Whatsoever part 1
I mentioned the other day that I did a Guerrilla Gospel video with this title, and I'm kind of stuck on it. And you know by now what I do when I'm stuck on something--I preach it until I'm empty on it. So let me quote the passage of Scripture first, then we'll get into it. "And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and that Father by him" (Colossians 3:14-17). Ok. That's a lot. So over the next few days I want to look at each verse individually, but today I just want to hit on what I think is the overall theme. And by that I mean the overall theme of life. Because I was watching a movie earlier and one of the characters said, "Life is all about figuring out what you want... and then doing whatever you can to make it happen." And that struck me as a particularly sefish point of view. Now, granted, the character who said it was the bad guy, but I feel like that's how a lot of people look at life. The pursuit of happiness, right? Which, by the way, comes from the Constitution, not the Bible. Kind of like how "cleanliness is next to Godliness" is not in the Bible. But I digress. The point is, happiness is not something we GET. Happiness is what happens when we GIVE what we've got. Whatsoever you do in word or in deed, do it in the name of the Lord. Which is Jesus. Which is love. The nature of Lord. Which is the nature of love. The love nature. Do whatever you do because its in your heart to do it. And, again, that doesn't mean because you WANT something. When Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart," I don't think that's a formula to getting what you want. I think that's the secret to understanding what you really want. Which is love. So when you delight yourself in the God who IS love, what else could you experience BUT love? He IS the desire of you heart, and delighting yourself in Him is how you receive the gift (of Himself) that He has already given you. Its not about getting anything. Its about knowing what you've got. Sharing what you've got. Giving everything you have and everything you are, just as Jesus did when He laid His life down for His friends on the cross. And according to Romans 5:8, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." He did what He did--giving Himself for us, and to us--simply because He loved us. That's His nature. That's why He did what He did. And that's why we ought to do whatsoever it is that we are going to do. Do it because its in your heart to do it. Do it because the love inside is bursting at the seams to get it. Trust your gut. Follow your heart. Stop trying to GET, and simply receive and release from the Lord. Love is never about getting. Because love IS giving. So when you know that you ARE loved, that's when you CAN love. That's when you stop pursuing happiness, and start living it!