Active and Fulfilled
Active and Fulfilled
If you read this article regularly, you know it is often born out of current conversations mixed with lessons I have learned through the struggles of life. This month is no different.
Transitions in life can be difficult, and I believe one of the hardest transitions we make is moving from the world's way of thinking to the way of Jesus Christ. It takes time because God isn't simply changing what we do. He is changing the patterns of how we think and respond.
When God begins changing us, there are things we once did that we no longer want or desire. There are habits, behaviors, and patterns we begin leaving behind. And with that freedom comes something we may not expect: Space.
The things that once occupied our thoughts, energy, and time no longer have the same hold on us. That newfound space feels wonderfully freeing -- and it is. But it can also become a problem if we don't fill it with things that will help us grow in our newfound faith. I have watched people return to old habits and lifestyles because they never developed new patterns to replace them. Eventually, the very things from which they had found freedom began pulling at them again. Real change requires more than simply stopping an old behavior. We must be willing to learn a new way of living.
Growing up, I didn't always appreciate the obedience my parents expected from me. In fact, I tested those limits quite a bit! But my testing didn't cause my parents to change what they believed was right for me.
Scripture tells us that even Jesus, in the flesh, demonstrated obedience: "Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation." -Hebrews 5:8–9
Jesus is our example, and He will help us form new patterns of thinking.
Paul writes that we are to be "taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" in 2 Corinthians 10:5.
So what do we do with the space created when God changes our habits, desires, and patterns of life?
The answer is simple to say and sometimes difficult to live: We fill it by seeking Him.
"Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." -Psalm 34:14
"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug." -Isaiah 51:1
Over the last few years, I have lost a number of family members, and those losses have caused me to realize a couple of things. First and foremost, each one of us has a number of days given to us by God, and we don't know what that number is. That does not make me scared or worried about death. Instead, it reminds me that what I do with the time God gives me matters. It makes me want to use that time well, to know Him more deeply, and to seek His purpose and plan for my life.
Second, I have realized that God does not desire for me to live busy and bothered. He desires for me to be active and fulfilled. There is a tremendous difference. Busy and bothered keeps me occupied. Active and fulfilled gives my activity purpose.
As Jesus heals and changes me, I begin to understand that my purpose isn't to develop my own plans for Him. My purpose is to understand who I am in Jesus and allow Him to fulfill His plan through my life.
Watchman Nee expressed it beautifully: "I do not consecrate myself to be a missionary or a preacher. I consecrate myself to God to do His will where I am, be it in school, office, or kitchen, or wherever He may, in His wisdom, send me."
After a recent conversation about these things, someone asked me a very good question: “So how do I begin living an active and fulfilled life?"
I think it is simpler than we sometimes make it. Seek to discover something new about God every day. Through the Bible and the power of the Holy Spirit, seek to know Him more deeply and intimately. It may sound like a cliché, but reading, studying, and praying through the Word of God is powerful.
Surround yourself with people who have already walked this road. People who have genuinely pursued God will not merely tell you about it -- you will see it lived out in front of you. This isn't knowledge gathered from the internet or social media. This is real life, lived by real people. Get to know them. Learn from them.
Then become an active participant yourself. Serve. Share your newfound freedom with others. Find a church that will receive you just as you are while also challenging you to grow in your relationship with God and with others.
Christ did not set us free merely so we could become busy filling the empty spaces. He set us free so that we could seek Him, know Him, serve Him, and discover the life He created us to live.
May God bless you as you seek Him:
"The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." -Mark 12:29b–31
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Dan
If you read this article regularly, you know it is often born out of current conversations mixed with lessons I have learned through the struggles of life. This month is no different.
Transitions in life can be difficult, and I believe one of the hardest transitions we make is moving from the world's way of thinking to the way of Jesus Christ. It takes time because God isn't simply changing what we do. He is changing the patterns of how we think and respond.
When God begins changing us, there are things we once did that we no longer want or desire. There are habits, behaviors, and patterns we begin leaving behind. And with that freedom comes something we may not expect: Space.
The things that once occupied our thoughts, energy, and time no longer have the same hold on us. That newfound space feels wonderfully freeing -- and it is. But it can also become a problem if we don't fill it with things that will help us grow in our newfound faith. I have watched people return to old habits and lifestyles because they never developed new patterns to replace them. Eventually, the very things from which they had found freedom began pulling at them again. Real change requires more than simply stopping an old behavior. We must be willing to learn a new way of living.
Growing up, I didn't always appreciate the obedience my parents expected from me. In fact, I tested those limits quite a bit! But my testing didn't cause my parents to change what they believed was right for me.
Scripture tells us that even Jesus, in the flesh, demonstrated obedience: "Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation." -Hebrews 5:8–9
Jesus is our example, and He will help us form new patterns of thinking.
Paul writes that we are to be "taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" in 2 Corinthians 10:5.
So what do we do with the space created when God changes our habits, desires, and patterns of life?
The answer is simple to say and sometimes difficult to live: We fill it by seeking Him.
"Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." -Psalm 34:14
"Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug." -Isaiah 51:1
Over the last few years, I have lost a number of family members, and those losses have caused me to realize a couple of things. First and foremost, each one of us has a number of days given to us by God, and we don't know what that number is. That does not make me scared or worried about death. Instead, it reminds me that what I do with the time God gives me matters. It makes me want to use that time well, to know Him more deeply, and to seek His purpose and plan for my life.
Second, I have realized that God does not desire for me to live busy and bothered. He desires for me to be active and fulfilled. There is a tremendous difference. Busy and bothered keeps me occupied. Active and fulfilled gives my activity purpose.
As Jesus heals and changes me, I begin to understand that my purpose isn't to develop my own plans for Him. My purpose is to understand who I am in Jesus and allow Him to fulfill His plan through my life.
Watchman Nee expressed it beautifully: "I do not consecrate myself to be a missionary or a preacher. I consecrate myself to God to do His will where I am, be it in school, office, or kitchen, or wherever He may, in His wisdom, send me."
After a recent conversation about these things, someone asked me a very good question: “So how do I begin living an active and fulfilled life?"
I think it is simpler than we sometimes make it. Seek to discover something new about God every day. Through the Bible and the power of the Holy Spirit, seek to know Him more deeply and intimately. It may sound like a cliché, but reading, studying, and praying through the Word of God is powerful.
Surround yourself with people who have already walked this road. People who have genuinely pursued God will not merely tell you about it -- you will see it lived out in front of you. This isn't knowledge gathered from the internet or social media. This is real life, lived by real people. Get to know them. Learn from them.
Then become an active participant yourself. Serve. Share your newfound freedom with others. Find a church that will receive you just as you are while also challenging you to grow in your relationship with God and with others.
Christ did not set us free merely so we could become busy filling the empty spaces. He set us free so that we could seek Him, know Him, serve Him, and discover the life He created us to live.
May God bless you as you seek Him:
"The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." -Mark 12:29b–31
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Dan
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