Tools are good for a lot of things. We need them to build stuff, tear stuff down, fix stuff, invent stuff, diagnose stuff, and the list goes on and on. We can keep them in our back pocket or on a belt or a close by tool box and we just pull them out whenever we need them.
Sometimes we can treat God like a tool. We keep Him close by, knowing He’s there if we need Him. And then when something comes along that we need to fix or build, we pull Him out of our back pocket and ask Him to lend us a hand.
I’m guilty of this myself. I tend to think of my Christianity as a tool to use – to help other people, to make myself a better person, to fix the “bad” in my life, to diagnose what’s wrong with myself or the world, etc. etc. But that’s not how God intends things to be at all! God wants a RELATIONSHIP. He wants to be our best friend, not our most helpful tool. He doesn’t want to stay safe on a nearby shelf until we need Him and He’s not comfortable in our back pocket.
Today, look at your Christianity. Do you treat God like a tool, pulling Him out when you need Him? Or do you think of Him as your best Friend, your Confidant, your constant Companion to go through life moment by moment?
This Easter we’re encouraging you to not get caught up in the commercialism or traditional hype. This Easter, cut away all the bunnies, eggs, new clothes and focus on the real reason we remember this time: Jesus. We deserved punishment and death, but Jesus took our place. He died and was raised to life so that we could live forever with Him. And THAT’S reason to celebrate.
Watch this video to be reminded of what Easter is really about. Have questions? Email us!
This past weekend at the IHRA Division 9 Pro Am at Piedmont Dragway we had our first InVision service of the year. We talked about how JESUS is THE focus of Christianity. Sometimes we think it’s all about being a good person, making sure we cross our “t”s and dot our “i”s, following all the rules. But that’s not what it’s about at all! Sure, God gives us guidelines for life and there are rewards for “following the rules”, but our focus isn’t on the rules or even on being good. Our focus is on Jesus! As Matt put it, JESUS IS OUR THESIS!
In Philippians 3, Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament, is talking about how good he used to be at following all the rules, and then he goes on to say this:
7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
Wow! He considers everything GARBAGE compared to knowing Christ. What’s your focus today? Is it on how to be better? look better? do better? Why not take your focus off of yourself and everything else, and put it on Jesus! Make your one, unchanging goal be to know Jesus better.
Want help doing this? Email us! matt@godspeedministry.com, lisa@godspeedministry.com.
