Consider, consider......the lilies of the field.
The world is noisy, busy, active, loud, relentless
The Bible says, "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life."
The world says, power, money, things.
The Bible says, lay up your treasures in heaven. Man looks at the outward appearance, the Lord looks at the heart.
The World says, beauty is on the outside.
The Bible says, "Man looks at the outward appearance, the Lord looks at the heart.
The World says to live for today, live for yourself, seek pleasure and fulfillment now.
The Word says, live for eternity, in this world you have tribulation, to lay up treasures in heaven.
The world says leadership is an issue of position and power.
The Bible says, "He who gains his life will lose it. He who loses his life in this world, shall gain it." The Bible promotes servant leadership, as modeled by Jesus washing feet.
The world says, children are not of the most important. They abort them, place them in babysitting options. The world says, children take your time, are expensive, bothersome.
Jesus says, "Woe to the one who causes the least of these to stumble." He says of children, "Unless you become like a child, you will not inherit the kingdom of God." He says, "Children are a blessing from God. The fruit of the womb is a reward."
The world says, "Accomplish, do something great you can be proud of--awards, degrees, position.
Jesus says, "I am humble and meek, learn from me."
The world's way of ministry is to the masses in large churches, on television, radio, blogs and websites, mostly dynamic and impersonal and focussed on the theology, measured in numbers reached.
Jesus built deep relationships for three years with a dozen men and a few others in a community of friends.His ministry was small and personal, meeting needs, eating meals, living life with a focussed few, serving and dying for them.
Jesus did not leave the vicinity of his ministry to go into the world. He never traveled more than 50 miles from Galilee. He never wrote a book, spoke on television, wrote a blog, lived prominently.
Yet, God took his message into the world so that more words and books have been written about him than any other, Countless ministries have reached millions and millions of people with his redemptive message. Lives have been changed, centuries of history have rendered totally different because of the power of truth lived out and spoken from the quiet, gentle, humble life of Christ lived with integrity during His time on the earth.
Is the way He lived still relevant to this "connected", web based, busy, technological, virtual, impersonal culture? Could Jesus still live through me, faithfully, quietly, personally, powerfully right where I am and have the impact of my life of integrity reach the far corners of the earth if I lived according to his ways, and not the worlds?
How should this apply to me and help me to determine my priorities and values as I seek to live for His glory. How do I live a humble, personal, heart centered, servant-oriented, children valuing, eternally focussed life, focussed on listening to Him and closing out the voices of the world?