What God Wants of You

A young man once ask Jesus about the greatest commandment. And one of the two answers is “Love the Lord yourGod with all your heart and with all your soul and withall your strength and with all your mind’ …Luke 10:27

With All Your Mind

My mind is busy reading all the current events. My mind is busy looking at the lives of other people in Facebook. My mind is busy watching the trending TV series or watching the latest movie. So busy that I barely have time to meditate on the Bible and pray in solitude. So busy that I barely have time to think about the welfare of others that God wants me to serve.

With all Your Heart

My heart is filled with lots of longings. At one point, I wanted to be famous. I wanted to come across as glamorous. One who has is all. Who has the best of both worlds: stay-at-home-mom but one who can travel the world at will. One who has important functions to attend to where I can get dolled up and just bask in my importance.

I also wanted to be the better mom. I was too busy paying attention to what other moms are doing wrong. Some of my concerns were legitimate. Until it came to the point of arrogance where I thought what would come of the world if I can’t share to them about breastfeeding, of harm of formula feeding, and good parenting?

My heart was also filled with the need to come across as good and nice to other ministry workers in the church. I busied myself with work and prided my ‘accomplishment’. Until I was satisfied with my accomplishment, I begin to compare myself with other ministry workers. Oh, I had to feel better so I nitpick them in my heart.

I love fashion. Oh so much to buy and not enough budget to go along with. If I could just add another dress to my wardrobe, I’d be satiated. And make-up! If I could just have that no make-up make-up look, if I could just have that perfectly clear complexion, I’ll be all right. If I were to go after my heart’s desire, 5k a month just for make-up alone is a minimum budget.

With all Your Strength

And so my strength is spent proving I’m a better person to people who are not really paying attention. My strength is spent earning money to achieve that glamorous look. My strength is spent convincing other moms that they are killing their babies with formula and I hope it kills them with guilt as well.

With all Your Soul

And what of my soul? It’s lost in the chaos of how I spent my strength, of what my heart and my mind is preoccupied.

LOVING GOD

God demands that our world should revolve around Him and nothing less. That every thought, every desire, every plan, every move should be all in aligned with the important knowledge of  2 Corinthians:18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.

And what is that ministry of reconciliation? That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:19).

Anywhere in life, whatever my profession, when I do something, I have to ask these questions:

1. What is my purpose for doing this? Is it with the aim of reconciling these people I meet to God? If not, what is my motive? If my reason is I need a break or need to be happy, then recognize the implication of that answer: that I am not happy. What is causing my unhappiness? What is and who is the source of my happiness that I am replete of it?

1. What are my priorities in life? Is it in the order of God-spouse-child-work-ministry? How do my spend your time? Time is my treasure. Where my treasure is there my heart will be also. And how do I spend my money? My money is my treasure. Do I work with the thought of being able to monetarily contribute to the ministry of God? Or do I work because you want to get ahead in life, want to buy those things I wanted so much? If so, where is my priority in that? I may think that God is my priority just because I go to church. I may think that God is my priority just because I give tithes (even though sometimes unwillingly). I may think that God is my priority just because I handle a small group half-heartedly and just so my church won’t think that I’m not growing spiritually. It would be a shame if they’d think I still don’t have the fruits of the holy spirit being a Christian for so long. But I can only fool myself for too long. Who is my priority? What is my priority?
2. Do I intentionally parent my child so my child would come to know God with all his heart, mind, strength and soul? Or do I parent with the mindset of having no other choice? What would the other parents think if I have an unruly child? What would other parents think if you have less than performing child?
3. Do I make friends with people with the intent of someday reconciling them to God or do I make friends in hopes of getting a favor from them?
4. Do I do my job well with the intent that I want to please God with my job and want my job to be a living testimony of how great my God is in my life? Or do I do my job well to impress other people with how good I am? Or is it because I are vying for promotion so much, so that later I can flaunt my position to other people? And with that promotion comes financial gains. Now I can show them with new car and gadgets and house and what an accomplished person I am.

If your answer to any one of these question shows that you do not prioritize God, then you are putting God in a sideline in your life instead of making him the lead actor in your life. You are not loving him the way he wants to be loved. And you are far away from your purpose. So terribly far. It will make you chase after things that it will suck out the life out of you.