Jesus gave up glory and honor in heaven to come down to a world that would despise Him and crucify Him for our sake.
And we have a hard time giving Him five dollars from our paycheck or five minutes of our day.
Jesus washed the feet of the man that would soon betray Him.
And we have a hard time humbling ourselves and serving the people next to us who need a hand.
Jesus was friends with a prostitute, a tax collector, and a bunch of fishermen.
And we have a hard time making anyone feel welcome into our circle of friends who doesn’t fit the image we want to uphold.
Jesus followed His father to the cross on which He would die.
And we have a hard time following Jesus on the narrow road to heaven where we will forever live.
Jesus walked across many towns and cities to proclaim the good news of salvation.
And we have a hard time walking across the street to tell our neighbors of His great love for them.
Jesus forgave the people that crucified Him to the cross.
And we have a hard time forgiving our best friend, our mother, or our neighbor when they offend us in some little way.
I don’t know about you… but I’m not ok…
Not okay with a mediocre faith that never extends beyond my front door.
Not okay with selfish love that gives only when it’s convenient for me.
Not okay with a comfortable life that never challenges me and changes me to be more like Christ.
Not okay with talking a lot about my faith, yet doing nothing about it.
Not okay with giving myself halfheartedly for Jesus when He gave all of Himself for me.
How about you?
Do you live for God wholeheartedly?
Do you worship Him more than just with words, but with your life?
Do you give Him more than your money, but also give Him your precious time?
Do you live out each day according to His plan and what pleases Him, or according to your own agenda and what pleases you?
I’ve been asking myself this question recently and I’ve realized that I don’t always give it all.
I don’t always worship with my life more than with my words.
I don’t always care for the people in my life as if they were Jesus.
I don’t always give Jesus more than a few minutes a day.
And I will never be okay with giving so little when Jesus gave so much.
Will you be?
My challenge to you (and me) is this: think about your daily life.
The first thing you do when you wake up in the morning.
The last thing you do before you go to sleep.
The way you interact with people every single day.
The things you write in your schedule.
What you do during your free time.
Does it honor God or does it honor you?
Does it have any eternal significance in His kingdom or is it only important here on earth?
Does it draw you closer or further away from Him?
If it doesn’t… then maybe it’s time to re-think our priorities.
To readjust our schedules.
To reorder our lives.
So that instead of living for ourselves… we will live for Him.
Live for God today. Be blessed! Anna… ♥
“The God of the universe – the creator of Nitrogen and pine needles, galaxies and E-minor – loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs, and try not to cuss” – Francis Chan
Love this! Thank you for your encouraging words!
Thank you Chloe! Be blessed!
The daily confession in the Book of Common Prayer says that we have not loved God with our whole hearts and we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves, and for that we humbly repent. I find I can pray this every day because it’s true every day.
Me too! It’s so easy to talk about how much we love God wholeheartedly but not so easy when it comes to actually doing it, especially when loving God fully means loving those around us just as ourselves 🙂 Take care Rachelle!
Ouch and wow all at once! You hit another homer with this one Anna. I would like to reblog if that is Ok with you.
Of course you can. 🙂 And yeah… I feel like I’ve been having a lot of “ouch” moments recently as God has been convicting my heart about different areas of my life. I’m glad I get to share some of them here. Be blessed Joseph!
My dear friend I have nominated you for The Best Moment Award! Congratulations! Please visit this link: transcendingbordersblog.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/the-best-moment-award-3/
Thank you so much Tazen. That’s so sweet of you! Blessings!
Thought provoking and to the core. Thank you Anna!
Thanks Mary. 🙂 Hope you have a great day. Blessings!
I think about God and how much He loves me > all–the–time. I stay focused on Him through my whole day. I have to. Without Him in my life, I am dead. Seriously, I am dead. I’m blessed because I know that without His power in me – I am dead.
Amen Robin! Without God in our life we really are dead to doing anything meaningful with our lives but once He is the center of our world than we are dead to the world and alive in Him. It’s so great to know we can be strong in our weaknesses because of His power in our lives! 🙂
I mean “DEAD”. Physically. I’m alcoholic [sober 33 years by His grace]. Bipolar [not currently insane – by His grace]. Have TONS of PTSD from childhood abuse and a vicious attack at age 22 [free from most of this – by His grace]. Plagued with huge amounts of generalized anxiety [freed from this – by His grace]. Obsessed with suicide [freed from this – by His grace]. Have ulcerative colitis [learned to live free from attacks – by His grace].
Without Him in my life to focus on – continually – I AM DEAD!!
Wow. Our God sure is powerful and cares about us so much, as it is clearly evident in your life (and my own)! What a beautiful testimony to share with others who are going through similar situations. May He continue to use you to encourage others through your story.
The Almighty is searching out His very own group of David’s in these days. Those after His very own heart. Nothing but His heart will do. God sees the sincere heart. He never gives up on the sincere heart despite the mistakes that we make. May we continually seek after the very heart of God. The Lord rejected Saul as King and was grieved to have ever made him King. Saul represents the life of the flesh, not dependent on Gods sufficiency. Disobedience. An independent spirit. Saul did not need God, or so he thought. He thought he could wing it and do it in his own strength. He started off by giving God glory for his victories in warfare. He was close to the Lord for a time but then he turned away. His devotion waned. He was not a true worshipper with all his heart and He did not run the marathon of life with a steady pace, close to Gods heartbeat. He met a sad end and reaped what he ultimately sowed for his lack of closeness and intimacy with the Lord. How relieved the Lord then was to have searched and not searched in vain to find a King who was in a different mould. He found David, a man after His own heart. How powerful this is. And as the Lord says of Himself “…the Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart”. (1 Samuel 16:7). Although David made some grave mistakes and was found in outright sin – a murderer and adulterer – and he paid a heavy price for these sins, God was still pleased to give his only son, Jesus, the title “Son of David” due to the heart that was found in his earthly ancestor.
Now He desperately seeks a people that will reciprocate. He seeks a Bride (the church) that will make herself ready out of a heart of utter devotion and love of Jesus Himself. Not for what He gives. Those that will lay everything down in order to be found only in Him.
This reminds me of the book “A Tale of Three Kings” by Gene Edwards which describes the character of David and Saul and their relationship with God. It’s hard to be a David when we are born in a fleshly Saul nature. It’s hard to seek His will over our own. To desire him above all else (including our on selfish desires). Which is what I think sets David apart from so many people. He genuinely had a heart for God (even though he made a few mistakes). I think having that heart doesn’t come naturally or easily but through much time seeking God and getting to know Him until all you care about is Him and the only person you want to please is Him. Until we reach that intimacy with God many different distractions will try to get in the way of our relationship and devotion to Him.