Everywhere we turn we see ads, billboards, magazines, commercials and other stimuli that tell us how we need to change ourselves.
Lose the weight fast!
Buy these over-priced but name-brand jeans!
Find the guy of your dreams on our one-of-a-kind dating site!
Come visit this place just to say you did!
Gamble here just because you can!
But who are these things going to please? You? Your friends?
Sometimes it's tough to clearly see the calling God has for you. I know I want to be a nurse, but can I make the grade in the program I'm trying to get into? Why is it so difficult to get along with my family sometimes? Why does this whole moving thing seem so rocky and foreboding?
And then there's these silly distractions that we face everyday. The media is in our faces with everything from what cool new stuff to buy to what trouble the crazy Hollywood stars are getting into today.
It's hard to shut this stuff out.
None of it matters! Are we so caught up in our day-to-day lives that we can't pause and simply be thankful for what the Good Lord has given us?
Yes, there are things to be done. Life can get hectic fast, we often don't know how to react. But I have one question: who are we trying to please?
Are we doing good things for others because that's what God calls us to do?
Am I studying hard to be a nurse for myself or because God has called me to do this, and I want to praise Him with my life?
Are we buying the things we need, or the stuff we think we need to fill some sort of void?
Are we idolizing our favorite artists and stars?
Are we grumbling about our work because we feel mistreated?
God wants us to feel fulfilled through Him.
Did you know that Bible Gateway shares a verse of the day each day? Neither did I until I visited the site to find a verse for a paper I'm writing. Today's verse said this: "Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires." -2 Peter 1:4
I'd like to share that verse again, combined with the verse before: "His divine power has given us everything we need for a Godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires." -2 Peter 1:3-4
Where are your desires today? Are you living your life as a sacrifice to God? Are you living for yourself or for your Saviour? Be thankful for what you have, enjoy His beautiful creation, thank Him, and ask yourself: who are you trying to please?
"I urge you to live a life worthy of you calling." -Ephesians 4:1
Who called you? God.
So who should we live for? God!
As my dad likes to say as we dash out the door, "Live for the Lord!"
Thanks for reading. Peace:)
