Your Love is Better

What keeps you from serving God?
What keeps you from glorifying Him in a manner you should?
What keeps you from praising Him?
Should anything really keep you from praising God?
If something does, does this mean that we are trusting in what God can do for us rather than trusting in Him? Or is that the point of trusting in God? Is that what people want? Something that can just do stuff for them? Does that even sound like a being worth serving?
If we do not serve God because something does not go the way we think it should go, does that say something more about our character than about God?

Habakkuk 3:17-19 states, "Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is upon the vines; though the produce of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food; though the flock is cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes me like the feet of a deer, and he makes me tread upon the heights."

So what is our strength?

What is our delight?

What do we hope in?

Is it something other than the Lord?

In Him is our peace.

In Him is our joy.

His love is better.

His love is stronger.

His love makes sense of the world.

His love makes sense out of the "bad" things that happen to us.

In Him is our only hope.

In Him is completeness. 

His love is not conditioned upon us loving Him.

His love is the hope for the world.  

His love does not make sense to us. 

His love is life.

When our hope is placed elsewhere and when we expect God to be a glorified genie, life is incomplete. The problem with this type of belief is that it is not a belief in God at all. It is a belief in ourselves and furthering ourselves. It becomes about us instead of about Him. When we only do something because there is a return for us, we miss out on the purpose of life. We miss out of the purpose of sacrifice. We miss out on the purpose of love. We miss out on the purpose of Jesus.

Christ did not come so that we could be comfortable. He did not come so that we could have our every wish fulfilled. He did not come so that we could tell people to give because He will give back.

He came so that we could have life. He came so that we could find our fulfillment in Him. He came so that we could share that life with others. 

What are we wasting for?

What is the purpose of our life?
Are we living for the weekend?
Are we waiting for some party?
Or are we waiting for some other monumental event that gives our life meaning?
Do we even like living most of the time?
It seems like we are just passing time. It seems like we are just waiting for something to come along to make our miserable existence bearable.
That is what it seems like every Monday on Facebook.
Get on your preferred social media platform at the beginning of the week and see how many people hate the fact that it is Monday or Tuesday.  These people just cannot wait for the weekend so that they can do it all over again.

Does this sound like living?

In Ephesians 4:1-3 Paul writes, "I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

What is the calling to which you have been called?
Is it to wait for the weekend? Is it to just barely get by? 
How can one live this way and not feel like they are wasting their life?

If one is a follower of The Way, this kind of lifestyle is in direct conflict with the life one has been called to live. If as believers, we want to make an impact on this world in the manner that we have been called to do, living for the weekend does great harm to this goal.

Live everyday with purpose. Live everyday for the glory of God. Live everyday making an impact for the Kingdom and showing people what it actually means to be a Christian.
Live in such a way the we can get rid of the soiled name of "Christian."
Live a life that reflects Christ and glorifies Him.

Living for your weekend or your next big party does not do that.
Living for some other moment than the one you are currently in, does not do that.
Do not waste the current time.
Use this time to glorify God.
Use this time to point others to Him.
Use this time to enjoy every breath you have been given.
Use this time to live the great life we have been given.
Stop your waste.