New Title

I’ve always wanted to find something in writing that represents my aspirations as a follower of Christ.  One verse in the bible has always stood out among the others.  I think it represents this current phase of my life more than anything else.

1 Timothy 4:12 // ¹²Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

The 54th book of the Bible, the fourth book, and the twelfth verse.

That’s it.  I could go my entire life on that one verse and never open the bible again.  I wouldn’t advise that of course, but consider this:

As someone that is still “learning the ropes” in life, so to speak, I’ve been given an incredible opportunity to alter the course of my generation.  My perspective has deeply changed over the past year or so.  My generation is living their lives with an entirely different outlook on life.  Their view of purpose, or self-worth, is the backwards representation of God’s definition of purpose.

Why would I want to go on living like every other teen, when I can live with a renewed sense of purpose while carrying out God’s desire for my life?

Don’t get me wrong, living for Christ is difficult for me.  It will never be easy.  We were never promised a path without struggle.  I heard a Pastor say once, “The process is the point.”  If God wanted living for Him to be easy, why would He allow sin to permeate the world we live in?

On the days when I feel it would be easier to just give up and fall into the same fate as so many others, I turn to that verse.  1 Timothy 4:12.  Set an example.

How can I set an example if I won’t leave the crowd?

I’m back.. Maybe.

Today is June 12, 2009.  Perhaps six months since my last post.  Lots has changed since then.

Just felt like writing a little bit today.. We’ll see how it goes.

Over the past few months I’ve been blessed in so many ways.  I was given a car to drive.  I was given the opportunity to intern for the job of my dreams.  And, on top of that, I get to work at my favorite place in the world.  I made it through this school year with mostly A’s and only two B’s, and I’ve got an incredible family to back me up in all that I do.

Something was missing though.  A weird emptiness occupied my heart.  With every new blessing, that emptiness just seemed to grow.  I tried waiting it out and shoving it aside with a passive attitude.  It didn’t go away.  More friends didn’t fill the gap.  A great job didn’t fill the gap.  A front-row seat to an incredible spiritual movement didn’t even fill it.  People were looking to me as a role model; an image of how a ‘good christian’ was supposed to act.  I wasn’t feeling it.  Pastor Steven did a series a while back that would imply that I’d hit “The Dip” in my spiritual walk. Here’s what I came upon in my sermon notes a few weeks ago:

Trusting God is not a passive gesture, it’s an active movement.

I can’t assume that I can do everything on my own and pass off the “big problems” to God.  It took getting everything I desired to realize that I wasn’t actively pursuing the one who blessed me in the first place.

God doesn’t want my spiritual “left-overs” or half-hearted gifts.  He wants my active pursuit of His word and the life in which He is preparing for me.

Are you doing the same?