Devotion Thought of the Day…

 ²⁶  From one human being he created all races of people and made them live throughout the whole earth. He himself fixed beforehand the exact times and the limits of the places where they would live. ²⁷  He did this so that they would look for him, and perhaps find him as they felt around for him. Yet God is actually not far from any one of us; ²⁸  as someone has said, ‘In him we live and move and exist.’ It is as some of your poets have said, ‘We too are his children.’    Acts 17:26-28 (TEV)

There are a couple of young guys I get to interact with once in a while.  ( I get to interact with others, but this morning I am thinking and praying for these two. )  Like I was at their age, I want to change the world, or at least a small section of it.  Yet, like them, I wandered through careers, trying to find that place where I could not just excel at what I did, but find some kind of contentment at it.

I got to talk to one yesterday, the other, well I will hopefully see him soon.

But I feel both have a call to ministry.  They are avoiding it, and well I was there too, once upon a time.  Matter of fact, I can be pretty good at avoiding God still.  Pretty simple for a pastor – the more we minister to others, the more we don’t allow God to minister to us.

But this blog entry isn’t about them or about me, it’s about all of us, and what we try to avoid.  It is not about serving either – well one of the fringe benefits of realizing what this blog is about – well you will begin to desire to be more and more like Jesus, especially as He ministered to those who were, well, a little obstinate, a little desperate, pretty defensive, and well were sinners.  Because that’ what we were…when He found us.

This blog is too help us mature, but Christian maturity, as my young friends will realize, is less about becoming independent and self-sufficient.  It is, rather, about becoming dependent on God’s presence, on realizing He is with you – that your very life is found, in His presence, that He guides your movements, that because in Him we exist, He is never far from us.

I know most of us guys will grimace at the use of the word “intimacy”, but I have yet to find a word to describe this relationship that God has called us into.  But to try and accept this – even it is too much to comprehend –  God is with us.  We dwell, we live, everything we do is in His presence.   It is when we realize this, when we revel in it, when we dance with joy and abandon because we know His love… (like Snoopy)  that everything changes.  That we realize His promises, that we realize His providing for us and His protection.  That we take chances, that we sacrifice, that we endure – knowing, expecting, trusting that He has us in the palm of His hand.

It becomes the center of our existence, and everything else is measured – not by how many dollars we earn, or what we have, but simply – knowing God….

And it is there – in His presence, that we realize our true life, our true calling.

May S and K find that calling – that seems a bit obvious to us, and may we as well realize that where God has placed us, He has done so for a reason – it’s where He has chosen to dwell with us.

Godspeed!