Here's the difference the passive follower is the one who says, ok, God if you want me to do something let me know. Set it up. (Pretty much, spoon feed me what you want me to do, and make it overly obvious to me. Make a big deal out of it, so that I recognize it's you. Then I'll probably question it and deny it once. Then the second or third time realize it's really you, then ask for confirmation to do it.) Then there's the one's who actively seek God. The ones who are on their toes of life. Who look for opportunities to know more about God, to share God with people. Who are looking and expecting something big to happen.
Look at David, known as the man after God's own heart. It's hard to be passive and follow your way to someone's heart. Let alone God's. How many passive follower treasure hunters do you see? I see more of seekers. Searchers. One's who are actively looking for opportunities to know and discover more.
It kinda comes down to: What are you living for?
When you get up in the morning, do you think, "Ok, How can I serve God today? How can I love someone? What can I learn from God today?" or is it more of "Ok. I got to check my email, make sure I take care of the animals, go to work. 100 things at work to do. Still need to mow the lawn. The house needs fixed. I should have done this a long time ago. I'm not going to get it done. Oh and I should read my Bible today." What do you get out of bed for in the morning? Is it to go to work/school and get things done? or is it to know, and serve, and love and experience God more?
We get caught up in the day-to-day activities. Instead of making the whole day about God and living for and with Him. We see things here. The temporary that need to get done now. We get so caught in today's details that we forget the big picture of life. It's like living for today, everyday. Day after day we accomplish today's goals and then at the end of our live look back and see if each day's activities somehow fit together to make a bigger picture or some common theme, or is it just a repetition of the same series of events that don't really tie together. If we had vision for something bigger. To be part of something bigger and larger, at the end of our live we could look back and go, "Wow, look what God did." It's a big picture, a big impact.
Are we doing things throughout our day that we are forcibly having to rely on God to come through for us to make it through? Upon those things, thats when we can really experience God's power. To experience God is recognizing that everything good we do is from Him, whether it's successfully using the bathroom, speaking in front of a group, tying our shoes, leading someone to Christ, loving the jerk that cut you off, being kind to a neighbor who's paranoid about getting your grass on his yard. Seriously! That's why life at home is so boring and so unGod centered, is because we refuse to take the time to stop and appreciate what he's done for us. Not just on the cross, but that last breath he gave us, and the clothes we're in. We feel God's presence when we take a leap of faith and become forcibly dependent on him, but we just assume that everything else we can do on our own. We don't realize that we are dependent on him naturally. We refuse to realize that God is in and about everything we do, that his mercy allows us to make it to this afternoon. That his grace gives us a heart that continues to beat.
We, as American's have so much that we've became to self-reliant. We will do things our own way when we want them and do them by ourselves. We have the technology and the means to do it. (Along with the pride and selfishness too.) . . . and we wonder why American's are so numb or unchanged by the story of Jesus. At the very center of the gospel, (what Jesus is and taught) is humility, selflessness, and above all dependence. Even as Christians we fail to be dependent and realize it's all about and from God. So we continue to struggle through our lives fighting God with our independence. Bill Bright writes "Unfortunately, many Christians do not display a quality of life that encourages others to desire a relationship with our Lord. Some believers do not even display a quality of the life that encourages others to have a relationship with them." I think if we'd just shut up, sit down, and reevaluate, realizing that it's all from and about Him, then we could start to realize what this life more abundantly is all about. By doing things his way what is possible. Using an electric guitar as a spoon does not work great, but by surrendering what we want or think it should be used for and letting the creator show us what it could do, beautiful music can be made.
I think actively seeking plays part in that. Listening. Active listening. Asking questions, then getting answers. James says it in James 1:5 "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." Ask and receive. Seek to ask.
But not just with wisdom or info. But to seek God's face, you will first experience his hands at work. I'm not saying God is all about miracles. But he is all about loving people. God is not just a theological, conscious being/wonder, God is an active real-life getting down and dirty loving people kind of being. So if we want to seek God's kingdom, his righteousness, his face, his hands, his being, if we want to be like Him, If we are actively seeking Him, it's going to involve following Jesus' footsteps in loving and serving people. It will involve coming alongside other humans he loves, despite their actions, and choosing to love them. We are actively seeking ways to partner with God to love people. Actively seeking HIS heart. Actively seeking His face.
It's like if we're passively following God, then we're living life. We tend to fit God throughout our day when he fits. Some time in the morning or evening. Quick times before food. We are reminded of God throughout or day. We do what we have to do and he fits in and fills the cracks to fill up the day. But if we're seeking God. God is life. Everything we do is in pursuit of Him. Every event of the day. We go to class, we eat, we go to the grocery story looking for God, looking for lessons, looking to be able to serve and love someone else. We are actively pursuing God and His Love, His Ways, His Will. If you take God out of our lives, our whole life falls apart, it doesn't make sense. It quickly becomes a dull list of actions to repeat over and over day after day.
We cannot actively seek by not thinking about God. We cannot actively seek by letting our own prejudice get in the way. We cannot actively seek by refusing to do things our way, by being passive, by sitting on the couch, by not putting time in with Him. We cannot actively seek by dreaming the way those around us dream. We cannot actively seek by looking forward to the end of the week/ day/ event, just to get it over. ?Enduring is not actively seeking.? You cannot actively seek by going through the motions. You cannot actively seek by not going through trials. Like Moses, he sought after God and that meant climbing the mountain to Him. Actively seeking means finding your comfort zone boundaries, then taking another step. Actively seeking cannot be done alone, or by your own will or motivation. Only One can give you the drive to seek His own heart. If at any time this is not for or because of God, it will fail, be fruitless, and completely pointless.
Some Biblical references I believe. If we look at Isaiah. When first talking to God. God says "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Isaiah seeks in saying "Here I am. Send Me!" (Isaiah 6:8). He doesn't necessarily follow but he volunteers. Lots of people responded to God with "Here I am" throughout the old testament. But Isaiah added in the "oooh ooh, pick me! me me me me! Me Pick ME! I'll go!" He was went seeking. and Peter. If Jesus would have said come to me disciples I don't know who would have gotten out of the boat, but Peter volunteered himself. He was seeking. He was looking for opportunities to get closer to Jesus. "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water." That wasn't passive that was active. Jesus if that's you, tell me to get out of this boat and do the impossible cause I want to get closer to you. Jesus rocks it and answers with a "Come." Boom. One word answers from the Holy One.
So in our everyday lives, how do we actively seek God? How can we begin to pass past this passive following? Lets get up, get dependent, and live life abundantly.
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