Living.

I am currently in the midst of a great book called Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. It is one of those books I've been told for ages that I absolutely must read, so after pretending to have read it for quite a while, I decided I would actually read it. Turns out, I am just like all my friends who recommended it to me - I love it.

I'm not trying to advertise the book by summarizing it or talking it up - if you're interested you can just go out and buy it. But I am here because this simple book has taught me a whole lot about God, and what a relationship with Him looks like on its purest, most genuine level.

There is a quote in the book that really stands out to me. In its context, Don is writing about a great friend of his named Andrew who is actually a flaming liberal. But the man is living for the one and only Jesus Christ, and is doing this by literally feeding the hungry. This man is genuinely living like Jesus did by putting His very words into practice in the world around us.
"Andrew would say dying for something is easy because it is associated with glory. Living for something, Andrew would say, is the hard thing. Living for something extends beyond fashion, glory, or recognition. We live for what we believe, Andrew would say."

These words are true. And because these words are true, my life is not testifying to much. If I am living what I believe in the inmost depths of my soul then what I believe is that my life revolves around me, and that God is often much less important than my own "needs." He frequently ends up on the back burner of my stove of a life, on which my own needs are constantly in a boiling pot on high.
If my life is a testament to what I believe, my life is not saying much about what I believe in most passionately at all.

I once heard a speaker talk about how we should "ooze Jesus." Ooze is kind of a gross word when you think about it, but when something is oozing it is absolutely evident because is it OVERFLOWING. If my life is a testament to my belief in Jesus Christ then you bet I want to ooze Jesus - out of every single pore in my body. I want my life to proclaim the freedom I have as a result of my relationship with my Creator.

I think Andrew is right. I think dying for something is easy when compared to living for something. Because in both senses, you are giving up your life.
But in the former, most people may not even take the time to notice what you are living for.
Dying, on the other hand...well, everyone will know you; you will doubtlessly be recognized and glorified for your sacrifice.

This brings me to a deeper question...why do we do the things we do?
If I am living for Jesus, is it for the glory, the recognition, the praise?
Is it for the fruit I am priveleged to see as a result of my labor but in no way deserve to see, nor is it promised to me?

I want to be living for Jesus for one reason:
Because I love Him.

I want my sole motive for giving my life into His hands to be because I want Him, all of Him, every day, moment by moment.


So think about it. What are you living for?