September 9, 2009 DO IT YOURSELF

2 Corinthians 10:5b - …and take every thought captive to obey Christ

As I read the second half of this verse, I’m struck by the magnitude of the words here. Take every though captive – every thought. Not most thoughts, or just our Sunday morning thoughts, but EVERY thought. That is a huge command when we take the time to consider it’s implications. What would our lives look like if we truly took every thought that popped into our heads and filtered it through the will of the Savior? We may not always be able to control what thoughts arise at any given moment, but we always have a choice as to what we will do with them once they do. Give them over to Christ in obedience. Every time. It’s a tall order, to be sure, but it is what we are called to do.

Chambers reminds us:
In Our Lord’s life every project was disciplined to the will of His Father. There was not a movement of an impulse of his own will as distinct from His Father’s – “The Son can do nothing of Himself.” ( John 5:19 )
Sometimes as believers we can become prisoners of our personal agendas. We may want to do this thing or that in service to the Father but unless we’ve first submitted to God and sought His will for it, we may be headed in a direction that is diametrically opposed to His plan.
Chambers continues:
True earnestness is found in obeying God, not in the inclination to serve Him that is born of undisciplined human nature. It is inconceivable, but true nevertheless that saints are not bringing every project into captivity, but are doing work for God at the instigation of their own human nature which has not been spiritualized by determined discipline.
Although Chambers doesn’t touch on this aspect, I think one of the greatest dangers in serving out of our humanity is that we cannot be assured that our motivations are pure. We must be on guard that our acts of service are in service to God and not to our egos. If I could sing, would I be on the worship team to praise God, or would I see it as a stage for my talent and an opportunity to receive the praise and accolades of men? When I write, my greatest prayer is that God reveal His truth to me and through the words I write, regardless of whether they ever have an audience. I never want to write something – no matter how “spiritual” it may sound – if my intention is to impress others with my ability to string words together. The temptation with service – whatever it may be - is always to use it as a vehicle to receive the praise of men. When our service is done out of impure motives, it is of limited use to God, if it is of use at all.

There is nothing easy about Paul’s words here. It is difficult to constantly pull in the reigns and lay down our thoughts, our plans and our dreams before the throne of Christ. I think it becomes more and more natural the more we do it, but I believe seeking God’s will – sometimes in spite of ourselves – always has to be a conscious choice. Chambers closes today’s devotional with a wonderful summation:
We are apt to forget that a man is not only committed to Jesus Christ for salvation; he is committed to Jesus Christ’s view of God, of the world, of sin and of the devil, and this will mean that he must recognize the responsibility of being transformed by the renewing of his mind.
My prayer today is that I see my life, my world and my purpose through the eyes of Jesus!