Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Jun 2, 2007 3:00:53 GMT -5
May 31, 2007
“Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods: I am the Lord your God”
(Lev. 19:4).
I love what I do. I love reading, writing, editing, speaking, ghostwriting—anything to do with words. I’m a word person—have been for as long as I can remember. That I am able to work at it fulltime is nothing short of a miracle—and a great blessing. But what if God asked me to do something else?
My first reaction, of course, is, “But writing is what God called me to do! Why would He change it?”
Duh. Because He’s God? Because He can? Because I belong to Him and not to myself?
Understanding the reason really isn’t important. What’s important is that if God calls me to write, then I must write. If He calls me to sell shoes, then I must sell shoes in a way that honors Him because He’s my God—my Boss, my Savior, my Provider, my Protector, my Everything. Whether or not I respond in obedience to what He calls me to do is not an issue. I know that, and yet…
Let’s be honest, ladies and gentlemen. We say we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, but do we? When the other “things” we love—family, work, ministry, country, home, etc.—are on the line, do we really love God first, most, and only? Are we willing to give up everything else to serve Him?
We serve a gracious and merciful God, who has blessed us with family and friends, work and ministry, home and country. But how easy it is to allow those blessings to become idols, especially if our work and ministry happen to be one and the same! As a fulltime writer/editor/speaker, I wrestle with that daily. As I said, I truly love what I do, and I believe God has gifted and called me to do it. But what if all that changed? What if God said, “Lay it all down for Me, and go minister one-on-one, in a place where no one will even know your name”? It happens in other countries all the time. Li Ying is a Chinese lover of words, who was arrested for editing a Christian magazine and is now serving a ten-year sentence for her “crime” of spreading the Gospel. She’s also one of my heroes, and I pray for her daily. She is separated from family and friends and all the comforts of home. But she is not separated from the work and ministry to which God has gifted and called her, for she is working for Him, even from a dark and dreary prison cell.
The Scriptures promise us that absolutely nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:39). It is the love of God—not our love of words or family or country—that keeps us safe in the palm of His hand. May our love for Him always be our focus, fellow scribes and followers of Jesus, for then we will not fall into the trap of turning to idols and serving worthless gods.
(C) KATHI MACIAS
www.kathimacias.com
“Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods: I am the Lord your God”
(Lev. 19:4).
I love what I do. I love reading, writing, editing, speaking, ghostwriting—anything to do with words. I’m a word person—have been for as long as I can remember. That I am able to work at it fulltime is nothing short of a miracle—and a great blessing. But what if God asked me to do something else?
My first reaction, of course, is, “But writing is what God called me to do! Why would He change it?”
Duh. Because He’s God? Because He can? Because I belong to Him and not to myself?
Understanding the reason really isn’t important. What’s important is that if God calls me to write, then I must write. If He calls me to sell shoes, then I must sell shoes in a way that honors Him because He’s my God—my Boss, my Savior, my Provider, my Protector, my Everything. Whether or not I respond in obedience to what He calls me to do is not an issue. I know that, and yet…
Let’s be honest, ladies and gentlemen. We say we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, but do we? When the other “things” we love—family, work, ministry, country, home, etc.—are on the line, do we really love God first, most, and only? Are we willing to give up everything else to serve Him?
We serve a gracious and merciful God, who has blessed us with family and friends, work and ministry, home and country. But how easy it is to allow those blessings to become idols, especially if our work and ministry happen to be one and the same! As a fulltime writer/editor/speaker, I wrestle with that daily. As I said, I truly love what I do, and I believe God has gifted and called me to do it. But what if all that changed? What if God said, “Lay it all down for Me, and go minister one-on-one, in a place where no one will even know your name”? It happens in other countries all the time. Li Ying is a Chinese lover of words, who was arrested for editing a Christian magazine and is now serving a ten-year sentence for her “crime” of spreading the Gospel. She’s also one of my heroes, and I pray for her daily. She is separated from family and friends and all the comforts of home. But she is not separated from the work and ministry to which God has gifted and called her, for she is working for Him, even from a dark and dreary prison cell.
The Scriptures promise us that absolutely nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:39). It is the love of God—not our love of words or family or country—that keeps us safe in the palm of His hand. May our love for Him always be our focus, fellow scribes and followers of Jesus, for then we will not fall into the trap of turning to idols and serving worthless gods.
(C) KATHI MACIAS
www.kathimacias.com