Moving

The last week has seemed to be an ongoing week of catch up. And in the process of catching up you always have more that piles on to get done. This is called, "life."

Life moves pretty fast. So fast that we often find ourselves moving strategically to either keep up or feed our need. We make moves that we can justify. We make moves by the uneasiness in our gut. We make moves just to see what will happen. And we make moves to find fulfillment.

We are always moving.

What does this say about who we are and what we need as humans? Jesus had much to say about this, in various ways. We have a tendency to move in the opposite direction that Jesus moves. This is because of humanity's fallen state. In other words, we have a propensity to engage in sin. This first simply begins with moving the wrong direction — away from Christ and his teaching. And because of our human nature, we have to continually check ourselves and our behavior to see what we are feeding.

God is moving here at FaithWalk. God is making a number of people uncomfortable and shaking them at their foundation.

Personally, this past Sunday I was very much moved in a number of ways. First, we revealed our ministry benefit partnership with Victory Junction and the theme was "Is Your Heart Racing?" You can't see and feel the impact this organization is having on the lives of special needs children, without getting your heart racing! It's moving!

Then, at the end of the service, the community of faith surprised me with a treasure chest in follow up to my previous message series, "My New Bucket List." In this treasure chest were 365 envelopes from members and attendees for encouragement throughout the entire year. I have used the treasure chest each day since and it has been very moving.

Which brings me to my question and pondering thought today. If God is moving, and we are constantly on the move, and Jesus was always encouraging people to move beyond their own personal desire in order to become a fully devoted follower of Him, what does "moving" mean in my life? What does it mean in relation to your following Christ?

These are serious questions, that beg serious thought and answers. Those answers may cut you to the bone. What you think is a walk of faith with Jesus, may not be that at all. You may be walking away from Jesus like the rich young ruler did (see Matthew 19:16-22).

There is a cost in following Jesus. Sometimes we perceive that cost (giving our life and desires and ways of doing things over to God) to be too much. And we will turn and walk away from the very circumstances that God has placed us in. So, we continually have to stop in our common sense, justifiable human posture and ask an all important question — Which direction am I moving?

Jesus is always moving toward the heart of God. There is uncomfortable transformation in that movement. There is also death. For you and I, that is death to self — death to all our old ways, desires, and demands — a change and transformation in our core behavior.

Life is extremely exciting at FaithWalk right now. I see God moving in so many ways. And there are a ton of people following — desiring to give over more of their lives and grow spiritually. God is forming many leaders. That is awesome! But you can't become a leader until you are a follower. Jesus says, "Follow me!"

Which direction are you moving?