This morning the Lord spoke to me a reminder of what I have been speaking to others for ten years. It came to me like a mighty wind and a refreshing stream. I needed this to remind me and get myself back on course. The Lord simply reminded me "Bill, Don't waste your life!"
I remember it seeming only yesterday that I my life was one way. I had a good life with structure, routine, family, friends, ministry and suddenly my whole life unveiled. Everything changed. I really see that life is so short and so precious. There is a saying, "Only one life, twill soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last."
One time Jesus Christ told a parable: "The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:16-21)
Oh, how jealous Jesus is that none of us be called a fool by God because of the way we used the gift of life! Life is not for the accumulating of things. Life is not to be wasted. It is very possible to waste your life. Few things make me tremble more than the possibility of taking this onetime gift of life and wasting it. But I want to put this in a positive slant. What is the essence of the unwasted life?” I will define it this way: An unwasted life is a life that puts the infinite value of Christ on display for the world to see.
The passion of the unwasted life is to joyfully display the supreme excellence of Christ by the way we live our lives. Life is given to us so that we can use it to show how awesome and great Jesus Christ is. Possessions, time, relationships, and ministry are given to us so that by the way we use them, we can show that they are not our treasure, but that Christ is our treasure. Every gift is given to us so that we will use it in a way that shows gifts are not our treasure, but Christ is our treasure. Our bodies are meant to be used in a way that makes much of Christ and not ourselves."For whatever you do whether you eat or drink, do to the glory of God." (1 Cor.10:31)
The great passion of the unwasted life is to magnify Christ. Here is the text that, perhaps more than any other, governs what life is really all about: Philippians 1:20-21. Paul says, “It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be “MAGNIFIED” in my body, whether by life or by death."
Paul's all-consuming passion was that in his life and in his death Jesus Christ be magnified, that is, to show that Christ is magnificent, to exalt Christ, and demonstrate that He is very very great. We exist to make Him appear in the world as what He really is-magnificent. I have written many times about this because it is of such paramount importance.
Magnify has two distinct meanings. You can magnify like a telescope or like a microscope. When you magnify like a microscope, you make something tiny look bigger than it is. A dust mite can look like a monster. It is a foolish delusion to think that we can magnify God like this. In reality God does not need our help and it would be impossible for us to do. But when you magnify like a telescope, you make something unimaginably great look like what it really is. With space telescopes, pinprick galaxies in the sky are revealed for the billion-star giants that they are. That’s what Paul is getting at. In the night sky of this world God appears to most people, if at all, like a pinprick of light in a heaven of darkness. But He created us, redeemed us, and called us to see Him as He really is. When that happens we are freed and enabled to make Him look like what He really is: Magnificent and glorious!
In what way do we magnify God? Paul tells us, "...that Christ will be “MAGNIFIED” in my body” This is incredible! WE MAGNIFY GOD WHILE ON EARTH IN THIS LIFE IN OUR BODY! This is your life! This is the most important reason for your existence here. Another place Paul said, “You are not your own, you were bought with a price. So glorify God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). If you are a Christian you are not your own. Christ has bought you at the price of his death. You now belong doubly to God: He made you (Isaiah 43:7), and He bought you for His glory. This means that your life and your body aren’t your own. They are God’s. This body of yours is wonderfully chosen by God to be used to make Him seen, savored, and shown to a world that is dark and blind. You are called to help others see God's worth and beauty and value so that when their eyes are opened to Him, they love and treasure and follow Him. So, "glorify or magnify God in this body”! God created you for this and Christ redeemed you for this.
How did Paul magnify God in his body? The answer is given in Philippians 3:7-8,"Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
In other words, we display the worth of Christ by having an attitude of counting everything else as loss for Christ's sake. “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of Christ.” What does this look like? This means that the life that displays the worth of Christ—the unwasted life—is the life that uses everything to show that Christ is more valuable that it is. For example, money is used to show that Christ is more valuable than money. Food is used to show that Christ is more valuable than food is. Houses, cars, and stuff are used to show that Christ is more valuable than they are. Spouses, family, friends, and your own life are places to show that Christ is more valuable than any of them. As a matter of fact, the best spouse, parent, friend we can be is when we live this way. We love others more by loving them less than Christ. The way we display the supreme worth of Jesus in our lives is by treasuring Christ above all things, and then making life choices that show that our joy is not finally in things or even in other people, but in Christ.
May we walk in the wisdom and spirit of David Brainerd, “Oh, that I might not loiter on my heavenly journey… O I longed to fill the remaining moments all for God! …I want to do something for God. ..Oh, how sweet it is to be spent and worn out for God!"
So, this morning I am hearing God remind me again with His loving whisper. Perhaps if you will listen you too will hear His comforting and still, small voice saying to you_________(Put your name here) "DON’T WASTE YOUR LIFE! "
Resolved to not waste my life,
Bill
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