Dear Lighthouse,
I love to watch the show American Chopper. For those of you who are not “enlightened” it is a show that follows the
Teutul family business of Orange County Choppers in New York as they make the sickest bikes around! Actually I know nothing about motorcycles and really have no interest in them. What fascinates me about the show is the interaction between the members of this family and their work
partners. The boss of the shop is Paul Senior.
He has two sons that work for him: Paul Junior (Paulie) and Mikey. These
guys are hilarious. They yell and fight all the time, but it’s all in some
strange sense of love and respect.
What piqued my interest was Paulie. This guy is patient. I mean, he just plugs along and doesn’t get upset. He works slow and steady
and makes a steady progress. Paul Senior comes out every once in a while and
yells at Paulie but he just takes it and moves on. Everyone around him swears
and is pretty crude, but Paulie doesn’t. He’s just a really nice
guy and very patient. This guy became a little inspiration to me to be patient
and humble. I was genuinely impressed with his attitude. Then, I was shocked to discover in one episode, he is a Christian!
I guess I should not have been surprised but considering the format of the show, I sure was caught off guard. Imagine that, a Christian! And before
I even knew this about him he had made a positive impact on my own attitude.
How about you and me? This thought hit me after that show – what kind of impact is my attitude and my action making on
those around me? What statement is your life making to others? Think about it. How do you deal with set backs, problems,
personal conflicts? What kind of character are you portraying in the workplace? At home? Within the Kingdom of God? If a film crew followed you around, would the people watching at home think you were
a Christian?
You see we who are called Christians have a responsibility
to live up to that name. When we signed on with God and accepted Jesus as our
Savior we also accepted Him as our LORD. He was born Savior and Lord (Luke 2:11) and He still awaits us our arrival in Heaven as the same (II
Pet. 1:11). You cannot have one without the other or you have neither. Our Lord said, “If anyone would come
after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
(Luke 9:23) This is no game. This
is not a dress rehearsal. This is real life and we serve a real Lord.
To deny oneself involves a willingness to give
up what we want for what God wants. It is giving the priority in our lives over
to God. This is inclusive of all areas of our lives and our walk. We must deny ourselves all things that lead away from an intimate relationship with God and go against
His Word to us – revenge, rage, cutting comments, vulgar speech, deceit, lies, sexual perversion, porn, hatred, drunkenness,
gossip, and so on. Compare these with the lists in Gal. 5:20, Eph. 4:31, and
Col. 3:8. This is where the rubber meets the road in our Christian walk. These things must be put away in order for us to grow and be changed into a new creation
in Christ.
Paul (not Paulie)
puts it this way, “…you have taken off your old self with its practices
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (Col. 3:8) Notice the language, “which is being renewed”. This means we are a work in progress. We are being shaped by the Creator on a daily basis.
Are you yielding?
Like American
Chopper, people are watching us. Our family is watching, our neighbors are
watching, our Christian brothers and sisters are watching. What kind of statement
is your life making to those around you?
This week (and
beyond) I challenge you to put God first in your life. When He is first, you
aren’t. With Him in the lead your decisions will be made with Him in mind
first. “He must become greater;
I must become less.” (John 3:30)
We must be a people that is denying ourselves for His sake.
You may ask,
why? To what end should we deny ourselves? I’ll
give you three reasons: (1) To show those outside the Body that there is a better
way to live – the way of righteousness. (See Matt. 5:16) (2) To encourage our brothers and sisters in their own walk. (See Heb.
10:24) And (3) To continue to show ourselves approved by God. (See II Tim. 2:15) As
we walk and submit to Christ we force ourselves to grow in Him and this strengthens our own faith and determination to live
out the Lordship of Jesus on a daily basis.
I love
American Chopper. These guys make motorcycles into real works of art. They are masterpieces of craftsmanship made by expert hands. Not to take it too far, but you and I are like those bikes. We
are born raw material – easily bent and shaped by the forces of evil in this dark world.
But in the Master’s Hands we become the raw material for a grand creation – a work of art in our own rite.
God molds us
and shapes us to His design – if we are willing. Isaiah understood this,
“Yet, O LORD, You are the Father. We
are the clay, You are the Potter; we are all the work of your hand.” (Isa.
64:8) So did John, “He cuts off
every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (See all of John 15:1-8) I beg you this
week to be pliable and malleable in God’s Hands. Allow Him to craft your
life in His way. I guarantee you’ll be better for it in the end.
This week consider
inviting someone to join us in the Lighthouse as we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Invite them to partner with us as we are shaped and pruned together.
We are being built into a house of God. (See I Pet. 2:5) Remember, people are watching. Let your words and deeds lead
them closer to God each day. Continue to persevere; continue to grow. After all, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
(Rom. 8:31)
Being shaped by Him with you,
Evan
