Respond

Sometimes I wonder how the early church spent hours and days dropping everything to take in more of Jesus.

I am learning. I am learning that life is response and I AM TIRED of responding to so many things.

And that is NOT what life is supposed to be. Life is not supposed to be my response to social media or opinions, to circumstances at home or work or on the road, to mistakes - mine or others, not to the good or bad situations.

My life is meant to be a response to God - most specifically God's love for me that has freed me from death though the sacrifice of Jesus graciously giving his own life to cover my foolishness.

There is nothing more important and it is the ONLY response that will not take from me.

My daily responses to life take my joy, my energy, my time.

My response to Jesus gives me life. I only gain because to live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21).

I want to see below the surface. I want to see what God is doing, not only what my children are doing. I want to see what God is doing, not just what the people in church are doing. I want to see what God is doing, not the annoyance or the immediate gratification.

I want my life to be a response to what God is doing.

Even in the church, I think sometimes we do because we are told. In truth,WE ARE FREE and we should have an emotional, physical, ACTIVE response to that freedom.

When I take Communion at church, it is my response to Jesus' sacrifice.

When I tithe financially, I am responding to the overwhelming graciousness of God.

When I email parents and coworkers, it needs to be a response to the God who has given me the job and placed me there.

The decision to be baptized is an response to the gift of salvation/the freedom from death Jesus gave. ("And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 3:21 NLT)

When my perfect, angelic children drive me crazy, I want to respond to the beautiful gift and miracle God has given me in each child.

Making dinner, driving with maniacs, paying bills, grocery shopping, doing laundry all in response to God's generous provision and love for me and my family.

I don't want to respond to selfish or hurtful people based on how tired,  hurt, or annoyed I am. I want to respond because of God's goodness in my life. I want to respond within the realm of His goodness and will.

I need to stop wasting time responding to everything else.

The early church was doing that. They dropped everything to respond to an overwhelming, deep love and sacrifice, and FREEDOM in Jesus.

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.
2 Peter 1:3‭-‬7 NLT