*This life is beautiful! I give it all to You, all for You!*
I've been thinking about what I'm going to do with my future and stuff, and an interesting thought occured to me.
Our physical life is sort. To quote the band Reilly, "We're living on limited time."
We are called to give ourselves wholly to God.
We have an eternity with Him.
So, should we put aside what we want for the future so that we can do what we are called to? Should I give up my passions and skills, all my plans for my life, and instead live as a missionary? As a teacher? A pastor?
We're living on limited time, but soon we'll have an eternity with the Lord Himself. During this eternity, we will be praising Him constantly. In this life, we praise God through the gifts he gives us.
In the movie Chariots of Fire, Eric Little says to his sister:
"Yes, God did call me to be a missionary. And I'm going to. But he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure."
So, what if we decided to live our mortal lives doing everything we could to spread the Gospel? To be a force for good? What if, instead of pursuing our passions on our career path, we threw ourselves into the work for God wholeheartedly?
We can enjoy the gifts He's given us in Eternity.
But really- don't we have work to do now? Our calling?
Just something to think on.
FOLLOW-UP QUESTION:
Can our gifts become an idol of ours?
You asked a question; I think I've got a pretty decent answer:
ReplyDeleteThe Westminster Catechism says that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. God gifted every person with natural talents unique to them. By being ourselves and utilizing our gifts, we bring glory to him because we are displaying his image. There is always the question of whether there is a calling or vocation that is as important as the ministry. I would say that if everyone went into the ministry (be that pastor, minister, teacher) it would be as if, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12, the hand were to say that because it was not an eye it was not part of the body. What would we do if everyone was in the ministry? We would be ineffectual participants in the bringing in of the Kingdom and the redemption of Creation were we to all join the ministry. That's not to say we should just pursue our career paths, but that we should follow our God-given gifts and use them to redeem the world around us, to be "agents of change."
Gifts can easily become an idol, but they are also a powerful tool for the redemption of every inch of Creation. It's all about your focus and your intentions, not about exactly what you're doing or where your gifts lie.
"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills." --1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 11
(P.S.) Does it bother you that I comment on your blog? Or am I okay to do this every once in a while. I'd love it if you'd respond and we could talk about this stuff.
Where do you find these awesome verses? My Bible doesn't have a concordance. :P
ReplyDeleteNo, it doesn't bug me- it's nice that SOMEONE is reading these. I'd be pretty put down if no one ever read any of my musings or started discussions on them. :]
We need to get you a Bible with a concordance. Soon. It's a very handy thing, but in the meantime, use biblegateway.com and search either the verse or key words. I just used "body of Christ" and got what I wanted--I couldn't remember the reference.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm glad you don't mind. It's nice to see you read mine too. I'll see if I can't post more often.