Sometimes we need reminding that we answer to God for how we live. We cannot call ourselves followers of Jesus while clinging to remnants of things we hold so dear. When our own ideas replace His, when our own desires do not include Him, when we trample all we know of Him for a brief moment of self satisfaction, we dishonor God's only Son and all He did for us on the cross. These attitudes always call me to self-examination. Where do I stand with Him?
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?- unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
What we thought was gain will one day be shadows, empty of substance. All that the world calls success is often opposite of what God calls success. How do we switch our thinking? How do we stay faithful and true in these present surroundings? The answer is...we cannot...without His help.
Dying daily is not easy. It doesn't even sound appealing, does it? I picture myself waving a flyswatter, aiming at self, and bordering on narcissism. Okay, too much self-exam going on here. Am I seeking to kill the flesh and live for Him...with Him being my focus? In order to live fully, we must die...to all that the world has to offer and beyond...to all that we can dream up for ourselves. Being His calls for a lifelong allegiance. It calls for repentance, and self denial, and a life lived in the every day awareness of His presence.
Ephesians 2:1-7 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Taking up His cross and following Him sounds dramatically heroic. God is not looking for heroes. He is looking for people like you and me who will proclaim the Good News to a dying world. Faithful warriors who will win in the end...though we may lose many battles before then.
God does not always call the qualified, but He always qualifies the called. We need not have honors, degrees, or titles in order to do what He asks, though some do. He will equip us to do all that He puts before us. Be assured of that. We work in His strength.
So, whether you are "Mommy" to some, "Honey" to someone, "Sister", "Daughter", "Friend", whether you live surrounded by laundry and dirty dishes, or by skyscrapers in Mid-town, or maybe you are on your own completely - live for Him. Be faithful. Stay on the path, keeping your eyes on the Celestial City. (See Pilgrim's Progress) And along the way, win some to Christ and encourage others.
1 John 2:16-17 For all that is in the world- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions- is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
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