Skip to main content

God is not here for You!



            “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’  As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them” (James 4:13-17).

           When we make our plans and simply ask God to “rubber stamp” them, we are wrong!  When we say, “I am going to work two more years and then retire and then spend my winters in Mexico” and then pray to God and ask him to make that all work out for us, we are wrong! 

            We are not supposed to be here for what we want.  We are supposed to be here for what God wants.  We are supposed to be asking, “What does God want me to do today?”

            Now, someone is going to say, “Wait a minute!  Life is short and we have to live it and get the most out of it.  This is our one chance to do what we want and be happy.  Besides, you should only serve God when you really want to.  If it is forced, you should not do it!”  I hear that all the time, but that, too, is wrong.  How do I know?

            Think about the “Garden of Gethsemane”.  Jesus did not really want to go through the pain and torture of the cross and so, on the night before it happened, he asked God to take it away from him.  However, he ended his prayer with the famous words, “Not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:39-44).   You likely know how that situation ended.

            Here is the thing:  If we only serve when we feel like serving and if we only do what we want to do, we will miss most of the good that we could do.

            By the way, that is why this passage ends with the comment about how “knowing the good you could do and not doing it is sin”.  That is not a separate idea!  That is the entire point!  Your life is short, therefore do not waste it just living for yourself. 

            God is not here for you and your plans!  You are here for God! 

            When we get things in the proper order, then everything else falls into place as well.

            “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    
Post a Comment
Read more

New Article: A Path Worth Following

  Jehoram was a terrible king.  He reigned in Judah around the year 850 B.C. and he did not care about God or his people.  His first act as king was to assassinate his six brothers so that no one could challenge his authority.  He was brutal and selfish.   Therefore, when the Bible sums up his life, it says, “Jehoram… passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David” (2 Chronicles 21:20).  Did you catch that?  “To no one’s regret!”  What a terrible phrase for your tombstone. On the other hand, consider a lady named Tabitha.  She lived in the city of Joppa in the first century A.D. and we are told, “… she was always doing good and helping the poor” (Acts 9:36).  She became sick and died.  This caused the community so much grief that they called Peter, who was in the nearby town of Lydda, to come and help them.  When Peter arrived, a crowd gathered, bringing all the robes and other clothing that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: Press The Button!

  Consider This:  Press the Button! My favourite TV game show is Jeopardy.  I used to like it even more when my kids were younger, because I could easily beat them and look smart.  These days, after they have grown up and gone to university, it is much more difficult.  However, Jeopardy is still the only game show I will watch. In a book I read, a contestant who did very well on the show shared the secret to his success.  He said (and I am paraphrasing here), “You must press the button before you know the answer.  Everyone on Jeopardy is smart. Everyone knows the answer. The key to winning is to act.  You must jump in and press the button, assuming that your brain will catch up and supply the answer.  If you wait until you are sure, you will be too late!” Press the button! Too often, we hesitate, not because we do not know what to do, but because we do not want to do it.  Sometimes, we fail to act because we are not sure how the situatio...
Post a Comment
Read more