My Burden

If I look back on my life it amazes me the journey that God has allowed me to take. When I was a kid growing up, my family did not attend church on a regular basis. We would go around Christmas, New Years, sometimes Mother’s Day, and of course Easter. We mainly went on Easter.

All I can remember about church in those days is that you got a new outfit and a new pair of shoes when you went. Mom bought me a brand new pair of white dress shoes one year at Easter. I guess I thought I was Don Johnson or something. Oh, they were great then, but looking back at my picture now; I looked like a real dork. Anyway, for me church was what you had to do before you went Easter egg hunting.

I’m not saying we were bad people. My family was a good moral family. We didn’t cuss, Mom and Dad didn’t drink. We believed in the Bible, but we were not what you would call regular church goers.

I remember the first time we attempted to attend the church I would eventually get saved in. Dad got lost and we got to the church late. I remember begging for us not to go in because we were late. It wasn’t because we were late, I just didn’t want to go.

We didn’t go in that day, but went back the next Sunday, and the Sunday after that. It did not take many Sundays before something began to happen in my life. God began a work in me that changed my life. It would not be many days before God began to deal with me about salvation, and on February 23, 1993 I accepted Christ into my life and He saved me that night.

A lot happened sitting on my parents couch the night I got saved that I did not see, and could not understand. Not only did I escape Hell, but a work started in me that is still with me today. My life verse is Philippians 1:6 which says “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

I believe I know what God wants with my life right now. I am doing my best to fulfill the work God has given me to do. I’m afraid however that most Christians don’t have this same understanding. I am a firm believer that God has a work for every one of us to do. Not every person has the same work, but each of us has something to do. God wanted David to write Psalms, Solomon to build a temple, and Jesus to die on a cross. Each had their own work to do for God. Each work was different, but each was important.

It really burdens me as I look across the church as a whole. Most people think that all they are supposed to do is warm a pew. God has so much more He wants from our lives. God doesn’t save anyone for the purpose of just sitting.

I worry about my children and your children. Are we teaching and training them in such a way that when we are gone they can continue the work of God. Will they be able to teach their children the ways of God?

Our nation has been blessed with great men throughout history who preached and taught the word of God. Men like Charles Spurgeon, Billy Sunday, and D. L. Moody. Even men recently like Warren Wiersby, J. Vernon McGhee and Billy Graham. Who will take their place? Who will stand in the gap? Will you? Will I? I wonder what will the churches look like in 10 years? 50 years? 100 years?

In an effort to stop rambling let me ask you a question. Do you know what God wants from your life? Are you trying figure out what God wants from your life? God wants you doing something!

I can’t tell you how glad I am that my Mom and Dad took me and my sister back to church that next Sunday. The decision they made changed my life. The decisions you make today could change the lives of your children, your grandchildren.

God help me to do the work you have given me to the best of my ability. God help me and my wife to be an example to our children, and to the children we minister to at our church. God help the one reading this blog to figure out what it is you want for their life, and to get busy doing it.