"In everything, give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18
"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: Love your neighbor as yourself." Mark 12:30-31
I think I'm finally figuring it out. Only took 35 years. Well...I think I've known this for some time, but somehow on this road of life, I lost my focus...lost my way...took my eyes off Him and put them back on me.
It happens subtly and sneakily. The enemy is best at this...getting our eyes off of what life is really about and distracting us with...well...ourselves.
ME.
Really my worst enemy. When my eyes are focused on me...it's horrible.
Insecurity
Discontentment
Jealousy
Grumbling
Complaint after complaint
It's enough to give you a stomachache...and high blood pressure...and...well, you name it. We can die from a whole life's focus on ourselves.
I started a journey of thankfulness almost two years ago. Didn't realize how far from having a thankful heart I was. It started with God leading me to Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts". She talks about counting the gifts...writing down all things big and small that God gives us...miracles, proofs of his love, things that we love...every day. And there are thousands to count...sounds simple enough.
It is...but when you've cultivated a heart of self...it is hard to change it. It's like you have to go through a sort of death before you can really have this new heart.
And the world is no help. This human race is hopelessly self-absorbed. And I hate to say it, but it must be said; The body of Christ is no better. If you stop and think...everywhere, everything is nudging us to be about us. Those of us who are Christian parents think, "Well...I am not about me. I am about my kids. Family comes first." What a load of heresy. First of all...who are we kidding. We are about us when we are all about our kids. It screams from Facebook and Twitter and Christmas Cards: "Look at us! Look what my kid did! Look at what a great mom I am!" I am sorry to say it, but I think we grieve the Lord more than we ever dreamed.
This year, it became so clear. It was so simple...just the most famous verse in the new testament. Just Christianity boiled down into two simple things:
1. Love the Lord with every single part of you...in any and every way...love HIM.
I think that means...He gets the credit...He gets my trust...He gets to receive my 1000 thanks. I talk to Him all throughout the day...call on Him in weakness...praise Him in victory...soak myself, nourish myself in His word. I walk through the day looking for ways to love Him...not me.
2. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Here's the real rub. People are annoying. They are constantly in the way...not doing things the way I want them to...putting speed bumps in the middle of my wonderfully constructed plans. But I think Jesus was giving us a hint at how we carry out this loving the Lord with everything. We do it by loving the other humans...annoying as they are. We try to look into their eyes...feel their pain...empathize with the fact that they are probably annoyed too...and we pour love on them. Not too hard...really...a smile...a gesture of putting them ahead of us...waving them into your lane on the freeway. Walking through the day looking for who I can love...where I can love someone else.
Guess what happens when we begin to practice these three things:
Thankfulness
Love God
Love Others
Our heart softens, changes, goes through a type of metamorphosis from the stone it was into a heart of flesh that the Lord can use...and bless.
When you are thankful and pouring out love...you stop worrying about your own situation...the stomachache slowly goes away...and somehow, though your life's situation hasn't changed a bit, your heart begins to swell with joy and peace.
It's so simple...embarrassingly simple...yet so true. It really is the secret to life.
