COMMENTARY
Who Does God Want You to Be?
By Chris Carpenter
CBN.com Producer
CBN.com - Who does God
want you to be? That is a question I am sure most of you have pondered
at one time or another in your lifes journey. This is a question that
I meditate upon each morning as I prepare for the day ahead. I always
ask myself that simple question, Lord, who do you want me to be today?
It is when I really stop to ponder this question that I
become bogged down in all the complexities that the question at hand involves.
In "The Seven Season's of a Man's Life" author Patrick M. Morley
states, "There is a God we want, and there is a God who is."
Invariably I arrive at a similar spiritual crossroads ... am I seeking
the God I want or am I seeking the God who is?
Sometimes the answer is so crystallized with clarity that I float through
my daily activities with a divine sense of purpose. However, there have
been days in the past where I scratched my head in bewildered befuddlement
not quite sure of where I stood.
With the problems of the world spinning so rapidly out of control these
days, what, with war, terrorism, hate, and racial strife being thrust upon us minute by minute, it
is critical that we know who God wants us to be and what our role is.
Perhaps the largest problem in determining who God wants us to be is
the battle between being a Cultural Christian and a Bible based Christian.
The term Cultural Christian has become a popular buzzword in theology
circles in recent years but it holds an incredible degree of truth. Morley
defines it as someone who has divided his loyalties between God and the
things/events of this world.
It is so easy to get caught up in the people, places, and things that
the world has to offer that sometimes our faith takes a backseat and we
dont even realize it. For example, I worked for many years in the secular
sports media. Due to the high demands of reporting on games that took
place on Sunday, I found myself constantly compromising my faith by telling
myself on any given Sabbath, "Even though I cant be in church this morning
I will definitely go to the evening service." While my intentions were
good I rarely followed through on this self imposed promise to actually
attend church that evening. I was always too tired, had too much work
to do back at the office, or my colleagues wanted me to go grab a bite
to eat with them after the game. The end result was that I was fast becoming
a stranger to people in my own church. Even worse, I was becoming a stranger
to myself.
This is not who God wanted me to be. I was allowing my world around me
dictate how I practiced my faith. I eventually hit a low spot where I
had truly become a Cultural Christian without even realizing it. Maybe
you can relate.
The only way to determine who God truly wants us to be is to stay rooted
in His word, thus the aforementioned term Bible based Christian.
In Psalm 1:1-3 it says, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel
of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat
of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His
law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the
rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf
shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper."
We are all affected greatly by our world and community that revolves
around us. Thus, it is incredibly easy to shape our thinking and morals
around the standards that society creates for us. While some of these
influences are positive, many others are not. In fact, they can be a destructive
force without us even realizing it.
It is important to remember that quality time spent with God will greatly
enhance your outlook on life. It is common sense really. Think about this
for a moment. The more time you spend with someone the better you get
to know him or her. The better you know someone your knowledge and belief
in them becomes clearer. Therefore, as your faith becomes stronger your
love for God becomes clearer.
Now back to the original question. Who does God want you to be? For that
question I do not have an answer. That is between you and God.
Material used in this article from The Transformer
Study Bible.
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