This blog will continue the sermon from the singles pastor at my church that I started discussing yesterday. The same two questions apply for evaluating your life:
Question 1: Are you wasting your life?
Question 2: Is your life worth wasting?
The sermon continues by discussing one other Latin phrase that would challenge a Christian to begin living a more radical life for Christ.
Quid Pro Quo--This for That
Matthew 16:24-27
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.""
Jesus calls us to live a radical life and to give up our selfish desires and in place to pick up our crosses and walk along side of Him. This passage really convicts my heart of the little things I seem to "give up my soul for" without even realizing it, whether it be material possessions or a night out with the girls. Every action I partake in is a symbol of the witness I have created for myself and other Christians alike.
Being a disciple of Christ DEMANDS a radical and personal exchange-> this for that
* Your life for His
* This life for the Next
* Your desires for His Commandments
Here are some examples to bring the reality of Quid Pro Quo home for some of you:
~Vacation time for missions trip
~TV time for prayer time
~5% for 50%
~Possession for people
~Skills for ministry
~Food for fasting
~Time for tasks
~Self for submission
"Oh Lord, help me understand my mortality and the brevity of life!
Let me realize how quickly my life will pass! Look, you make my days short-lived, and my life span is nothing from your perspective.
Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor.
Surely people go through life as mere ghosts.
Surely they accumulate worthless wealth without knowing who will eventually haul it away?
But now, O Lord, upon what I am relying?
You are my only hope!"
Psalm 39:4-7
In these next days please think about your life and if you are truly living as if God is your ONLY hope...
My prayer for you is that you will come to realize that the minor sacrifices we make everyday are nothing compared to the greatest sacrifice of all...Christ giving up His life so that we could one day walk in paradise with His Father! I pray that you will find areas in your life where you can trade this for that and always pursue the kingdom of God.
The singles pastor at my church did a sermon on "A Life Worth Wasting" that really opened my eyes to the life that God gave me and how much I was wasting this precious gift He. I wanted to share his message with you all in hopes of challenging you to start making every moment count for the glory of God.
Question 1: Are you wasting your life?
Question 2: Is your life worth wasting?
God instructs us to live everyday as wise Christians witnesses of His great love and mercy for our sinful souls.
"Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise bust as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil" - Ephesians 5:15-16
The story of the prodigal son is a wonderful testimony to the way Christ calls us to live. In Luke, it tells a story about a lost son (the prodigal son). This son took his share of his fathers property and left, then wasted it all away on material possessions until he had nothing left. So he eventually returned to his father hoping his father would make him one of his hired men, to his surprise, his father welcomed him with open arms and threw a feast in his honor..."For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found" (Luke 15:24). His son led a very unwise life, but eventually wised up enough to come home and his father knew the importance of celebrating the wise decision his son had made. God treats His children the same way. He celebrates every time a child comes to know Him and when his children get lost then finds their way home, He again celebrates. This is the example Christ calls us (Christians) to follow when we encounter lost sheep.
Carpe Diem--Seize the Day
God calls us to seize each day like it is our last, to turn our "when_then_" statements into "NOW" statements. The little things we all vow to do someday (i.e. sponsor a child, tithe, reach out to the community, bless others as God as blessed you, etc) are things God wants us to do today. Tomorrow is not guaranteed, so seize each moment that God presents to you.
Nisi Dominus Frustra--Without God, everything is in vain
Why
do they gather so religiously? Why is it so important to them? Do they want me; or someone like me? Why do they tremble, tremble in fear, tremble in expecation? Why do they talk so little and share even less? Why do they buy my facade? Can they see me? Do i want them
to? Do they love me, or their reputation? Why do they argue...then remain silent? Why do i hurt, why so deep? Who am i? Why am i here? Who should i be? Why do i start to care? They seem so far, so far ahead; how did they get there? Is it too late for me; what is the "it" i am asking about?
Why can't i care; why can't i stop caring? Why am i drawn to something i never liked? Why do they seem so real, and so distant, so far? Why does their life shame me? Why do i want what i can't stand in them?
Could
you be real? Could you really care? How could i dare? Dare to trust what i can't even see? My walls are falling, their Life i'm wanting, their Hope i'm craving; Might you be real, might this story be true?
Why
would you come? Come to change me? Why am i scared? How can i be sure? Sure you're even there?
Can
you see my plight? Can you see my fight? How do i stop? How do i give what i never knew i had? Why me, why me, why me? What in me do you see? Why did they pursue; did they even care who? Am i a name, a number, a notch? Why is my life a mess? Wasn't it a test? I've busted every rule, are you a fool?
Why do i care? Why did your Son care? Why do you love? Why send your Spirit like a dove? Why if i fail, do they share with me Your Tale?
Sometimes
I care, I really care!
Why?
It's a question I have asked millions of times throughout my life. Why
me? Why this time? Why do I care? Why not someone else? Why now?
Why can't I be like everyone else? Why, why why? I believe that God
is the answer to WHY? God is the one who places burdens and desires on
our hearts. God has shown me so many times in my life why it is so
important to follow Him regardless of my own personal desires. In the
poem, a lost soul continues to ask why there is this burden on his or
her heart. I feel the same burden, but in a different way. I feel a
burden to help the lost and to help put their souls at rest by sharing
Jesus' promise with them. Each day i wake up and face a decision to
follow Christ or not. The days i consciously decide to be an
encouraging witness to Jesus' testimony of love are the days i cherish
most and get the most satisfaction from. I have tried to gain this
feeling by myself and through selfish desires, but in the end, it never
makes me feel whole or closer to God. This poem touched my heart and
hit me on the head and answered the ultimate "why" question i have:
"Why do You want me to go to Africa?" The answer is the poem...for
there are so many lost souls who go through the agony of wondering what
is out there just as the person in this poem did. It is heart
wrenching to know that I hold the answer to their questions, but i do
not testify to it nearly enough. I believe that God has called me to
go to Africa to deliver His grace, promises, and love. I also believe
that God is going to do amazing things through this Africa team and all
the missionaries with AIM.
"Why
are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God. By day
the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his son is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life"--Psalm 42: 5,8
The story of the prodigal son is a wonderful testimony to the way Christ calls us to live. In Luke, it tells a story about a lost son (the prodigal son). This son took his share of his fathers property and left, then wasted it all away on material possessions until he had nothing left. So he eventually returned to his father hoping his father would make him one of his hired men, to his surprise, his father welcomed him with open arms and threw a feast in his honor..."For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found" (Luke 15:24). His son led a very unwise life, but eventually wised up enough to come home and his father knew the importance of celebrating the wise decision his son had made. God treats His children the same way. He celebrates every time a child comes to know Him and when his children get lost then finds their way home, He again celebrates. This is the example Christ calls us (Christians) to follow when we encounter lost sheep. 
