Sometimes I get impatient. It seems like the current season of my life is moving too slow. I see the season of life that others are in and get a little jealous, wishing I was in that season. I’m also overly anxious to move into the next season as soon as I enter a new one. It’s no secret the attention span of our world is diminishing every day. We have instant everything. News is delivered in 30 second sound bites and 140 characters at a time. No wonder we have become an impatient generation. We are becoming more selfish by the hour. We want what we want, and we want it now!
humility
What’s Your Isaac?
One of the most dramatic stories in the Bible is that of Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 22:1-17). Most are familiar with the details, but allow me to quickly recap. God promised Abraham that many nations would come from him, and that the entire world would be blessed through his lineage. Yet Abraham and his wife had grown old and still had no children. But miraculously, Sarah became pregnant and had a son named Isaac. Fast forward about ten years. God told Abraham to offer Isaac, he and Sarah’s only son, as an offering to Him. After all these years, all that waiting, it now appeared that God would take away what seemed to matter most to Abraham.
Selfishness
One of my favorite Christian authors is Calvin Miller. I’ve recently been reading his excellent little book entitled, “The Disciplined Life”. One of the things he said that really struck me was, “The difference between what God wants for us and what we ultimately become rests in how we break the thrall of those appetites that chain us to selfish lifestyles and selfish life goals.” My studies this past year have convinced me that selfishness is at the heart of all sin. Perhaps this is not a revelation to you and might even seem rather obvious. But how often do we look at our lives and consider ourselves selfish? Until we come to that realization, I submit we are all living in delusion.
Living in the Light
Do you see the light? It’s shining all around you. If Christ lives inside of you, the brilliance of His glory cannot help but seep through every inch of your being. When we commit our lives to Him and surrender all we are to His will, we begin to be consumed by the beauty of His love. We cannot help but shine and reflect His hope to everyone with whom we come into contact. This is what it means to be immersed in His Spirit and this life is available to every disciple of Jesus Christ. Are you realizing this possibility in your life?
Serving Others
What are your plans for the weekend? How about the next vacation, have you started thinking about where you’d like to go and what you’d like to do? How about the work that needs to be done around your house, are you planning what you need to buy at the home center? So much of our lives are spent thinking about the things we need and would like to do. We put great thought and effort into mapping out the ideal vacation or the perfect landscaping project. Did you ever pause to consider how much time we spend designing our lives compared to how little we think about sharing the gospel of Jesus with our friends and neighbors?