Philippians 3:7-11
But Christ has shown me that
what I once thought was valuable is worthless. Nothing is as wonderful
as knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have given up everything else and
count it all as garbage. All I want is Christ and to know that I belong
to him.
I could not make myself acceptable to God by obeying the
Law of Moses. God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ. All
I want is to know Christ and the power that raised him to life. I want
to suffer and die as he did, so that somehow I also may be raised to
life.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
I
was sitting in the parking lot after attending a funeral, and I spotted
a friend from church walking to her car. I called to her and asked if
she would like to ride with me to the cemetery. She gladly accepted my
offer, and as she got in the car, she said, “I wish I was dressed
properly.” She had come to the service directly from her job as a
nurse, and she was wearing her white lab coat. I assured her that she
looked fine…that nobody would give her attire a second thought – other
than to notice that she took time out of her busy day to attend this
service!
Here’s the thing…there are times when it is important to
be “prim and proper”…when wearing the right outfit is critical. And
there are times when it is simply most important that you show up! I’ve
had to make a mad dash to the Emergency Department with a loved one in
the wee hours of the morning when I looked scary enough to frighten
grown men! But there was no way I was going to say to those in need or
the EMTs, “Hang on a few minutes while I put on some makeup and fluff up
my hair!” I seriously doubt that very many people would pause to check
their outfit in the mirror if they found themselves in a burning
building! It’s all a matter of priorities!
Too often, we get
caught up in what we think will “look pretty” to God…and we miss Him
completely. The moment comes and goes…we waste the connection and lose
out on a blessing. We get so mired in how many Bible verses we can
quote, who killed who in the Old Testament and what sacrifices were
required to atone…we worry about whether we gave enough money, sat on
enough committees, said enough prayers, and participated in enough
worship activities…and we are completely deaf and dumb to Jesus calling
to us…”Hey…c’mon over here and let Me love on you!”
Do not
misunderstand me…I believe that Christian rituals are important. I
believe in the sanctity of Holy Communion and only wish that more people
fully understood its significance and the profound sacredness of this
experience. I also believe in the holiness of God’s word…all of it!
But if we don’t fully understand the lineage of all of the kings or have
a firm grasp on all of the names of the leaders of this battle or that
one, yet we truly know Jesus and strive to follow Him…I would say that
we have our values in proper alignment. If we are in fellowship with
Jesus and understand WHY He came to earth for us and the full extent of
what He accomplished on our behalf…THIS is what matters the most! The
rest will surely fall into place.
I am a “Field of Dreams”
Christian…I believe in the “If you build it, they will come”
philosophy. In other words, when we focus on Jesus…when we fully commit
to Him and follow His teachings, I believe all of the rest will follow –
the desire to study God’s word in depth…the yearning to fellowship with
other believers…the conviction to give of our “time, talents and money”
to the church…and a craving for time in His presence.
Jesus
doesn’t care if we are wearing a lab coat or our “Sunday best”! He just
wants US! And I want Him, as well. What about you?
©2015 Debbie Robus
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