At the ready

How eager are you for the warm weather of summer? How much do you look forward to a special event like vacation or seeing friends you haven't visited with in a long while? What level of excitement does a promotion at work create within your heart? Does the birth of a newborn thrill your heart and make your day special? I wonder if we have the same 'eagerness' and 'excitement' about Christ's return to this earth a second time? We all know there were mixed emotions over his first coming, ranging from curiosity to unbelief. Will his second return be met with mixed emotions on our part, or anticipation of better things to come?

Christ also died only once as a sacrifice. In this way, he took God's punishment for the sins of many people. Christ will return to earth a second time, but that will not be as a sacrifice for sins. That time, he will come to save those people who are waiting patiently for him. (Hebrews 9:28)

The purpose of his first coming - to offer himself for the sins of mankind. The purpose of his second coming - to take those waiting patiently for his return home to rule and reign with him through all of eternity. What we may not realize is how comfortable we have become in this world. Chances are we likely have very 'settled' lives, complete with a place to live, perhaps a job to go to each day, and 'things' that bring us some level of ease and comfort. The warning to us today is to not become 'too comfortable' in this world and with what it has to offer us. We aren't bound to stay here forever!

The thing I would like us to consider this morning is how close our heart is to Jesus' heart. It could be that we 'say' our heart is close to his, but how we choose to use our time, what we tolerate as 'acceptable' in our lives, and even the company we keep will reveal if we are genuinely seeking Christ first in all areas of our lives. Get too comfortable here on this earth and it is easy to get too comfortable with the pull of sin's compromises. Get our focus on Jesus first in all things and we are less likely to be looking for 'fulfillment' or 'joy' in the things of this world. Christ is coming for those who are patiently waiting for his return. Don't let the distractions of this world come between you and Jesus, my friend. His return isn't far off and we ALL want to be 'at the ready' when he says, "Let's go!" Just sayin!

Will they always understand?

Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong! (I Peter 3:13-17)

Have you ever done the 'right thing' only to have others criticize your efforts, or worse yet, not even notice that you did it? We can 'do right' and have all the 'wrong' motives for doing it. We can 'do right' with the 'right motives' and still be misunderstood by others, or not have our efforts acknowledged or appreciated. Does it make it any less important to continuously choose the right attitude and the right actions? Nope, sorry, it does not. A clear conscience is much better than the praise we might receive from the other person anyway. Be eager to do good - but don't always look for a 'good reward' from this world when you have done it. This world doesn't always understand 'right actions' done in the love and grace of God. It doesn't always recognize that we belong to Christ and our actions are 'formed' by the Spirit of God that lives within us. When they are criticizing our actions, they are really dissing Jesus!

Gentleness and respect in the face of criticism is often the furthest desire from how our hearts would like to respond. Yet, Jesus asks us to take a moment to be conscious of his power to respond with grace and peace. To be 'gentle' when the first desire of our hearts is to 'strike out' because we are misunderstood or under-appreciated is only possible when God's Spirit is given control of our thoughts, words, and actions. We might want to hurl back accusations or actions that show our disgust of the other person's behavior, but that is not our best course of action! We will suffer at times, even when we 'do good' - but when we suffer for having made wrong choices, is it possible the 'criticism' we receive is really a reminder we have made a wrong choice? Maybe God is using the words or actions of the other person to show us we did not do a very good job with the circumstances when we responded the way we did.

What's to be learned from our passage today? First, we aren't above the criticism of those who don't recognize Jesus behind the actions. They may not even realize that the grace we extend isn't something we 'naturally' come by but is 'worked out within us' in those times we spend with Jesus preparing for our day. Second, we are responsible for our own attitude and actions, not those of others. Their actions and attitude are between them and God. Did they affect us by their attitude or actions? Yes, but God doesn't expect us to change them - he asks us to never waver in doing good, even when we are misunderstood. Lastly, we only learn to 'do good' when we know what God requires of us. We get to know how to make 'good choices' because we have taken time to get to know how Christ acted when he was faced with similar choices. The more we get to know Christ, the closer our attitude and actions will be to his. The outflow of love and grace that comes from spending time with him is palpable. Will it always be understood as more than us being 'goody two-shoes'? Nope, but Jesus didn't always do things because his actions would be understood - he did those things because they were the right thing to do! Just sayin!

Trying to act right?

People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed. (Proverbs 10:9)

Most of us really desire to have a walk of integrity - consistent, upright, and firmly grounded. What happens between desire and action is a mystery to many of us. We start so well, with all the right intentions in mind, but then somewhere in the middle, we just make wrong turns and get off-course. How do we become 'people with integrity'? When we ask this question, we are really asking how do we become 'whole'. We become 'whole' in the presence of Jesus - we remain 'whole' because we keep Jesus central in all our decisions.

As I did a bit of a deep dive into how we become people of integrity, I was amazed at how many self-help gurus have outlined the 'steps toward integrity'. All of these gurus completely leave Jesus out of the 'steps'. For example, in one article it tells us to 'try to keep our promises even if we need to make sacrifices to keep them'. Another tells us to 'discover our inner life', while someone else tells us to 'accept and listen to helpful criticism'. Sheesh! No wonder we are so confused about becoming people of integrity!

We don't find our 'integrity' in some 'set of steps'. We find it in Jesus. He is the only thing that completes us - makes us whole, consistent, and firmly grounded. When we struggle with right decisions, it is usually because we have moved Christ 'off-center' in our lives. When we really want to walk with integrity, we realize it is not found in 'doing', but in 'trusting'. We place our trust in the finished work of Christ, relying upon his wisdom and grace to help us take the necessary steps to 'be on course' all the time. That means we stop trying to help ourselves 'act right' and we allow him to create the conditions in our heart and mind that actually help us walk right. Just sayin!

Put Christ First TODAY

Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment. (Proverbs 4:7)

"Choose your friends with caution; plan your future with purpose and frame your life with faith." (Thomas S. Monson) No truer words have been spoken - all these choices matter so greatly, don't they? Wisdom eludes many of our decisions throughout our lifetime, leaving us a bit more disappointed in the outcome than we'd have hoped. Choose wisely and the outcome brings us cheer. Make an unwise choice in friendships, or our future plans, and the end result will surely leave us wanting. Choose to put God first in our lives and the choices we make in the other two area are sure to be better than if we'd made them on our own!

How do we consistently make wise choices? The answer is really quite simple - we choose Christ first above all else. Why does this ensure consistently wise choices? Christ IS wisdom - he embodies all wisdom, so choosing him means we actually 'tap into' wisdom's source! You have probably grown tired of me stressing 'Christ first' in your life, but there really is no other 'wise' choice. The more we plan for the future without putting Christ first in those plans, the more those plans are bound to have unforeseen consequences, unexpected expenses, and disappointing outcomes.

Develop a life of faith - above all else. The rest just falls into place somehow. We don't understand how Christ brings clarity where there has been so much chaos, but he does. We don't always appreciate how or when he moves, but he always orchestrates things. The important thing is to place our trust in his plans and purposes for our lives - then walk in the wisdom he gives each and every day, so we are making the right choice for that day. I think we want to plan our choices way out into the future, but Christ asks us to choose him TODAY, make choices in his wisdom TODAY, and plan TODAY for what may add to our tomorrows. 

We get the cart before the horse many times and wonder why the pieces seem to not be working well. Today is all we are assured - so live it well. Be wise in today's choices, knowing God holds the future plans in his hands. The 'purpose' in our future is made up of the 'purpose' of our TODAY. If our purpose TODAY is Christ first in all we do, we are making wise choices. If Christ first in our relationships is the means by which we relate to one another, then TODAY'S relationships will make for stronger ones tomorrow! Just sayin!