Don't wait for the 'more'

My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:6-7)

Go ahead with what you've been given. How many times do we think we have to wait for 'more'? We have been given a measure and we somehow think that we cannot do anything with what we have been given - there must be 'more' in order for us to 'do' something. The truth of the matter is that we are already well-equipped for exactly what we need to be doing right now - we just need to use what we have been given!

We received Christ - that is a done deal. We are deeply rooted in him - another done deal. Can roots grow deeper? Absolutely, but the tree doesn't just go dormant after it sets down roots - it keeps growing, sometimes quite slowly and at others quite exuberantly. Roots grow over time as the pressures demand a greater 'anchorage' and the nourishment craved is sought with tenacious expansion. Christ is resident in each of us - now it is time to 'work with what we have been given'. 

We are well-constructed - all because that construction process began with a firm foundation - Christ! Now, is all the construction finished? Are there finishing touches needed? Does the 'construction' need a little interior redesign? Yes! The foundation is secure - the building is framed out - now build upon what you have received. This is a call to action - to not just 'dwell'. We are to be exploring the expanse of our faith - allowing it to be built upon, expanding as it is.

School's out - that is a pretty direct statement, isn't it? Time to get 'busy' with what you and I have already learned - using it in our lives and sharing with the lives of those we touch each and every day. Living is to 'spill over' - we are to make an impact with what we have been given. Can I make that any clearer to us? Stop thinking we cannot move until we get that 'more' there must be somewhere down the line. Live as we have been called to live and let God do the rest of his work as we do! Just sayin!

Are you near-sighted?

 Don’t brashly announce what you’re going to do tomorrow; you don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. (Proverbs 27:1)

Gandhi reminded us that we are to "live as if we were to die tomorrow; learn as if we were to live forever". We can be certain of one thing - tomorrow is not promised to any living creature - it is a gift to receive each day we are given. I have a little harder question to pose that may not make fans of many of my followers, but here goes: What will you do with your today in order to make someone else's tomorrow better? I didn't ask what you would do today to make YOUR tomorrow better, but what will you do with TODAY in order to leave a bit of a legacy for someone else's tomorrow. 

I think we spend a whole lot of time today preparing for OUR tomorrow should we blessed to receive another day on this earth, but do we spend OUR time in a way that assures someone we may not even know will be receiving a better tomorrow - a blessing prepared today for reception tomorrow? It could be we give of our time at a local food bank, preparing the food boxes for those who will stand in need tomorrow. We could be giving of our time making lap blankets for the many elderly who sit long hours in their wheelchairs or recliners. We might find ourselves in the backyard shop, cutting out small toys for the homeless children in our area. It doesn't matter 'what' we do - it is that we are investing in someone else's tomorrow. 

If we aren't assured of any tomorrows, why do we spend so much time focusing on what our tomorrows will look like? If we are honest, we have become a little 'myopic' (a fancy word for being a little too 'near-sighted'). We focus a whole bunch on our future, but not as much figuring out a way to make another's tomorrow even greater than our own. I have to wear glasses because my physical eyes are near-sighted, but I don't want my heart to become near-sighted, so I have to guard against that happening! There are no 'corrective lenses' for a myopic heart - but there is grace! God doesn't just put a temporary 'fix' in place to 'correct' our heart's near-sighted condition. He uses grace to transform it! Just sayin!

What are you doing with today?

The preparation of today makes us ready for tomorrow. Without the work of today, the events of today won't matter when tomorrow comes. When others look at our life, do they see evidence of our faith? Do they see us laboring in love, or resisting every move we make? Do they see us patient in our waiting, or chafing in anticipation, hating the wait and disgruntled by not getting our way? Many of us can claim to be believers, but do our lives indicate we live like believers? Three things that are just not arbitrary in our live are faith, the labors of love, and the patience we exhibit toward each other (and ourselves). In fact, these things speak volumes about the work which has begun in our lives - a work God is going to finish, no matter how hard it may appear to us!

Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you're in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. (I Thessalonians 1:2-3)

Can others see the evidence of our faith? Faith and actions work together - our actions makes our faith complete - not because we need to work FOR grace, but because grace works FOR us when we put into action the things grace is doing in our lives. In other words, we are expected to reveal Christ in our actions. There are going to be times when the actions God expects of us seem a little contrary to what we might think reasonable. In the Old Testament, we see a picture of Abraham taking his only son Isaac to the altar, placing him upon the altar, in preparation of offering the most important part of his life to God. Would God have let Abraham burn Isaac upon that altar that day? I don't think so, but God was likely showing Abraham something about himself he may not have realized he was capable of - the deep, intense love of God that is willing to give one's 'best' to him!

I don't believe for a moment God actually expected to see Isaac be burned alive on the altar! He wanted to see if Abraham loved God for the gifts, or because he was a good and gracious God! Sometimes our lives do very little to reveal our intense love and trust in God. They are shallow because we don't really learn to rely upon God for the evidence of faith his transforming power will produce when we allow it to fully consume us. As Abraham took the very first step toward the altar, son in hand, he was showing God just how much serving him mattered - it was all or nothing for him. He was "all in". I have to ask - do our actions reveal we are "all in" with God?What about our labor of love - do our lives reveal any? I wonder what our daily work would look like if we were actually laboring for Christ? What difference would it make if we taught those students as though it were for Christ and not for a pay check; drove those big rigs as ambassadors of Christ and not as long-distance drivers; or if we washed those dishes as evidence of our love for Christ's blessing of a family instead as a means to an end of our day?

How about our patience in waiting - do we chafe, or settle in to see what God will do? We often fall down here, don't we? Waiting is tough work. Exhibiting patience when we don't see the immediate evidence of what we are hoping for - even tougher! Yet, in the waiting, much is being accomplished. Just consider what it would be like if we received newborns in a pod instead of experiencing the long nine months of formation and transformation which occurs within the mother's womb. In the waiting, we move from a focus on self to a focus on another - that growing life within us. There is something accomplished in the waiting - but the difference is really made in what we do within the wait! Just some thoughts to ponder today. Evidence of faith - is it the first thing someone sees when they look at us? Labors of love - is the love of Christ foremost in our actions? Patience in waiting - today is the preparation for tomorrow - what are we doing with today? Just askin!

But now...

Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote, "The past, the present, and the future are really one...they are today."  There are those who have a tendency to "blame" whatever it is they are experiencing today on a "crappy" past - things didn't go well for them "then", so they are certainly not going to change "now". What Beecher said bears some study, for it is true - the past affects our present and our present sets the stage for our future - in essence making today the most important day of all!

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. (Romans 8:38 NLT)

There is indeed a great deal in our "past" that could affect our present - but it doesn't have to do so in a negative or damaging way because grace declares the past "done" or "over with". Yes, we can still have the consequences to deal with, such as when our past involved the use of illegal drugs and now we are experiencing the physical effects of having "done drugs". Our teeth may be rotting, but we don't have to focus on the "damage done" as much as the redemption accomplished through grace. Those consequences of our past are nothing compared to the redemptive and restorative power of grace!

It is quite possible some would report their "present" isn't all that great, leading them to suppose their future will also not be all that spectacular. They just cannot see any benefit in today's struggles or monumental issues. Their focus is on the difficulty and not the potential. Isn't it a shame to miss out on what today brings in the form of the "keeping power" of Christ and the lessons we learn when his power takes over in place of our own? As scripture declares, our "tomorrow" is not guaranteed (James 4:13-16). We can make all manner of plans for the future and totally miss what today holds in the form of strength, increased capacity, and growth.

Indeed, our "today" is made up of the many challenges of our yesterdays and the tremendous hope we have in our tomorrows. We just cannot dwell upon either of those exclusively - we garner from them what helps us in our today! There are some weeks when my schedule is so crammed packed with meetings and work which needs to be accomplished that I feel like I am lugging around a weight. Other weeks are a little easier sailing and I can really experience time to be creative - instilling new energy into some project. If I let the weight of those busy days carry over into the freedom of those other days, I'd never enjoy the creative energies!

It is quite possible we are called to focus on today as a place of developing trust - not in ourselves, but in the strength and power of Christ given to us with immeasurable amounts of grace that will actually help us get through today. Some of our greatest moments are those we actually are "present" in - we are "participators" in those moments. We aren't the ones "making" those moments by our own power, but we are actually deriving strength from them because we are living in those moments through the power of Christ in us. This actually requires his assistance to let go of the past - so we don't focus our energies on things we cannot change. It also requires his assistance to not get so caught up in the "what if" scenarios of our future that we totally miss the "but now" moments right in front of us. Just sayin!