Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner note in their recent bestseller SuperFreakonomics:
"The people who become excellent at a given thing aren’t necessarily the same ones who seemed to be “gifted” at a young age. This suggests that when it comes to choosing a life path, people should do what they love—yes, your nana told you this too—because if you don’t love what you’re doing, you are unlikely to work hard enough to get very good at it.
It is my observation that probably the biggest issue that has faced the church from the very beginning is not external but internal. The issue is that of commitment: Are the self-proclaimed followers of Jesus committed to living out the Christian life as faithfully and with as much excellence as possible? Are the people of the church really ready to be consumed by God's love and the responsibilities that come in living out the life of faith?
Honestly, I don't know a one of us who does not fall short of this ideal at some point (or two, or three...). The question we must ask ourselves is: How much do I want to be a true follower of Christ and how much am I willing to sacrifice to live as God instructs? The fact of the matter is that faithfulness to God through Christ demands that we go "all in" in every aspect of life.
I think so often we struggle with the high calling we have been given and modeled by Christ because we aren't sure if we really love this lifestyle. This is where Levitt and Dubner's quote resonated with me so deeply: Their words serve as a reminder that if we are really going to be working through this life committed to Christ's will being done, we should do so because of our tremendous love for the Savior. For, no matter how much we may say we want to live as Christ calls us, until we fall madly in love with the Christian lifestyle, we are setting ourselves up to not reach the true potential Christ is put in each of us.
In other words: What is the path we have chosen for our lives? A life of self-centered chasing our tail and every whim narcissism or a life of true devotion to God in Christ found only when we allow ourselves to fall madly in love with him?
See you Sunday!
Lamar
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