Are You A Christ Follower

…whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. —1 Corinthians 10:31

 “We have a tendency to look for wonder in our experience, and we mistake heroic actions for real heroes. It’s one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through everyday glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us. If we are not looking for halos, we at least want something that will make people say, “What a wonderful man of prayer he is!” or, “What a great woman of devotion she is!” If you are properly devoted to the Lord Jesus, you have reached the lofty height where no one would ever notice you personally. All that is noticed is the power of God coming through you all the time. To be utterly unnoticeable requires God’s Spirit in us making us absolutely humanly His. The true test of a saint’s life is not successfulness but faithfulness on the human level of life. Our purpose should be to display the glory of God in human life, to live a life “hidden with Christ in God” in our everyday human conditions (Colossians 3:3).” - Oswald Chamber, My Utmost For His Highest

Let’s say you have two bolts. With one bolt you fix a high-performance car that wins a race.  With the other bolt you fix your lawn mower.  Which bolt has more significance and has best fulfilled its purpose?  Neither.  Neither is better.  Both fulfilled their purpose as you decided.  In the same way, God has a purpose for every Christian – every Christ follower.  (Don’t you love that expression?  Being a Christian might be viewed as “merely” getting saved. As if that were not enough!  But being a “Christ follower” suggests that you are more than saved, you are a true disciple, you have laid down your worldly nets and are following Jesus, wherever He leads.)  

Your fulfilling your purpose is not meant to bring glory to you but to God. It doesn’t matter if God uses you on a sports car or a lawn mower.  What matters is that you are obedient to His call and direction.  People talk to me about what Martie and I do and have done for the Kingdom and other people.  We do it for the glory of God.  Billy Graham did what he did for the same reason.  The faithful widow who is never seen by anyone, she does what she does for the same reason.  I often tell people that the only credit I can take is for saying “yes” to God.  Everything else is from God.  He formed me, He purposed me, He gifted me and He called me.  The same goes for you too.

“You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” - Psalm 51: 16-17 

Which is to say that it is not what you do for God, but what you allow God to do in you.  

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what the Lord requires of you but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” - Micah 6:8

There is only one way you can do that and it’s by the power of God, not self-effort. 

 “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” - 1 Samuel 15:22

To be obedient to your purpose means that you must sacrifice your will for God’s will.  You must overcome your fear and doubt with faith.  You must love God more than you love yourself. It doesn’t matter where you are sent or what you are sent to do … being in the center of God’s will and walking obediently in it is the absolute best place you can be.

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory.

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone