When I think of the big picture of my life I feel like I am rather well on track; it’s the day to day stuff that gets me. When I think of my goals, where I want to go in life, what it’s all for, it is easy to say that I make God a priority in my life, but that’s because I don’t have to do it, just think it. When I wake up in the morning and start my routine, when I do things to get by, pay the bills, relax and unwind, that’s when I find it hard to claim I made God a priority. I can do the long range goals. I can say in my head and on paper that I want to give my life to God, but carrying it out is where I want to improve.
Today in church (First Christian Church, 2727 E Crawford in Salina http://salinadisciples.org/ ) Greg (or Pastor Rea if you like that better in a story) covered the story of Isaiah. Isaiah is one of the lucky ones, blessed with a vision of God (Isa 6). On the flip side of the coin he is one of the unlucky ones because God asks him to make those who are comfortable in their ways uncomfortable enough to turn to God to grow, and to make those who are uncomfortable because the world is hard feel comforted by the people of God. To a lot of us (and we all do at times) who seek our own pleasures and assurances, this makes him a bit unpopular.
And this is where it gets difficult to live out the idea of giving our life to God on a day to day basis: God asks us to be in the world, but not of it. Most of the dominant powers of the world, the driving forces in human decision, aren’t in line with the virtues of the Bible. We make decisions based of our desire for wealth and security, and the world of money is very much imbued with the icon/idol of sex appeal. We make decisions based on our own futures, forgetting that the earthly existence is temporal. We make decisions based on our needs – which is what happens in a world based on survival. But God asks us to transcend that. God asks us to live for others, to give of ourselves, to dedicate ourselves to Him who unless we are completely blessed we will never see face to face until our earthly lives are over. God asks us to be better than the society around us, more than our animalistic nature, and to overcome the insidious and admittedly sneaky idols of money, lust, popularity, enjoyment, acceptance, and all the creature comforts that trap us into being ‘of the world’ rather than living in the world FOR God.
The society around is a fine place, and God is working in it… but… society does not exist for God. Society is self serving. The hardest part of living day to day for God and dedicating our lives to Him is that we can no longer accept the status quo of society. Being a good citizen by not causing harm is not enough; our call is to do good. Chasing the American dream of a happy family and wealth is not enough because we are asked to lift up those around us. The challenging part about God is that he expects a lot. Society lets us get by, asks us to contribute maybe every once and awhile – and that’s good. But God created us, we are his image – God wants all of us. And that is a challenge we should wake up every morning happy to embrace. Someone cares enough about us to expect more of us. So here is my new morning mantra, I plan to ask myself each morning: Darcy, God wants all of you. What is something you can do today to give more? We are not meant to just fit into society, we are meant to make a positive impact on society and bring change for God.
It’s like being the student the teacher sees potential in and wants more from. It’s like being the athlete the coach wants to build the program around and asks to find a way to step it up in effort and leadership. It’s like being the friend that is relied on to carry someone through the tough times and enjoy the good times. It’s like being the worker that is asked to carry the load through budget cuts because of talent, dedication, and character. It is being the Christian made by God’s grace and infinite wisdom to serve His great plan and exist in a relationship of love with our Creator. Just ‘living’ isn’t enough, we are meant to live with a purpose, a purpose of service for Someone who loves us enough to want all of us.And by all of us, I don’t just mean all of you, but the every one of His creation, all of humanity, the ones like you and the ones not like you, the ones you agree with and the ones that you don’t agree with. It isn’t an easy call, but God has great expectations for us, and we get there by trying!
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