We’ve all heard what Jesus said when he was asked which commandment is the greatest:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” -Matthew 22:37-40
We could spend the rest of our lives studying exactly how the whole law and all the prophets depend on those two commands: Love God and love others. Wow.
But for today I just have a simple meditation…
Life always has difficulty – no matter what season we’re in, no matter where we live, who we’re with or what we’re doing, there are disappointments, pressure-filled circumstances, and our own sinful flesh to deal with. We default to being focused on ourselves: Our wants, our expectations, our desires, our problems. On one hand, yeah, that makes sense – I have to live my life, no one else is going to live it for me, and I can’t live anyone else’s life for them. On the other hand, sin causes us to make our lives ultimate, the main thing, the most important thing in our limited view of the universe. We are tempted to think no one understands or that we are alone in our struggle.
I’ve struggled with thinking this way since coming home from the Race: You don’t understand what my year away from home was like; Why don’t you care?; Don’t you know how hard it was?; Don’t you know how hard it is for me to readjust?
My strategy to live faithfully to the Lord in response to that struggle is to serve: Volunteer at church and with other ministry opportunities; Invest in relationships in an intentional way; find ways to serve others in daily life. I’ve even managed to keep a decent consistency in the spiritual disciplines. And this is a wise, biblical strategy: In order to fight my selfish tendency to be focused only on myself and my struggles, turn my attention outward to love and serve others. That’s obedient. It honors God. One of the best questions to ask someone who is struggling with their situation in life is whether or not, or how they are serving others. I believe that.
However…
What did Jesus say is the greatest commandment? To love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Surely, loving and serving our neighbors is like unto that – it is a natural out-flowing of our love for God that we would love others.
But lately I think I’ve been trying to pull a Martha when I need to also, or maybe first, be a Mary.
John Piper says missions exists because worship doesn’t.
Paul Washer says that joy comes first, then obedience.
The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
Enjoy Him. Forever.
I’ve been failing to enjoy God, to find my joy in him, to just worship and be in awe of him.
In the difficult and struggle of life, if my solution is to serve others only to get my mind off myself and onto them, I’ve missed the main thing: To get my mind on God: His character. His infinite goodness. His accomplished work in Christ on the cross. His indwelling Holy Spirit. Everything about Him that makes Him worthy of my love, affection, and worship for all eternity! Only then does it make sense to go love and serve others. Loving and serving others should be a manifestation of our worship. Worship is primary, supreme, ultimate.
So wherever you’re at, whatever is bringing you pain, struggle, despair, my question isn’t, are you serving others? It’s, are you worshiping?
My World Race has ended, but my pilgrimage with the Lord has not. This blog is just me writing about the truths I’ve been meditating on lately… It’s not the end-all be-all conclusion of my Christian walk from whence everything else suddenly makes perfect sense. This is but a moment in my growth, it’s where I’m at today. I hope it might speak to where some of you are too. Here’s looking forward to the end of all things:
Revelations 5:11-13:
Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels in a circle around the throne, as well as the living creatures and the elders. Their number was ten thousand times ten thousand—thousands times thousands— all of whom were singing in a loud voice:
“Worthy is the lamb who was killed
to receive power and wealth
and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and praise!”
Then I heard every creature—in heaven, on earth, under the earth, in the sea, and all that is in them—singing:
“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise, honor, glory, and ruling power forever and ever!”
