“For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.”
Galatians 1:10
How often do we see our life as being a slave to the Lord? Often times we have a hard enough time seeing ourselves as slaves to certain sins, much less to the Lord. Often times it is difficult to see this because we live in a culture that is countercultural to the Bible.
The New Testament is not a book about treating people a nice way, living in a nice home, having a big yard and some kids playing in it. The letters that we read are about people sacrificing there lives so that others may know about God.
What kind of culture can we call this? Well, as Paul says in the letter to Galatia
If God has blessed you with a great job and salary, and you don’t see yourself going out and being a missionary, then you give your money to someone who will so that you may be apart of the joy that comes from having others join the body of Christ and the furthering of the kingdom of God (this is still being a servant to Christ).
As we live here on this earth we are either a slave of sin, or of God. Which one would you rather have own you? Would you rather have someone who controls your life that doesn’t care about your well being, but cares more about how much pain he can bring upon your life? Or would we rather have an owner who cares about our well being and will grant us complete freedom and joy someday?
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
Matthew 6:24
When we say that we are Christian are we saying it because we were once baptized without any actual confirmation on our own part (Baby), or that we said a prayer once at a camp. What fruit do we bear from ‘saying’ that we are a Christian, who are we fooling? If we believe in the all knowing creator of the universe, how can we lie to Him?
I do not write these things trying to condemn, but out of concern that we have listened to the lie of men, and the devil who is their master, and are living a lukewarm life. The Lord asks us to serve Him so that we may have joy.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
John 10:10
We often think that because the Lord has come to give us an abundant life that this means that we are supposed to have a nice home, car and family but is this biblical? Let us go back to the verse from Galatians, If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ. Paul did not live a life that many of us would call nice or anything close to it, but I feel like this is the life that many of us are called to but ignore it and try to appeal to men.
The main point I am trying to get at is that sometimes our life is not meant to be a life that meets the American Dream, it might be the Gospel Dream which will bring far more joy and peace to one’s life, and have many more riches later on when all else has faded away.
Prayer
Dear gracious heavenly father, thank you for giving us a life worth so much more. Lord I pray that those reading this recognize that a life serving you has far more riches and joy than a life pursuing the almighty dollar. I pray for those you may not believe in you that they will begin to seek you and learn about you, and that they may not just accept you to be apart of the norm, but because they truly know you. I pray for those who label themselves as Christians that they may look inside themselves and see if they have truly given their life over to you, to see any fruit in their life. Lord forgive us fallen humans who, at times, are horrible examples of what a Christian should be, yet you still love us, so thank you! Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment