"There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NLT)
1st day of summer. Yes, it has finally arrived, and our families and our communities are well into it already. The local pool is full of water and people. The flocks are flocking to the beach. The sun bathers are soaking up the rays. Life continues and life is good.
What is different about this season compared to any other? We have opportunities are not normally afforded. The Orchard begins Vacation Bible School on Sunday (pray for the events and those involved especially for lost children), and there are countless things we can do to draw families closer together as well as get the attention of the students who are out of school. Think with me about our motivation. Better yet, think with me about our plans. Is it about me or about serving others.
I love this verse (used it at 2 weddings this past weekend):
"Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church— a love marked by giving, not getting." Ephesians
And another depth of insight comes:
"For you have been called to live in freedom—not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love." Galatians
You can do what you want to do as long as it doesn't break the law, but remember that freedom came with a price. People died to give our nation freedom and people die to keep that freedom alive. Jesus died to give us freedom from sin. And we must die, die to self, to see that others come to know God in a real way.
Are we serving self or Savior?
We have no control over the seasons, when they come and when they go. But many times Christian will change the seasons in their own lives...I will serve today but I will be served tomorrow. Get it?
I close by copying a portion of an article I read recently. It can be found at this link: http://www.the-next-wave-ezine.info/issue90/index.cfm?id=13&ref=ARTICLES%5FMISSIONAL%5F222
“This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” 1 John 2:5-6
When someone’s words match their actions we call that “Integrity”. When words and actions don’t line up, we call that “Hypocrisy”. Perhaps what has hindered the Gospel most in the Western World has been this apparent disconnect between the teachings of Jesus and the lives of those who claim to follow after Him.
What the world needs most, I believe, is to see the people of God start to act like the people of God. What they desire most is to experience the love that Jesus said His disciples would embody. What’s needed now is for those who are called by the name of Christ to step out of their comfort zones and live out the values that they say they embrace.
The promise of The Gospel is that “The Word of God has become flesh and dwelt among us”. God has come near. God is with us. Jesus became the ultimate verb. He is the ultimate example of Love in Action.
This is the sort of Love that transforms us. It makes us into agents of change ourselves.
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