Are You Running In Place?
1 Corinthians 3:1-4 - "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?"
We find ourselves today in a secular culture that promotes immaturity. As a kid growing up, I heard many times the Toys R Us jingle: “I don’t wanna grow up. I’m a Toys R Us kid.” As innocent as it sounds, it perfectly voices what I believe has grabbed hold of American culture. We’re constantly being encouraged to live by our feelings and be true to ourselves, and honestly, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. American culture is producing people who don’t want to grow up, who always want to live as if they are children, always doing whatever they want, when they want, and avoiding hard and uncomfortable things.
As we see in 1 Corinthians, Paul was dealing with the same problem. How many of us have sung the great hymn, “Prone to wander Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart Lord, take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.” My problem is always a heart problem. It’s easy for me to chase after everything that doesn’t last instead of the thing that matters most. I can have as much of Jesus as I want, but can I put down my current distractions for the hard work of deepening my walk with Christ? I must say no to my desire for instant gratification, remember that this world is not my home, and abandon all the “important” things so nothing may stand in the way of obtaining Christ. Sadly, I believe most of us are essentially stuck in a cycle that keeps us in spiritual immaturity, never making much impact for the kingdom and, like children, constantly worrying about not knowing God’s will or not understanding what He is doing in our lives. I want to highlight two reasons for this: 1) the wheel of life, and 2) we are running on the wrong power source. For the rest of this blog, we will look at the wheel of life.
We find ourselves today in a secular culture that promotes immaturity. As a kid growing up, I heard many times the Toys R Us jingle: “I don’t wanna grow up. I’m a Toys R Us kid.” As innocent as it sounds, it perfectly voices what I believe has grabbed hold of American culture. We’re constantly being encouraged to live by our feelings and be true to ourselves, and honestly, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. American culture is producing people who don’t want to grow up, who always want to live as if they are children, always doing whatever they want, when they want, and avoiding hard and uncomfortable things.
As we see in 1 Corinthians, Paul was dealing with the same problem. How many of us have sung the great hymn, “Prone to wander Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart Lord, take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.” My problem is always a heart problem. It’s easy for me to chase after everything that doesn’t last instead of the thing that matters most. I can have as much of Jesus as I want, but can I put down my current distractions for the hard work of deepening my walk with Christ? I must say no to my desire for instant gratification, remember that this world is not my home, and abandon all the “important” things so nothing may stand in the way of obtaining Christ. Sadly, I believe most of us are essentially stuck in a cycle that keeps us in spiritual immaturity, never making much impact for the kingdom and, like children, constantly worrying about not knowing God’s will or not understanding what He is doing in our lives. I want to highlight two reasons for this: 1) the wheel of life, and 2) we are running on the wrong power source. For the rest of this blog, we will look at the wheel of life.
American culture is producing people who do NOT want to grow up, who always want to live as if they are children, always doing whatever they want, when they want, and avoiding hard and uncomfortable things.
The devil can’t take your salvation away, but he can take away your effectiveness. One thing that I think he does best in this generation is getting us to run on the wheel of life. The Bible refers to the Christian life as running a race (Hebrews 12:1-2). So, to combat Christians, the devil has developed something like a hamster wheel: the wheel of life. We get up in the morning, put our feet to the floor, and before we can even fully open our eyes, we have to hurry up and get ready for the day, get the kids to school, and get off to work. Then we work all day and hurry to get home to figure out what’s for dinner, take care of the family, and hopefully go to bed at a decent time so we can rest up and do it all over again. We run so hard on the wheel to work and to get somewhere with a career path. We try to find some vacation time in the midst of working ourselves to death because we have to achieve the American dream. We get on this wheel and run and run and run, and before we know it, there is no room for the Kingdom on this wheel. So just as the hamster that runs and never gets anywhere, we Christians also run and never get anywhere in our relationship with Jesus. It’s time we stop solely living our lives reacting to everything that life throws at us and live purposefully. Let me remind you, dear Christian, of Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NKJV):
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
Now before you go in the wrong direction with this verse, yes, if you are a child of the King, then He can do nothing but be loving, kind, and gracious to you. He is not mean or unfair; He hasn’t fallen asleep, nor has He forgotten you. Verse 13 can help us understand what our Father’s number one priority is. It’s not comfort, prosperity, nor having a wonderful life as we often define it. He simply wants all of our hearts, loving Him more than anything, and then advancing His Kingdom by living in the power of God’s salvation.
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
Now before you go in the wrong direction with this verse, yes, if you are a child of the King, then He can do nothing but be loving, kind, and gracious to you. He is not mean or unfair; He hasn’t fallen asleep, nor has He forgotten you. Verse 13 can help us understand what our Father’s number one priority is. It’s not comfort, prosperity, nor having a wonderful life as we often define it. He simply wants all of our hearts, loving Him more than anything, and then advancing His Kingdom by living in the power of God’s salvation.
We get on this wheel and run and run and run, and before we know it, there is no room for the Kingdom on the this wheel.
You are saved to do great and wonderful things. You are saved to be a participant in God’s Kingdom activity on this earth. You are not a spectator, but one who brings tidings of hope and grace to those whose greatest need is to be rescued from their sin debt. It’s time to be effective for the Kingdom, no longer chasing after what will fade away. Let us fix our eyes on a city not made by human hands, a place where the very King of kings beckons us to abide in His presence and live forevermore. It’s time to jump off the wheel that leaves us in the pit of worthlessness, living in a constant search for purpose.
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