I may not need bread alone, but I still need bread. Right?

We are all born into a story. Some are happy with a lot of love and support. Some are more sad and tragic. Either way when we're young, other people begin to write our story on us. Around middle school and high school, we begin to write our own story.

God gave us His word through the Bible, not to be a wikipedia of God, but to give us the story of God engaging us. In the beginning, God spoke through prophets and other various ways. Then He spoke to us through His Son. Today God is continually speaking to us. All of creation is constantly screaming at us the story of God. God is always speaking and His words give us life.

"Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'People do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

I used to think that Jesus was just giving the "Sunday School" answer. I remember thinking that we don't live on bread alone... but we still live on bread. I thought Jesus was being an over spiritual tough guy but He really was being literal. He knew that apart from His father, He could turn those stones to bread, but it's not the bread that gives Him life. It's that His Father spoke into that bread that brings Him life. Just like manna, God puts all the nutrients into bread therefore bread gives us life. But if God spoke and said, "be full" then He would be full. Just like He spoke and said, "Let there be light" and there was light.

So if God is speaking constantly and His words bring us life, and we allow him to speak His story into our story, it will change our story. Instead of being what we've allowed others to shape us into, we become what God shapes us into. Instead of trying to be the main character of our own story, we become a part of a story much bigger than us. We become a part of a story that matters.

It's a story that begins with us being created in the likeness and image of God. It's a story about a murderer named Moses, a liar named Abraham, a prostitute named rehab, and a liar, murderer and adulterer named David. We see God go into the gritty, nasty reality of life and take imperfect people to do extraordinary things.

Some of us don't know our story because we're looking in the wrong story. Let God's words breath into your life and find yourself in that story.

If you do the right thing for the wrong reason, is it still right?

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Matthew 7:21-23

There are a lot of people that "do the right thing." People who volunteer their time, donate their money and are kind to people. Some of those people even attend church. This may sound odd, but all of those things can be done out of selfish ambition. There are many people that donate time and money to feel good about themselves or for notoriety instead of being an obedient servant for God. There are many people who go to church for the community or even the entertainment that they get there and they take Jesus out of church.

The scary thing in Matthew 7:21-23 is that there were these people who did all the right things and at the end, they were expecting to get into heaven. And Jesus' answer to this was that He never knew them. You can do all the right things, but if you take Jesus out of it, then ultimately you're doing it for yourself. The key here is you either know Jesus or you don't. You may know who Jesus is, but do you know Him personally? Is He actively working in your life? If you don't see Jesus working, He may not be there.

What a waste to go through life in attempts to become a "good person" just to find Jesus telling you, "I don't know you, go away!" I pray that our quest is to hear "Well done my good and faithful servant." From a worldly view, both can look the same. However there is a huge difference that is imperative: Jesus.

9/13/09 - Recap

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

Fall is underway. Hello school, homework, band practice, football practice, work schedules and an overall boost in responsibilities and lack of free time. As the to-do list grows, so does the anxiety and negativity. When your seed of negativity begins to grow into a blossoming tree, relationships begin to suffer and even Fantasy Football starts to wear you out. You feel like you're running on empty because you are.

Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you..." WAIT, WAIT, WAIT... Take your yoke? How is adding more to my plate going to relieve my weary and burdened soul?

How is stopping at a gas station going to get me to where I want to go any quicker? Jesus is the answer to the weary and burdened life because only He can give rest for your soul. He doesn't take away your responsibilities, but He does give you the strength to get through.

For us, Middle School has an hour and fifteen minutes on Sunday morning and High School has 90 minutes on Sunday night to enter a sanctuary or refuge and leave the troubles of life outside. For a short period of time, we get to block out everything to focus on Jesus. We get to come to Him and find rest for our weary and burdened souls. Amen to that.