Christians are given the most amazing job to do – connecting God and His goodness with this present world. It’s not just preacher’s work nor is it primarily done in church buildings. You are called to this privilege. Living as Jesus Christ’s representative is your true calling and it is the key to knowing the ‘abundant’ life He promised. “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33, NIV) When we let living His life define us, we move out of pre-occupation with our reputation and resources. Owning things or being seen as a successful person loses importance as Christ gains mastery of our heart and mind.
So many Christians (including me!) speak of ‘building the Kingdom of God’ here on earth, but that is a misplaced focus. It implies that I am the primary actor, the one doing the work. When I think in that way, there is a shift, often unconscious, from doing Jesus’ work to doing Jerry’s work. That leads to anxiety, stress, tension, conflict, and frustration. Robert Burns neatly sums up our dilemma – “the best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry!” Where I am trying to do even great and good things, unforeseen complications will certainly rise up to frustrate those plans. But, when God is Captain of my life, I rest on the promise that He is working in me and through me to accomplish what is yet unseen. Borrowing the example of the Jewish people and God’s gift of a Sabbath, a day to step aside from daily work into rest, the Spirit tells us "there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall." (Hebrews 4:9-11, NLT) We ‘rest’ on God, demonstrating our reliance on Him with a RADICAL obedience to His expressed will. And by that very faith His influence spreads from us into this present world. Our primary influence comes not from what we strive to do, but from who we are.
Ah, disciple, stop trying to act like a Christian! Instead, become one! Relinquish yourself, without reservation, to Him. I am concerned that some might read this as a call to inaction, laziness, or passivity. It is none of those things. We can and must be people of passion, often intense, but not with the usual focus on Self. Our passion is to love Him, and being loved, to live in love. If we are filled with the Spirit, the sins of our own heart and of the world around us should cause us great pain and move us to both tears and anger. Jesus was not passive in the face of evil. While He lived among us He did not work at creating for Himself a detachment from the sorrows that surrounded Him. Yet, He brought wholeness to earth by living in the fullness of His Father’s care and will. We can do the same.
Here’s my prayer for us as this new week begins: "It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life. … I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength! " (Ephesians 1:13-14,17-19, The Message)
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