I believe the Christian life is very practical. It's not all supernatural, spiritual phenomena. It's a very nuts and bolts, everyday living type of lifestyle. Jesus was 100% man. But because He is also 100% God, we can forget that He had to deal with flatulence and halitosis just like the rest of us. We focus on the supernatural miracles He performed and resign the fact that we cannot do those things. Well that's the point. If we could, we wouldn't be dependent on Him.
I have been thinking and praying a lot lately about how to live the Christian life in the United States of America in 2010. What should biblical Christianity look like in a land of wealth and affluence? I sometimes think that it would, in some sense, be easier to be a Christian in an atheistic Communist country where Jesus is all we have. Where, if He doesn't provide our bread that day, we couldn't eat. Where the distractions of television, pop culture and leisure don't exist and every minute of every day hinges on our dependency on Jesus Christ. Where when we get sick, we cannot depend on professional health care, but only on the Great Physician. In thinking this way, I have prayed that God would give me opportunities to be a Christian witness in very practical ways.
And then He does...
and I miss them.
I stopped to get a haircut yesterday. During the course of the haircut, the barber shared with some other people in the shop that he would be undergoing rotator cuff surgery and be out for a couple months after that. I heard him. I felt bad for him. I even told myself that I would be praying for him. When the haircut was done, I paid him, thanked him and left. Later on, I remembered him and was just about to pray for him when the thought hit me that I should have prayed for him while I was with him. What a witness for Christ that would have been. And it would have cost me nothing. And I missed it. I had to confess and repent, asking God to give me more opportunities. I trust He will. And I trust that I will take those opportunities, not because of anything good in me, but because He will complete the work He has begun in me, not for my sake, but for the glory of His Name.
Soli Deo Gloria!
- Driven to accurately know, actively live and ardently teach God's Word -
I totally identify with this! there have been MANY opportunities like this in my life! He opened my eyes to this several years back and I try to stay awake to them...yeah i miss the mark at times and thank Him for His mercy and grace. I believe the more we walk in His ways, the more it will become as natural as breathing.
ReplyDelete