There are many times in your life, where everything in life is as usual, then all of a sudden out of nowhere God blesses you tremendously. Of course, God does not do this on a daily basis or you would not appreciate it. The fact does remain though, that God out of the blue gives you a huge blessing. The immediate reaction is abundant joy, followed by gratitude after a time of reflection.
These events cause you to love the Lord your God even more as you see the blessing(s) coming from above. Many believers will decide that they will do this thing or that thing for the Lord to show their love for Him. An anonymous writer says some insightful words about how you should love the Lord, “My love for the Lord is not measured by the things I am willing to do for Him—but the things I am not willing to do for Him.” Let those words sink deep within your cranium. The Christian life is not to be lived to get all the gusto you can while here on planet earth. Remind yourself often that heaven is your home, not earth, and your true purpose in life while on earth is to become as Christ-like as possible. This means that even though you have the liberty before God to do certain things, you choose not to do them because they detract from your Christ-likeness.
Some stunning words to the pleasure society believer today are recorded in Philippians 1:29, “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.” Notice, the verse says that you are “to believe in Him.” That is where a lot of Christians enter the faith and leave their Christian growth right there. The verse continues to say that once you are a believer you are “to suffer for Christ’s sake.” This may not be a pleasant experience but oh so necessary to conform you into the image of Christ.
When you endure suffering for a season, either short or long, the Lord brings forth His blessings. Let Jesus chip away at you a little; being Christ-like is the goal, remember!
