Secular or Sacred?

As Unto the Lord

With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, Ephesians 6:7 (NASB)

I seem to keep asking the same question. “Why is it so hard to do the things I should do and so easy to do the things I shouldn’t?” This is the struggle in life that all of us face. Even the Apostle Paul declared “For I do not do the good that I want to do, but I practice the evil that I do not want to do.” Romans 7:19 (HCSB) I am so thankful that Paul did not stop with that statement. He continues “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this dying body? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:24-25a (HCSB)

Our salvation is found only in Christ! We need to be very careful at this point. I am not talking about the Jesus that so many of us have chosen to worship at the smorgasbord of life. You know what I mean. When we go out to eat at an “all you can eat” buffet, we get to pick and choose what we like. I contend that the vast majority of us have bellied up the buffet of “Christian Living” and chosen what items in the Bible that already fit with our lifestyle. We satisfy the questions such as: Am I comfortable with this teaching? Will it require too much of my time? Too much of my money? Too much…? In essence, we have recreated a “copy of Jesus” that fits who we are we no practical, theological, or spiritual changes needed!

Until we desire the Jesus in the Bible, the Son of God, we will never be satisfied. Until we long for God, we will be incomplete. We will only be completed in His love. In John 6:35 (HCSB), we read “I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever be thirsty again.”

In the book, No Bad Dogs, by British dog trainer Barbara Woodhouse, she says dogs understand love better than we do. She writes, “In a dog’s mind, a master or a mistress to love, honor, and obey is an absolute necessity. The love is dormant in the dog until brought into full bloom by an understanding owner. Thousands of dogs appear to love their owners, they welcome them home with enthusiastic wagging of the tail and jumping up, they follow them about their houses happily and, to the normal person seeing the dog, the affection is true and deep. But to the experienced dog trainer this outward show is not enough. The true test of love takes place when the dog has got the opportunity to go out on its own as soon as the door is left open by mistake and it goes off and often doesn’t return home for hours. That dog loves only its home comforts and the attention it gets from its family; it doesn’t truly love the master or mistress as they fondly think. True love in dogs is apparent when a door is left open and the dog still stays happily within earshot of its owner. For the owner must be the be-all and end-all of a dog’s life.”

The real test of our walk of Faith isn’t seen in our work or activity, or even in our theological purity. It’s found in this: do we choose instead to stay close to Him? How faith can be measured by what or whom we desire. What or for whom do you long?

Today’s Prayer

Dear Lord,

Open my eyes that I may see You in the light of Your glory! Help me to shatter the images of the “copycat Jesus” I created for my own convenience. And really love You! In Jesus Name, Amen.