Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Romans 12:11 NIV
When I first came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I was what seasoned Christians would call “on fire” for the Lord. This term just means that, out of the overwhelming gratitude I had for His mercy and forgiveness, I was extremely grateful, extremely excited and willing to serve God in anyway I possibly could.
As we move on in our spiritual walks, however, we become more mature, but often times we become less fervent and less “on fire” in serving God.
We haven’t necessarily fallen back into our old lifestyle of sin, but we certainly get caught up in the numbing of day-to-day things and before you know it, we have drifted away a little and we are even attending church out of duty and obligation. As a result, our Inner light gets a little dim and we don’t shine as brightly for him, as we once did.
Now, we can all come up with every excuse under the sun for why this happens. We’re so busy with work or we’re so busy with raising our children or we’re so busy with church, that we don’t have the time or the energy to shine brightly.
Where work is concerned, we have to do a self examination and ask ourselves what we’re working for. Are we working as hard as we can because were commanded to do everything as though we are doing it for the Lord (Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, Colossians 3:23)? Are we working, not for ourselves but, because that’s our mission field and we’re glorifying God, in hopes that those around us will come to know Him (But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Acts 20:24)? Or are we working so hard because we live above our means and are trying to acquire the newest and best material things, that may temporarily impress the world but that moths and rust will destroy (“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, Matthew 6:19)?
If we’re too busy raising our children to do the things that God is calling us to do, or to glorify Him boldly, I would encourage you/us to pray harder than we ever have before, for their souls and their well being. I would also hope that if that’s the case, we would do a self examination to determine whether or not we may have made our children and/or our spouse an idol and have put them above God. We should also examine whether we are making ourselves idols to our children. We are called to raise our children up in the way that they should go (Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6) and we will stand before God and give an account for how well we’ve done that (So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Romans 14:12). If our main concern is how well they do academically or how successful they are at athletics or how well mannered they are, we’ve done nothing to secure their salvation, we’ve done nothing to put in perspective who God is, we’ve done nothing to help them rely on Him. If our children don’t see God as a priority in our lives and they don’t see fellowship and service and commitment to God as a priority they are a lot less likely to ever come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Why would we risk their eternity with us, to ensure that we have nice playtime with them in this brief life. Trust me, we will wish that we had done more to ensure that they had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the first time we get a helpless phone call from them and we can’t be there or help. I guarantee those are the times of our greatest regrets.
Then there is our “service” to God. Sometimes we delude ourselves into thinking the busier we are for God the more pleased He must be with us. Again, we need to do some self examination. Are we serving God out of obedience and gratitude or are we being a people pleaser (For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10). Are we serving God out of obedience and gratitude or are we just glorifying ourselves? (“Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. Matthew 23:12).
God wants quality not quantity from us. We are to strive to be like Jesus. No where in the scripture do we see Him rushing around frantically trying to accomplish more than the Father asked or required (So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. John 5:19). If we will rely on the Holy Spirit’s leading, consult God (before we say yes), are obedient to Him and spend time with Him, then He will order our steps and direct our paths (Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6).
We have all of eternity to praise and worship God. We have just this short life to serve and glorify Him. We have just this short life to be used by Him to rescue souls from the enemies grasp (including our children/grandchildren) and from the fires of hell, through God’s forgiveness, mercy and grace. Are we stewarding our time well? Are God’s glorification and the souls of those we love, and who surround us, a priority in our lives? Are the eternal souls of our children (and/or grandchildren) as important to us as our mommy or daddy image is? Are those we work with impressed by the things that we own and the places we go? Or are they impressed by the peace and joy that we exhibit because Jesus Christ is Lord of our Lives?
Frantic and busy lives are not what God planned for us. He desires to give us peace. He desires to give us hope. He desires that we would spend time with Him. He desires that we would have no gods other than Him. He desires that we would glorify Him with this earthly life. He desires that He could use us to draw others to Himself and away from the enemy’s grasp.
I pray that today God would stoke our spiritual fires. Set us ablaze for you Jesus!! I pray that He would remind us how desperately those that we love, those that we work with, our neighbors, our family (especially our precious children and grandchildren) need to see Him in us. I pray that their eternal lives would become such a burden to us that we would be unable to resist telling them about our Savior. I pray that our presence and even the sound of our voice would point them to Jesus. I pray that out of the magnitude of our love and overwhelming gratitude we would begin to serve God with the fervency that we once did and/or that He deserves. And I pray that we will repent for the time that we have wasted. And that we would be ON FIRE for Him like never before
If you you are living life, moment by moment or like a rat on a wheel and if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, I pray that you would go to our Life Preserver page (https://forgiven-n-loved.com/life-preserver/) right now and pray the prayer that’s outlined there. God wants to order your steps and your life, He wants to forgive you, give you eternal life, and use you to rescue others from the consequences of their sin and eternity in hell. Please pray this prayer, the love of our heavenly Father, that you will experience is like nothing you’ve ever known. Once you’ve prayed that prayer, please reach out to me and let me know so that I can be in prayer for you.
Luv ya!
