Saturday, July 4, 2015

Much more than this....I did it my way!

Happy 4th of July!  What a perfect day to focus on our independence.  But I wanted to put a little spin on it.  How can we live a life of independence while being dependent on God? How has our arrogance and life's distractions pulled us away from God's glory?

Life is full of distractions.  Some for the good and some not so good.  My biggest distractions I would have to say are my family, friends, and my job.  But this past week I found that the news, Facebook, and the world around me were huge distractions.  I am not much of a news watcher.  Honestly I prefer not to watch it at all.  But this week I got sucked in.  And Facebook had my undivided attention more frequently than I care to admit.  This world is full of opinionated individuals.  My heart was sad and confused by the jaded, corrupt, and selfish concepts of "love" posted on social media and relayed in public forums.  What about Jesus' message of love?  "Love one another" Amazing how these distractions cause us to scream our own agenda and forget Gods will.  

We are commanded to love.  Not by our definition but by God's.  We don't get to make the rules.  But we sure do a great job of twisting them.  We quickly get offended when someone bashes or questions our faith or path in life.  And instead of loving we are often quick tempered.  Finger pointing all around the table.  We start searching for scripture verses that defend our objectives.  And we become the ruler, judge and jury.  And in the process we lose sight of our true purpose.  We were created for joy.  It is God's earth.  Let's let Him be the ruler and judge.  No need for a jury.  We are all quite imperfect.  

Sometimes even the good things around us become huge distractions. God blesses us with our life, parents, siblings, a spouse, children, family, friends and a job.  He wants us to put time and love into all of these relationships.  However, we shouldn't put those relationships above honoring and seeking Him.  I find myself giving so much time and energy to my blessings that I am too drained in the quiet time to glorify God.  I am rushing to get from one task, event, or responsibility to another that I forget to praise Him for the blessings.  Some days I am so busy that  I lose sight of the beautiful things in my life.  

Life isn't guaranteed to last one hundred years let alone one hour.  In James we are reminded that life is but a vapor.  Here one second and gone the next.  Like I said earlier God created us for joy.  Life is precious and short.  And I will be the first to admit.  I am not always the most joyful person on this planet. But I am trying to stop and smell the roses.

So, how do we change our lives in order to not allow these good and bad distractions to keep us from drawing closer to the one who gives us life?  And to live our lives for Him in a joyful manner?  I suppose it's all about prioritizing.  I know that I need to praise Him and search my own heart daily. He is gracious and loving. And if I truly believe that He is the creator of everything I need to trust that He will take care of everything.  My one and only priority is to bring Him joy and love as He loves .

We need to constantly remind ourselves that we are not in control.  I repeat.  WE ARE NOT IN CONTROL!  We are absolutely dependent on God.   We have a responsibility to love and obey Him. And if we truly believe that this is God's universe, if it is His world, if every moment of our every day is a precious gift from Him, and if our life is to be about God's kingdom rather than our own agenda, our daily living should reflect that.

Remember the Frank Sinatra song, "I did it my way." The lyrics started off like this, "And now, the end is near. And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I'll say it clear I'll state my case, of which I'm certain I've lived a life that's full I traveled each and every highway And more, much more than this, I did it my way. Regrets, I've had a few....." Pretty arrogant.  Wonder if the lyrics would be different if Frank showed a little more dependance on The creator.
Daily I need to remind myself of Gods care and how I am dependent on Him.  Without Him my life is a bit meaningless and quite selfish. I must realize that He is what life is about, not me.  If I live for self gratification and forget about God's glory I am sure to, in the end, have regrets.  My independence is discovered once I acknowledge my dependance on God.

So, I leave you with two thought provoking questions. How can you structure your life to reflect that every second depends on Gods grace? And If you leave this earth today what would be some regrets?

I pray that as we continue reading "Crazy Love" that we ask God to continue to work in our hearts and minds.  That we are able to recognize distractions and are able to push them aside.  And that as He removes our distractions that He will also lead us to the path He is calling us to. 

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