From Externals to Eternals

I remember hearing a story of some men who were unloading sheep from a boat. As the sheep came down the ramp, the workers held a staff across the ramp. The first sheep dutifully jumped the staff and continued onward. The second did the same and so did the third. Then the men withdrew the staff. Wouldn't you know it, the rest of the sheep kept jumping the nonexistent barrier as if the staff were still there! Mindless conformity.

Do you want to be a mindless conformist like that? I doubt it, but that's where Satan wants us. That's his plan. He has declared spiritual warfare against us. He wants us either neutralized or destroyed. To that end he works relentlessly as our tempter, our deceiver and our accuser.

His goal, as I pointed out yesterday, is to make you turn from God and turn toward yourself. He knows that when you fall back to focusing on your external, public self, you embrace mixed up values. Mixed up values produce mixed up goals. Mixed up goals make you uncertain about what to do. Uncertainty undermines your willpower. And wavering willpower leads to conflicting actions. Suddenly you see yourself as a ship with a very confused captain and compass. You see yourself going one direction and then another, wandering all over the ocean. There are moments when you enjoy the cruise - but you still have this uneasy feeling that you're really getting nowhere.

When your mind is out of control, your life is out of control. Time goes by as you wander through life. The springtime of your life passes, then the summertime. After that you enter the winter of your life and look back in dismay, "Where did the years go? What have I done that really matters? Why did I do this to myself?" God has the answer. He knows the way through that wilderness.

Gordon MacDonald, who has reason to understand such wilderness, wrote this statement:

The number one struggle of Christian leaders is a lack of personal internal organization - that is, a sense of the spiritual center. Leadership, Vol. 5, no. 4.

Again we are drawn back to Romans 12: .do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed - how? - by the renewing of your mind.

Colossians 3:1-2 underscores this thought: "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth."

A collection of writings from long ago includes a clear expression of the single-minded purpose demonstrated in those verses. In The Wisdom of the Saints we find these words of Charles de Foucald (foo-KOH):

The moment I realized that God existed, I knew I could not do otherwise than to live for Him alone.

That's true wisdom from the saints.

With God the Holy Spirit helping us, we need to renew our minds daily and repeatedly. As we walk with Him this way, He transforms our thoughts and wills, purging more and more of our tendency to dwell on our external values and helping us focus more and more His eternal values.

What's the result of making worship a way of life? Worship renews our minds, and replaces our conflicting values with the aligned values that God wants us to have. When our values are aligned through worship, our goals come into alignment as well. Disentangled from conflicting and distracting goals, our energy can now be focused with greater intensity on the actions God directs us to take. This additional energy enhances our capacity and reinforces our conviction, our commitment to move forward. We are the captains of our ships, obeying our Commander in Chief, and our compass heading points us in the direction of godliness. We are glorifying God! That's what lifestyle worship is all about.

Equipped with this mindset and heart set, our lives, like ships, will sail in significant paths whether the weather is stormy or calm. Why? Because we, through continuous renewal, are directed by only one Commander - God - and only one compass - His Word.

As we sail, our commitment to making worship a way of life must remain strong. Like Joseph, we need to commit ourselves to dogged godliness. Why? Because Satan will not let us give up our confused and wishy-washy lifestyles without a contest. We need to stand fast. Listen to the words of Ephesians chapter 6:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

"And when we fail?" you ask. God knows our weakness, and has provided for that, too. We repent; He forgives. In 1 John 1, verses 8-9 say,

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We may have to deal with many consequences of our sin, but we do so knowing that He no longer holds our failure against us. If we remember the reality of His forgiveness, we can shift our attention from our culpability to our cope-ability.

Accepting His love and forgiveness protects us from Satan's deceit and accusations. Accepting His love and forgiveness gives us freedom to continue along the path of fulfilling significance for which God designed us. It's a wonderful plan, it's a wonder-filled life, and it's only available through the wonderful God Who loves us!

Does this strategy seem beyond reach? Are we talking "pie in the sky?" C.S. Lewis answered these questions in terms that make as much sense today as they did 50 years ago. He said:

A car is made to run on petrol [gasoline], and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on himself. He himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other . . . God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing. Citation: C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Harper Collins, 1952) p.50

My listening friend, if you look away from this world and turn your eyes to its Maker, you will find rest for your soul and encouragement for your pilgrimage.

© 2007 John Garmo. If you would be interested in using this article, please contact us at Info@MissionToChildren.org.