Our Highest Calling

After many years of being a "church person," I'm just now finding out and experiencing (on a beginning level) the reality of the highest calling of the Chrisitan life. I think in our culture and time, we leave the Christian experience to merely a church experience with no real depth to it. I'm speaking of myself, and not being critical of others. I have found this to be true of seasons in my life - that I merely attend church with no life of God on the inside. I finally asked myself what the real point was. I also realized I had this ache and emptiness that wasn't getting filled by anything around me. Alongside this realization I had this longing and desire to really know God - to know His love, not just the emptiness of religious activity. I wanted to know if He could satisfy the very depths of my being. Instead of quitting the whole church thing, I decided to do quite the opposite and begin to really seek hard to find God in an intimate way for myself. I'm talking as a friend, not an acquaintance...I wanted to experience His presence on a much deeper level. I figured that if it's really possible for anyone anywhere to step into a depth of friendship and love relationship with God, I'm going to try it out. I'm for church and all, but church in itself is way below the line of relational intimacy God has intended for us. He wants our hearts.

I say all that to say this -- the highest calling of a Christian is quite different than what our culture says it is. There are many people who do not attend church that are much nearer to God and have an understanding of who God is than many church people. Again, I don't say that critically, I'm just aware that people like myself are not aware of their real spiritual state. It's kind of like calling people to drink deeply of thirst-quenching water, but we aren't even aware that we are calling them into the dessert where their hearts won't be satisfied. We must come to the realization that we really don't know that much about God and that the things we call important, even in ministry stuff, is quite possibly much different than what is viewed as important in the heart of God.

I think to understand the highest calling of a Christian is to understand the desires of God's heart. It's in finding out what He is like and what He wants and longs for that we will understand what the Christian life is about, what is important to Him, and what is less important to Him. What does God like? If we were made in His image, we have to realize that God's heart actually LIKES things. He is full of emotions, has a personality, and has thoughts. If He likes things, it's only fair to say that there are things He doesn't like. Think about the things you enjoy doing -- what are some activities or things you like to do? Just like us, God really likes certain things. The question that I want to know is, what does He like BEST? What really moves His heart and pleases Him? It's a little different than ours...although I figure I will go fishing with Him one day, it's probably not first on His "I like" list. When I'm thinking of a birthday gift for a friend, I want to get something that they like. I have to know them pretty well for this to happen. The moment they open that gift, I want to know for sure that they will like it. We can be that sure about God's heart - we can be sure that we are pleasing Him, that what we do really makes Him smile, and our choices and decisions line up with His priorities.

Do you know what I have noticed in my life? God likes it when I pay attention to Him. He likes it when I notice Him and involve Him in my decisions and day to day activities. This doesn't mean I go around talking to Him in front of people or do wierd religious things to make a fool of myself. As a matter of fact, if you would ask someone I work with, they would tell you I really don't talk that much about God to them. I may not ever mention it. It's not that I'm afraid to, I just think it is much more powerful and real for someone to watch my life than for me to tell them about it. Words are just words. I want my life to be much more than words...I want to reflect God's love in my actions. It doesn't always happen, but that's the story of all our lives. Anyways, back to what I was saying. Is it safe to say that all God wants and desires is to be paid attention to...to be listened to...to be loved? There is no doubt that we are loved by Him, but I believe the invitation for us is to be HIS friend - to ask Him what is on His mind, to make time to listen to Him, and to find out what He really likes. A good friend knows the desires of their friend's hearts - they know what they like and dislike. A person who is working for someone may never get to the "friend/friend" relationship with their boss. God doesn't want to be a boss and He doesn't want workers. He wants us to get out of the worker mentality and enter into a friendship with Him. He wants us to get out of the master/slave kind of relationship and begin to see that He wants to partner with us in our jobs and relationships.

Are we aware of what God is doing in our lives? The big things, small things, and everything inbetween? So many times we see it as just circumstances lining up in our favor, but it really is God's hand at work. He really is active in our lives. Unfortunately we can get so busy that we miss the opportunity God gives us for friendship with Him. I believe this is the highest calling of our lives - to notice God, to listen to Him, to involve Him in our lives, and to love Him. May we all take a little bit more time to involve Him in our lives -- that HE would feel wanted, loved, and welcome.

Summer

What a year it has been! It's been nice to relax after unwinding from my first year of teaching. I love summer. I think of the summer months when I was little. They were filled with outside activities, desert adventures (I lived in AZ literally in the middle of a desert), bike riding, and other fun stuff. It's so interesting how kid's favorite play time activities have changed over the years. I hated being inside! I still love summer, but spend it quite differently than I used to. I usually try and get out of the country, but not this year. I plan on relaxing, spending time in the prayer room, taking daily walks with Jenn around OU (started today...hope it continues), and visiting my family. And, of course, thinking about the upcoming year will definately be involved in my summer days also. August is just around the corner!