Throw Off All that Hinders

On Monday, I sat outside under the eaves of the back porch of the dairy barn as rain poured down in front of me. I looked up to the sky and it seemed so surreal and almost unbelievable that God is up there. I wondered how I could even speak to Him. Then I thought of the song with the lyrics, "I lift my eyes up to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and earth." (from Psalm 121). I just really felt His presence then and began to cry. I felt so inadequate and that reminded me of Psalm 144:3, "O Lord, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him?" How could He think of me, sitting there under the shelter of the dairy barn, when there is such an expanse of earth and beyond that I cannot even fathom or be a part of? In my small sphere of influence, what am I really doing? I feel as if I'm just living. But I want to be Living, with a capital "L". I want to live life for what matters, for His Kingdom. All the cares of the world and the things I use to fill my time or derive comfort from mean nothing in the scheme of God's plan. Why do I busy myself with gadgets? Why do most of us think we really should have these things? With all the things we use to entertain ourselves, there is some sense of entitlement within us that says, "Well, it's boring right now, so I have a reason to indulge in this." What we are really saying is, "Maybe if there was actually something good going on in my life God, I could spend more time with you. As it is, this is more interesting." How can He give us purpose if we keep turning away from His call to leave all the things that preoccupy us? I seriously do want to go out and sell all my pointless things that I use to amuse myself. What good are they, but to distract me from my true purpose here? God did not say He wanted to bless us with trinkets and nice things--how selfish to think that I, of all people, a sinner who might as well be spitting in the face of my Jesus every time I choose worldly things over Him, deserve that blessing? God does not just bless us with objects for our happiness, He blesses us with relationships, spouses, children, strength and perseverance when we are at our weakest, and the seemingly small things that show us He is there and loves us. The objects of this world can serve a purpose and bring us joy, but when we look to them as our only source of joy (which, if we truly inspected ourselves and were honest, we would have to say that we do) we must rid ourselves of them. Anything hindering you from seeing Christ, cut it off. That is why God said it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Riches cloud judgment, we begin to rationalize, become hooked, then addicted, and then give excuses why we shouldn't give it up. What is taking over you? We must identify and throw off all that is taking over our effectiveness for our true reason for living on this earth: to glorify God, work for the Kingdom, make disciples, and enjoy Him (above ALL else) FOREVER.