We Can't Escape the Consequences of our Choices

People don't want to be preached to. I get that. Anything but that. And I can't speak to you for God. Only God can speak to you. God has spoken through the Bible, to generations of people through thousands of years, and he has spoken to me. Before I professed faith, I encountered a Scripture verse on a poster inside a bus. It said, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36 King James Version) I did not understand the words that I was reading on that poster, but I felt something. A quickening, if you will. Something like a divine drawing, tugging at my heart, at my soul. I know now that what I felt was God, the Holy Spirit, calling to me. It was many years after that encounter that I came to faith in Jesus, and many years before I understood the meaning of those words. But I knew God was speaking to me, even though I didn't understand what he was saying. I understand those words now. They mean that all the things the world strives for are nothing if you follow anything but God and lose your soul in the process. Lose your soul? What could that mean? I am not a theologian, I am not a trained teacher of the Bible, I am just a saved person who loves God. I know I am limited in my efforts to share my faith. I am very much aware of that. But I trust God will use me in some way to touch lives. One time I asked God, "What is my purpose?" And the words I heard in my mind were, "To glorify God." I really didn't understand those words either, but, again, I knew that God had spoken them. No matter what I may or may not have accomplished in this life, whether it was in art or music or writing, getting degrees, working, I know none of that has made an impact on the wide world. I have pursued all those things, and I have enjoyed all those things. In the eyes of the world, I have not made a name for myself, become famous or rich or influential. I have a rather small circle of influence, but I am the planting of the Lord. And He is the Divine Gardener. John 15 has a lot of teaching about God the Gardener. It's a good read. I'll be honest with you. I'm struggling with some things. I do not like this time of year. I am constantly asking God to help me. Anne Lamott has written a book called Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers. Anne Lamott is not a theologian either, but those are great prayers in my book. Anne Lamott is a novelist. I haven't even been able to write a short story since 1998. I always wanted to be a writer. I have written graduate school theses (a thesis and a dissertation, to be exact), I have written for weekly newspapers, and I won't go into all that. All I'm saying is, all I know is God is all I need. There was a time when I was first converted that I was very excited about the Bible, about faith, about finding Christ. I confess that there are rough patches, if you want to call it that. The truth is the Bible meets me at any given crisis point. Well, actually, I should say, my relationship with the Lord, because of the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, sustains me and keeps me on track. I made a lot of bad choices in my life, and I am still living in the consequences of those choices, and this is a reality I cannot overstate. Still, I hope that I can do the will of God for what is left of my life. My life is God's, not mine. I want everyone I know and love to follow Jesus. I don't expect a ton of people to follow me. I know I am greatly limited in every regard. But the differences between living life outside of Christ and living in Christ are completely distinct and that is all I'm going to say tonight. "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist" (Colossians 1:16-17). And that includes you and me. And we need to know that.