I took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference."
- Robert Frost
Isn't it interesting that the road less traveled is usually the one that leads to greatness? You look at examples such as Mother Teresa, President Abraham Lincoln, and the Apostle Paul (a few of my favorites) and it's easy to see how each "achieved" greatness by going against the flow of current culture. Mother Teresa spent her life serving others with every inch of spirit she had, taking no consideration for her own comfort or pleasure other than serving God by serving others. President Abraham Lincoln fought for the abolition of slavery in a time where the idea of black freedom was opposed by over half of the country and in the midst of a civil war. And the Apostle Paul changed his life calling from the "hunter of Christians" to the "commissioner for Christ". I imagine that I would be reading very little if anything at all about these three revolutionists if they had decided to live a comfortable life, directed by their culture. Paul wouldn't have written over half of the New Testament; Mother Teresa wouldn't be known as Mother Teresa but as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (which I'm not even going to attempt to pronounce); and I doubt President Lincoln would've made it on any five dollar bills. And what's crazy to me is how each life before mentioned appears to be driven by a humble passion. No personal gain was sought after but no small outcome was acceptable.
I want this for myself. Not to be great myself but to do great things. To be passionate and courageous and daring and humble and God-focused enough to do great things for the Kingdom of God.
"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."
2 Timothy 1:7
Being a male, I tend to want to be the best and the biggest and the most competitive at whatever I do. Most of the time, this gets me in trouble because it leads me to become prideful and focused on myself. But when it comes to furthering the Kingdom of God, I'd like to focus all that competitive drive into something meaningful and worthwhile. But not for my sake- only for His. With all this talk to New Year's Resolutions, I decided to come up with a few simple ones for myself:
1. Live a Life of Necessity
- I'm tired of living a luxurious life of excess. Although I am very thankful for what I have, I am aware that materialistic possessions can easily become a distraction for the life Christ has called us to live. I heard a quote this past week, "Be aware and beware of blessings." What's the point of being "blessed" with affluence if I am the one benefitting from it? I have no problem with people (including myself) having money, IF it's being used to further the Kingdom of God. What does that look like for me? I'm still trying to figure that out...
2. Quit Wasting Time
- As a college student, I have a lot of free time. And what do I do with that free time you might ask...nothing. I sit on my butt and watch TV, play volleyball for 3 hours every day, sleep, etc. I have nothing occupying my free time that is worthwhile to the Kingdom (I use that word/phrase a lot but I suppose that's the best way to describe what I'm talking about). So I've decided to start a few "projects" to utilize my free time with that will hopefully impact the world in different ways for the Cause of Christ. I'm really excited and nervous about these at the same time, but I want them to grow to the point where great enough things happen that can only be attributed to the glory and power of God!
3. Less Talk, More Do
- Now this one is obviously very broad and involves the two that I have already mentioned, but I felt that it was important enough to list as it's own. I have a huge tendency to say that I'm going to do a lot of things and then not follow through. I have been talking about living a life of necessity for the past year but haven't really done anything about it; I've been dreaming about numerous projects and drives I want to start and haven't done anything about one of them; I have put on the face of one who is devoted to Christ's commissions to go and make disciples of all nations but my work has been nonexistent. Well that ends today!
2013, here I come with a Spirit-driven, friend-encouraged, family-supported, God-empowered, self-devoted, and action-minded passion that will REACH THE NATIONS!
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