Busyness Isn’t the Answer

If we have placed Christ first and we’re earnest in that, expect the Enemy to try and disrupt that focus. One of the easiest ways is to get us busy. Think about it. If you’re busy, things that are important with respect to our relationship with Christ will start to slide. It’ll be little by little. We won’t notice at first. Only after things get a good deal further along may we catch on to where we’ve gotten to.

If you want a visual analogy, think about a child you see all the time versus a child you see only once in a while. In the first case, the child is growing and changing, but you probably don’t notice until one day you suddenly do. In the latter case, the change is more noticeable because you’re last mind picture of that child was very different, even if it was only a few months ago.

But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”  – Luke 10:40-42, ESV

Mary was consumed with Christ. Martha, on the other hand, was consumed with busyness. And when Martha approached Jesus about how Mary wasn’t involved in Martha’s busyness, she expected support from Jesus. She didn’t get it. Instead, she received a gentle rebuke about how she had choose poorly. Martha had let her busyness get in the way. If folks who were in the physical presence of Jesus could be so affected, then more so we who believe but do not see!

The way to deal with this type of stealthy attack is to be vigilant with respect to our time and our priorities. Our time with our Savior must be protected and treasured. We need to regularly look at our priorities and ensure we’re keeping them appropriately or make a point of adjusting them when we see they are starting to slip. We also should surround ourselves with other believers who can keep an eye on us and who are willing to speak up when they see that we are slipping.

Don’t let busyness take over in this new year. Instead, maintain your priorities and your relationship with Christ by actively guarding both. Take joy in that relationship. Find purpose in it. Be a Mary and not a Martha. If you’re not a Mary, when things get crazy and hectic (and they will), you may find a gentle rebuke instead of a reaffirmation of what you’re doing when you finally make the time to see our Savior in prayer.

Grasping for God

Imagine that something disastrous has happened and you have slid off the edge of a cliff. You’re clear of the edge and there’s no chance of grabbing on any longer. You look down and see the floor of the canyon below. There’s no chance of survival. You will die. Suddenly, there’s a shout from above, “Grab my wrist!” as you feel a steely grip wrap around your own wrist. Do you choose to do nothing or do grasp that wrist with all the strength you have left?

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,  - John 1:12, ESV

The word “receive” here is better translated “grasp after,” “cling to,” or “grab hold of.” If you understand that, it completely changes the way we look at this verse. John’s intent is to make us realize that as Christians and followers of Jesus Christ we are to be clinging to Him as if our life depended on it. This fits perfectly with verse 4 when Jesus is described as life (zoe) which means spiritual life. Our spiritual/eternal life depends on how tightly we cling to God, how desperately we grasp after Him.

If we are this desperate, if Christ pervades our every thought, if He is the principal focus of our lives, that He gives us the right to become children of God. There is no earthly title that compares with being adopted by Almighty God. However, it is only granted to those who are pursuing Jesus with such vigor and purpose. What John was trying to tell us is we can’t live our faith halfway. We want to be His? Then we have to give it everything. We have to treat our lives as if we were falling off that cliff and Jesus reached down and grabbed us.

When you consider your own walk, what is your effort level? Don’t read me wrong, your works don’t save you. Only grace through Jesus Christ does. However, our response to His gift of grace should be to treat Him as our all-consuming passion. Scripture tells us that when we do so, then all the other aspects of life will be taken care of. So throwing yourself fully into your relationship with Jesus Christ won’t mean neglecting what’s important. It will mean that some non-important things will go by the wayside but that’s okay, because none of that matters for eternity. And it’s eternity that should be our focus.

God Will Use Our Mistakes

Have you ever come out of a situation feeling like you’ve really blown it? We all have. Perhaps it’s a relationship, or a job interview, or an investment opportunity, or a big game situation.Whatever the circumstance, you failed. Part of being human is realizing that we’re not perfect. Part of being a Christian is not settling for that. Yes, we’re not perfect, but we can always improve. We can always move forward towards the man or woman God wants and has designed us to be. Failures are going to be part of that march of sanctification. The key is to remember that even in our failures, God will provide lessons and opportunities for the future.

  So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out by night. And he commanded them, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you remain ready. And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out against us just as before, we shall flee before them. And they will come out after us, until we have drawn them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, just as before.’ So we will flee before them. Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will give it into your hand. And as soon as you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of the Lord. See, I have commanded you.” So Joshua sent them out. And they went to the place of ambush and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai, but Joshua spent that night among the people.  – Joshua 8:3-8, ESV

In Joshua 7 we learn how the sin of one man, Achan, prevented the Israelites from defeating Ai. God was not with them and thus they lost. When Joshua went before God he was told in blunt terms that there was sin in the camp that needed to be dealt with. Joshua responded with obedience, the sin was dealt with, and God told Joshua to attack Ai again. This time around, as we see in the verses above, the Israelites were to lay a trap for the warriors of Ai.

One of the things I find interesting is how God used the situation with the first defeat to Israel’s advantage. Likely the men of Ai felt the Israelites were no match for them. They were probably overconfident because of their previous victory. Three thousand Israelite soldiers went up to attack Ai and were soundly trounced. God tells Joshua to recreate the situation, but this time have men in hiding ready to ambush the men of AI. Joshua’s men would fall back as if beaten, leading the soldiers of Ai to think the rout was on. They would pursue, just as they did before, and march into an ambush. They did just that and not only did they march into the ambush prepared for them, but they left their city undefended. The men waiting behind the city captured it and then the men of Ai were surrounded and wiped out.

Achan’s sin led to Israel’s defeat. However, God used the circumstances of that first defeat for a victory immediately thereafter. God does this all the time with us. When we make a mistake, there’s always a lesson to be learned. This is especially true when it comes to sin on our part. Likely when we make a big mistake we won’t like the consequences. It may mean the end of a marriage or getting fired from the job or our team losing a must-win game. However, while those situations are not what we want, we must learn from them. Also, we should not be surprised when God turns those situations into something He uses in the future. For instance, a drug addict can turn his experience fighting the addiction into counseling others who are trying to overcome the addiction themselves.

This isn’t to say we should take our mistakes lightly. We must try to do our best. When it comes to sin, we should treat sin in our lives as very, very grave. After all, our sin required the death of the Son of God. But a mistake and even a sin isn’t the end of it all, so long as we are in Christ. We must understand the circumstances and take the appropriate lessons from those situations. We must endeavor to do better next time. And then we must move on. God will take our mistakes and our sins and He will use them for the good of all who believe. This is the promise in Romans. God will use our mistakes. Therefore, when you find yourself looking down in failure, take the time to look back up to God and thank Him for being an integral part of your life. If He isn’t, perhaps that’s what that mistake or sin is there to bring you to the realization of. And then praise Him. Glorify Him. Learn and move forward from that mistake. For God will use it for good.

Our Prosperity Is Due to His Providence

A lot of people work hard. A lot of people work very hard. Often times, hard work is a requirement for prosperity, especially in a land like the United States. However, working hard, in and of itself, doesn’t guarantee prosperity. There are plenty of single parents in our nation working two jobs and sleeping very little who are merely trying to keep food on the table and the rent paid. You can’t tell them that working hard leads to prosperity because they are working hard, harder than the vast majority of folks who are “prosperous.” At their current rate, they will never see “prosperity.”

  Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’  – Deuteronomy 8:17, ESV

This is a warning Moses gave to the Israelites. It is a warning we should heed today. We too often want to take primary credit for our “own” accomplishments. We want to believe we are the leading reason for our successes. The truth of the matter is that if God decides not to grant us success, we aren’t going to have it. If you doubt this, let me refer you to Pharaoh and the Egyptian army who pursued the Israelites to the Red Sea. Let me also refer you to Jacob, whose flocks grew and who thought initially that it was due to the color of the strips of wood that he used. In one case God chose to stifle success and in the other He chose to grant it. As Christians we should never forget that any success or prosperity we experience is ultimately due to the providence of Almighty God.

When we start to understand and believe this, it changes the way we look at the world. It alters the way we think about money, about possessions, about vacations, and about “stuff.” When we start to comprehend that what we have is due to God, then it becomes easier to part with those things, to give them up. Why would we want to give them up? We would want to give them up for the furthering of His Kingdom, the accomplishment of His will, and the calling we have as Christians to glorify God first. This isn’t to say that we can’t enjoy what we have. Often times God tells His people to enjoy, but to remember where it came from. He also tells them to be good stewards of it and to be obedient to Him first. In other words, there’s nothing wrong with taking that cruise as long as God isn’t pinging you to do something else with the money and you aren’t being disobedient in some other way. However, if he is telling you that you need to put that money towards backpacks for school kids, as a friend of mine recently campaigned to do, then the money had better go to the backpacks. Wealth, in and of itself, isn’t a sin. It’s the love of that wealth, the abuse of that wealth, and the worship of that wealth that are. If you are looking at God to make you “healthy, wealthy, and wise,” as some preach, I would point you to the passages which point that wealth isn’t the mark of God’s favor, but suffering for His name’s sake. That may not be a popular message but it’s the only sound biblical one.

Put your prosperity into proper perspective. Don’t let any success you have get in the way of your relationship with God. Instead, let any accomplishment or achievement be an opportunity to praise God for His providence (so long as that achievement or accomplishment occurred in a non-sinful way… if there was sin involved, repentance is the only correct choice). When you suffer a setback or a hit, let that situation be an opportunity to praise God for remaining with you and still providing for your needs. All our paths should lead back to God. All of efforts should point back to Him. All of our desires should be centered in Him. Remember that our prosperity is ultimately due to His providence and detach yourself from your successes, your money, and your things. Instead, find your wealth in your relationship with Jesus. It’s the only thing that lasts.

Get Out of the Way of the Gospel

If you are a Christian, the Bible makes it clear that our number one purpose is to exalt God. This supersedes everything else. Getting a fair shake, having our say, receiving our full rights, even being safe and sound are all supposed to take a backseat to bringing glory to God. Unfortunately, too often we don’t live this way. Too often what we want and what we care about is more important than God. We don’t say it, but our actions show it. For instance, instead of gently ministering to someone who has wronged us, we want to see them get their due. Now, we aren’t going to seek revenge, for that wouldn’t be Christian, but we sure hope misfortune visits them. Ever thought this way? If you are human, you have. The problem with this line of thinking is it gets in the way of the Gospel.

  Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ  - 1 Corinthians 9:12b, ESV

Paul was writing of the fact that he and his companions didn’t exercise certain rights when he was among the Corinthians because it would have gotten in the way of the Gospel of Christ. I want you to stop right there for a moment. When was the last time as a Church we asked the question, “Would what we are about to do get in the way of sharing the Gospel?” When was the last time your local congregation asked this? What about yourself? Can’t remember? Unfortunately, neither can I. We can be so full of ourselves that we forget the great importance of the Gospel and our mission as Christians to share it in a way that others around us understand it. Note that I didn’t say anything about forcing it down other people’s throats. I also didn’t say anything about the typical political hot button topics that seem to inflame us here in the West. I said the Gospel. When was the last time we thought about its priority in the scale of all the things we were doing, caring about, and arguing over? I can hear the crickets. They’re in my backyard, too.

It doesn’t matter what side of the predestination/freewill fence you sit on (or even if you’re sitting on the fence itself), because we have been given a command by Jesus to go and make disciples. As John Piper – a very staunch predestination pastor – put it, even if you are on the predestination side it’s not your role to play God and determine who you will and won’t share the Gospel with. Leave that to God and go share. The Gospel is to be the forefront of who we are and what we do. Yes, we encourage and affirm and edify the saints. Yes, we take care of the orphans and widows in our midst. Yes, we provide for the poor around us and serve those who need our help, regardless of religion or creed. But we do all things for the sake of the Gospel. Caring and ministering give us the opportunity to share. Even if we don’t get a chance to use actual words, we share through our actions. We are different because our God has changed us. We are to be a living testimony to the power of God to transform a sinner into a saint. And by being this living testimony we will hopefully be able to explain ourselves to those who want to know why we are different.

As you move into the weekend, do a self-examination. What habits or things about you get in the way of the Gospel? What pet peeves or personal causes turn people away from you such that they would not be willing to hear the Gospel from your lips? What can you do to correct these situations? What’s stopping you? Lift these issues and their remedies up in prayer. Let us be known for living out the Gospel fully, for sharing it freely and lovingly, and for exalting Christ before ourselves. Let us get out of the way of what’s the most important set of news we can share with the world around us: that Jesus Christ died on the Cross to save sinners like you, me, and everyone else who would want to be free from their sins.

Heavenly Endurance

On Facebook recently I’ve seen a lot of references to “first world problems.” These are things that bother us and irk us that only come about because of our over-abundance, not because of the deficiency in a real need. For instance, having to get the brakes replaced on the car or having to call out the air conditioner repairman because the A/C is on the fritz are both examples of first world problems. These aren’t related to getting enough to eat, to having a roof over our heads, or being able to worship freely and pray to our Savior without fear of harm. The key to remember is as these little things pile up and seem overwhelming, they aren’t more than we can endure. Yesterday was that sort of day for me and one of my accountability brothers reminded me that God is in control and that with Him I can handle it.

  Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
- Revelation 14:12-13, ESV

See, first world problems are nothing. There’s going to be a day coming when God is going to have to remind us to endure, because we will be facing the persecution of the saints. Saints will die simply for their belief in Jesus Christ. We don’t tend to see this problem in the “first world.” However, if you have any sort of awareness to what’s going on in the whole world you know that there are plenty of places where the body of Christ is having to endure these types of hardships. We see folks being considered second class citizens because they are Christians. We see kidnappings, rape, torture, and even death because folks believe in Jesus Christ. It isn’t unusual in some parts of the world to hear about a young teenage girl who is a Christian being kidnapped by men of another faith and then that girl is forced to marry another male of that other faith. Such an act means she has to convert her faith. And once converted, were she to “convert back” to Christianity, the laws of the region or nation state that she should die by execution. Of course, we know that the girl didn’t want to marry, that she was coerced. Usually she has no say in it and it’s a sham ceremony. Of course, since her marriage is forced, there was no actual conversion to that other religion. However, by virtue of having a recognized marriage, those who would do Christianity harm can claim, based on the accepted laws and practices of the land, that she has converted from Christianity because she is now married. Yes, that’s circular logic, but it is supported. And then she’s stuck. She’s married to someone she abhors and she cannot be truthful about who she follows. She cannot escape. If her family cannot find her, rescue her, and get her out of that area, she faces either a disastrous life or death. To remain faithful to Jesus Christ in such circumstances requires great endurance.

Most of us don’t deal with problems anywhere near that sort of thing. Therefore, the endurance we require is far less. Yet it’s very easy to feel overwhelmed, as if we can’t do enough or as if we can’t handle it all. The key is to rely on God. We don’t have the endurance He does. He bore our sins on His body and He faced the wrath of the Father on our behalf. I’d call that some unbelievable endurance. And the neat thing is He offers to help us bear what faces us. He doesn’t cherry pick things, either. He tells us just to come if we are weary. So whether it’s a mid-term exam that has us stressed out or the unexpected death of a family member in his early twenties, Jesus is there to give us heavenly endurance. The problem is that we often don’t take Him up on the offer.

What is it that you are shouldering today that is wearing you down? What could you ask for help with from God that you haven’t, possibly because of personal pride? Why are you still holding on to it? Why are you not allowing the One who paid for your sins to pick up part of the load, too? Do so and feel the relief that can only come from turning over your burden to the Lord, so that you might not sin but instead glorify God with your word and deed.

Personal Charisma

Like most Christians, I have my favorites among the preachers and Christian writers. I love listening to and parsing through what Ravi Zacharias teaches on, whether it’s audio or in print. Voddie Baucham is another guy high up on my list. R.C. Sproul is someone I enjoy reading, but he is hit or miss for me when it comes to listening to him. And of course, Tony Evans is someone I could listen to and learn from all day long but I find reading what he writes is a little hard. Mainly because I start to hear him preaching the words in my mind and then I want to actually hear him preaching what I’m reading. The catch is while I like listening to these guys or reading their work I don’t say I follow them nor do I get into big arguments over them that threaten the health of the church.

  But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?  – 1 Corinthians 3:1-4,ESV

The warning from Paul here is not to follow any particular person for the sake of following that person. This isn’t a Yankees versus Red Sox debate. It doesn’t matter how much personal charisma that person has. It doesn’t matter if he or she teaches in a way that resonates with you. It doesn’t matter if said person has a voice as smooth as silk. We aren’t to follow people, at least not ordinary people. We are to follow Christ and Christ alone. One of the other elders was teaching on this yesterday with respect to what we do as a church, and some things that people take as “sacred” when they aren’t. The point He was making is Christ is sufficient. We don’t need Christ + something nor should we ever believe that Christ + something is better. He went on to expound that Sunday morning service or choir or youth ministry aren’t required. If they were required for us to be a Christian, then it’s not just Christ any longer. Think about that for a minute. Salvation is through Christ alone. Being a Christian is therefore through Chris alone. Those other things don’t make us Christians. Rather, because we are Christians, because Christ died for us, we desire those other things. We desire to be in Sunday morning service to worship and sit under sound teaching. We desire to be in choir to offer up our voices in praise. We have youth ministry to remind them of what the Bible says about the evils of the world and how easy it is to be led astray but how there’s a protector and warrior in Christ who will battle for them. Youth ministry also provides a means of fellowship among youth, a “clique” (though we often dislike that term) so that they can find strength in numbers to face the world the Bible warns them about. But none of these things are needed in addition to Christ and none of them can, in any way, take the place of Jesus.

The same is true of people. I love Ravi Zacharias, but if I ever hear him say something I know to be doctrinally untrue, I will stand on the Bible and refuse to accept it. It may have been Ravi that said it, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is what God’s Word says. And if by chance Ravi Zacharias ever saw this post, I’m sure he’d agree. You may love your pastor or your choir director or your youth or children’s pastor. You may think the world of your Sunday school teacher or the one who runs your small group. Remember, however, that they are sinners, like you and me. They may have a role within ministry, but that doesn’t put them above the rest of the Body. They still need support, they still need love, and they still need accountability. And if they step out and do the wrong thing, they need to be gently rebuked. If they are in sin, they need to be told.

Finally, they don’t need to dragged into the “My pastor is better than yours,” game. This is an adult version of “My daddy can beat up your daddy” and it’s just as wrong. Ministers are called by God to serve God, to point people to Jesus, and to teach them what Christ would desire of us. It’s not the person we should follow, but rather the One he or she points us to. If he or she isn’t pointing to Christ, then you definitely don’t want to follow whoever that is. Follow Christ. If the person you’re high on in ministry is a good teacher or humble servant or excellent at whatever it is he or she is called to do, support them and encourage them. But don’t replace Christ with them. They aren’t enough. Only Jesus is.

Never Be Ashamed of Your God

If you are a teenager or an adult, at some point in your life you have been embarrassed to be seen with your parents. They weren’t cool enough. They were pointing out things about you or picking at you in ways you didn’t appreciate. Maybe you were trying to impress someone you had a crush on and the last thing you wanted was for your mom or dad to be in the picture. I think we’ve all been there. That’s a part of life. But while it’s one thing to be embarrassed about your parents for an occasion (notice I didn’t say all the time), it’s never okay to be embarrassed about your Savior.

  For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.  - Luke 9:26, ESV

This just doesn’t include the fact that you go to church, or that you call yourself a Christian, or that you are seen as a “goody two shoes” by your acquaintances. It also means the very words of Scripture itself. He made sure we understood that when He said, “of me and of my words.” So maybe there’s a particular teaching we don’t like a whole lot because it hits close to home. Or maybe we’re interacting with a group of folks of whom the teaching is applicable to. You can’t be ashamed of the words of Scripture. I can’t pick and choose when I want to apply them. Not if we truly love Christ.

A classic example is when there’s some off-color humor among the crowd and you want to fit in. While you may not say anything, by sticking around you’re giving tacit agreement to the words that are being used. We’re not to be a part of coarse joking (Ephesians 5:4). Sooner or later someone is going to call us on it. Then what do we do? I can think of some of the responses, “Hey, guys, while those jokes aren’t for me, we’re cool, because you’re my friends,” or “It’s okay, because I’m not the one saying the jokes,” or some other justification. But aren’t we being ashamed of Jesus’ words? Now I’m not saying we shut things down and say, “You fools! Stop this nonsense right now!” That’s not the right approach, either. But excusing yourself probably is. If asked we should respond with something like, “Well, I know you guys like these kinds of jokes and if you want to tell them, it’s not for me to tell you to stop. But based on my beliefs, this isn’t something I can hang around in and participate in. You guys are my friends, but this is just something I’ll have to skip on.” Friends will understand. Real friends will even modify their behavior so you can participate and stick around. Folks who get offended? They aren’t thinking about you. And that’s really all that needs to be said about that.

There are so many examples where we, by our action or inaction, show that we are ashamed of Christ or His Word. We need to stop. We need to put our hearts right and love Him and love His Word more than we love our own comfort or desire to fit in. Our fleshly nature will always rebel against us. We should expect this and be prepared for it. After all, we don’t want Christ to be ashamed of us before the Father. He’s our only way for forgiveness. He’s the exclusive way to heaven. This is what Scripture teaches. We say He is right and perfect and just and loving. Our actions and our hearts should reflect that. Don’t be ashamed of the Savior or His Word.

Think Beyond This Life

Have you ever won an argument but lost a friend? In hindsight, was winning that important? Most of the time, it wasn’t. We make this mistake over and over again in life, and not just in the realm of friends. Sometimes it’s because we don’t have enough information. For instance, we pursue an opportunity at a new job, giving up one we enjoyed for one with the promise for more. Then something happens and we are either out of that new job or we’re in that new job and it’s nothing like what we thought it was. We do this with respect to earthly versus heavenly things, too.

  For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?  – Luke 9:25, ESV

This has made its way into a very well-liked Christian contemporary song by TobyMac and for this reason a lot of folks in churches today have heard these words repeatedly. However, knowing the words and abiding by them are two completely different things. So how do we abide by these words? We do so by doing a personal review.

• When I look at my life goals, who are they for? Are they for me or are they for Jesus?
• When I look at my proudest life moments, who was glorified? Was it me? Was it someone I cared about (such as a team)? Or was Jesus most glorified?
• When I look at the low points in my life, were they low points because I was brought down or because Jesus was misrepresented or ignored altogether?

These aren’t easy things to look at. However, it is essential that we consider these questions if we want to be in line with Luke 9:25. We can gain everything in this whole world, but if our life is not for Christ, likely we are not saved and that means we have forfeited eternity. These questions force us to think in terms of eternity, to think beyond this life. Are we uplifting self? That’s what we’ve been taught to do. But it’s dead wrong. Self is to be crucified. Christ is to be uplifted. This goes beyond doing just enough to get a back-row seat in heaven (think about that and realize that if we can’t earn grace how silly that sounds). It’s about bringing glory to the One we say we love the most. And it’s easy to say we love Jesus, but our priorities and the things we choose to focus on reveal the true loves of our lives. They also can readily reveal our lack of love for Christ.

Lack of love? If we have a lack of love for our Savior, then the question becomes one about what is the state of our current relationship with Him. That’s not a good question to have hanging over us. It should be settled, once and for all, as a deeply established and passionate relationship with our Lord. Think about the ideal picture of newlyweds. Think about how they’ll do anything and everything for each other. Are our lives the same with respect to our Bridegroom? If they aren’t, we’re showing an awful lot of love for the world. That’s not good.

If that’s the case, then we are the man who is trying to gain the whole world. And that raises into question our salvation. The solution is simple to say, but hard to do:

• Reaffirm our love and our relationship with Jesus Christ.
• Re-order our priorities to be in line with Him.
• Make sure that what we focus on is ultimately for His glory (this is a heart check).
• Go do it.

This isn’t to say we can’t have “down time” to play golf, to watch TV, to do a hobby. God rested on the 7th day, did He not? He knows the majority of us aren’t built to go all out, all the time. Even Elijah needed a break. But when it comes to the big things in life, we need to assess why we’re doing them and who they are for. Let us not be the man that forfeits eternity because he was chasing after something that wasn’t worth it. This is far greater than having an argument and losing a friend. If we insist on being right (and we’re not) in our pursuit of things apart from Christ, then we will lose Christ and lose our salvation. Or I should say, we demonstrate that we never had either in the first place.

Losing What Is Most Important to Most

Most of the time, the toys included in the kids’ meal at fast food joints are cheap and not designed to stand the test of time. However, it is interesting to watch how children respond to these toys. My daughter is a great example. From time-to-time she’ll fall in love with one of those toys. We still have some of those toys in her room. She gets that naturally. When I was 11 I bought a couple of toys out of a vending machine in Japan for what was then 200 yen. At the conversion rate at the time, that put the toys at less than a dollar a piece. It was one of those machines where you don’t know what you’re going to get. It’s a surprise and that’s part of the magic. I remember getting this plastic robot and a soccer ball that you had to put together (about the size of a golf ball). I think both of those are still at my parents’ house some 26 years later.

I remember back to one of the times when I thought I had lost that robot. I was heart broken. It was after we had come back to the states and I was in junior high school then. I looked everywhere for it. I didn’t dare say anything to my parents because I knew the response, “It’s just a cheap toy! You’ve got plenty more!” Truth be told, this is not something I should have held on to so tightly. My devotion to that cheap piece of plastic is amusing in hindsight. And I see the same behavior in children all the time with respect to those cheap kids’ meal toys. They hold on to something that we as adults realize is pretty meaningless in our culture of over-abundance. But can we say we are any different?

  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.  – Luke 9:24, ESV

Anything we achieve or get in this lifetime won’t stand the test of time. We could rise to be president of the United States, we could own our dream home, we could get to drive a NASCAR stock car, or we could meet Miss America, but in the perspective of eternity, what does any of that matter? We could meet every career-oriented goal, see the entire world, and write a bestselling book loved and adored by millions. Again, however, through the lens of eternity, none of that matters. When it comes down to it, the only thing that does is whether or not we have received the gift of grace and salvation through Christ. Anything and everything else is like a cheap kids’ meal toy.

Yet we get locked on to so much that doesn’t matter. We make fun of each other and tease each other over choice of sports teams. We become obsessed over project goals and deliverables. We drool over the latest fast car or the latest “hot” man or woman to come into the limelight. We focus on a nagging issue between a fellow church member, brooding over it rather than addressing it and reconciling it. Or we pour all of energy into a relationship with someone other than Jesus to the detriment of our relationship with Jesus. In the scope of eternity, all of these things will fade away.

I realize that most folks would disagree with the viewpoint that career goals, personal relationships, and our standard of living are unimportant. If you don’t have Jesus’ perspective on eternity, then it’s hard to see things for what they are. We shouldn’t expect non-Christians to see the world like Jesus sees it. But as Christians we need to see things through our Savior’s eyes. In other words, as they really are. It’s not that career goals and personal relationships are unimportant. They are important, but when compared to our relationship with Jesus, that importance is dwarfed by the magnitude of our Lord. And with that perspective comes a willingness to give up things, to sacrifice what others consider as all important, for the greater relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s the point Jesus is making here.

See, if we get focused on these other things, then we miss out on the greatest thing. If we try to live our lives cautiously, to not take the big risks God may ask of us, we don’t get to experience the fullness of what a strong faith and trust in the Son will give us. There are no risks with God. When we say risk, we are saying that it’s a risk based on the world’s perspective. With God, anything He ordains is certain. It will happen. And if we live our lives like that, if we are willing to do it His way even following through with actions that seem like madness to the world, we truly live our lives to the fullest even if it costs us our earthly lives. There is something greater than anything that happens in this lifetime. We’ve got to be ready and willing to lose the things this world holds as most important to gain what is truly important. Are you ready? Are you willing? Don’t miss out!