Opening Up Some Boxes
Hi, all of you beautiful people!
I was thinking over Christmas Day-ish about unwrapping gifts. Unwrapping boxes. Boxes with
clothes
iTunes Gift Cards
more clothes
external hard drives
more clothes
avacados...
And the thought occurred to me. (thought-occurring sound FX)
We often hear at NewSpring that people should not "box God in". That we should let God be God in our lives. Which is to allow Him to be sovereign. To allow Him to be a driving force in our lives. To allow Him to free us.
But what about the boxes we build for ourselves? What about the way we DON'T ALLOW OURSELVES to do things?
We all have a routine. We all fall in the ruts of life. We get up, brush our teeth, whip our hair (ha, because that's the way it's done),
eat breakfast, start the day at work, school, etc. etc. And we get up the next day and do it all over again.
That's the way we do things. We go to church. We sing, we sit, we sing, we sit, we listen, we go home....even in places like NewSpring, we catch ourselves doing this. After a while, the unique can get...well...mundane.
I don't want that to happen in our community. Are you with me?
Jesus did not give us life so that we could
compartmentalize it
tame it
shelf it
put time limits on it
We are called to live timelessly. We are called to live a life with NO limits. That is Christ's promise for those who believe in Him.
Following Jesus is not about being seated...
but standing up.
When was the last time you let yourself out of your box ....to worship?
to OWN you faith?
to GIVE (time, relationally, unconditionally) to the poor, the homeless, the widow, the orphan?
to truly LOVE?
to MAKE friends with a stranger?
to TEACH by example of LIVING?
It is difficult to do these things, but Jesus continually GIVES of Himself so that we may GIVE to others...
He is NOT boxed in.
NEITHER SHOULD WE BE.
I was thinking over Christmas Day-ish about unwrapping gifts. Unwrapping boxes. Boxes with
clothes
iTunes Gift Cards
more clothes
external hard drives
more clothes
avacados...
And the thought occurred to me. (thought-occurring sound FX)
We often hear at NewSpring that people should not "box God in". That we should let God be God in our lives. Which is to allow Him to be sovereign. To allow Him to be a driving force in our lives. To allow Him to free us.
But what about the boxes we build for ourselves? What about the way we DON'T ALLOW OURSELVES to do things?
We all have a routine. We all fall in the ruts of life. We get up, brush our teeth, whip our hair (ha, because that's the way it's done),
eat breakfast, start the day at work, school, etc. etc. And we get up the next day and do it all over again.
That's the way we do things. We go to church. We sing, we sit, we sing, we sit, we listen, we go home....even in places like NewSpring, we catch ourselves doing this. After a while, the unique can get...well...mundane.
I don't want that to happen in our community. Are you with me?
Jesus did not give us life so that we could
compartmentalize it
tame it
shelf it
put time limits on it
We are called to live timelessly. We are called to live a life with NO limits. That is Christ's promise for those who believe in Him.
Following Jesus is not about being seated...
but standing up.
When was the last time you let yourself out of your box ....to worship?
to OWN you faith?
to GIVE (time, relationally, unconditionally) to the poor, the homeless, the widow, the orphan?
to truly LOVE?
to MAKE friends with a stranger?
to TEACH by example of LIVING?
It is difficult to do these things, but Jesus continually GIVES of Himself so that we may GIVE to others...
He is NOT boxed in.
NEITHER SHOULD WE BE.