"Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel"
(Philippians 1:27)
I have it so easy. I work with an entire staff of believers, I grew up in a Bible believing home where we went to church every Sunday, and basically all my friends are believers. I live my life in the context of a comfortable bubble and it's not often I have to face the harder side of life.
Easy isn't good, though, is it? I read Acts and find no one there like me. I read about believers who daily entrust their lives to God as they share the gospel with those around them. Their lives are on the line day in and day out. Persecution is normal. Their passion is real nonetheless because they completely understand what they were saved from and what they're saved to. Today throughout most of the world persecution is normal still.
The idols of comfort and people's high regard are poisonous to my walk with Christ. I just want my life to fit in with those who understood what it means to live their lives worthy of the gospel of Christ. I want to seek out Christ, not comfort. I want to seek my Heavenly Father's praise, not that of men. I want these desires to work themselves out in my actions. I want the walk and the talk to be undeniably directed by the Holy Spirit.
God increase my view of you and my love for your Word. The outpouring of this will be a life that is worthy of your gospel.
3 comments:
You've got a wonderful heart, Laura. I love how you are sensitive to the Spirit, I love that you referred to those in Acts. They had faith undistracted by the things we get "distracted' from and yes, comfort can protrude as a hidden idol. Especially today, we are so used to convenience and disposable happiness (in-a-box, lol) and we get so caught up in what the American Church body holds as ideal. We just forget that Jesus didn't die for us so we can have a "religion" and go to a church and surround ourselves with other believers. This is where we can get lukewarm in our walk with Him. Great post, thank you for sharing!
I love to read your thoughts,Laura! Your desire to be compared with the believers in Acts is evidence of your heart which seeks after God's heart. To look around and see that you are surrounded by a majority of strong Christian influence is perhaps the blessing of preparation...and that investment will be drawn from in the near future. We don't know where our divine appointments will appear next..we just need to be ready! Thanks for the reminder that "comfortable" was never used to describe Jesus!
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