|
|
Be Intentional #2 Making Christ the Center of Your Life Colossians 1:15-1:23 |
|
|
|
||
|
Today, we continue our series on being intentional about life. The intent of the series is to encourage you to live lives that are not characterized by default, but rather by decision. That was our topic last week, but it’s the foundation of this entire series. Today we are looking at making Christ the center of our lives. This is easy to talk about, but not so easy to do. It takes decisive effort. More than that, it takes decisive yielding of our lives and wills to the program of God, and not our own program. We will spend our time today looking at three reasons we should make Christ the center of our lives, and then I will give you some very practical ways to implement that. 1. Jesus should be our focus. Jesus is the supreme focus of the Bible. From the 3rd chapter in Genesis to the last chapter in Revelation, God reveals His plan to bring a Redeemer who would not only bring forgiveness of sins and salvation, but would rule over all creation when everything came to fruition. Our Scripture says that He created all things. He holds all things together. He is supreme. He is the ultimate focus of eternity. If the main focus of the Word of God is Jesus, than maybe it’s a good idea for us to make the same focus. If you call yourself a Christian, than you should be focusing on Christ. He should be the focus in all areas. He should be the focus of your work life. Doing our work in a way that honors God and reflects Biblical principles of integrity and non-favoritism helps us develop that focus, and many times opens the door to sharing the good news of Christ to the people we work or do business with. He should be the focus of your family life. I’m not saying that you need to have hour-long family devotions every night, but I am saying that how you run your family should show a focus on Christ. Jesus should be the focus on your recreation and entertainment. I’m not going to discuss whether or not you should watch sports on Sunday, so don’t worry. Although if you are feeling guilty about it, maybe that’s something you should talk over with God. But what I want to address is the kind of music, movies, books, magazines, or whatever you read. The kind of vacations you take. Where you go and what you do to unwind after a long day’s work. Do these honor God and display a focus on Christ in your life? Make sure you’re hearing me, now. I’m not saying you should take all your vacations in the holy land or at a monastery. I’m just saying that what you do in your recreation reflects your focus. Be decisive in looking at these and acting on what you discover in the Bible and prayer. Dr. Paul Tripp says that “If Christ does not reign over the mundane events in our lives, He does not reign at all.” Jesus needs to be the focus in the lives of those who call themselves Christians. 2. Jesus should be the boss. If you claim to be a Christian, a follower of Christ, then you hold to His teachings. Not just believing, but obeying. Jesus’ teachings are incredibly practical and easy to understand when it comes to relationships with other people, business ethics, school ethics, etc. If you want a great place to start, try the Sermon on the Mount. It’s 100% applicable, and living by just these principles will show anybody watching that you have the Lord Jesus Christ as your boss. A recent survey by George Gallup Jr. revealed a startling trend in our culture. According to Gallup the evidence seems to indicate that there are no clear behavioral patterns that distinguish Christians from non-Christians in our society. We all seem to be marching to the same drummer, looking to the shifting standards of contemporary culture for the basis of what is acceptable behavior. Now that’s a sad statistic. It tells me that we have lots of “Christians” but few disciples. Jesus did not call for believers, he called for disciples. Gordon Dahl said, “Most middle-class Americans tend to worship their work, work at their play, and play at their worship.” 3. Jesus should be our source. Jesus makes life possible. Not only did He create it, He sustains it. We exercise faith when we obey His Word, trusting that He will do what He promises in His Word. We give at least 10% of our income because we trust that God, in His time, will provide for our needs. Jesus is the source of not only our life, but of our talents, abilities, energies, desires, interests, and all that stuff. And we put those to work, trusting God to make things happen. We put our talents to work, trusting God to provide us with the business or work that brings the money to sustain us. He is the source of the talents, and also the source of the income. But I want to emphasize for a moment that Jesus is also the source of our significance and security. We are important, not because of what we do or who we marry, you’re important because of the fact that God Himself created you in His own image, and not only that, but because He loves you so much that He sent His Son to die for you as an individual. What I mean is that Jesus would have died for you even if you were the only person on earth. You are that important to Him. And He loves you so much that He works to protect you from harmful influences that would steal your joy and love for Him. Do you really understand that Jesus wants you to enjoy your life? Too many people think that being a Christian and living like one means you give up any hope of enjoying life. Evangelist Billy Sunday once said that to see some people you would think that the essential of orthodox Christianity is to have a face so long you could eat oatmeal out of the end of a gas pipe. Well I’m here to tell you that God wants you to enjoy life, and He makes it possible to enjoy it in all its fullness. Surrender yourself to Christ and experience the wonderful full life that He has for you. Jesus is the source. Make Him the center of your life. 4. Bottom line: it’s not about you. I came across this thought a few years ago, as I was reading The Purpose-Driven Life, by Rick Warren. The thought to ponder for the first day is that it’s not about me. It’s all about Christ. Everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him. The idea here is that we need to take our eyes off ourselves and onto Jesus. When we focus on Him, when we make Him the center of our lives, we start to think of things on a more eternal level. We see the right place our work should take in our lives. The right place our family should take. The right place our recreation should take. The right place our relationship with God should take, which is first place. A man once said that Christ is prominent in many men, but in only a few is He pre-eminent. In other words, in only a few lives is Christ the driving force in a person’s life. It’s not about you – it’s about Christ. 5. Practical steps to making Christ the focus:
|
||
