Now Think On This
Steve Martin
“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:25-27, NKJV)
Early on in my Christian walk, during my high school days, in fact, I learned that if the world is going one way, then those who call upon the Name of the Lord, believers, are best to go the other. Follow the crowd and you got lost. Choose the opposite walk, and the best reward came.
There always seems to be a fad. Dress this way. Talk that way. Be cool, be noticed, be the one that the opposite sex loves to be around. And in order to get to that point, concentrate on yourself, your advancement, your body above all. For, after all, you are the most important, right? Doesn’t God want you to be happy? Aren’t you meant to seek the good, especially for yourself? Is it not true that if you are to be happy, then you must seek after becoming the best, the brightest, the most sought after in terms of popularity and all that is good in the world?
Is this not the purpose of our being in existence? To be happy? To be “me” in all my glory?
And where has our society gone these days? Many are into the “self-help” concept, whether they know it or not. If you carefully look around, what is the utmost focus of almost everything coming at you? “It is all about you.”
“Do this for you.” “Achieve that for yourself.” “Get the most out of life. You deserve it.”
Me, me, me.
Even in the mainline churches, the mainline message is how to improve yourself; how to get what you need; how to find your love, your career, your fame, your fortune, your opportunities. Self-improvement. After all, it is all about self.
Being happy is the best thing that you can be.
To get right to the point – self-seeking is not from God, but from the enemy of our souls. The way we are pushed to go, to strive after, is the very way that at the end of things pushes us away from the very One Who created us, our Father in heaven. The very One Who alone can satisfy our souls.
What was Jesus’ response to the one who had sought it all, had it all, and was still seeking to keep it all?
“So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.
And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
And those who heard it said, "Who then can be saved?"
But He said, "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."
Then Peter said, "See, we have left all and followed You."
So He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life." (Luke 18:22-30, NKJV)
My heart grieves for our generation, and the generation that I was given to lead in the way they are to go. How we have sought after all that never satisfies, never fulfills. We are always seeking more, more, and even more. But our seeking is very much misdirected.
Have we failed to understand that to seek to fulfill our self and our desires have only robbed us of the greatest good?
“Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?” (Matthew 16:24-26, THE MESSAGE)
I suggest that to find what you are looking for in life is to give what gifts you have; what knowledge you have been given; what talents the Almighty God has blessed you with…give it in service to others. When you give, then you get. Is that not what He promised us?
More money. Not. More of the latest fashion? Not. The latest hot car, hot date, hot life? It has been proven not so. Get it all and you have gained nothing.
What has been proven to fulfill one’s life is to give it in serving our Lord – living the life laid done, given in serving Him and His purposes, not ours.
You want to be happy? Give yourself to others. And then you will fulfill that heart cry in yourself, which the Lord Himself put there. Do that what He has given you to do. It is not seeking self-gain. It is seeking and doing for eternal gain.
The more you give, the more you get. It is an eternal promise from the Creator of our lives.
Then you will be happy.
Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).
Now think on this,
Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.
P.S. Want an adventure walking on short adventures? Check this out: "Walk With Me" video series with Steve Martin.
Also, I hope you get my latest book, Adventures in Courage, published in November 2018. Paperback or Kindle versions. This was my 19th authored publication. (Yes, this is an advertisement!) Buy here on Amazon: Adventures in Courage
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Now Think On This #381 - in the year of our Lord 01.16.19 – “Be Happy” – Wed. 6:00 am
