I used to believe that there was a massive divide between the sacred and the secular. I didn't think I was fulfilling God's call for my life or advancing the Kingdom if I wasn't doing something in the local church i.e. leading a Bible study, attending a prayer meeting or praying with someone at a service. I was so frustrated that I was working in the "world" and not able to do "full time" ministry. In my mind, my work from Monday to Friday was secular and my "here and there" involvement with church stuff was sacred. Boy, I could not wait to be "promoted" to full time ministry where I could serve the Lord, do Kingdom stuff, all the time. Until then, frustration. I want my life to count for something. If it means selling everything and starting an orphanage in India, then so be it! But surely not stuck here, in East London, doing what I'm doing. Surely!!??
The truth, I'm beginning to discover, is totally different. The Kingdom of God is not the local church and doing His will and fulfilling His call for my life isn't just restricted to the four walls of the church every now and then. In fact, if I'm being who God has made me and using my 'talents' to benefit others, then I am indeed advancing His Kingdom and doing His will. Sacred and secular?? No such thing.
What are the things that I love to do, the things that I'm good at, the things that make me shout "Eureka!" on the inside when I do them? The call of God, the will of God, his good deeds planned for me to do and fulfill while here on earth are not miserable, boring or heavy. On the contrary, they are satisfying, bring joy and they are there to enrich the lives of everyone around me. It's extremely fulfilling and satisfying. And they bring Him pleasure!
Holy Spirit is teaching me and showing me that his purposes for my life aren't coming in the future. They here. They now. I'm doing them. And if I'm not, why not? Go for it. Hit it for a 6. Go wild. Be who I am. Be who He created me to be; and be loud while doing it. Don't hold back. He wants me to blaze paths for others to follow. The most unexpected people will follow. The character, the personality he has given me; the market place environment that He has placed me in, is no accident. I will blaze my path. Just be. Stop trying to mold and change into what I think I need to be in order to be used, in order to be effective. Just be. Just be who I am. He likes me. He likes who He has made me to be. BE!! Just be.
Paul had the following to say to the Colossian Christians:
"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."
He spent the first few chapters telling them who they were. And from their identity, came their responsibility. It's out of our identity hat we get purpose. And then from there he said the most profound statement:
"And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Do know what "whatever" means in Greek?? It means "whatever".
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