Good morning and happy Saturday. Amazingly, we have reached the end of August. Wow, we must be having fun since time is flying by. Speaking of fun, Pastor Alfredo and his wife Nydia left Empalme, Mexico yesterday and are driving all the way to KC. Please be in pray for them as they make this long journey. Pastor Alfredo will be sharing with us about the ministry in Mexico at 9:00 Sunday morning, and them preaching at the 10:15 am and 5:00 pm services. I hope you can plan to join us. It is going to be a great day at CIC.
The other day I was out running an errand and used a road a that I rarely travel upon. On it, I noticed a sign that said, “Hill blocks view.” Since I often talk to myself for amusement either out loud or in my mind (usually not both at the same time), I thought, “View of what?” I mean, that is a legitimate question. If the hill is blocking the view of something, then there must be something to see, right? Much to my surprise, as I crested the aforementioned hill that was obscuring my view of a much-anticipated vista, I noticed there was nothing exciting to see. It looked the same as the other side of the hill. Just a road with a few driveways scattered along it. It was nothing spectacular, and I wouldn’t have paid much attention had the sign not led me to believe there was something there that needed to be viewed. A lot of things in life are that way. Through advertising, social media, peer pressure, etc., we get a false sense that there are things we must see or do that will make our life more complete. Then, when we do get to experience it we wonder what all of the hype was about. In some ways, it is like our routine or so-called normal life is blocking our view of the spectacular life we think we want or deserve. People begrudgingly endure a day of work so they can at least try to enjoy a couple of hours afterwards. People trudge through a work week, often not enjoying their days, anticipating the weekend so they can live a little. Sadly, the American concept of retirement is often viewed in a similar manner. Work hard at a job or jobs for 40 years or more so that you can enjoy your so-called golden years. It doesn’t matter if you like your job or feel fulfilled, just grind it out as best you can. Then, if you haven’t ruined your health in the process, you can go do the things you have all wanted to do. Obviously, that doesn’t make too much sense, and I am fairly confident that is not what God intended for our lives. He has given us this precious gift called life. We should try to use it as best we can and not just endure it. As I thought about the road sign, again talking to myself, I wondered, “What if the hill is actually the view?” By that I mean that it worth enjoying and not just to be sped over to get to the other side. Again, with the life analogy, our lives are to be lived, not just raced through in order to get to some future destination so that we can slow down and enjoy it a little before our health fails and we enter our eternal rest (if you are a believer, that is).
Another thing to consider is this: what is blocking our view of the life God wants us to have? No, I am not talking about some non-biblical prosperity gospel nonsense here. Rather, God has given us this life and the knowledge of Him. It is a blessing to be enjoyed and lived for Him. No, I don’t think that means we are to stand on the corner of I-35 and 75th Street 24/7 with a sign that says, “The End is Coming.” Maybe He might lead someone to do that, but probably not everyone. Instead, God allows us to have jobs, families, ministry, and, wait for it….even recreational activities. Of course, the trick is to not let the last one be the only thing that you live for and allow it to consume all of your time. In Philippians 1:27, the Apostle Paul urgers us to, “Live your life in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” That is a great verse to memorize and to use to evaluate your life. What if we actually looked at each day and used that verse to filter out the things that don’t belong or to better live out the various things we need to do in this life? Scripture tells us that we are to, “Keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.” That means that we should do everything with a view on how it relates to our Lord and Savior. But oftentimes, the “hill” blocks the view. The hill being the things of this world that keep us from focusing on Him, living out our faith. Usually we just use the word “sin” to describe those things that keep us from seeing things correctly. It sometimes helps to think of it in even more specific terms like selfishness, pride, greed, materialism, self-indulgence, lust, bitterness, anger, etc. The Apostle John summarized this for us in 1 John 2, where he wrote: 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever. As Christians, we will have the blessing of going to heaven when we leave this place. However, that does not mean that we simply trudge through this life, enduring it, until we go home to glory. Rather, we should live each day grateful that God has given us this life to enjoy, to live as best we can for His glory and honor.
From our neighborhoods to the nations,
Pastor Larry
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