Fueling the Flame

What might the new decade of 2020 have in store for you?  Strangely enough, while we don’t know what is ahead, yet the reality is you and I are in the driver’s seat.  It is like a sports game.  There is no certainty as to who will walk away with a win.  On the other hand, the team that best prepares their skill set with excellence, maintains an optimistic and authentic team spirit, is flexible in responding to whatever comes their way, and each team player is determined to do their very best, that team has the upper hand on experiencing a win.  By that I mean how you prepare yourself to respond to opportunities or tragedies in in your hands, no one else’s.  You know going into it there will be bumps in the road (even chug holes!), and there will be golden opportunities.  Each will be what you make of them.  I’ve learned a vital key for myself is to prepare by practicing a close relationship with the One who already is in tomorrow because He knows the best path through the obstacle course.   

Paul gives us some elementary ground rules for preparing for tomorrow.  He wrote, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (Romans 12:1, ESV).  For most of us, it is our natural sin nature packaged in our bodies that will be the source of the lion’s share of the distracting, potentially defeating experiences.  Think about it, how much do you sacrifice your body to God?  OK, how about consistently exercising through the whole year to fulfill your New Year’s resolution?  What normally stops you?  Most would say things like “my time doesn’t allow it.”   The reality is we find time to do what we want to do even when our body is tired.  Hunters get up early in the morning, go out and sit in a cold tree stand in freezing weather, to try to shoot a deer.  Interestingly, they will sacrifice their body to hunt but not exercise their body. 

So, what would presenting your body as a living sacrifice to God look like in your eating or exercise habits, gossiping tongue, lustful eye (gals lust involves more than sex doesn’t it?), neglecting the reading of His word, or righteous time management?  Your body triggers all kinds of camouflaged justifications or excuses to do whatever is more preferable, comfortable, productive, or pleasurable.  It is the struggle to overcome those defenses that is interpreted as an authentic living sacrifice in God’s eyes.  

New Year’s resolutions in themselves are like taking two aspirin to fix your appendix that is about to burst.  A more sustainable motivation for a resolution would be to take the first three months to intentionally fuel the flickering flame of hunger that you do have to know God more deeply.  The result would be an enflamed passion for knowing and loving God having reached a new level.  Because our behavior follows the passion in our heart, we would naturally want to sacrifice our body unto God to eat healthy (and smaller portions), exercise our body, etc.  These behaviors would become our expression of love to Him just as mowing the lawn or washing clothes is an expression of love for our spouse or family. 

I’ve been musing on words I heard in a book that I’ve been listening to as I drive.  Thomas Watson, an old Puritan wrote, “The first fruit of love is the musing of the mind on God. He who is in love, his thoughts are ever upon the object. He who loves God is ravished and transported with the contemplation of God.”  That means to me, giving into that wisp of a whisper of an inner desire to chase after God is how I can show myself and God that I DO love Him.  When He sees you expressing THAT love, He will add His inspiration to draw you closer to Him. 

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