Active

God desires us to be active.  If we are handicapped or confined in some way, God calls us to do all we can.  We can do nothing to gain God's favor, and we can be secure in knowing God's saving love that comes to us without any effort on our part but we are not saved just to be taken out of this world.  God's plan for us is to be actively pursuing the kingdom of God in our lives here and now.

Two things got me thinking about these things in recent days -

1. An interview with Dr. John Arden that I ran into on "Shrink Rap Radio."  Dr. Arden is the author of The Brain Bible: How to Stay Vital, Productive, and Happy for a Lifetime  He spoke about five areas of our lives that we need to actively work on--five areas of life that can be remembered by the acronym S.E.E.D.S. - Social connections, Exercise, Education, Diet, Sleep.  Take time to listen to the interview if you can.  When we pay attention to the things that our bodies and brains need we honor our creator and make it more possible for us to serve the Lord long term in this life.  A description of the interview and a link to a recording can be found here.  Or, you can go straight to the mp3 audio here.
2.  Last night, at our amazing High School JAM time, we looked at the passage from the sermon on the mount in Matthew 7 where Jesus tells his disciples to Ask and Seek and Knock.  This asking and seeking and knocking is a regular, constant practice in our lives, not just a one time thing.  Like we breathe often, we pray, and we utilize the brains and bodies we have to keep up that process of seeking and searching for the will of God and keep doing whatever we can to "knock," that is, to make a fuss to some extent about what is needed.  It's interesting how the Lord doesn't expect us to just passively wait but tells us to be busy about this asking and seeking and knocking on a regular basis, using all our strength to do this without giving up.

Faith and action are two sides of the same coin.  Let us use all we have and all that the Lord gives us to proclaim God's kingdom.  Don't stay quiet.  Don't let the devil distract you through entertainment.  Too many of us spend too much time watching physical and spiritual athletes instead of doing what we can.  Too many of us have a poor understanding of the connection between "faith and action."

Let's pursue the truth about this... but, today, let's do something!  How will you respond to the call to faith in action today?

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