Saturday, April 11, 2009

Heartbeat


What is my purpose? Why am I really here? My answer to these questions....recklessly abandon it all for Christ, for his calling is much higher than anything I could imagine for myself. It is not about me, it is absolutely about Christ and his heart for the nations. The last few days I have purposefully engaged myself in conversations with people about why we are here. Keep in mind that I work at a Christian camp and conference center. Out of all the people I talked to only one gave an acceptable answer. One guy went so far as to say that "God created us just as he did the animals and we live and reproduce just like they do and then we die!" I'm sure he saw the shock register on my face because he then tacked on to the end of his statement, "and we should obey God" With my hands reaching up to heaven and my face tilted up to the sky I ask, "God, what have we become that most 'Christians' do not even know why they were put on this earth?". I believe that the will of God is twofold. Before we can ever do anything for Christ we must first love him. It makes sense. I love my father so much. I would do anything for him because I love him. If I didn't love him, it would be easy to not care about what he thinks or wants me to do. It is the same with God, if I don't love him then how can I care about what he cares about, and love what he loves? Deuteronomy 6:5 says,"And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." I must love Him FIRST! This is the prerequisite to the second part. Christ asked Peter a very direct question "Peter, do you love me?" I can picture Peter looking at Christ with a puzzled look. He answers, "yes, Lord." Three times Christ asks this question, finally Christ says, "Then feed my sheep." This is the second part! Matthew 28:19-20 says, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen" We are all called. Not all of us will be preachers or teachers, but we are all called none the less. God's heartbeat was and still does beat after the nations of the world. He loved all of the people of the world so much that he died for each of them personally.

My prayer is that God will fashion my heart to beat as his does, that he will make me sensitive to those thing which are dear to him. The preservation of the gospel, to love Christ, and the souls of men are the most important things, everything else is secondary.