If we want to be fully devoted followers of Christ, we can have no motivation other than to continue His mission to bring the Kingdom of God to this earth. We can have dreams and goals, we can make plans and have fun, but if our ultimate aim is not to reflect His glory to a dying world, we will continue to miss the mark. Regardless of what you want to do with your life, if its sole purpose is not to obey and reflect God, you will never find peace and fulfillment. The question we all must ask ourselves is, “What are we living for”?
Romans
Culture Wars
It is virtually impossible to be a disciple of Jesus Christ without living a life of self-discipline. Following Jesus means our focus shifts from being self-focused to others-focused. While this sounds noble and good, it is ridiculously difficult to implement. Our culture has so indoctrinated us with the pursuit of things we “need” and “deserve” that it becomes extremely easy to rationalize spending our time and money on things of earth rather than Heaven. Even within the church there are those that preach that following Jesus leads to prosperity and good fortune. This is contrary to what the Bible teaches (2 Timothy 3:12; Luke 9:58); serving God is all about thinking less of ourselves and more of others.
What is Your Passion?
In Matthew 25:31-46, an oft-quoted Scripture here, we find a list of things commanded by Christ for us to do. It can be overwhelming to look at this list and try and determine how you can consistently do it all: feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, provide for the poor, care for the sick and visit those in prison. While I believe we must be open to doing any of these things at all times, I think it will be far more likely and ultimately more effective if you focus on those things in the list for which you are passionate.
Obeying God
What has God been telling you to do that you have been putting off? It’s okay to admit it; we’ve all been guilty of ignoring God many times in our lives. Even the apostle Paul said that he didn’t do the things he wanted to do, but rather kept doing those things he didn’t want to do (Romans 7:15). Each of us know the things we should be doing to glorify Christ, but more often than not we keep to our old habits and more “comfortable” ways. Who are we to believe that what we are doing is more satisfying than obedience to God? It’s ludicrous and very dangerous to flaunt our freewill in the face of the One who granted it. Yet time and again we play with fire and ignore the commands of Christ in order to continue our greedy and selfish pursuits.
Spoiled Rotten Brats
Western believers must be ever diligent to prevent themselves from being sucked into the materialism that permeates the culture of our day. It seems we are often more concerned with keeping up with the Jones’ rather than serving them. Without a clearly defined list of priorities based on the teachings of Christ, we will easily fall prey to the temptation of acquiring wealth and goods that will burn in the fire instead of storing up treasures that will last for eternity (Matthew 6:19-20). We are called to be separated from the ways of the world, not to indulge in them (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 6:15-17). Our lives should look like that of Jesus, not our next door neighbor’s.