Give God the Glory

As Christians, we are supposed to live our lives seeking God.  Day after day, picking up our crosses and following in his footsteps. As I'm sure many people have realized, myself included, this can be a difficult task.  There are times in my life that I have felt under appreciated or not valued and wondered "when is God going to bless me?" I mean, I read my bible, pray earnestly, go to church, and try and share my faith with others, so when is God going to bless me (despite the fact that he does in ABUNDANCE)? This is when Satan grabs a hold of us and tempts us with the pleasures of this world.  He uses our self righteousness and sense of entitlement to bring us down, hard. I don't have to tell you this though, I'm sure its happened to you at some point.  I am going to tell you what God has been laying on my heart lately.

Many Christians are under the impression that after a while, or after they've been good enough that they are entitled to something (I know this for a fact based on how people talk, pray, update their facebook, etc). The (and me) wonder 'when is it about me?"  Surprisingly, there actually is a time when it is about YOU.  I guess to be more precise, there WAS I time when it was about you...  When Jesus died on the cross it was about YOU.  When he bore YOUR sin so YOU wouldn't have to die.  When he cleaned up the stains from YOUR sins; past, present, and future it was about YOU.  Jesus suffered the most gruesome death known to man so that YOU could potentially have a fulfilled life and afterlife.  That was when it was about YOU. At ONE single moment in all of history. That's it. At that moment, even before your birth, you were on Christ's mind.

From that point on, we owe our lives to him.  Ever millisecond of every day that we spend on this earth, we should be glorifying God for sending His son in place of us. We should be so grateful at His act of service that it should even compel us to tell everyone we ever meet (great commission for all you scholars!). So often we lose touch of the reality that this earth isn't our home and that our rewards are not meant for this earth. God doesn't owe us anything, period.

Thankfully for our sinning hearts, the story doesn't stop there.  Despite our permanent debt of gratitude to God, He still blesses us while we are here, immensely!  Simply by the fact that you are reading this blog, God has blessed you with the ability (and responsibility!) to access the internet.  We have homes filled with food, running water, plumbing, electricity, insulation, furniture, and plenty of space (if you disagree on the last one, look at the living space of people in other countries). We even have so much wealth that we give it back to charities, churches, and friends; so much food that we go on diets; and so much spare time that we have a million ways to entertain ourselves within the confines of our own home (debate all you like, its true).  Not that we should feel guilty about the things our Father has blessed us with, but that we should be responsible stewards of our gifts.  I guess the main point is that although we don't ever deserve blessings, God still gives them to us abundantly. As a response we need to give Him ALL the credit and glory for everything.  So keep in mind, there was one and only one time when it was about you (and me), so now give God the glory!