There's no formula.

That's what I've been hearing from God for the past few days, through the mouths of many people. "There's no formula."

For the past week I had been a bit frustrated by my own lack of passion and boldness for the gospel which I claim to wholeheartedly believe. There was a part of me that really wanted to go all out --- sharing the gospel with strangers, praying for miracles, fasting with diligence --- but I couldn't figure out how to make the jump between what my life looked like at the moment and what I wanted it to be.

But God showed me some stuff.

First of all, there's no sense in thinking about who I want to be solely from an external perspective. The Bible says, "Man looks at outward appearance but God looks at the heart." That's a fundamental difference between how humans perceive eachother and how God perceives humans. If we want to find out about someone we look at their race, education, occupation/salary

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Pleasing One God.

Last night I was watching some sermons by Craig Groeschel from his series entitled "Weird: Because Normal Isn't Working." The series is built around Matthew 7:13-14: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Most people are cruising through the broad gate, which, unfortunately, leads to their demise. But the brave few, the "weird" as Groeschel calls them, find the small gate and enter onto the narrow road. 


Anyway, here's one critical point he made: Normal people desire the please themselves and/or other people. Weird people desire to please God. And I started thinking about how confusing and frustrating it can be to meet people's expectations. First off, friends, parents, siblings, co-workers, neighbors, etc. each have separate expectations for you. What happens when your parents want you to study more but your friends want you to party more? It's impossible to satisfy everyone else's requirements for your life, because chances are, they don't overlap. Moreover, chances are higher that they'll change their minds about what they want from you. People are fickle like that. Pleasing people can become a huge mess.


And, of course, there are those people who say "I do my own thing" or "I don't care what people say about me." Well... Those people are lying. It's natural to care what others feel about us. As humans we long for significance in the world. We desire to feel important to others. If we don't, well... let's just say that's one reason anti-depressant prescriptions are filled. 


But there's hope. In fact, there's no need for

Whatever you do or say...

¹⁶ Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Colossians 3:16-17

Sometimes I wonder if Paul is really serious... He tends to say some outrageous things. But when I look at Paul's life --- from being miraculously converted to being ridiculed, stoned, jailed, and probably martyred for the sake of the gospel of Christ... I'm sure he wasn't joking at all. He meant every single word he said.

When he says to do everything as a representative of the Lord Jesus, he means it. In fact, it's God speaking through him, encouraging us to live every moment with Christ in mind.

Is that really possible, though? Sometimes, maybe. But of the time? Hmph.

At work is where I struggle the most. There are so many action items and meetings and emails that I can easily get sucked into chaos of the day and lose my focus on Him. I fail to work to represent Jesus well, but, instead, I work to represent myself well. I selfishly choose to work to impress people and receive good feedback. And sadly, selfish mode is my default setting. But, day by day, I'm learning to be more consumed by my God than by my to-do list.

It's a learning process. But I strive to acknowledge my God at work. Acknowledging Him puts everything else in perspective. It reminds me that my duty as an ambassador for Christ is the foundation of my daily duties at work. And it moves me to give Him praise for my successes, instead of taking the credit myself.

I guess that's what Paul meant by "letting the message of Christ fill your lives." Let the gospel consume your life. It'll put everything in perspective.

Obedience must be a choice.

I was reading Genesis 2 and 3 today, and I began thinking about the significance of obeying God's commands.

In the case of Adam and Eve, God gave them one command: Don't eat from the tree in the middle of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He said they could eat fruit from anywhere else in this ridiculously abundant garden... just not from that one tree. Why? Because it would kill them.

Adam and Eve had one commandment to obey. And they broke it.

Now, I'm not trying to clown Adam and Eve, because, quite frankly, I probably would have done the same thing. 1) Satan claimed it would increase their wisdom, making them more like God and 2) the fruit looked delicious. I'm a fan of both wisdom and food, so I probably would have been sold on the idea as quickly as Eve was.

But, given the fact that it took so little for Eve to be convinced, I started to wonder why God chose to put that tree in the garden in the first place. If He really wanted to protect them from death, and if He really wanted to make sure they didn't eat from the tree, why not just keep it out of their sight altogether? Why even give them the opportunity to disobey?

So I asked God. And this is what I heard: "Obedience needs to be a choice."

Interesting. So, if there's no opportunity to disobey, then obedience truly doesn't exist.

Obedience stems from a decision to honor authority. If the tree hadn't been in the garden, there would be no opportunity for obedience. There would be no submission to authority. Adam and Eve would simply be living by default, not by obedience.

I'm often frustrated by my own disobedience. Being tripped up by a "tree of knowledge" in my own garden or simply led astray by my own evil desires can be very discouraging. But the "tree" isn't in our territory simply to tempt us and remind us of what we can't do. God allows the "tree" to exist for as on-going opportunity to choose obedience to Him instead of sin.

Isn't that encouraging?

But I must say that I'm grateful my salvation isn't a product of my own obedience. My obedience to God is out of gratitude for what He has done for me. Just as Eve, myself and the rest of humanity have the opportunity to disobey, Jesus did too. He chose to be obedient on this earth, even to the point of death, and for that, I am eternally grateful.

For just as by one man's disobedience (failing to hear, heedlessness, and carelessness) the many were constituted sinners, so by one Man's obedience the many will be constituted righteous (made acceptable to God, brought into right standing with Him). Roman 5:19 (Amplified)