I never cease to be amazed at the wisdom and relevancy of A.W. Tozer. Though he died in 1963, his writings continue to inspire and convict over fifty years later. I am convinced that the key to intimacy with God is being totally obsessed with Jesus. Until we live every moment of our lives with Him at the forefront of our thoughts, we will never discover the life He intended us to live. With that in mind, I recently read a very timely piece by Tozer. In it he said, “Only engrossment with God can maintain perpetual spiritual enthusiasm because only God can supply everlasting novelty. In God every moment is new and nothing ever gets old. Of things religious we may become tired, even prayer may weary us; but God never! … Nothing can preserve the sweet savor of our first experience except to be preoccupied with God Himself!”
commitment
Essential Intent
In his book, “Essentialism”, Greg McKeown coined the phrase “essential intent”. The author describes an essential intent as “one decision that settles one thousand later decisions.” That’s exactly what our decision to follow Christ should do for us. By simply saying yes to Jesus, so many other decisions are made for us. We don’t have to stress and deliberate over what to do in any given circumstance, because we know we should do whatever it is Jesus would do in the same situation. When we give our lives to Jesus, we allow Him to decide the fate of a thousand later decisions with which we will be faced. This essential intent allows us to live in freedom, unencumbered by the choices that afflict so many others who have chosen to seek life in a manner inconsistent with that for which they were created.
The Greatest Commandment
A religious leader once asked Jesus what was the most important commandment of all (Matthew 22:34-40). His reply was to “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, and mind.” He went on to say that the second greatest commandment was to love everyone else as much as we love ourselves. This is the essence of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Our lives are to be consumed with Him, and the way we express that is by giving the same love He has given us to everyone we meet. These are really the only “rules” required to be a disciple of Jesus. If we live in this way, we can be assured that we are living in the will of God.
In Love with Jesus
Are you really in love with Jesus? Would you do anything for Him, defend Him no matter the cost, even sacrifice your life for Him? I think it’s easy for us to say we love Jesus. I think we even mean it. The way we live our lives sometimes says otherwise. How often is it more convenient to put Him to the side for just a bit so we can continue on with what we want to do? When you’re in love, the object of your affection is the most important thing to you. You can’t eat or sleep because all you can do is think of that person. Your heart literally aches when you’re apart. Is this the kind of love you have for Jesus? More often than I would care to admit, I fall short of this ideal.
God’s Power in Us
Pastor Steven Furtick was describing a member of his congregation, Tonia Bendickson, when he said, “If it’s necessary and it’s never been done before, she seems to assume that’s because God intends for her to do it.” What an amazing thing to have said about you. How many of us react exactly opposite of the way Tonia does? We see a difficulty and give up before even trying to overcome it. We see a perceived impossibility and believe it instead of trusting God to do what others say cannot be done. Tonia has the proper attitude, the one all followers of Christ should have. She looks at situations through the eyes of Jesus rather than trusting in her own fallible vision.