So, you know those times in life where you are struggling with something, and are so confused as to what God is really trying to show you?? Well a little something like that has been going on in my life lately…Today God unloaded what He wanted me to know/learn from my situation: FOLLOW ME. That’s it, that simple. Yet it has made me think about a lot of things. Read this passage…
1 Peter 1:13-25 (The Message)
13-16So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.”
17You call out to God for help and he helps—he’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living.
18-21Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.
22-25Now that you’ve cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God’s living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That’s why the prophet said,
The old life is a grass life,
its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers;
Grass dries up, flowers droop,
God’s Word goes on and on forever.
This is the Word that conceived the new life in you.
OK, seriously, go back again and really read it. No really, do it.
That passage is packed with so much, that it’s hard to take in with just one reading. I’ve been looking through it all day today, and I feel that it was no coincidence that I ran across that passage today.
For the past month, I feel that I have been really seeking out what God wanted for me, or trying at least. And I really felt like I was walking in what God had in store for me. I had been praying about what it was he wanted, and asked him to adjust my heart accordingly. Yet what I was really doing was convincing myself that it was what God wanted. I was so sure of it and really believed it…because I had prayed about it, and hadn’t seen any red flags yet. I thought I was good…I was doing the right thing. BUT, (we all know there is always a BUT) I quickly realized when things didn’t go the way I expected, that maybe it wasn’t what he really wanted. It had been something that I had wanted, and in my mind had twisted things to make it seem like yeah, this is what God wants too. Yes I had prayed about it, but I had not paused, or waited to hear what God’s response was.
So lately, I have been “lazily slipping” because that desire in my heart that I was strongly pursuing God about, while also twisting it to where it seemed right, isn’t there anymore. Things didn’t work out the way I wanted to…funny how God let’s that happen. It’s like “OK God, that situation really didn’t work out like I wanted it to, but I’m OK, I’m over it now. But also, since there’s not much that I really am wanting in life right now, can you step aside? I’ll let you know when something comes up and I need you again.” WHAT THE HECK??!! Even though that is not what I have said, that is how I have been acting.
God doesn’t allow us to get by with this “sloppy living.” Sometimes we are so ignorant because like it says, “you know what to do.” And we do know what to do, but we are so hard-headed sometimes that we don’t do it. We just need to get off our lazy butts and do the dang thing. Of course we want to be pursuing what God wants in our lives, but we need to be pursuing it constantly. Daily begging him to show us. Even in times where we have no idea how God want to use us in the present time in our lives. We must surrender to his calling daily, and beg him to show us our next steps. Our lives “are a journey and we must travel with a deep consciousness of God.” God did so much for you and for me to even be able to pursue him like we can. He did so much to get us out of that “dead-end, empty-headed life. Paid with Christ’s SACRED BLOOD!” Better yet, he always knew he would do this for us. Yeah, he loves us that much, and wants to have a relationship with us that bad! DANG!!
So, I challenge you to examine the situations in your life. Make sure the situations you are dealing with have been offered over to God. But make sure that you are not doing it out of selfish ambition to get what you want. Pursue God through everything, even if you feel like you are standing in a wide open field. He is there, and waiting for you to ask him to do work in your life.
