Tuesday, January 19, 2010

A Call to Urgency

Hello everybody! I've been working on a poem for English about God that well has had me stumped and so I've been diverting a lot of time to that, still haven't gotten it finished yet but I did manage to take some time to get a new post ready. This one is one I might bring up a lot. It's one of the biggest things on my heart. Urgency. I have an unbelievable urgency about things. Also thank you to everyone with your kind words at school, on facebook and on here, they mean so much. Please tell others about the blog! But I digress...

It's time we get our priorities straight. It being a new year, now's a perfect time. Friends tell me all the time, you are doing too much. Your going too far with the Word. Sincerely, I don't believe I've gone far enough. I can't count the number of times I've decided to go back to sleep, rather than having a quiet time with God. So many times I've seen where God is commanding me to be obedient, yet I refuse. Either out of fear, anxiety, pride, apathy, or laziness. To say I'm going too far with the Word is ridiculous. We can never go to far with it, we all can and need to go further in fact, and it all begins with your priorities.

Look at Colossian 3:1-2:

  "So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, no on things that are on Earth"
Those two verses are a great start, we have got to take in the big picture. Ask yourself is it necessary, and if not will it matter later on?  If no, then ask what might I be doing that matters more? I'm not talking about what matters an hour from now, or a week, month or even a year from now. I'm talking about what matters on the Day of Judgment. What will that extra hour of sleep really matter in Heaven? Instead couldn't that hour have been spent having time with the Lord? Who knows what he might of revealed in that time. The possibilities are truly endless and they DO matter in the Kingdom. Is the football game essential? No. Will it matter later on? Probably not. Is there better things I could be doing? Surely.

Now believe me, I'm not saying don't have fun and relax. Scripture tells us to enjoy life for instance:
"There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God." Ecclesiastes 2:24
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly"  John: 10:10
 What I am saying though is don't let the pleasures of life get in the way of your focus and priorities on the One who made it possible for you to have those pleasures! Christ never guaranteed us happiness or fun. He did promise us the ability for joy though. This is to our benefit. We need to be reminded by our issues, pains and problems that we only have so many seconds on Earth left. We need to make the most of every single last one of them. Every second we are here is for a purpose greater than ourselves. What are we doing both individually and as the Church to pursue that purpose? This is NOT something to say "I'll get to it tomorrow"  or "I'm not ready yet" or " I might screw up" No. It's time to do whatever we can however we can, with whatever we have. Do those in Haiti have until tomorrow? The people who are blind to the Truth in China? What about the sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers of our own country? Do they have until tomorrow? I'll tell you right now. This country DOES NOT have until tomorrow. If this message sounds desperate, it's because it is.  It's nothing new, it's the same message Paul has preached and many other men greater than I since him. It's still just as urgent. As Paul put it: The night is nearly over, the day is almost here.  Now I can't possibly tell you what God is calling you to do. Maybe it's surrender to ministry, or give to help those in Haiti, or maybe come back closer to the Lord, or any number of things. I don't know. It could be anything.  Part of your purpose in life is spent figuring out what it is!  Hebrews 12:1 says to
"Lay aside every weight and sin that easily entraps us, and run with perseverance the race that is set before us."
All the sin, the fears, worries, insecurities, distractions, misconceptions, judgments. We have to lay them down to God and start running. Right. Now. We can't have them hold us down today because that's all we will ever have. Today. Yesterday is only in our heads and tomorrow never comes. All we will ever have is this moment. It's a very true, yet ironic fact that as Christ followers, we are naturally a desperate people. We only have so long to let our light shine before men.

If it's possible I'm going to break down this whole thing to as simple as I can make it. Whatever it is you do, let it be to the benefit of the advancement of the Kingdom of God, to your relationship with Christ and to God's glory. We are the children of an Awesome, Infinite, God. Not only that, but we are co-heirs with that God. It's time we dress the part as well as act it and put aside our deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Be an ambassador for YOUR kingdom, everyday until you return to it.  So focus, and get your priorties straight.

Much Love,
Luke
"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do."  - Leonardo da Vinci

1 comments:

Patrinas Pencil said...

Luke,
I like the way you think and the energy you have for the Kingdom work. Don't let anyone convince you that you're too focused on the Word. The Word will carry you through a mountain of circumstances. It has the capability of to move the entire mountain. But then you already know this! :)

Nice to hear form you again
Thanks for being that sturdy pencil in the hand of God!

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