Last night after dinner the power was out, so I decided to watch “Beware of Christians” (thank you Davis) on my computer in my room. Towards the end of the movie I got really comfortable laying in my bed and ended up falling asleep towards the end of the movie. When I woke up I got to thinking. I think that I have ben sleep-walking and sleep-talking my way through life. We get to the point where we are too comfortable and fall asleep on our lives and in our relationship with the Lord. Now, had I been outside, sleeping in the middle of downtown Kampala, you better believe I would not have just dozed off out of comfort. I would have been praying myself to sleep, asking for comfort and for the Lord’s protection. That’s kind of the way that life is- we get to a point where we are too comfortable and our senses our weakened and we are no longer dependent. We don’t have to depend on the Lord to sustain us, because we have plenty of food, water, clothes, and shelter to do so. We don’t have to depend on the Lord to keep harm away from us- because we have deadbolts and alarm-systems. Our lives have come to a point where we have so much that we no longer have to depend on the Lord. I think that is one thing that He has been trying to teach me here and show me. It is time for me to WAKE UP. This life is short, and unlike a movie that we fall asleep in the middle of, we cannot rewind from the point we fell asleep and see what all we missed and still experience what happens in the middle of the movie. I think we all need to wake up- and live life as if we were sleeping in the middle of the streets. I’m not saying to walk around in fear, but we need to be wide-awake in our relationship with the Lord and with others- fully aware of our surroundings, relying only on the Lord to sustain us and give us the strength and comfort to persevere. If we have something in our lives that is keeping us from depending only on the Lord- we should rid ourselves of it. For our treasures lie in heaven, and falling in love with worldly things keeps our hearts from fully loving the Lord. We need to be fully awake so that we know the love of our Lord, and His complete acceptance of us, and then we need to share that love with EVERY person that we come across.
Something really struck me while watching the movie last night. If you haven’t seen it, I suggest that you do. The story is of 4 Christian boys who take their view of Jesus, and what they were raised to believe in America, and see what people in Europe believe. They have a new topic in each city that they focus on when talking with strangers. They were in some city (I believe Rome) and were talking about the Church. They were asking a girl and a boy questions about the Christians that they know. They asked them what it was that set their Christian friends apart from their non-Christian friends. Was it how they loved and treated others? Was there anything about them that was at all different? It hurt me to hear their answer. They said “No, it’s just that they’re busy on Sundays.” SERIOUSLY?!?! If we were to be FULLY awake in our lives, fully awake and attentive with our relationship with the Lord, fully awake with our relationships with those we come across- then there is no way people wouldn’t recognize that there was something different about us. We need to stop going through the motions, sleep-walking and sleep-talking our way through, and begin to live fully. Think of the commotion that would cause! Think of all that we could do! At the end of this life, I don’t want to look back and wish that I could rewind my life and go back to the point where I began to be too comfortable and starting dozing off on life. I want to think that I was fully awake, fully aware, fully dependent on the Lord’s comfort and let that be what got me through. I want others to know I am a Christian- without knowing where I spend my time on Sunday. I want them to know I am a Christian through my relationships with others, through where I invest my time, energy, and resources that the LORD has provided me with. I did nothing to deserve the blessings on my life. I didn’t choose the loving family I was born into, I didn’t chose my socio-economic status, I didn’t chose any of this. I was blessed enough by the Lord to have this life. But that means that I am no better than any other person. The Lord gives us EVERYTHING that we call “ours”. So if He is the one giving it to us, then we need to take what He gives us and help those who were born into a life of poverty and need. I may be rambling now, and this might now make much sense, but I think that it is time to wake up and stop sleep-living our way through life. I pray that I continue to grow in my relationship with the Lord and that He continues to show me that He is my all-in-all, the one who will sustain me and bring me comfort. The one who will Love me unconditionally and accept me for the person that I am, the person he created me to be.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money"
- Matthew 6: 19-24
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