I mean that he uses you living your life. Like in Philippians 2:14 when the Bible says
that we are to do everything without grumbling or complaining. But why are we to do everything without
grumbling or complaining? The answer is
in verses 15 and 16. So that “you will shine among them like
stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.” Just like Jesus said in Matthew 5…after He’s
just given the list of beatitudes of how we’re supposed to behave, treat
people, carry ourselves, and live our life… 14 “You are the
light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do
people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand,
and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In
the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good
deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Wait, what?
So I’m a visual aid for God?
Well, yeah, I’m supposed to be.
I’m sorry if I’ve let you down from time to time. I’ll forgive you if you’ll forgive me. We’re supposed to be different from the world
around us – for the explicit purpose of being noticed as standing out different
from the world around us in order to bring glory to God. Are you being noticed by those around
you? Are your actions always pointing
out that you’re different from the world and in doing so bringing glory to
God? Let me ask you this (as
non-accusatorily as I can): Are you
doing anything at all to bring glory to God?
Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of
the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
Do you do all that you do in the name of
the Lord Jesus? When you’re with your
friends, do you pray? When you’re with
your church friends, do you pray? When
you’re with your friends, do you stand out as different from the world so that
they notice your commitment to Jesus Christ?
Or do you conveniently (and silently) just play the Grace Card and count
on God forgiving you when you deny Him with your actions in front of other
people? Do you tell dirty jokes in the
name of the Lord Jesus? Do you cuss like
a sailor in the name of the Lord Jesus?
Do you do your drinking in the name of the Lord Jesus or maybe hope that
people notice that your difference is only having 3 beers while they’re staggering
around you?
Take up your cross and follow Him. When you accepted Jesus as Master, you
accepted Him as Master. Or else you
didn’t. That’s what it boils down
to. You either decided to let your light
shine for Christ so that when you’re in the world you shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. Or you didn’t…and
you still shine your light on you and whatever it is that you want to do. Are you embarrassed of living for a new
purpose in front of other people? Do you
take Matthew 10:32 “Whosoever therefore
shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father who is in
Heaven.” to mean “only the people at church when I went down front and gave
my confession” – or do you believe that Jesus meant “all of mankind throughout
the world”? Are you afraid that people
will mock you if you decided to live a life of Love, Joy, Peace, Patience,
Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control? Or is that just too hard to worry with doing? Or is it just too much fun to blend in with
the world and tease others and make snide comments. Or instead of actually trying to make a
difference in this world, would you just rather sit on the sidelines and make
jokes about people you were called to love?
Listen to the Whisper that asks you “What are you doing
to show the world that He is God?” And
if your answer is anything other than “with everything I do I’m trying to do it
so that I can show the world that He is God,” then I’m sorry but it’s not
enough. I’m the first to admit that I
fall short frequently…a lot…ok, honestly it’s most of the time. And I’ll never be a good enough person to
earn the Salvation that I accepted from Christ.
But when I lay my cards all out on the table to see what I’m holding in
my hand, it shows that I’ve been holding on to a couple of jokers that I should
have discarded a long time ago. Temper
and Tongue have been my trip-ups for a long time. “But it’s hard to break the habit,” I say. “I’ve been doing it for so long, it’s just
who I am,” I say. “I just get so
frustrated by people that waste my time,” I say. “I love Jesus with all my heart and believe
that He is the Son of God,” I say. Wait,
What? One of those things doesn’t belong
with the others. And saying one of them
means that I need to stop saying the others.
Which is harder, to stop losing my temper with people or to
walk to a hill with a cross on my back…carrying the load until I can’t carry
the cross any farther and someone carries it for me…because after I’ve carried
the cross of my temper and my tongue until I couldn’t carry it any farther,
Jesus carried those for me. The same way
that Simon of Cyrene carried Jesus’ cross when (after being beaten) he no
longer had the strength to carry it Himself.
And then Jesus was hung on that cross…with my temper, my tongue, and my whole
sinful self…and He died for all of it.
He was nailed to a cross, died a criminal’s death, and did it for
me. And I can’t stop doing the worldly
things I do for Him? He wasn’t lifted up
shining like a city on a hill…He was lifted up and hung on a cross between two
thieves. And He did that for me…and
you. And we live in a world today,
proclaiming to love Jesus yet we can’t say “no thanks, I don’t drink” or “God
has forgiven me, so I forgive you – and will continue to forgive as many times
as you offend me” or (the one I struggle with most) “I will not belittle and
insult them, because God has been patient with me even as I’ve tried His
patience time and time again.”
You want to be different?
Stand quietly in line at the store.
Don’t grumble and complain. Ephesians
4:29 says “Do not let any unwholesome
talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up
according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Does retelling the dirty
joke you heard on the radio lift up others?
Does it set you apart from the world?
Is it a joke you’d tell to Jesus?
Live your life like Jesus has called you to live it. Live your life the way you know God expects
you to live it. Live your life as a bold
proclamation to everyone around you that God is King above all, and you serve
Him and Him alone. Live your life
showing that you will not be corrupted by this world and coerced to blend
in. Live your life like a city built on
a hill and shine your light for all to see…then people will notice that you are
different. And then you’ll shine among
them like stars in the sky. And when you
boldly shine your light, it will shine on others and help show them the path to
Life. And God will look at you
and say, “There’s my Bronze Snake, my stone tablets, my blue tassel…there’s the
reminder for the world that I am God.”
~Dwayne
ListenForTheWhisper@comcast.nethttp://listenforthewhisper.blogspot.com
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