Monday, January 15, 2007

Day 2

“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life…” - Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Good morning everyone! I hope you rested well! And if you’re not reading this in the morning – Good afternoon or good evening! I hope you’re having a great day.

Yesterday, I wrote about our church's vision to be “outwardly-focused.” We want to guard against our church (or us as individuals) becoming so inwardly-focused that we lose sight of sharing God’s love with the world around us. Over the next several days, we are going to focus on the “core values” that The Bridge attempts to adhere to. These values were developed in some of the earliest meetings of our church as we sought to clarify what we thought ought to be important to us for the lifetime of our church.

Each morning (day or evening) before you sit to read this devotional and talk to God about what you are learning, would you pray this simple prayer?

“Lord Jesus Christ, speak to me.”

The core value that tops our list is:

We exist for God’s glory.
We value having a Christ-centered focus, believing God will honor us only as we honor Him first.

The WESTMINSTER SHORTER CATECHISM answers the question, “What is the chief end of man?” The answer, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” The Bible clearly teaches that we were made by God and for God. God is what life is all about. In His goodness, God has provided us with a lot of other things to enjoy, but our primary purpose in life is to know Him and honor Him with our lives. This is part of what it means to bring Him glory. The verse above from Deuteronomy is one of my favorites. “The Lord is your life…” It has been my experience that so many people miss this point. Too often we want God to be something we add to our life, rather than being our life! Being a Christ-follower is not about a religion. It is not simply about attending a certain number of religious gatherings or holding to a certain list of do’s and don’ts. It is about a relationship. It is about knowing God and realizing that He is what life is all about. He is life.

How about you? How would you describe your connection with God? Is it more like a religion, or is it a relationship? Can we live our lives for God’s glory? Will you glorify Him with a relationship instead of a religious system?

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