2018-11-25T11:00:00-06:00
21 And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22 And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And it was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27 And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. 29 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.
33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright (c)2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.esv.org
Have you ever experienced the persistent inquiry of a child? My six year old daughter has many gifts and talents. Two of them are her passion for play and her ability to craft a plan to get there. For any good “fun-haver”, it takes two to tango. One day, I was working on my computer from home. Work time lapsed into dad time. After asking me multiple times to play, her vocal inquiry turned into action. She walked over, looked me in the eyes, shut the lid to my laptop and said, “It’s time to play now, Dad.”
Her desire to be with me (not just around me) was energized by that passion that turned into action. The same is true, and much more, with the God of our universe. In 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, Paul prays that God would make them worthy of His calling and “fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by His power, so that the name of Jesus may be glorified” in them (v. 11)! God does this for us through His resolve and His energetic action to live for His Kingdom rather than our own. This is the definition of a generous life. What God has done for us, He now does in us and through us for others. When we come to faith in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, our plans and desires and efforts are transformed, grown, and even changed to come more in line with the plans, desires, and efforts that God has for us.
Every day we wake up, you and I have two options: look upward (Colossians 3:1) and grow abundantly to be used by God to extend His kingdom or look inward and atrophy with the plans, desires, and efforts that we have in our own minds to extend our kingdom. The beauty of the gospel is that when we are saved by grace through faith and become children of God, we are not made into His robots or minions to simply do His bidding despite us. God utilizes our plans, desires, and efforts along with the gifts that He has given you and me to fulfill every desire we have for good and turn them into works of faith for God’s Kingdom (Psalm 37:4). God is in the business of changing selfish hearts into generous lives.
One way to be transformed is to do something that is incredibly difficult for us to do: Listen. Listen to your desires. Listen to God’s Word. And listen for the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is active listening. God cares about His glory and our good (1 Thessalonians 1:12)! God is patient and willing to give you soft promptings through His people and His Word, but He is also willing to shut the lid of your distracted life so that His desire for your good might prove to be glory for Christ. Are you living a generous life? Are you listening? Are you taking the time to press in to what God desires for your life to be used in the lives of others?