Here's some more random thoughts for all 8 of you who enjoy my blogs. It's been awhile since I have had a chance to sit down and really think about anything at all, so I am probably full of rants right now.
Have you ever noticed how it is very easy to become convinced that you need to be the best or do the best according to the world's standards? That we can subconsciously compare ourselves to others? We don't even know we are doing it but it is easy to do when we are told what success is. Success is being the smartest, richest, and most respected, right??? Wrong. We are told every day, in a variety of different ways, that these three things are important and then we get to a point of realization. These things are useless. They don't make us feel better about ourself. There will always be people smarter, richer and more respected than us, but for some reason we have convinced ourselves that there is an attainable goal. If you are in this way of thinking, you usually say things like, "When I am less busy, I will _____", "If I do _______ then I will be _______" (you fill in the blank with whatever your thing is). Notice how much this pronoun is used in these sentences: I
The truth is, there is no end. We can do this until we are old and then look back and see how much of life we wasted chasing something. I think this is what Solomon meant when he said, "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!" (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Not that life is pointless, but that things we think are important, really are not that important in the grand scheme of things. God's priorities are are very often different than ours. Isaiah 55:8- "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the Lord. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine".
There are many, many, many opportunities in the Kingdom of God. Ways to serve, ways to learn, ways to be a blessing to others. Satan uses our well intended goals as a distraction from what really counts. I speak from experience. I love goals. I love to see things progress and that includes my personal life, my work, and my ministry. I can get lost thinking about and doing things that don't matter one iota to the Kingdom. Really, even though I don't even realize it at the time, they are so I can feel successful. Somewhere along along the way I have to take "I" out of it and think about what God would rather have me invest my time and energies in rather than continue on with Satan's distractions.
This is where the cost of being a disciple is. We seem to think that what Jesus says in Matthew 16:24-27 is only meant for the disciples and not for us, and that it is only about being willing to die physically. Many of us will not of the chance to die physically, but we have a choice every day for our "I" to die.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross (the same discussion recorded in Luke 9:23 inserts the word "daily" here. How can you take up your cross daily? Obviously it is not just talking about physical death here) and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done." (Matthew 16:24-27)
