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.
commitment
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
When you come across something that seems necessary but it’s never been done before, maybe it’s because God intends for you to be the one to get it done. Most of us never think about the world that way. 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. The proper attitude, the one all followers of Christ should have, is to trust God for the power and ability to accomplish His will. We need to look at situations through the eyes of Jesus rather than trusting in our weak and fallible vision.
How Much More Could You Do?
I once read a quote from A.W. Tozer that continues to both propel and haunt me. Tozer said, “Before the judgment seat of Christ my service will be judged not by how much I have done but by how much I could have done!” I mentioned this quote before (see “Living for the Emergency”), but wanted to dive a little deeper into it because it won’t stop gnawing at me. Each of us has been uniquely created with a combination of talents, skills, gifts, and passions. We have been designed with specific work in mind (Ephesians 2:10). We will choose to obey God and carry out the job He has given us to do, or we will reject Him and squander all He has blessed us with on our own selfish desires.
Soul-less
One of my friends was speaking at a large local church this weekend. We are always challenged and encouraged by his preaching, so my wife and I went to support him there. The Lord definitely spoke through him as he taught and we left fired up and ready to make some adjustments in our own lives. The church itself though left me feeling an odd mixture of anger and sadness. Despite the fervor of the sermon, the rest of the service felt slick, overproduced, and soul-less. Instead of an atmosphere where I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit, all I perceived was the culmination of the American dream in the heart of suburbia.
My passion is to teach and encourage others to lead lives wholly devoted to Christ, to help them become the people God created them to be. When I am surrounded by a group of professing believers who are settling for less than God has planned for them, something inside me begins to well up and I want to scream. How is it that we have settled for so little when the One we serve holds the entire Universe in His hands? Greater still is the fact that when we surrender our lives to Him, all of His power resides within us and is available to us.
If we have all this power available to us individually, think what we can do corporately as the body of Christ! So when I sit among a few thousand people and feel nothing more powerful than the American Dream, I hope you understand my frustration. Gathering together as a body of believers should always bring about a powerful moving of the Spirit of God. But that won’t happen unless and until we have all surrendered our hearts and live entirely to Jesus Christ. As long as we are focused more on what we have in this world than on the fact that billions are destined to be forever separated from their Creator, we will never experience everything God has for us. We will never accomplish the mission He has given us to do when our selfishness and greed are our primary concerns. We are the hands and feet of God, designed to do great work for His honor and His glory. That’s the goal, but instead we are chasing a dream.
Don’t be fooled, God sees our hearts and knows where our motivations truly are. We are not here to enjoy the ride and get all that we can. Our purpose in life is to bring the Kingdom of God down to earth. We are to exhibit His love, mercy, and generosity to others. Anything less is unacceptable to God. Our souls were made to shine, but too often we simply hide the light. The result is a weak church oblivious to the power available to them. We become toothless and soul-less. We all must ask ourselves, “Are we pursuing the American dream or the mission of Christ?” Which will you choose?