What are You Doing?

 As I was driving to our daughter's house yesterday, I passed a church and about broke my neck as I read their message board. The message was a play on words which I felt was a perfect message for our time together today. The original saying that I remember hearing from my parents and grandmother goes like this, "For Heaven's sake, what in the world are you doing???" That question was normally invoked when I was doing something that was a little out of sorts for what was commonly accepted as the norm. The message on the church display flipped the question to read as follows, "What in the world are you doing for Heaven's sake?" As I read that question it resonated over and over in my mind, always landing back in my thoughts as what are we doing that is still out of sorts, that is being done to expand the Kingdom of God? 

 

In the original format of the question above, I was generally doing something I probably shouldn't have been doing and my mom was grasping for an explanation for what was going on. Almost like, "are you crazy or lost your mind, what are you doing? The surprise and shock of the moment dominated the reaction from my mom. That same shock and surprise should not be present as we reverse the question to the latter form provided above. 

 

"What in the world are you doing for Heaven's sake?", begs us to evaluate our life and determine whether we are spending our days doing things for the sake of expanding Heaven or are our decisions all centered on what is best for self? We will make thousands of decisions each day and many of those will be done in such a way that it truly isn't a situation where our decisions will only impact self. The choices we make will either have a positive influence on sharing our faith and trust in our Father, or unfortunately our decisions can create a negative impact on our living testimony of the goodness of God. So, the question above is valid and important, what are you doing for Heaven's sake?

 

Do you hold grudges? Are you treating others that aren't necessarily just like you as valuable and loved? Do you work hard or hardly work? Do you give love when it would be easier to walk on by and give nothing of yourself? Can others see faith lived out in your life through perseverance and resilience? Basically, are others that you interact with each day able to see God working in you and through you? 

I believe it is always important to remember that you may be the only example of God's love that a person encounters today. We are charged to go out and to make disciples of all that we come in contact with throughout our daily journey (Matthew 28:19), how are you accomplishing the command that Jesus set before us? In Galatians 2:20 Paul tells us that, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me". If our claim is that we live for Christ, then when we are asked what we are doing for Heaven's sake, the response should be evidenced by the words we speak and the actions we carry out in our daily walk. 

 

As we start a new week take a few minutes to ask yourself, "What in the world am I doing for Heaven's sake?" Do you live out each day only to benefit yourself, or is your life a living sacrifice in which you give without expecting something in return? Jesus gave His life for a world that turned its back on Him, why? It wasn't about Him and what He would endure. Jesus made the decision to give His life so that others could have a pathway to forgiveness and salvation. In what areas of your life could you sacrifice more? How can your life impact the lives of those you love, the people you work with, and all those that you encounter along life's journey? Live out the life God gave you to live and when you are faced with the question of what are you doing for the sake of Heaven, your life and the fruits thereof will bear the answer.

Coach Carter