"Keep Looking Up"

"He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him." (John 7:18 KJV) 

  "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Don't give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God. I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don't just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many will be saved. And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:31-33 NLT)

 Matthew Henry ends his commentary on the last verse, saying, "Those who resemble God are most likely to understand him." And then, he begins his commentary of this verse, saying, "That hereby it appeared that Christ, as a teacher, did not speak of himself, because he did not seek himself." 

 That might seem easy to see myself doing, as I typically set out to make it the practice for just about everything that I do; but to be perfectly honest, at the end of most every day, I am still asking God for forgiveness regarding some lack in doing so, at least one time during the day. I am convinced that it is triggered by thinking on what not to do, and not being focused upon that which I am meant to do.

 I might have shared on this before, but it was a story I had heard one morning on my way to church, years ago. A famous pastor shared about a time he was in a rush to get to church service but needed to get something at a drugstore on the way. He grabbed the item, rushed to the register, and stood behind one customer, for what seemingly was forever. The customer was trying to get the exact change to pay for their items, while the clerk seemed weirdly patient.

 The pastor was getting thoughts of being forced to be late for service, making himself more important than the customer that was in front of him; he even thought of speeding things up by paying for the person's items himself, just to get on with it and get back on the road. Then, when the ordeal was finally over, the customer turned around to leave, and he could see that they had no hands. He really didn't like himself very much after that, and his sermon that morning took on a whole new meaning.

 If you are wondering how that relates to this verse, it is the heart of the message! If you ask God for patience, you will be given a chance to have patience. If you ask God to give you love in your heart, then He will put someone in your path that makes you love them. If you ask God to make you unselfish, whether it is your time, your money, or even your heart, He will give you a lesson in selflessness.

 Perhaps the easiest thing to learn, is not to focus upon what you should not do, but to put all you thought and cares in that which God wants you to do. Replace that empty space of the bad things you don't want to do, with the good things that you are made to do...

"When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death. But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit." (Romans 7:5-6 NLT)