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#ThrowbackThursday — This post originally published June 4, 2010.
Living a life for Christ means building the character of God inside of you, letter by letter, word by word, page by page. As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you. (Eph 4:22-24 MSG). As you grow in Christ, your life changes from a collection of misspelled words that don’t make sense to characters that spell out a holy life in Christ. When you break down the word Holy into its individual letters H-O-L-Y, it shows the characters you need to bring glory to God instead of yourself:
H: Honor
The tendency of the world is to bring honor to self instead of Jesus. When we follow Christ, we seek to bring honor to God. John writes in 12:26 “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, My Father will honor.” (NKJV) It is by God’s will that you were created and it is He that deserves honor by living your life for Christ. Remind yourself each day that God is worthy of honor and praise with Revelation 4:11: “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. For You created all things and by Your will they exist and were created.”
O: Offer
Do you offer what you do each day to God, or is it all about you? When we act on our faith and offer our time and resources to Christ, we are working to build his kingdom instead of riches in this temporal world. “You also, as living stones, are being built up into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5).” It is a life that replaces self with service to others for Christ. “Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all (Phil. 2:17).”
L: Love
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength (Mark 12:30).” When the love of Christ permeates your entire life, he becomes the focal point, not your selfish desires. Love for Him gives you the ability to do things you could not do on your own. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you (Matt. 5:43).” The love of God is shown through you and your love of Christ. “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:35).”
Y: Yearning
With Christ as the love of your life, you yearn for others to know Him; you yearn for fellowship with God. Before Jesus was crucified, he said to his disciples, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer (Luke 22:15).” Paul repeatedly expressed a yearning to spread the gospel. “So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us (1 Thess. 2:8).” In Romans 10:1 he says, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.”
By bringing honor to God, offering your life to Him, loving God and yearning for fellowship with Him, you will have the character to live a holy life.
Have you ever planned all the details of a trip and then nothing goes as planned the moment you start the trip? First you’re stuck in a traffic jam on the way to the airport; then you get a flat tire; then you miss your flight because you’re late arriving at the airport. Road block after road block seems to stop you at every move. It’s aggravating when things don’t go as we planned, but do we look at these delays as God trying to get our attention?
This is what I thought about when I read Numbers 22:1-35. In this passage Balak, the king of Moab, summoned Balaam to put a curse on Israel to stop them from conquering his country. Balaam refused to go per God’s command. Then Balak tried to summon him a second time and this time God instructed Balaam to go with Balak’s officials. However, on his way to Moab, Balaam’s donkey stopped him from traveling three separate times. Balaam snapped and resorted to beating his donkey for delaying him. In the midst of this the donkey spoke and suddenly Balaam realized the angel of the Lord was in the middle of the road ready to strike him down.
The angel told Balaam, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me.” Suddenly Balaam paid attention to God. Embarrassed by his angry outburst over these simple delays, he admitted his sin and offered to turnaround. But the angel told him, “Go with the men, but speak only what I tell you.” Balaam is about to be tempted with many riches to curse Israel so God reinforced to Balaam the importance of not making snap decisions and only speaking the word of God.
How many times do we proceed recklessly with our lives and our own interpretation of what God wants us to do? We saddle up our donkey and press on toward the destination where God is leading us with our own ideas, ill-prepared for trials that await us. Then we get angry when things occur that stop us from moving forward. Instead of recognizing God is trying to get our attention, we lash out until suddenly our eyes are opened so we clearly see God. In those moments we need do as Balaam did and recognize our sinful behavior and our need for full submission to God; to lay down our selfish pride and recognize that we need to wait patiently and only do what God instructs us to do.
I would like to say that I am always ready to respond to God’s call with a positive attitude, but that would be far from the truth. There are days when I feel discouraged and beaten down by the world; days when I am fed up with grumbling people complaining about everything. So when I read Numbers 20:1-13, I could relate to how Moses was feeling when God showed him how to provide water to the Israelites.
From the moment Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt he endured endless grumbling, often pointed at him. We see the same old complaints in this chapter: “Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness (verse 3, NIV)? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place (4)?” Why? Why? Why? It is enough to make anyone angry. Who could blame Moses for letting off a little steam?
At first Aaron and Moses responded to these complaints with the right attitude by falling facedown before the Lord at the tent of meeting (6). The Lord appears to them and tells them to take the staff, speak to the rock, and water will pour out “so they and their livestock can drink (8).” However, when Moses gathered the assembly before the rock he snapped and said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock (10)?” Then Moses struck the rock and water gushed out for all to drink (11).
This show of anger was not exactly what God asked Moses to do. In return for this outburst God tells Moses, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them (12).” Because of his actions Moses missed out on the promised land.
Verse 12 caused me to stop and consider how I represent God to those around me. I contemplated what I might be missing by not controlling my anger. Do I trust God enough to follow his ways or do I take matters into my own hands? Do I honor God as holy in the sight of others or do I let my frustration mar my witness to others? I wonder how many times I missed out on blessing others with God’s love and grace because I let my anger guide my actions?
Today is Father’s Day, a day to also recognize God our Father. We are His children. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:27 NIV) We are his creation. It is right to set aside this day for God our Father. “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 7:11) He is worthy of thanks. “Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Eph. 5:20) We should give him honor not just in our words but in our deeds. “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Col.3:17) Honoring God with service to others in need. “This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.” (2 Cor. 9:12) He has given us new life through his son Jesus. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3) Our life should glorify God. “You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (1 Cor 6:20) His love for us is eternal. “Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:26) Let us praise him forever and ever.
Happy Father’s Day, God!
