This devotional article touched me--it made me realize that in all my days of living, I have mostly thought my life was about me, about people whom I've known and loved. In my case, I have sometimes left God out of the picture and underestimated His power to change my life for the better. I mostly relied on myself thinking that I know the best way to make myself happy--and this was to do anything I wanted and achieve for myself everything I've hoped for.
I always forget that even in the minutest of all decisions, God wants to be involved. He is my Father; and He has always intended to give me His best love. I hope to be able to give my best to Him, too.
This is from the devotional Experiencing God Day-by-Day, by Dr. Richard Blackaby; dated 8 August 2009:
Giving God Your Best
You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God a bull or sheep which has any blemish or defect, for that is an abomination to the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 17:1)
God’s love moved Him to sacrifice that which meant the most to Him—His only Son. Our response, if we truly understand His love for us, is the desire to give back to God that which means the most to us.
The Old Testament reveals that God set forth high standards for the sacrifices He required of His people. A worthy sacrifice had to cost the people something. As their hearts shifted away from God, the people began struggling to give God costly offerings. They would bring blind, lame, and sick animals, assuming God could not tell the difference (Mal. 1:8). God saw what they were doing and declared their offerings to be in vain (Mal. 1:10). Throughout the Old Testament period, God was setting the stage for the ultimate, perfect, and sinless sacrifice of His Son for the sins of humanity.
The offerings we give back to God reveal our hearts’ condition. A heart that overflows with gratitude for God’s love will respond in selfless devotion. If we are unwilling to sacrifice our time, our possessions, our money, or our energy, we indicate that we do not love God as He desires. God takes delight in the person who gives to Him cheerfully out of a loving heart, a person who understands that God is the source of everything he has and who knows that God will more than compensate for whatever is sacrificed for Him (2 Cor. 9:8).
If you struggle in giving your best offerings to God, pause and reflect on what God sacrificed for you. Trust Him and give Him the best that you have because you love Him with all your heart.
I hope you were blessed... I was, and still am.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Random Thoughts
I admire intellectual people--and sometimes envy them. They seem to have all the time in the world to read up on current events, philosophical ideologies, and other materials of depth. Other times, it is just natural for these sages to blurt out ideas at the top of their head that easily merit ordinary people's applause.
And yet, I also find it unpleasant to always think things through and lose the child-like bout within you. I, for one, wish to hold on as long as I can to my "childhood". I still want to be able to play with my stuffed toys, be naturally curious about trivial matters, do baby talk--to generally maintain the innocence and idealism I once was accustomed to. I long for the shallow times when I can just laugh out loud and people find it cute, when I spill ice cream on my shirt and not think that it's disgusting, when I just go out with my girlfriends and skate, all of us in a straight line, without neighbors and on-lookers finding it corny.
I want to enjoy the simple life; but I want to grow. Little by little, it is dawning upon me that there's always two sides to a story; more commonly explained in these words "with great knowledge comes great responsibility".
With increased education, you get to see a specific situation from another perspective and you learn how to do things more easily. But before taking the first step to pursuing a solution, a sage inevitably thinks deeply through the issue, since it is not only the ingredients in the recipe that he considers, but the whole concoction.
My question: How exactly does one live the simple life without being simple-minded? I'm not exactly sure if I want to know the answer to this--'cause it just might make my life complicated... or not.
And yet, I also find it unpleasant to always think things through and lose the child-like bout within you. I, for one, wish to hold on as long as I can to my "childhood". I still want to be able to play with my stuffed toys, be naturally curious about trivial matters, do baby talk--to generally maintain the innocence and idealism I once was accustomed to. I long for the shallow times when I can just laugh out loud and people find it cute, when I spill ice cream on my shirt and not think that it's disgusting, when I just go out with my girlfriends and skate, all of us in a straight line, without neighbors and on-lookers finding it corny.
I want to enjoy the simple life; but I want to grow. Little by little, it is dawning upon me that there's always two sides to a story; more commonly explained in these words "with great knowledge comes great responsibility".
With increased education, you get to see a specific situation from another perspective and you learn how to do things more easily. But before taking the first step to pursuing a solution, a sage inevitably thinks deeply through the issue, since it is not only the ingredients in the recipe that he considers, but the whole concoction.
My question: How exactly does one live the simple life without being simple-minded? I'm not exactly sure if I want to know the answer to this--'cause it just might make my life complicated... or not.
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