1 Peter 4:2-3 - God or Not God

“As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. (3) For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do – living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.”

I love to snow ski – it’s one of my favorite things to do. Several years ago I was skiing with some friends, one of whom was very fidgety. By that I mean, at the top of every lift, he would take off his gloves to readjust his boots, fix his hat, clear his goggles, put his gloves back on, try to zip up his jacket, fail, take his gloves off again, zip up his jacket, put his gloves back on, put the straps of his poles around his wrist, and then he was ready to ski. And that is a short example…

Every lift was like that. He would also need to stop about 10 times on every run to take off his jacket, tighten his boots again, get a granola bar, dig in his pockets for a Kleenex, loosen his boots, and on and on – it was maddening! We wasted so much time messing around with useless activity that could have been spent skiing. I get frustrated just thinking about it!

I get even more frustrated thinking about all the time and resources I’ve wasted on selfish desires when I could have been living for God’s Kingdom. If you are living for yourself instead of for God’s will, you are standing at the top of a ski lift, adjusting your goggles and fiddling with your skis when you could be skiing. You are wasting your life, one precious minute at a time.

Living for God’s will does not mean that you must be a preacher or a missionary. You can live for God’s will as a student, a banker, or even an attorney. The point is not what you do, but the spirit in which you do it. A receptionist who is a light in her workplace can be every bit as effective for Christ as a missionary in Mozambique. Living for God’s will means being obedient to Him wherever you are.

A buddy of mine is a financial advisor – a challenging job in this economy. His clients ask him, “What is the absolute safest place to put my money that will guarantee a good return on my investment?” My friend doesn’t suggest bonds, gold, or mutual funds. He says, “The only guaranteed investment is to pour your resources into the Kingdom of God. The returns are guaranteed, and they will multiply and grow for eternity. Everything else is a gamble.” I doubt many of his customers what to hear that, but it is the most basic truth in the world.

How do you want to spend your life? Do you want it to matter? Do you want to build something that will last forever? Or are you content to chase the banalities that the pagans chase: sensual pleasures, drunkenness, idolatry, and frivolity? You are free to choose – but there are only two choices, you will either serve God or “not God”. What is your choice today?

“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:15