Watch the video and then read my post below.
You may have heard it said that we are creatures of habit. Well sadly I have found this to be true. I get up around the same time every week day, with a lot of help from my wife . I tend to do the same things day in and day out. Days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months, and so on. It seems to me that life can be quite mundane and routine at times. I know from past experience, manly when I was in sales, that routine is not all bad. There is a certain comfort in knowing that you will get paid on a regular basis, and that you can count on other things as well, like having a dependable car, a roof over your head, and a family that loves you. But what really gets to me sometimes is what difference am I making in this world?
I get that I work for a ministry. I really do. I know that my work as a trainer and procedure writer is very important, in a behind the scenes low profile sort of way. I also know that many people count on me including my wife, my boss, my friends and my family. I know that it is vital that I do not do anything to bring shame to the ministry I work for or on the people who count on me. I do my best not to let them down. Most days when I am not working I get to do what I want when I want, and for the most part life is fun. I have a great little house filled with all kinds of toys like a nice HDTV, a video game system, and enough computer stuff to keep most any geek satisfied. When I get board with life inside I can go play outside and fly a kite, or ride a bike (yeah, I have a bike, and no, I do not ride it very often). My point is if I want to trade my time for entertainment I can. But is that what life should be about, having fun? I really believe that there has to be more to life than this.
So how do we discover that “more” part of life? How do we change what we do on a day in day out basis so that when we reach the end of our days we can look back and say I am glad I did ___________ instead of I wish I had done_________. I had the privilege today of attending a birthday party for one of my heroes of the Christian Faith. This gentleman turned 99 today. Wow, just to live that long would be a accomplishment in and of it’s self, but to live that long and be one of the best know Christian music artists of all time with a personal ministry that has impacted multiple millions of lives is even more impressive. I caught myself wondering what will my life be like if I reach the age of 99? What kind of legacy will I be leaving? Did I get it, did I discover what that “more” part of life is all about.
I think when most of us hear the phrase “getting more out of life” we tend to think of material gain. We think that getting more out of life means things like bigger houses, nicer cars, more money and so on. That is not what I am after at all. As a matter of fact when I look at the people who have made the biggest difference in the world that we live in it is not those with more materialistic desires that do the great things, it is the ones that sometimes have the least to offer in the way of worldly possessions that make the greatest impact. There are story after story in the Christian church of those who gave up the things of this world to give their lives in exchange to help others.
I know God has a plan for us all. For some of us it is to live ordinary lives and to “suffer” through the mundane day to day existence with the sole purpose of being faithful to our commitment to Him. If that is the path He is chosen for me I am fine with that. I just want to make sure that I doing what ever it is that He really wants me to be doing. I want to make sure that I don’t allow myself to be so distracted by worldly concerns that I miss out on my calling all together. I fear that this could happen very easily. I hope is has not happened already. It is so easy to get caught up in having fun and perusing a life filled with entertainment that we no longer even listen for the voice of God, or if we hear it we just choose to ignore it. To me that is a dreadful thought.
I feel that I must begin to pursue the question of is there more to life than this with a greater intensity than ever before. To be honest I don’t know if I have what it takes to find the answer. Even if I do find that there is something more that God wants out of me I am not sure how to bring it about. I know that because I tend to gravitate toward my comfort zone and not toward change that this will not be an easy quest. I know to find these answers I need to begin to spend a considerable amount of time dedicated to prayer and bible study. This will mean less play time for me and a change in my routines. I will have to change my focus from material things to the things of God. I am going to have to get serious about my faith.
Why is this so important? Why make a change at all? Well the answer to both of those questions is the same and that is time is short. What do I mean by that? Look no matter how you slice it our life span is a very brief time at the most. None of us have the promise of tomorrow. So I feel if I do not make a change soon and begin to pursue God in a real and honest way now, that I may very well die before I get the chance to see what life would be like if I gave myself 100% over to the service of God. No, I don’t know what that is going to look like yet and I have no idea what I am going to have to give up in order to do what ever it is God would have me do. I do know this that a commitment to serve God should never be made lightly. It will be hard work not to let myself become distracted, lets face it this world has lots to offer and more than a few ways to distract us. I also know that the enemy of my soul will not like this at all. When I was committed to doing the same old thing day in and day out I was no real threat to him . So now I can expect him to come at me in many different ways to try to divert me from my goal. He will try to use my friends and family to get me off track. He will probably ask God for permission to do what ever he can to shut me down and make me walk away from God. He already knows that my soul belongs to God, but what he will want to do is mess with my mind.
