There is a fine
balance between egotistical and humble.
They are divided by common sense and tact. We’re talking about an attitude that is
present in every human being to one degree or another. Which side of the dilemma you fall on is
going to be under the direction and understanding of striving and not being
rude when you do so. Knowing that we are
sinful human beings helps us to have a starting place for our discussion. Because of our sinful state, we are prone to
not listen, pay attention, feel empathetic, or be encouraging with others. Our world is set on our own going to bed and
getting up to face the day. Part of the
idea is to minimize the number of issues we have in the frying pan. The more complicated our lives, the more
likely we will not fall on the Godly side of the issue. This isn’t meant to be an excuse for our
actions or inactions. We need to be
aware that the picture is bigger than us or what we see.
Notice
the first word: “Many”. Why not “All”? Because not everyone has their lives in
motion and many who do have their lives in motion are not interested in high
ideals. When we have something or
someone who takes center stage in our lives we are unable to strive, and Jesus
isn’t the high ideal. So, the
understanding is not all people strive for high ideals. Some do though. What does the author want us to do with this
information? He wants us to admit the
reality that there will be those who do not want to strive for anything much
less high ideals. He wants us to be wise
in who we choose to observe and follow when making those choices. Then he wants us to know that regardless of
who they choose to emulate, Jesus is the only choice of who to look to in any
of the choices in life. Should we make
his choices our choices, we will always have “high ideals” as our focus. It’s when we take our eyes off Jesus that we
begin to deteriorate the quality of our lives.
Many, but not all, people will choose Jesus. We should choose them. Many, but not all, will have high ideals that
are set on Jesus. For us, the question
is whether we are a part of the many who do or the many who don’t.
Part
of the statement uses the word strive.
Relentless pursuit of whatever it is we define and interpret high ideals
to be. Striving in the Christian sense
is to stay the course, make the right decisions regardless and to constantly
move forward in our walk. The focus of
our journey should always be going home to Jesus. How can we strive towards anything if our
lives are anchored to the past? What
good does it do to acknowledge the will of God in our lives only to not honor
God? How can we even begin to strive
toward high ideals when we aren’t building high ideals in our lives and the
lives of those around us? Satan wants us
to keep our focus on the past and the comfortable past. He invented the words “status quo” and placed
them in our lives. No forward looking
and no forward moving for all who would listen.
You might be thinking that you don’t have this problem and are looking
forward. Just as you are defending
yourself you are stating that you DO have this problem. What are you going to do about it?
If
we can agree that this problem does exist, we can make a plan to stop the
problem in ourselves. If you can, try to
imagine a bag of groceries you have recently purchased. When the attendant filled up the bag there
was planning and great care (hopefully) so that all the items were placed in
their most secure place. As you begin to
walk away you see a display with another 2 items that you realized you
needed. So, you go back to the attendant
and have them ring up the 2 items.
However, your current bag is full, and you have no room for these
items. You have to decide whether you
are going to get another bag, overfill the bag you have, or maybe not purchase
the 2 items after all. This example is
symbolic of our lives currently as well as in the past. Our lives are full; but of what? Our bag is overflowing, and we need
everything we have to hold the items from falling or being damaged. We are so consumed with the problem at hand
that we cannot look forward at a solution.
This is especially true of our spiritual life. Some are so full of their past and current
issues that there is no room for Jesus and the Holy Spirit to do what they want
to do in our lives. Some have emptied
the items out of their lives and been filled by Jesus. One has the capacity to bring about high
ideals and the ability to strive for those ideals. The other one does not.
“Not
true!” you tell God. Do you want to
prove it? Here is your chance. Give up everything that isn’t from God. That sounds easy enough. Another sign you have issues permeating your
life with stuff other than Jesus’ will is how you protest the truth when it is
shown to you. Protesting the truth is
rude. (You probably have been wondering
when that would come up.) Anytime we
disrespect who Christ is in our lives we are rude. I might mention that this is also a sin. Sin has no place in our lives. We hold onto sin like we hold onto old ways
with low or no ideals. I’m still talking
to the Christian here. We “claim” we
have Christ but “live” otherwise. I’ve
been guilty of this on more than one occasion.
People see us and make judgments about us based on what they know about
Christians and what they expect of Christians.
It’s safe to say that even the best Christian makes mistakes and
sins. However, it’s their ideals that
help them return to the course and continue the race. It’s been said that doing the same thing over
and over and expecting different results is a definition of insanity. Isn’t that what we do when we not only
protect but live out the low or no ideals in our lives?
If high ideals are to be strived for we
must engage the argument that these high ideals are something we want in our
lives. We are striving for something
better or more than where we are and what we are. I’ve coined the phrase for my life as being
in a “state of positive discontent.” I’m
glad that I am no longer where I was.
It’s not that everything from my past has been worked out. There are many things in our lives that won’t
get worked out. When we go home to Jesus
we won’t care about those issues. I
appreciate what my past has taught me. I
was one of those who learned through the school of hard knocks. If a lesson was waiting for me to learn it
then the hardest way to learn was attached just for me. Early in my life I didn’t have any part of my
life in contentment. There was no future
that I could grasp as real or positive.
I had no ideals at all. Life was
not about hope and blessing. At the age
of 21 I gave my life to Christ and hope came into my life. I abandoned the past and was brought through
major changes with the help of the Holy Spirit to where I could be a blessing
to the Lord and others. Not just
“ideals” but “high ideals” were introduced into my life. I wish I could tell you that this was always
foremost in my life. However, that
wouldn’t be true. The truth is I have
betrayed Jesus more times than I want to give thought to. The good news is that He forgives me, has
already paid for all of my sins (past, present, and future) and blesses me to
boot! As areas of my life became surrendered
there was a change in who I was and who I was becoming. I’m not there yet but I do know that I have a
force within me that reaches to better and more for Jesus.
Like many, I have over the years
rationalized and justified my settling for less than the high ideal Christ
emulated for me. And, I have failed in
many ways in many areas of my life to emulate Christ to others through my
behavior. Yet, he chose to use me and
continues to do so. Does any of this
register in you, in your life? Do you
feel like you have not reached a place where Christ has wanted you to be in your
life? Here’s part of the deal. Those who strive to live with high ideals
first live as forgiven people. There is
no sin of the past that drags them down as all their confessed sin is
gone. Jesus paid the price and God has
forgiven AND forgotten our sin. If you
are being reminded of past sin, then you need to be honest with yourself. If its sin that has not been confessed, take
it to the cross right now. If its sin
that has been confessed and you are being plagued with thoughts of that sin and
guilt; Satan is lying to you. He wants
you ineffective in your walk.
Let’s take a moment to look at the
truth. God loves us. That is the truth. God wants the best for us. That is the truth. So far, so good. God will keep us from being tempted with sin
and folly. That is not true. Why?
Because he gave us a free will to do as we please. He also provides a way out through Jesus
Christ who has been tempted more than any man.
Focus is one of the dynamics that lead to be an effective Christian man
or woman. God says that we will be
ridiculed, mocked and persecuted as we walk the walk. That’s right, people will be rude to the
Christian. Why though? Why would those in our families, circle of
friends and our acquaintances tease, make fun of, and ridicule us for our
faith? Love is not rude. Our families, friends and acquaintances are
not choosing to love you. They may say
they love us. However, they do not meet
the test of how love is defined.
Rudeness is not loving. There are
all kinds of people who fall into this category. There are even pastors who are rude to their
flocks. Why? The answer to this question is they don’t
know the love of God for themselves and are unable to show that love (of God)
to others. You can’t give away that
which you don’t have. If you cannot
accept the love of God yourself; you will have no love of God to give to
others. Being anchored in the past holds
us back from moving forward. There have
been quite a few people who I have talked with who had the dilemma of losing
family and friends if they chose Christ.
This was agonizing for these people.
What does it profit a man if he gains the world but loses his soul? Jesus told his disciples to go into towns and
preach the Gospel. If they were not
received they were to shake the dust from their sandals and leave. What an example for what to do with those in
our lives who are rude towards us.
The point of decision weighs heaviest on
those who perceivably have the most to lose.
What is the dangling carrot?
Choose Christ or the family inheritance.
Choose Christ or choose the enmeshed family structure. Choose Christ or choose yourself. Choose life in Christ or choose death with
Satan. It’s not just about the 10
Commandments. It’s not just about the
Sermon on the Mount. It’s not just about
the end of the story in Revelations.
It’s about the right NOW. What
are we going to do right now? Not about
yesterday and what it contained. Not
about tomorrow which we know nothing about.
The point of decision is always what we are going to choose right now;
at this very moment. The point of
decision is always just ours when we are choosing what to do with Christ. The point of decision has all of eternity
resting on the now moment. Choose Christ
right now and He will set the high ideals for you.
Here is where we meet the two issues of
this chapter. It’s not a secret and is
not something we need to shy away from.
The transformation of our life without Christ to one with Christ will
begin the sanctification process where God removes the world and replaces it
with Himself. When Christ resides in us
the new life created changes every area of our lives. There have been many who have not counted the
cost and left the cross disappointed.
That doesn’t have to be true for any of us. Jesus made it easy for us so that we aren’t
hemmed in by this law or that covenant.
He said, “Love God with all your heart and love others as you love
yourself.” Since you are a new creation,
the love that is manifest in your life should be confined to the love of
God. There is an easy way to check and
see if you are living with the love of God in your life. Ask if there any constraints on your love
towards yourself or others. Does your
love work on a “conditional” basis whereby the love you give others is
contingent upon how they talk, walk, work, or live? That kind of love has low ideals. The only unconditional love there is comes
from God. Conditional love is rude. Partiality is rude. Anger is rude. Jealousy is rude. Evil is rude.
I could list item after item, but I think you get the message. What does your life look like to God? I didn’t say, “What does your life look like
to your family, friends and acquaintances.”
Here is where we move into another serious element of living the
Christian life.
What is our focus? What is our intention? What is our motive and motivation? Being a veteran sinner, I believe I have the
experience to answer this question. If
our focus is anything other than Jesus, it is sin. That doesn’t mean we don’t have any focus,
lack the best of intentions or that our motive won’t benefit others. If our focus is on Jesus than we listen to
what he wants. We cannot do that living
in the past. We cannot do that if we are
listening to those around us instead of Christ.
That includes well intentioned Christians. If we should be so brave as to turn our backs
on the way of the world, our new world will really rock our lives. Jesus wants us to be free of the world to
bring others in the world to him.
Through you and me in our daily lives the life of Christ is delivered to
an unsaved world. What is the purpose of
your life? Where do His ideals become
your ideals? Where does His vision
become your vision? Where does His
commitment become your commitment?
There is not much attachment to what we
used to call important. We now focus on
those that are now in place with Jesus as the center of our lives. Our wants become replaced by our needs. We seek not ourselves but seek Jesus. Those things that were once deemed important
in our lives are now not important.
Goals and dreams of our own thinking are now lost to the goals and
dreams of Christ through us. Looking for
eternity with Jesus has replaced the focus of the wants and needs of retirement
at 65. The stress of not meeting other’s
expectations is replaced with the knowledge that we are acceptable to Jesus
just as we are. It is from these changes
in our lives that high ideals surface and become mainstays in our life. The more focused we become on Jesus, the less
the world tries to drag us down.
I wrote earlier in another chapter that
the first thing we need to do when we obtain new information is to STOP. Don’t take another step until we know what
God has to say about the new information.
There is no acronym for STOP. It
simply means stop. Sorry to get you all
excited but it’s simple and easy to understand.
However, we may see it as simple and easy to understand and still make
“stop” the most convoluted process known to mankind. We don’t need to form a committee. We can forget about the input from friends
and families. We don’t even need to pay
attention to the societal norm of the world we live in. What we do need to do is to STOP. Listen to Jesus (in prayer and reading the
Word). Obey whatever he asks us to do or
say without question. What do we do
next? We go on in our walk with
Jesus. Sharing the Gospel through
thought, word and deed. You see, it’s
not that complex or even that difficult.
The
life in Christ that we asked to live is not a burden that Christ wants to put
upon us to break us. God isn’t up there
conniving with the angels on how to best trip us up. There is no secret about God and his purpose
for you to have to keep. Jesus said his
burden is light. He said he would be with
us every step of our life. He said he
would never leave or forsake us. So,
even when we feel alone, we are not.
Even when we are feeling overburdened, we are not. When we feel the enemy all around us we know
there is a much more powerful army waging war on our behalf. How about it, want to go on the best trip
ever? Strive to have high ideals. You will find others on that same path as you
take that first step. The world will
slowly disappear in your review mirror.
Freedom will envelope you as you rest in Jesus.
And
in the end, we get to go home!
No comments:
Post a Comment