Friday, February 15, 2008

Great Earnings part II

I have been closely examining my life lately to determine the where and what that God is calling me to be. I believe I'm at a very critical time in my spiritual growth right now so I'm focusing extremely close on this. I do this through the only way that I know how and that is using God's Word to examine my life. My wife and I are still fairly young in our walk but things are happening all around us and we are working to prepare our household and ourselves so that when God calls, we will be ready.

That said, I believe that God is calling me to something different than where and what I'm doing now. The where has not been determined yet... but that doesn’t affect the point I'm trying to make. My very nature and part of the nature of what I believe God to be calling me to, forces me to examine not only myself but also the world around me so that I can be aware of the state/culture that we live in.

A lot of what I have been seeing in the world around me, and within myself, really troubles my spirit. Let’s take prayer for example. I believe that prayer is a powerful tool and a wonderful gift that we’ve been given to communicate with our Father. When my spirit is troubled, I often go to God in prayer not only for those around me but also for myself. Where I have been disturbed is in the fact that I’ve come to realize that I often use prayer as an excuse to not take action. The easy answer for me is say “I will be praying for you or I have you in my prayers, etc… I say a quick prayer and that allows me to free myself from the quilt of complacency and continue on my way to fulfilling my own selfish desires.

I’ve been most disturbed by our ability to turn a blind eye to the needs of others. Jesus has called us to a level of love that dictates that we care for the needs of others beyond our own understanding of what we are doing. That even in our moments of loving someone and caring for them we do things, which are beyond our human reasoning.

Matthew 6:3
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

It’s this type of love that forces my heart to break when I read of how the hungry the World has become for more. We live in a world where the definition of success is to climb a ladder with total disregard for who we have to step on to get to the top. We live in a world that defines us by how many monetary things we have, the car we drive or the type of house we live in. We live in a world where you are not successful unless your one desire or goal in life is to gain more of what you already have. It saddens me deeply to live in a world where these types of attitudes are praised and expected while all around us God’s children and His people are dying from starvation.

Am I condemning Shell or others for desiring or gaining these types of exuberant profits? No, they have all the right in the “world” to make these types of profits. The Bible tells us there is no condemnation in Christ and to be careful how we judge other. Therefore if I wish to live a Christ-like life, then I am forced to view others through eyes that contain no condemnation or judgement. That does not mean that I’m not sad, frustrated and yes, sometimes angry (we all fall short ;) that we live in a world where someone can make that type of money while the very people on their doorstep are starving, sick and dying. It’s those emotions that call me to action, to prayer and beyond.

You see, it’s this worldly examination that always leads me right back to myself, what am I doing to alleviate world hunger? How can I take better care of those around me, healthy and sick? Am I spreading the Gospel of Christ and his message of love to others? Ultimately though, it eventually leads me right back to the toughest question of all… Am I living the life and fulfilling the purpose for which God created me?

Ephesians 4:1 (NIV)

1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

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