Making a Difference

When you're young you think you can "make a difference" in the world. The world tells you you can "make a difference." You are pumped up by your friends or your family or by the signs on the walls at school. They come and speak to you in the auditorium about "making a difference." "You can make a difference." "Be the change." You've heard it all. And it's all well and good, but what does it mean? We often think it means being outstanding in some field, such as sports or academics or art or drama or whatever else you can think of. We all honor the celebrities. They are gorgeous and glamorous and talented and everybody's eyes are on them all the time. They are constantly being coifed and made up and dressed to the T's and posing for the photographers. You would think they spent their whole life trying to be in a feature story in "People" magazine. Everybody wants to be recognized for something, known for something. For most of us that is not the way we live. We get our degrees, we get our jobs, we pay our bills, we do our hobbies, and we pass on some sort of memory when we die to a certain number of people who knew us and were part of our lives, and we hope that will be something positive. For those of us who are parents and grandparents we pass on something more to our heirs. I remember my parents and grandparents with love and admiration. Some of us had our differences, but in the end, I simply hold them in my heart and hope to see them again in eternity, which I believe I will. Some people I don't know if I will see them in eternity or not because they made no profession of faith that I know of. As for me, I hope there will be no doubt in anyone's mind about where I stood with the Lord. And as for my daily life, I hope I can be a guiding light to those who are looking for God. I know there will be plenty of people who will never give me a second thought but I was there nonetheless. When I was born again, I died and Jesus Christ came to live in me, so the life I live I live by the faith of the Son of God as Paul declared in Galatians 2:20. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20 NKJV). I may not be a TV evangelist or a recording artist or a "sought after speaker" or an "award winning author," but I was here. I did what I could where God planted me and my only hope now is that God will be pleased with my life. I pray that he will say, "Well done, faithful servant" when my life on Earth is through. I know that he sees everything, he knows everything, and he can do anything. And in the end, he's all I've got. So, then, if you are reading this and you want to make a difference, remember, you can only make a difference where you are and who you are. If Christ is in you, you have only to be concerned about your relationship with him. You have nothing to prove to anybody, not even to yourself. That's why God's word keeps repeating the theme of focusing on God and not on earthly worries. "...while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). "…set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory" (Colossians 3:2-10). So, live your life in Christ and you will make the only difference that matters. The End.