When Jesus taught using the analogy of storing up treasure in heaven (Mt. 6:19-24), what he was really saying is this: make God and God’s Kingdom calling #1 in your life. Give up whatever other allegiances you may have that are competing with God for the number one slot, so that you can trade up to a better life, better relationships, a better world, and a better word at the end of your journey on this plane. Give up to trade up.
Making God First Feels Difficult... When I was in college, leading various ministry events or simply talking to friends about selling out to Christ, there would always come a point where the person would realize that what Jesus was calling for was total and absolute surrender to Himself as the Leader of their life. This is what the Bible means by Lord – we voluntarily make Christ our Master, our Owner. When my friends or audience would wake up to this reality, one basic thought seemed to run through their collective minds:
We feel like we’re giving up all the fun stuff… In other words, they thought that in order to follow Christ, they had to become a dork, and embrace a sucky life. In their minds, everything cool that made life interesting had to be dismissed in order to be a Jesus follower, and that seemed like an awfully high price tag – extra emphasis was usually on the AWFUL part.
Sort of like marriage… When I got married back in 1992, I knew I would be giving some things up. My freedom. My hopes. My dreams… Just kidding! Actually, I knew that I was giving some things up, but that they were well worth what I would get in return. I was trading up. I was choosing covenant in order to experience lifelong companionship. The things I’ve given up paled in comparison to what I was trading up to – no contest! After sixteen years, I can tell you that it was well worth the price!
Christ as the Perfect Partner… With Christ, however, it is much better than an earthly marriage. Marriages are made up of two imperfect people – eve the best couples face disappointment because neither person is perfect. But God is perfect. God is always faithful. God’s love is always unconditional. God is always true. God never lets us down.
What we’re really giving up… If you’re worried about what you may have to give up in order to make God number one in your life, here are some examples. We have to give up our insistence on following blind guides and choose clarity instead.
We have to give up destructive behaviors that hurt ourselves and others, even distant others who live half a world away that are affected by our self-centeredness, all for a life that is blessed and is a blessing to others more than a burden.
You don’t necessarily have to give up your beer and hotdog at the baseball game, or your cabernet with your prime rib, but you are called to give up hangovers, embarrassment to friends and yourself, and other avoidables caused by drunkenness or getting wasted.
We have to give up keeping up with the Jones’ in favor of enjoying what we have for all it’s worth.
We have to give up a driven lifestyle that wears us thin and pushes our children beyond their physical and emotional limits in favor of quality time that goes beyond the cliché which lead to deeper relationships, really knowing your spouse, your kids, and your friends.
So, if you are hesitant to follow Jesus wholeheartedly because of what you give up, you are right to wonder. But I would strongly encourage you to really ask yourself the question instead of just using it as an excuse to avoid commitment. What does your question say about your true belief regarding the character of God? If you’re worried your life will suck, aren’t you implying that God’s desire for you, then, is a suckfest life? C’mon! Wake up! Think deep! The God of all creation is inviting you to really, really live – maybe for the first time in your life! What do you really have to lose by following Christ fully except for dust and rust? Give up to trade up!
Making God First Repels Complacency… Sometimes I think we say “God first” a little too flippantly. Especially for those who have been brought up in church or have been in church a long time, we are quick to give a confident “Amen!” to a call for putting God first. We think we’ve nailed it because we show up regularly, read our bibles on occasion, throw some coin in the plate, serve a little – we’re nailing it, right? Sometimes, however, we can have all the outward stuff in place and yet have a very cold heart regarding the things of God. We usually don’t know we’ve gotten stuck in a rut of complacency until something or someone happens upon us and challenges us to move out of our comfort zone. It could be as silly as moving to another quadrant of the sanctuary. All of a sudden, the perspective changes.
We know we’ve let God slip when… We know that something other than the Kingdom has become central when the Great Commandments and the Great Commission are displaced by something else that is also very good, but not nearly as significant. When loving God and loving others as ourselves gets beat out by serving ourselves, we’re in trouble. This indicates that the Great Commandment has become the Great Suggestion. When being and proclaiming the Good News that there is another Way, and that this Way has a name – Jesus – leading people to turn their lives around and follow Him; when growing in Christ and helping others to grow in the Way of life to which we’re called gets trumped by some other good thing, Christ is no longer Lord. In this case, the Great Commission has become the Recommended Elective.
Now, there are marriages, and there are beautiful marriages. You know the ones I’m talking about? Couples that grow in love with each other all the way through. Their love inspires others to continue growing in love.
There are some Jesus followers who are so alive, so full of purpose, so fruitful, that others were naturally drawn to them, and wanted to emulate them. The disciples were like that. The disciples were like that because they were so intimately familiar with Jesus. They loved Jesus with everything they had. They gave up everything to trade up to life with Christ. And they were not disappointed.
Why I love Christ and His Kingdom… I love this church, and you the people who are this church. But I LOVE the Kingdom and her King. LOVE it. I LOVE what the Kingdom represents. I LOVE how Jesus restores people to the dream of life that they never thought was possible. I LOVE what happens when people who are passionately in LOVE with Jesus and God’s Kingdom walk in faith – ministries like Coats for Kids get born and develop into incredible vehicles of grace. Food pantries get organized, food and money gets donated so those who are desperate can get through another week. Project Hope gets born and homeless people are fed through the weekend when everything else closes. Women and children who have suffered horrible abuse by their husband or pimp in Tijuana are loved by our people and gifts for a new start. 400 orphans get fed every day they go to school in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. I LOVE King Jesus and His Kingdom, because this Jesus has LOVED me beyond my deserving time and time and time again. Sometimes I am tempted to walk away and drive a truck or something because I get overwhelmed by the task at hand. But I am always won back by His LOVE, and my LOVE for the Kingdom to be ushered in.
Benediction… For those of you who are reluctant to make Christ Lord, to make Him number One, to pledge allegiance to the Kingdom of God before any other person, country, or thing, I beg you to allow the eyes of your heart to be opened, to unclog your ears, that you might see the LOVE of God that is so permeating all of creation. Fall in LOVE with the One who LOVES you beyond reason.
For those of you who are stuck in a rut of Christian comfort, for those of you who think a member of the Trinity is La-Z-Boy, I say to you as Paul said to Timothy: fan into flame the gift that has been given you – the Good News of Christ! If it has become a mere ember, let the wind of the Holy Spirit blow on you that you might be fully engulfed in the flames of the God of Glory.
Fall in LOVE with and follow Jesus with all you’ve got. Make Him priority #1 in your thought life, your prayer life, your love life, your financial life, your free time – all of it – trust Him with it all – and just see what the God of all creation can do with you and in you. In prayer today, confess to God that you’ve settled for a far lesser ruler over your life – name it if you know it. Tell God that you choose to turn it around, to claim his forgiveness and shot at a fresh start. Make a commitment to begin or begin again today keeping God as number 1. Choose your Master today. Do it, and do it today, because your only other option is dust and rust. Give up to trade up.
4 comments:
Hello,
I have a question about prayer. I pray in a very structured way, which I've learned over many years from wise teachers. In part, I use the "ACTS" acronym, for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. Most of us know that prayer works, as even science has caught up and proven in controlled, blind studies that prayer has an impact on outcome. My question to you now is, when one is praying for a person, does one pray for something specific in relation to the person or a specific outcome, or does one pray that God intervenes and that His will is done in the person's life? Or does it even matter, as long as one is praying? Thanks!
It matters to God because what concerns you have concern God. He loves us too much to leave us dangling without any communication with him. It is true that God knows your thoughts and words before they are spoken but God yerns to be in communication with us. Jesus was constitantly in communication with the Father, doing so privately or publicly. To not speak specifically about our prayers to God is leaving a question of if we believe he cares to hear from us. Job was bombared with adversity, sorrow and pain but he kept that communication line open with God. So keep the communication with God constantly and specifically and feel His presence more and more. Because he cares about those we love, like or don't even know just as he cares for us.
I think Sanchez is nailing it pretty well. Prayer requires tension - we pray along the lines we think we're supposed to pray, but always open to allowing God to bring in the Kingdom. I think in our part of the world, we tend to try and boss God around too much, assuming we know what God would want based on our hopes, dreams, and interpretation of scripture. I think we'd be better off listening for God's direction for our prayers. My guess is that if the Spirit is calling the shots, the results are probably going to be pretty strong.
Thank you! Very helpful!
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