Think about your life. What are your accomplishments that you are proud of? You work hard to achieve ______ (fill in the blank). You may be a bust-your-butt accomplisher or a steady busybody (in a good way). You help people where you can and you desire to make a difference. People can depend on you. While life is good, does your life have eternal value? There are many great people in the world who achieved much but they are spiritually dead; their accomplishments have a shelf life.
How does one go from being spiritually dead to a life that is valuable beyond all worldly fame and money? It takes a radical decision that goes beyond just believing Jesus. It takes a word that begins with the letter O. Every believer must surrender to this word. Without it, you will be lost forever; see Luke 6:46, Deuteronomy 28:1, Acts 5:29.
Read the following quote from @godsholyscriptures to learn more: “The most radical thing you can do in a hustle obsessed culture is to rest in God’s timing. Slow down. Get quiet. Ask God, not what you can do, but what He’s calling you to do. Because hustle may build an empire, but only obedience builds the Kingdom. And in the end, it won’t matter how much you built, only whether you built it with Him.”
This quote defines obedience. To walk in obedience with Christ you must stop and rest in His timing. A believer won’t walk in a way that pleases God unless he stops first. You need to cease your striving, give up your own thoughts and ways, and give God your full attention. You have to spend time with Him and learn to listen. Then, be very courageous and ask, “What are You calling me to do?”
One’s life becomes eternally valuable when they are willing to do what God is asking of them. An example of what not to do is Judas. “The tragedy of Judas wasn’t distance from Jesus. It was closeness without transformation.” (@byhisgraceministry) Once you allow yourself to sit and listen, God then takes you on a transformative journey. Saul becoming Paul in Acts 9 is a good example. Paul spent three years with Jesus before his ministry journey. It is not recorded what happened in those three years, but I can bet that Paul took the time to get to know Jesus. Then, he followed what God called him to do.
My transformation journey began on my honeymoon over 37 years ago when I learned to hear the Holy Spirit’s voice. My new husband lost his job and I didn’t have a job yet. We had a car payment and a year’s lease on an apartment, and not much money. “Carol, I have you and I will take care of you.” He has never reneged on His words. I have been listening to Him ever since and I am amazed at who He is, how He cares for me, and what He has called me to do.
I know that I know that I know that I can trust Jesus with my whole life and I am willing to walk in obedience.
As a child of God, you are called to advance God’s reign on earth. When you accept that calling, your life takes on great eternal value. “Because of sin, the world is corrupted. It turned God’s creation upside down. There is no one who could be called God’s people nor is there any place that is God’s place. No one. No where. Worse yet, God gives wayward man rules to live by but we reject them. Thus, judgment is upon the earth.” (This is paraphrased from a Bible study, From Beginning To Forever, by Elizabeth Woodson, page 39) But, praise God He gives us a but, Jesus came to resurrect what is now dead!
Follow Jesus and learn to trust and obey, and God takes your life that has no earthly value and makes you a heir to His Kingdom. Your life is no longer living on a shelf ready to expire. You are now a participant of heaven while on earth. Are your ready to sit and listen? Are your ready to learn a new way of living? The old is gone and the new has come; see 2 Corinthians 5:17.
You will also need to get comfortable with two C words. God needs for you to get honest about your sins with Him. You must confess them. Then there is conviction, you need a talking to. God will speak truth to you as a loving Father. He will help you become who you were meant to be, His own son or daughter.
So, what do you want to achieve in your life? What is important to you?
