“The devil loves it when we say we believe then prioritize everything in our lives ahead of God.” –AW Tozer
What is getting in the way?
So many things distract me from my commitment to God. As a believer, as a Christian I made a commitment to put Christ first in my life didn’t I? I said I would surrendered my life! What does that really look like? Why does the definition of surrender look different from how I live my life?
“Surrender” according to the dictionary;
- “Abandon oneself entirely to an influence.”
- “Cease resistance to an enemy or opponent and submit to their authority.”
What are those things that are getting in the way? What are the things that I prioritize ahead of my relationship with the God of the universe? So many times I have a desire to spend time with my God by reading, praying and studying but even in those moments things of this life get in the way and distract me! I can’t count the number of times I have opened my computer as a study tool and been distracted by Facebook, sports updates, music, movies, youtube, even blogs! I could even argue that right now at this very moment I’m avoiding study and time with my God, by being hip and informing my peeps about my struggles with sin. Oh how much easier and fun it is to be a hip/pop Christian posting on Twitter and blogs than it is to be faithful in my relationship with the worthy One. I’m being convicted even as I write…. You know the feeling when you realize you let someone down? Thats where Im at, and I pray you would be too. I’v let the most worthy friend down, the friend that won’t ever let me down.(Heb 13:5, Matt 28:20b) I’v failed by prioritizing other things in my life over the relationship that I made a commitment to. How long will I/we prioritize other things over the only relationship we really need? I pray we would start to remember the commitment we made to surrender all we have to the only One that offers us things better than this life.
While my understanding is growing of what it looks like to have nothing but Christ, I am struggling with this hard core… I love stuff, and my life. How do I live in the U.S. have a job, career, hobbies, goals and friends yet still count it all as loss in the shadow of Christ? How do I have life goals and seek for a debt free lifestyle without making that my life focus? Is security something Christ has for us as believers? or are we to live paycheck-to-paycheck? From the way things are going this is going to be a life long struggle for me, I just pray that I will continue to grow in my understanding and ability to surrender the things of this life.
The only way I can learn to die to the things my flesh desires is to give up and call on Christ. Dig deep into the word, spend my moments of free time talking with God. Asking for grace, commitment, and discipline. Wanna join me? Lets chat about this? Is there is a balance, or is that American Christianity?
As you can see I’m in the middle of this struggle, the questions and thoughts could go all day. Hope this helps you think through your lifestyle; biblical or not.
Francis Chan has a challenging view on how we are to live based on Prov 30: 7-9 Check it out;
-Jesse
Life On The Edge 
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Wow……thanks! This all is really good to remember. I totally know what you are talking about! Thanks for this post, keep up the good work,
Katie