still breathing

We all are trying to reach a destination. Happiness, success, eternity, popularity, etc. We follow people/things that will get us to our desired destination. By nature we are always looking for something pursue…something new to follow after. Somehow it’s not enough. We always need something else. It’s not enough because things that we follow tend to be misleading or promising life but failing to measure up because they aren’t leading us to Jesus.

So we talked about Jonah. Three chapters. Check it out. Basically about Jonah going the other direction of the signs God had placed for Him but when at last he chose to follow God’s direction, it lead a city to freedom.

The significance of Jesus’ birth is that it was the ultiamte sign of God’s involvement with humanity. His destination was the cross. His destination was our freedom. 

God sees you as worth dying for.
Do we live with that mindset? Do we live like we’ve been delievered and that our life was worth saving? Sometimes we forget that that is enough. Sometimes we end up following signs that we think give us more value or make us feel accepted.

The best personal example I can think of is high school. Who you hang out with defines who you are. Needless to say, the crowd I ran with was very fond of alcohol and it was something I had to constantly choose not to engage in because it was so available. But after a while I got tired of saying no and being pushed to just have one drink. So I gave in and had a drink. One drink. Junior year. The next day at school the rumor was “Heather got drunk”.

I was heartbroken.

I thought I could hang around people drinking and by refusing to engage in it, I would be some sort of example. But to state that “being Jesus” was my only motive for sticking around with them would be a lie. I wanted them to know Jesus. But I also wanted to still be accepted by them. I still wanted to maintain some sort of relationship with them and not feel isolated because of my faith.

So I followed the sign that told me to have just one drink. I followed the sign that told me to do what it would take to feel accepted and to give in…just this once. And the consequences sucked. It was easy to blame God for that rumor. I felt I had tried for so long to be a good example to them and the one time I mess up it becomes big news?
It didn’t seem fair. But then again perhaps I wouldn’t have felt the need to drink so much if I wasn’t seeking value in the wrong place.