Did you make it finally? For a long time I had the bad habit of starting books and never finishing them. I had an endless stack of books that I needed to finish. A few years ago I felt convicted that this wasn’t the best use of the books I had invested in, so I made it a point to mark in the beginning of my books when I began them and often would mark the date I read each chapter. The practice of keeping all the books I was reading on a particular shelf reminded me of the ones I needed to finish. And in this manner I have managed to finish a great number of books.
This book on the Pursuit of God has a final chapter worth reading (if you’ve lost your steam along the way, let me encourage you to take in the final chapter). It addresses a chronic problem in the church today; the separation of life into sacred and secular.
Tozer points out that God makes no such separation, that all of life is intended to be lived for God – Jesus providing us with the perfect example of what this looks like. I have found tremendous freedom in this knowledge. This doesn’t mean that I can only ever do things like pray, read my Bible and sing hymns – I am free in Christ to drink deeply of all that life has to offer. When I ride my bike out into the country, I am able to do this for God’s glory. When I fire up the barbecue for dinner, this is equally something that can be done for God’s glory. I can enjoy time with friends and family for his greater glory. Is there anything that cannot be done for God’s glory? YES! Of course, a person cannot sin for the glory of God, so there are certain actions, activities and attitudes that have no place in my life – but none of those things can actually carry through on a promise of joy and peace – sin actually brings about the opposite result – grief and guilt.
But let me offer a caution to you as you discover the freedom to ‘live’ for the glory of God in the job you have and the family you are in. We cannot simply slap a bumper-sticker on our lives and make it true. What I mean by that, is that too often people take hold of this sort of teaching and use it as an excuse NOT to be holy, but rather to declare what is common holy. The upward call of God upon Christians is to live their lives intentionally for his glory – literally with God’s honour and glory at the forefront of our minds. That means I will go out of my way to obey him, to serve him, and to show my love for him.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones offered a single question as a means for rightly understanding the condition of our heart: “What is your supreme desire? Are you out for the fleshly carnal results, or do you long to know God and to become more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you hungering and thirsting for righteousness?”
Answer this question honestly and you will know whether you are living for the glory of God or if you are simply asking God to bless your indifference to all things holy and living instead for the pursuit of STUFF that will leave you empty in the end.
Thanks for reading along. I hope you will continue to pick up books that challenge your thinking and lead you into a deeper love and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.