Gah! I have been soaking on this song all weekend. And this one too! You simply have to listen to them :) Warning: you will want to dance. It just happens.
Yesterday, while I was at church, I couldn't help but smile when I heard the whisper of the Spirit tell my soul that I'm missing it.
I'm missing it!
We are missing it.
What, you may wonder? Dare I be so crass as to say the point of life? Yes, yes, I dare.
Sitting at the Coffee Shop afterward, catching my journal up to speed on the state of my life, I found myself processing the aforementioned whisper. I found myself asking: "What do you mean? What am I missing?"
Again, it came! This time with greater fervor. "Wake up! You are missing it!"
I scribbled the following down, just as quick as it came to me...
"You are missing the point of life. The point of your life is not to accumulate pleasant experiences, financial security, or safety of person at the expense of being complacent in society, tongue tied when it comes to the truth and unwilling to do the uncomfortable. That is not faith. This is not the purpose of life.
The purpose of life is to lose it --literally, to kill it off-- and to find it abundantly in Jesus. It is to hunger and thirst --not for Mickey D's and Rum & Coke-- but for righteousness; for eternal bread and living water. To be poor, but have it all, satisfied. To be bold, at the cost of being offensive. To be generous and to accept the generous gift of the Good News.
You're missing it Kel, and all it takes to be placed back on track is surrender and trust; trust in the sacrifice of Jesus, that His offering was enough to atone for your falleness. Trust that He will keep His promise and bring you, your life --as messy as it is-- to completion. On THAT day, you will be perfect -- not because of you, but all because of Jesus. Wake up. Don't miss out on this..."
Can you tell that I am smiling right now? If I could, I would crawl through this screen and whisper these words to you too. And then kiss you on the cheek and send you on your merry way.
For the past two years, I have struggled with the notion of the American Dream. I find incongruities between the American Dream and the life Jesus desired for His followers. If we are being honest, how do we justify the lives we, as believers, are living in America?
Help me out. Am I missing something? What do you have to say? What do you think?? If you were to follow the example that Jesus left, would it look like the life -- the American Dream -- that you are currently living?
Great is God, and great is His faithfulness in my life. I don't have answers as to what my future will look like, but I am excited for the Spirit to lead me on this great adventure. The Great Adventure.
{heart}
Kel
(Texting while driving? Naaaa. I take pictures!)
(pre 4.5 mile run)
(I kind of like him)
Hello Kelly,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love your blogs. I'm friends with Kevin Lassiter, I saw your blog posted on his Facebook a few days ago. I read that post and the last few ones. I hope you don't think I'm creepy or anything, but when I saw the post to Kevin's wall you looked familiar. Then, I sort of recalled, where I knew your face from. Your also friends with Jasmine Robinson and Calian Acquah, and sort of recall seeing you hanging out in Jasmine's dorm room.
Anyway, your heart for God is awe inspiring, and your ability to share your thoughts clearly, and what seems to be a wholeheartedly, is just breathe taking. If your blog was a book, I think it would sell, very well.
Anyway, I also hope you don't think this is creepy. I have been listening to those exact same songs that you linked at the top of this blog. I own Jesus Culture albums and absolutely love Chris and Kim's ability to sing. I first fell in love with them a while ago and when I heard 'Light of Your Face'. Although I'm horrible at dancing,I do want to stand up on a rooftop and give prays.
Furthermore, I admire your wisdom and ability to comprehend the significance of 'losing your life' or "to kill it off". It makes complete sense to me. When we go to heaven our cars, homes, money, clothes, etc. won't be coming, but what we have done for his Kingdom, that is of the most importance. I'm no professional blogger, as you have stated the point much better.
And if this post isn't long enough already, but I feel that I could provide a short response to your question at the end. I'm one hundred percent guilty of living the "American Dream", and although I do think that the American Dream isn't being honest with what Jesus wanted for us, I do think that we don't have it completely wrong. But, I understand very much where you're coming from. I graduate in about one month and I have been trying to find a flight instructor job, and in the back of my head I have been building up this image as to how my American Dream is going to look in the future. Airline pilot, nice house, cars, cabin in the woods, horses, atv's, airplane. Again, none of that goes with you, and is that really where true happiness is at? I say no! But, I know that I have been infected with the American Dream. All of that sound grand, but why invest in something that is going to be taken from you, I plan on devoting much of my income to the Body of Christ, and will do everything in my power to further His kingdom. That is where we should invest our time and money, not into the American Dream.
For the third time, I don't intend to be creepy. When I clicked on the post, I started to read, and I was awed and drawn to just keep reading.
-Andrew Hopwood
Andrew!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your perspective! You made a great point when you mentioned that we can't take our "things" with us when we go.
Why then, are we striving to accumulate those things? (not that I really have the answer to this, still trying to figure this out for myself) Last week, I was reflecting on what it means to hate the world -- literally, to disdain even the garment stained by the world... and then I thought about how much money I spend every year accumulating such garments. No, I am not saying that buying clothes is wrong, what I'm getting at is this: I don't hate the world enough.
Thank you for sharing Andrew!
~Kelly