Last week, Lindsay and I went to Frankenmuth, MI, in celebration of our tenth anniversary and saw some of the neatest snow and ice sculptures. They were awesome.Although beautiful, impressive, and awe-inspiring, they reminded me that we need to make sure that we are being built into a spiritual house that will last. So often, we spend our times on things that will just melt away. Video games, pointless hours reading the national news, Facebook and other internet addictions, watching television, or reading books does not help us to build God’s kingdom unless we intentionally allow them to be used as such. And some activities just have no room at all in kingdom building. I understand that there needs to be time for rejuvenating
yourself, goofing off, enjoying a movie, and just relaxing. That’s not what I am talking about. What is your life focused on? What do you spend most of your time building? Are we really allowing God to do with us what He wills? To be a Christian means that my whole life is freely and joyfully given to God. Paul explained it, “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Cor 5:14-15). We no longer live for ourselves.
We live in a society that has watered-down the gospel into a religion that is palatable. You can have Jesus and keep your life too. That goes against this passage and so many others in Scripture. Following Jesus is not just about saying a prayer, getting baptized, or any other act of initiation. It's not about getting a fire insurance policy or having your ticket punched for the grand show. It’s about surrendering your whole life, every ounce of your being. It’s about letting him use us to build whatever He wants to build.
