictate our priorities? To follow Christ is to give all. That pretty well settles the question of priorities. What should be our number one priority? Our number one priority should be, must be, to follow Christ and to do so by serving others. Is that our number one priority today? If not, what have we allowed to move into first place? Are we too busy at work? Do we have too many balls in the air; are we wearing too many hats? Do we have too many social commitments, regardless of how noble those may be? Worst of all, would we simply rather be doing something else?

The Christian life is not for those lacking discipline. Don’t forget, Christ’s followers were called disciples, not merely people with a passing interest. To follow Christ requires self-discipline, dedication and a passion of the pursuit. This isn’t a game, not something we can do half-heartedly. If we are to follow Christ, we must go all in. If Christ isn’t our first thought in every situation, if He isn’t our motivation in every action, then our priorities are wrong.

We must never allow ourselves to be too busy to follow Christ. We must never find ourselves in the situation where we are trying to make time for Christ. Christ comes first; everything else must fit in the time remaining, or it must be cast aside. Don’t wait for something dramatic to happen in your life to make you realize you’ve allowed yourself to become too busy. Renew your commitment today to put Christ first in all things.

Hats

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If you’re like me – and chances are, if you’re reading this, you are – then you wear a multitude of hats on any given day. For those unfamiliar with the analogy I simply refer to the various responsibilities we each have. I have my day J.O.B., run my own business, am trying to launch a new career as a writer (how am I doing?), I’m a financial counselor for my church, have family responsibilities, house and home duties, Bible study and prayer time. I somehow need to squeeze in friends and, perhaps maybe, just a little down time for myself. As I write this I am thinking of additional hats I wear, but for now I think you get the picture. The world has become a crazy busy place, and it is nearly impossible to not play along.

My dilemma, beyond the obvious, is how little time there is for God. I suspect most of us struggle with this. One fact we cannot escape from is the fact that the amount of time we make for God is totally up to us, a choice, plain and simple. I think it is a subtle and brilliant plan of Satan to continually add to the busyness of our lives. Is it merely coincidence that the busier we have gotten as a nation, the further we as a people have drifted from God? Satan’s best moves are indeed the subtle ones. He rarely uses blatant tactics, but rather takes something inherently neutral, perhaps even helpful, and twists it ever so slightly in a manner that takes our focus off of God.

Having a job, pursuing your passion and serving others are all worthy tasks. But when they start piling one on top of the other, what are the first things that get squeezed out? I think more often than not, God is the first to go in our busy schedule. After all He’ll love us regardless and He knows how we feel about Him anyway, right? As a side note, the next thing that tends to get removed from our schedules is exercise. Soon we become flabby and depressed and focused totally on our appearance rather than on God and the needs of others. Satan wins; he has removed our focus from God and that is all he wants to do. The easiest way to save money is to pay yourself first and pay your bills with what’s left. Might I propose the best way to serve God with your time is to spend the first hour of your day with Him? Take care of everything else with the time you have left. We need to guard our lives from becoming too busy. We need to recognize the subtle ploys of Satan. When it comes to spending our time, we need to pay God first.

Have you seen Him?

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When was the last time you saw Jesus? Better still, when was the last time you actually looked for Him? I’ll bet many of us saw him last Sunday… some may have even caught a glimpse of Him on Wednesday night. Perhaps we volunteered in some church ministry one night this week, and maybe, just maybe, we saw Him then. It almost seems that Western Christianity has determined we can only see Jesus when we are at our local church building. Is this really God’s dwelling place?

When I read the Bible, I don’t see Jesus being found in the local temple very often. More often than not He is wandering the countryside and local villages. He’s hanging out with prostitutes, thieves and liars. He’s touching those we wouldn’t dare to touch: the smelly, the diseased and the dying. I don’t see Jesus on the “right” side of the tracks very often. He’s hanging out with the homeless because, lest we forget, Jesus was homeless as well.

Why do we only look for Jesus in the setting of the church? Even worse, when did the Church become a building of brick and steel? As followers of Christ, we are the Church, not some extravagant, over-priced hunk of stained glass, carpet and wood. We need to be the Church throughout every moment we are alive. We need to look for Jesus everywhere we go, in everyone we come in contact with, and in everything we do.

Look for Jesus at your job, in your neighborhood, in your own house. How might you serve the next person you see? What needs of theirs could you meet? A simple smile, a gentle touch, a kind word can all do wonders for someone who is feeling lonely and lost. We need to go the places Jesus went, hang out with the people He did, and touch others with His love. If we can’t find Jesus anywhere around us, then it’s time we expand our lives and venture further out into the world until we do find Him.

Where will you find Jesus today; where will you look for Him? When you find Him, will you wrap your arms around Him in love? Will you serve Him at any cost simply out of gratitude? Will you do it if He is dressed as a homeless man? Will you do it if He smells or is rude? Will you do it if His skin is a different shade than yours? Our answer must be an unequivocal “Absolutely!”, and it must be backed up with action. Do you long to see Him every day or is Jesus just a guy who’s nice to see on Sunday? If we love Him, we have no choice other than to serve Him in remarkable ways – every day! Look for Jesus. Be the Church.

Be Remarkable

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We need to be remarkable for Jesus. Jesus showed excellence in everything He did; we are called to do the same. What does excellence look like in your life? What would it take to be remarkable in everything you do?

Too often we are content to stroll happily through our days without urgency or passion. As long as the car doesn’t break down, the boss doesn’t yell at us and the dog doesn’t gnaw on yet another piece of furniture, it’s a good day. We grow content, even complacent with our station in life. We take for granted the car, the house, the food, even the family that God has blessed us with and entrusted into our care. Life becomes something that more or less just happens and we float along with the current of the day.

That’s not excellence. There is nothing remarkable about merely drifting in the current. People are dying without Christ every second. People are drowning in depression every day. Hopelessness envelops those around us. We are called to passion and excellence. If we can’t be passionate about living life for Christ, whom we claim is Lord of our life, then about what can we possibly be passionate?

Every task upon which we set our hands to work should be excellent, should produce a “Wow!” upon completion. Jesus never did anything half way. If we are truly his followers we will set about to live our life with unbridled zeal. We will passionately do everything He instructed us to do, and we will do so with excellence. We will produce remarkable results for Him. Our lives will be so remarkable that those around us will be drawn to what we have. We will tell them of our remarkable Lord, and the Holy Spirit will gush from us until everyone we encounter is flooded by the love of Christ. This is what it looks like to live a remarkable life for Christ.

All of creation is remarkable. The birds singing in the morning are remarkable. The sound of water flowing freely over rocks, when everything else is still, is remarkable. You are God’s creation; you are made to be remarkable. Live your passion and do so with excellence. Live remarkably for Christ.

On Stage

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In one of William Shakespeare’s famous passages, he declared that all the world was a stage and that we as individuals are the players on that stage. Within that thought I find both an incredible truth and an incredible danger as it applies to we who count ourselves as followers of Christ.

The incredible truth we can take away is that we are on stage, all the time. People are forever watching us. Those curious about Christianity watch in a sort of curious wonder, trying to determine if Christianity might be what they’ve been looking for. Those more cynical folks who turn their noses up at the mere mention of Jesus watch us constantly in hopes of pointing out our every flaw or misstep. Regardless of why people watch our lives, the fact remains that they do indeed watch. This is a tremendous responsibility. There are no days off, no moments to catch our breath; we are on stage, on camera, on the spot, 24/7. There is no doubt this is an exhausting fact, but this is how Jesus lived and so too those of us who aspire to follow in His footsteps. At any given moment, our actions are impacting someone, either for the good or for the bad. Life is not a play, it is brutal reality; there is no rehearsal. Many seem to look at Sunday as the day of the show, and then take the rest of the week off.

The incredible danger in the passage of Shakespeare is that we as Christians take our role as “players” on the stage too literally. We have a role to live, not a role to play. As Christians, authenticity is an absolute must for our lives. Those who would go through life preening and posing for an audience not only are destined to fall themselves, but may bring countless souls down with them. Simply acting out Christianity without truly living its principles, does more damage than if we would simply act like the abhorrent, sinful losers that we are. Jesus had harsh words for the Pharisees of his day, and I believe those words should still ring loudly in our ears.

Considering yourself to be on stage may be a new concept to some, terrifying to others. Despite what you may believe or even want to believe, people are watching you, all the time. How will we respond, how will we prepare for this greatest role in history? Will we simply trudge through life without joy, showing only moments of brilliance? Or will we shine each day with the incredible love of Christ bursting from within? To be like Jesus we must be ever loving, ever compassionate, ever willing to help our neighbor. Don’t let the bright lights of the stage intimidate you; shine right back with the limitless love of Christ.