For about the past six months, I've been a subscriber to gotandem, a ministry of "Back to the Bible". They send me daily devotions to read through my email or phone and I've found a number of them thought provoking and encouraging for my daily walk with Jesus. Here's a selection from one of messages I got today:
I've been just as guilty at times of equating and encouraging
enthusiasm and initiative as evidence of a genuine heart for Jesus. I
have urged people to find a way to "change the world," to "be on fire
for God," and to "give 110 percent." (Okay, I've never said that last
one. It's just mathematically impossible.)
Maybe it's a noble impulse to give our lives for Christ with some kind
of all-or-nothing initiative to convert continents or get an ad on the
Super Bowl or "storm the gates of hell," but this verse always brings me
down to the earth I think God means for us to walk on as we follow
Jesus:
"Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business
and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then
people who are not Christians will respect the way you live, and you
will not need to depend on others" (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12).
Wow, that's counter-intuitive when you're on fire for God and trying to
change the world. It won't look very good on the inspirational posters
we're hoping to sell down at the Christian bookstore: "Live quiet!"
"Leave people alone!" "Get a job!"
It's a long-term strategy: Live like Jesus for years in your
neighborhood, being a respectable citizen, and people will notice over
time.
It might not sound as exciting, but it's as real as it gets.
Agreed. Too many of those who want to "change the world for Jesus" can't get moved out of their mothers' basements. And even more have Christian lives which don't evidence much maturity or long-term faithfulness. So live quietly, get a job, leave people alone, and live like Jesus in your neighborhood is as timely a set of instructions as ever.
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