Do you enjoy
going to the movies? Jim and I enjoy a
good movie, but we went more often when we were younger and could find what
we’d call a “good” family type movie.
Occasionally
though, we’ll find one that appeals. We’re not ones to stick around after the
lights go out to watch the credits, but lately I’ve been noticing that some
people do. They stay in their seats until all the credits have rolled and the lights go up completely. I wonder
why. Are they looking for the name of
someone they know? Are they checking to
see if that guy in the yellow hat was the same guy who played the cop in last
week’s episode of their favorite TV show?
Maybe some day I’ll ask someone.
While on my
way to Walmart today I heard a radio pastor give an intriguing movie illustration,
followed by this question: If your life
was a movie, would you be the star, or would you find yourself with just a bit
part, your name not even in the credits?
Most people, I think, would be inclined to answer, well, if it’s the
movie of MY life, of course I’d be the star!
I’d be the most important person in it!
Everything would revolve around my milestones, my decisions, my
relationships, my actions and how they all affect ME! His question started me thinking:
Is that what my life looks like? Is that how I want to live it, with me at the
center? Is that consistent with my Christian faith?
A small
group of women has been meeting at my home this fall to study Nancy Guthrie’s
book, The Lamb of God: Seeing Jesus in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers
and Deuteronomy. It has been a
wonderful study, giving us a much expanded view of what the Lord had been doing
in that day to make Himself known, how it all points to Jesus, and how it
impacts our lives as Christians today.
This week,
in reference to Deuteronomy 6, verse 5:
You shall love the LORD
your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
we were
asked the question:
What does it
mean to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? In other words, what does it mean to make GOD
and not ME the star of my life’s story?
I had to
think about that long and hard. The
author helped get me started. She said:
· “(Loving) the Lord with all our heart” – means that nothing, and no one else, competes with
our affections.
I have so
many things that compete with God for my affections – my children, my husband,
my desire to do things MY way even if it contradicts His, my love for establishing
my own priorities for my time, money, the use of my gifts. My affections hold such sway over me, their
pull so strong – and immediate – and sometimes urgent – that I can drift far
from fixing my affections on God.
Because the
things that hold our affections are right HERE, in our face, as it were, putting
God before them requires intentionality, a reordering of priorities over other
affections, time, money, gifts, in order to give Him first place in our lives.
· “(Loving) the Lord with all our mind” – means facing up to my stubborn blind spots and
willful ignorance.
Got any stubborn
blind spots? What are they? In this last year alone, the Lord has brought
me face to face with the pride that causes me to think I know the BEST way to
do things, over someone else’s not wrong, but different, way. It leads to a bossiness and arrogance that
isn’t pretty.
He’s opened
my eyes to all the ways in which I sin with my mind – in judgment over someone
else who is just different in personality.
He’s convicted me of the ways in which I use the intelligence He’s given
me to pursue things (books, TV programs, conversations) that tear me and others
down. Walking in stubbornness and
willfulness, using my mind in ways that don’t draw me closer to the Lord – all these
things force God into a lesser place in my life’s story.
· “(Loving) the Lord with all our soul” – means that God’s glory radiates into and out of my
being.
When I am consistently
studying the Bible and talking about it with friends, God’s glory radiates into
my being – fanning the flames of love for Him, and hope, joy and praise. His glory within, can't help but radiate out from
me as well – in joy spilling over, in words of praise, in a heart full of expectation
of all He has for me in the life to come, as well as in this one, shared with
others as we study. When I neglect God’s
word, I slowly but surely forget the joy of knowing Him, and just as slowly but
surely, I begin to take center stage in my story again. The result:
God’s glory radiating into me is hampered, and His glory radiating out
from me is as well.
· “(Loving) the Lord will all our strength” – means not allowing anything
trivial or temporal to sap me of strength or focus on loving and trusting Him.
Does worry
sap you of strength the way it saps me? Does
fear? Every time I give in to fear or worry,
focusing my mind on my current difficult or fearful circumstances, I stop
focusing on the sovereignty of my God, who is in control of ALL things – and those
circumstances, with their accompanying fear and worry, become the star of my
story. Loving the Lord with ALL my
strength requires a change of focus – from the circumstances to the God who is
above them all – and has it all in hand.
People have
speculated that one day when we stand before God at the judgment, He will roll
the film of the story of our lives for all to see. The Bible doesn’t say exactly that, but it does
say that one day when we stand before God, we will give an account of ourselves
to Him. When the "film" of your life story is rolled, who will be the star?
On that day,
I venture that there will be a very few who will be able to stand before the
Lord and say they kept Him always at the center of their life’s story. I KNOW I don't! But I can’t think of a more worthy goal for
living our lives in the here and now than the one the Lord Himself gave us:
Love the Lord your God with ALL your
heart, ALL your mind, ALL your soul, and ALL your strength.
In other
words God says, make ME the star of your life's story. If we want to pursue the goal of knowing and loving God with all that is in us, it might require some changes - in our affections, in the way we use our minds, in the way we enrich and feed our souls, in where we look for strength. It will require intentionality and some life changes.
We are on the verge of a new year. Let's challenge ourselves as this new year breaks, to make the changes necessary, in the power of God, to make HIM the center of our life's story.
“Not to us, O Lord, not
to us, but to Your name be glory, because of Your great love and faithfulness.”
Psalm 115, verse 1
