Becoming an eternal glory

Once again I am on life watch, standing by to offer love and comfort to my mother. She is critically ill. Life has come to a standstill – a wait, a pause with purpose. Usually in my work a pastor my days are full of conversation, study, phone calls, and decisions. But, here at Mom’s place, I prepare meals, offer a drink, hold her hand, pray, and think- a lot - about God, life, choices, and mortality. Seeing the frailty of human flesh up close leaves no choice but to ponder life’s real questions. I would be a fool not to understand my own mortality and to ask: "Jerry, what are you spending your days to own? When you're the guy writing the last chapter, will you be looking for the rewind button, full of regrets or will you be at peace as you anticipate stepping from time into eternity?”

Most of accept, with few questions, that we should seek success, which is usually defined around stuff and status. We are programmed to get an education, choose a career, and start to work to create a stream of income. There is an unwritten but persuasive maxim driven home by a million advertisements: "If you get more stuff, you will enjoy a better and happier life." Sure, it's nice to have enough money to buy things we want, but there is a bargain with the Devil. As a result of our acquisitive ways, we have less time to enjoy the stuff we can afford and we must work harder to keep it all. It's a mirage, promising a satisfaction never found. We are certain that 'if we had more,' we would be able to create happiness. God’s wisdom says - "Life is not defined by what you have, even if you have a lot!" (Luke 12.18 The Message)

And, then there is this: even if we do a great job in getting it, keeping it, and piling it higher – someday we will leave it all behind. The government and our kids will divide the pile and what nobody wants will end up at the Salvation Army or on the curb!

What if we focused on an entirely different goal?
What if instead of getting things we worked with the Spirit to become somebody?

What if we determined that the measure of a good day was not the size of the deal we closed, the hours we put on the clock, or even the fun we had in some diversion; but rather determined by ways we helped another person feel the love of God, find real worth, and be encouraged? That will not happen unless we radically accept God's love for ourselves, becoming centered and satisfied in Him, made emotionally whole, forgiven of our sins, and freed from the tyranny of ego!  That's the sense in which I mention -becoming somebody. And, we continue - becoming - as God leads us on.

How do we live a ‘becomer’? Becoming a real somebody requires surrender! John Ortberg (pastor and author) writes that "surrender is not passivity nor abdication. It is saying yes to God and life each day. It is accepting the gifts He has given to me - my body, my mind, my biorhythms, my energy. It is letting go of my envy or desire for what He has given to someone else. It is letting go of outcomes... Surrender is accepting reality ... the ultimate reality: I am a ceaseless being with an eternal destiny in God's great universe."

{When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back Into the Box, 2007, Zondervan} The deepest surrender, Ortberg says, grows out of the profound realization that I am not master of the game, Another is.

The depth of our surrender to Him directly effects the extent to which He is able to use us in His purpose of building the Kingdom of God - here and for eternity. Jesus says "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it." (Mark 8:34-35, NLT)

What would life look like if instead of working to impress others or building a network of power to defend our rights, we chose humble service without needing thanks or applause?

How would life look if instead of measuring success by our ability to make situations fit into our expectations we were content to place ourselves at God's disposal with no expectation other than to find the joy of obedience?

I hope this week is one that God uses to chisel another piece of the likeness of Jesus Christ into my life! Surrender, letting go of my will to find His purpose – this is my adventure of faith this week. I want, by the grace of God and the help of the Spirit, to live as a “becomer,” (not staying as I was yesterday, but pursuing Christ to become like Him today) for the glory of God.

Here’s a word from the Word. "For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil (old sinful and self-centered ways) removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image."  (2 Corinthians 3:17-18, NLT)