Really?
God has been trying to tell me something for a while that I don’t like to hear. Here it is: It really isn’t about me. I know, I know, that seems like an obvious statement. As a Christian, I know that my life is not my own. It belongs to Jesus. I’ve been bought with a price. Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. That is the spiritual reality. But in the every day, practical stuff of living life, I don’t often act like I believe that it isn’t really about me.
God began softly tapping at my heart early this past year about His call to follow His example and be a servant. And I have been praying and watching for opportunities to serve. I’ve even acted on some of them. Then today through the sermon, God upped His soft tap to a firm grip.
The message came through our 26-year-old youth minister who was filling in for our senior pastor. The Scripture passage was Matthew 20:20-28, where we read how the mother of James and John asked Jesus to give her sons prominent positions in His Kingdom. The mother sought power and prestige for her boys. She missed what Jesus was about. The brothers didn’t realize that the cup from which they were so ready to drink was a cup of sacrifice and suffering.
Jesus didn’t come to establish an earthly Kingdom with all the trappings of earthly success. He came to inaugurate a spiritual Kingdom focused on things of eternal value. Jesus tried to help them understand. “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt 20:26-28).
I want to learn to serve in 2011. I want to internalize the truth that my life really isn’t about me. I want to be willing to give my time, my resources, my gifts, and anything else God has given me in service to others. That’s what Jesus did, even to the giving of His very life.
I also pray that I am willing to be used by Him, whenever and wherever He desires. I am looking to Him for direction.
Blessings to you!
Joan
Joan, for me, I know I’ve had my eyes too much on myself and too little on God. So, I see myself and my own needs and wants instead of the needs of others. My desire for this new year is to stay more focused on God so I can see what He sees.
I think this truth – that’s it’s all about Christ and not me – is one of them most difficult to internalize. Just when I think I’ve got myself straightened out – BOOM – the heart is deceitful above all else and desperately wicked – I awaken to find myself gazing in the mirror instead of on the cross.
Diane you are so right! My heart deceives me constantly. And one of those things it keeps telling me is that “it’s all about you!” Ha! Let’s keep encouraging one another to gaze on the cross!
I have been reading Cat and Dog Theology. We studied this topic during Sunday School this summer with a DVD study… it came with a book and I never finished the book. I have set reading goals for myself for 2011 and I will be finishing this book tomorrow. I highly recommend it. It is by Bob Sjogren and Gerald Robison. It speaks about this very thing… Living passionately for the the Glory of God not for self.
Lord, cause me to live for your glory … this is my plea for this year.
Sometimes it is hard to hear the truth, especially if I do not want to hear it. May I be willing to serve Him with my whole heart in 2011; not expecting anything in return.