We spent last Wednesday with some great friends of ours, playing at their house most of the day. It was this glorious day: blue-skies, perfect temperature, just a little breezy. One of those days where you feel the Presence of God all around you in the beauty of His creation and the soft wind blowing and in the sweet intimacy you feel when you spend time with others who are like-minded. The children had so much fun playing together and it was just one of those days full of wonderful memories. The next day, Thursday, we woke up and it was raining to beat the band. The rain poured. The yard was soggy, the water running in muddy rivers toward its destination. I looked at the rain and thought of the day before and how gloriously brilliant the day had been. Isn't this a picture of our lives? The lesson hit me: we must take our opportunities today because we don't know what tomorrow holds. It may be beautiful weather today but tomorrow the rain will come. This truth applies on so many levels.
In evangelism: We must have hard Gospel conversations today because we don't know when there won't be a tomorrow, whether for us as the proclaimers or for those to whom we are called to proclaim the Gospel. I needed to hear this truth. Who is God calling me to witness to that I have been putting off or putting out of my mind? Am I looking for opportunities to share the good news of the Gospel? Am I more concerned about what others think about me and being perceived as awkward and uncomfortably bold in approaching others about Jesus, or am I more concerned about the condition of their souls? Lord, help my heart to be softened as it should be and let me care less about what others think of me and more about what You are calling me to do. Let me see the urgency in sharing the Gospel boldly. I dreamed not too long ago that there was this ride, in the dream it was almost like an alpine coaster, but the ride took you into the depths of hell. (Yes, I know this is a crazy dream.) In my dream I was getting ready to get on the seat of the coaster, and someone was there telling me, this just allows you to see what hell is like and then at the end of the ride you return to the platform unscathed. What if that ride was real? How would that change our perspective on boldly living for Christ? If we saw the eternal isolation, the weeping and gnashing of teeth, the scary, lonesome, awful place called hell, how would we live differently?
In our pursuit of personal holiness/sanctification: We must prepare today while the weather is good--like Joseph, we must store up knowledge, truth, and wisdom--for tomorrow when the weather is yet unknown. We know we will face trial and tribulation; that is not an unknown, that is a promise. Jesus says in John 16:33, "In this life you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world." We know Who the Victor is, yet we must prepare to fight the battle, because the battle will come. There will come a day when we will need all that we have stored up. We must spend our time on the things that matter, things that have eternal value, because one day we will wake up and look back over the years and realize how much time we have wasted on things that matter not. I was personally convicted about this; what things do I waste my time on? I am called as a Christian to walk worthy of the calling in Ephesians 4. How do I walk worthy? In Ephesians 5 Paul states, "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." How am I walking? Am I seeking God in a spirit of brokenness, asking Him to convict me of my sin, even sin that I am unaware of, and as He convicts me, am I repenting of that and turning away from that behavior? Am I praying faithfully?
Lord show me my sin and convict me of the behavior that separates me from You and Your righteousness. Lord let me always remember Your holiness and perfection and be humbled as I line myself up next to You. Lord I fail you daily: I make idols of Your good gifts, I seek my own glory above Yours, I seek the approval of man, I chase after evil, I do not walk worthy of my calling, I miss opportunities to tell others of Your goodness, I am prideful and selfish. Lord I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Help me to seek You above all else. Lord I want to please You more than any other desire I have. Teach me how to honor You in all I do. I love You Lord.
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