I don’t belong here and neither do you. You don’t have to get to know me very well before you see my distaste and discomfort with our world. More than anything I want to be in the presence of my Savior. I don’t waste much time on trivial things or small talk because I have a sense of the urgency of my time on this planet. Honestly, I’d give up my remaining days right now in order to be with Jesus. This doesn’t mean there aren’t things about this world I enjoy. I have a wife, dogs, family, and friends, and I love them all. But nothing compares to the love I have for Jesus.
Ephesians
Easter
At the time this article is being published, it is the day after Easter. Easter is my favorite day of the year, and arguably should be so for all followers of Jesus. Certainly Christmas is important. If Christ had never been born, He could never have died, and therefore never have risen again to defeat death and save us all. But the last part – rising again and defeating death – is the entire reason we follow Him. Plenty of important and influential men have been born throughout history. Some have even died standing up for that which they believed. But only one ever rose from the dead.
Impact Your World
How can I serve God best today? It’s a question each of us should ask at the beginning of each day. The way we frame our days determines how we live our lives. If we wait for life to just happen to us, we will constantly be in a reactionary mode, and this is not the optimal way to live. Reacting results in circumstances dictating our own actions. A better way to live is to proactively and intentionally influence what circumstances will actually occur in our life. Remember the old saying that the best defense is a good offense? That sports analogy works well in life. We want to make our lives happen rather than wait for things to happen to us. As followers of Jesus, the absolute best way we can do this is to determine ahead of time how we will impact our world for Christ each day.
Your Life Script
Whose life are you living? Are you engaged in the things that allow you to utilize the gifts God has given to you? Do you seek to glorify Him even when it means looking foolish in the eyes of your family and friends? Too few of us live like this. Instead we live out our days blending in with the culture while looking for any opening we can find to get ahead. Rather than living as God planned for us to live, we cave to the pressures of life and seek comfort in alternative solutions. As a result, we end up living from a script written by someone other than our Creator.
The No Excuses Disciple
I think Christians are better at rationalizing than any other people on earth. It’s easy for us to come up with explanations and excuses why we aren’t living the life God created us to live. We wait to “feel led” and diligently “seek our calling”. We’ll do about anything to avoid doing what Jesus told us to do. If the time we spent running away from our mission was employed actually working for the mission, we might just have completed it by now. Unfortunately the comforts and the cares of this life keep us from selling out and going all in for Christ.