Overlooked!

So, I've neglected a new post long enough. It is one of my last quarter of the new year resolutions to really post something on here every Monday for the rest of the year. I just need to make it a discipline to get it done. With that said, let's hop into thoughts from yesterday.

We are just beginning a new series here at Zion where we will be taking a look at "Image." What does it mean to really be made in the "image of God?" And if that is the place where we find our significance and meaning the rest of life will make sense. The problem is very few of us find our deepest core meaning as Children of God. The pull of this world is so strong and our felt need to be something, and to accomplish, and be respected pull us into living in a shadow world. In this world our image is formed by what we do, and how well we are accepted, and how much money we make, and our race and nationality. And when these aspects of life shape our image we are going to be on a roller coaster of emotions, never content to just relax in the presence of God. Our contentment and fulfillment is always just another accomplishment, dollar or fun time away. But, when we get there we find that it didn't give us the meaning that we thought it should and so we go after the next rainbow. It's a never ending search for our significance and meaning.

And just like many truths in life, this reality is always much easier to see in someone else than it is in ourselves. It's easy to pick someone else out and critique them on all the makeup they wear, the designer clothes, the new vehicle, the big house, all their toys, their obsession with work and money and achievement. But very few of us want to do the ugly work of looking into the mirror and finding out where we find our worth. What really forms our image? Do we really believe we are formed in the image of God? Is that enough for us to live on or have we created something that we can accomplish and add to our lives which can give us meaning? What we must remember that anything that is added to our lives, can also be taken from our lives. So what we base our worth upon must be something that cannot be taken away from us. And as far as I know there is only one thing that can never be taken from me, that is my spirit the part of me that was designed to live for all eternity.

The wonder of God's gift of life for his creation is that he has given us everything we need for life and wholeness and freedom in himself. And yet it seems we are always trying to add to this reality. Never able to just accept that we are God's greatest creation and he loves us, and even likes us. He desires to be near us and he desires to provide and give us everything that we need. He can be, and will be the very source of life that many of us spend a life time looking to try to figure out.

There may be no other reality that means as much as us getting a better understanding of who God is and who he has made us to be and the fullness of that relationship. When we get this right, we are able to have a right view of God and of ourselves. And when that is the case, there is freedom!