Why Even Try?

"Make your bed," the mother said.

"Why?" the daughter said.

"Because it looks neater."

"Why does it have to look neater? No one's coming."

"Because it does. Do it."

The daughter let out an exasperated sigh, trudged to her bedroom, gave her sheets one tug, and left the bed "made". She had obeyed. She had done it. Kinda. But it was only just a bed, so why even try?

This is a trivial example, but we ask this question in much more important scenarios. Why do I have to pick up the slack for someone else when I've already done what I set out to do? Why do I have to help that person when I've already helped someone else today? Why do I have to try my hardest when I can get by without much work? Why do I have to live selflessly when it's easier to live for myself?

And for Christians: why do I have to give my short life my best try when I'm already going to heaven for eternity?

Sure, when it's convenient, we help and love others. We do what we can. But when it gets hard, we do the minimum and control the damage and stop. That's enough. Too much giving. I haven't reached my limit, but pouring out myself isn't fun. Plus, trying hard at most things only bring earthly gain, so why does it matter for Christians?  We try at the important things. The morals. The values. The evangelism. That's what we try at. Why bring that into earthly things like normal jobs and chores and things that don't really affect someone's salvation? What difference will it make?

But, oh, will it make a difference. These morals, values, integrity, and your effort cannot be separate from how you do your job. They cannot be separate from earthly things. Right now, you are on earth. You are on earth for a purpose. You are on earth to serve God. Not just in the obvious religious ways, but in everything, trivial or important. Jesus isn't just one part of your life. He's everything. You should treat Him like He is everything, so that "whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him... Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving" (Colossians 3:17, 23-24).

And that's why we try. We are serving Jesus Christ, our Savior, in all that we do, so do it well. Put Jesus first, before all else. Before all earthly worries. Be grateful that you have Him to put first. Try hard. Try hard for Jesus in the name of Jesus. Whether you have to make your bed or meet a deadline, being a Christians means being a follower of Christ, so in everything you do, do it for Him in His name. And your reward is with Him in Heaven for eternity.

You can't really ask for a better reason to try.

Who Are You?

I love things that are me. Okay, okay, I know what you're thinking. Who is this egocentric little child? Don't get me wrong. I'm not obsessed with myself; I just enjoy my idiosyncratic traits. Well, the good ones. Don't we all? There's nothing more we like than seeing ourselves in a positive way.  It's an ego booster, or, in slightly different terms, an awesome booster. We just love to be awesome.

But we aren't always that awesome. And that hurts. It eats us, gnawing at out flesh until we don't even know who we are anymore. Sorry if it's a bit gory, but you get the point. It gruesomely rips everything that resonates with us off of us. That's the problem with being too into ourselves. It's definitely not the only problem, but it's one of them. Who we are and what we're like--I mean, our personality's idiosyncratic traits--are neither always positive nor always constant. I really don't appreciate this about me even though it's a given in every human's life. My personality changes for better or for worse, and even when it stays the same, I can't count on everything in my life reflecting this. It's frustrating. Utterly frustrating. Especially for people like me who are intrigued by self-expression.

How do I deal with this? Honestly, it really eats me up sometimes. Maybe it isn't this way for everyone, but it is for me. So, back to the question. How?

Maybe start by not looking at something that eats you up, but at something that fills you up.  If focusing on your own self eats you up, try focusing on someone else. But what if that someone else has just as many faults as you do and it eats you up all the same? Well, do I have something to tell you.

The person you choose will have no faults--if He's Jesus.

Jesus is perfect. Has anyone ever told you to look on the bright side when you're feeling down? Jesus is the bright side. He is the only completely bright side--the only bright side that will last an eternity. He is the light of the world. With Jesus, suddenly, it doesn't matter how inconstant and imperfect you are, because He is constant and perfect. Because He paid the price. Because His perfect blood was shed on the cross. Because you are no longer defined by your own personality. Because you are no longer defined and valued by something subject to change every two seconds. Because you are now defined by something that can never change.

You are defined by the love of God.

The perfect love of God. The love that was so perfect that He sent His one and only begotten son to die for you on a cross to pay for your sins. And you are His. Forever. For eternity. If you believe in Jesus. Do you?

Who am I?

I am God's.

Who are you?

You are ___.

What Do You Do With The Not-So-Happy Endings?

Sometimes things don't turn out the way you want them too. We hear that all the time, don't we? Except there are times when it rings especially true. I would say I've been really feeling this a lot lately. It's everything turning out wrong; it's every hope becoming mangled; it's your dreams being kicked in the gut by reality. Wow, that hurts. And the bruises and aches that it leaves. Honey, this is not honey. This is just really gross, and it's a feeling that we all want to avoid at every cost.

But is hating this feeling really all it's cracked up to be?

Maybe we're looking at it all wrong. I don't mean to say having things take a huge turn for the worst is the bee's knees. I'm not completely sane, but I'm also not completely insane. But let's really look at the times when we feel slapped in the face by things that have happened. Are they pitiable accounts of misery or well-disguised opportunities to bring a bit more light to the world? I'll give you a hint. I'd go for the latter.

Here's an example that I think is pretty awesome. Way back when this thing we call Earth and all that good stuff was made, these two people made a choice that they thought would make their lives all the dandier. They decided to try to know it all, because what could possibly go wrong? But we all know the story, don't we? They tried and were consequently banished from Eden, hurting their relationship with the Creator of the Universe. There were just a lot of other really nasty things that also came from their sin. This wasn't exactly what Adam and Eve wanted to happen. They reached for the stars and got a handful of cow muck. Isn't that lovely?

I bet God wouldn't have thought His creation messing up perfection was lovely either.  I wouldn't say God wanted Adam and Eve to ruin things.

However, God didn't let this get in the way of how much He loved them or any of the others who were and are born into sin. He took this situation and used it to bring light into the world. More specifically, He brought the Light of the World in. He gave us Jesus and showed us that "greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends" (John 15:13). God used sin entering the world as a chance to show us His True Love and give up His Son for us.  All we have to do is believe, and all of our sins are forgiven.  God didn't let the not-so-happy ending of human goodness even be the real ending.

Now that's what we ought to do with the not-so-happy endings of our lives. 

How Do You Go to God?

When I'm weary,
When I'm sad,
When I'm fearful,
When I'm mad,
When I'm hurt,
A lot or a tad,
And of course,
When I'm glad,
I go to God
With good or bad,
and suddenly,
I have more than I had.
-Me

It's lovely to be able to go to the God of the universe and just chat like you would with an old friend. That's a great way to go to God. Anytime, anywhere, with any emotion, God loves it when we go to Him. He wants to chat with us--no matter if it's for 3 seconds or for many hours or even days. He loves when we acknowledge that He exists everywhere and is accessible anywhere and at any time. He loves when we tell Him what's on our hearts.

Do you realize how blessed we are to be able to do this? And to have a God who loves this?

One of the things that makes Christianity so special for me is how deeply, sincerely, purposely, and wonderfully personal it is.  The Creator of everything enjoys just hanging out with creation--having fellowship. It doesn't even mean you're using words.  It just means you're there and God's there and you're just together.  It's so amazing and awe-inspiring, isn't it?

That's what I'm thankful for today. And with this thanksgiving (and on this Thanksgiving day ;) ), this is how I'm going to God. I'm going to God by giving Him thanks for this life, this truth, this love that He has given me personally. I'm thanking Him for being so real and right and loving and sovereign and joyful even when the sin in the world makes Him sad. I'm thanking Him for being so sad that He gave His Only Begotten Son to die on the cross for our sins. I'm thanking Him for all the blessings in my life whether big or little. I'm thanking Him for my big brother playing the piano, my parents making me dinner, my curling iron working just the right way, this special American holiday, the rest of the world waiting for me to explore, the cold that feels just like the coming Winter should, my awesome camera, being able to have a blog, being able to write with all of my heart, my nonnie being alive and well, my break in work, the ability to play, the disappointments that keep me humble, the waiting for a change, loving life, and being saved by the blood of Jesus. I'm even thanking Him for my schoolwork. That's the hardest one. But thanking God makes me grateful, and being grateful makes me see what I have as so much more. It just makes life better.

Are you going to God with thanks today?

Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving thanks.

1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2     Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

P.S. Happy Thanksgiving!

Are You A Royal?

Have you ever realized how EVERYONE wants to be a royal? A ruler? On top of the world? Or at least how the world tells us we should wanna be royals? Well, Lorde noticed it. She also noticed that "we'll never be royals. It don't run in our blood." But of course she then begs, "Let me be your ruler; you can call me queen bee. And baby, I'll rule, I'll rule, I'll rule. Let me live that fantasy."  So, from this song, we come to understand that even though us normal people will never be rulers, we still wanna rule --this is the dream that we're all in love with. We all wanna answer "yes" to the question "are you a royal," but it just isn't gonna happen. Right?

Wrong.

Okay, okay, before you think I'm really crazy, let me tell you about the inheritance you're being offered right now.  Eternity of being a son or daughter of the King of the universe. Paid for by the blood of Jesus. All you do is accept that Jesus died (and resurrected) for you, and you're royalty. For eternity. With the God who loves you so much that He sent His only son to die for you.

In reply to Lorde, we can be royals. It runs in Jesus' blood that He poured out for us.  We can live that fantasy.

I'm a royal.  Are you?

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are a people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

-1 Peter 2:9-10

Why Can't We Be Friends?

We've all had those kinds of friends at one point or the other (or at most points). You know those friends who are nice on the surface and lead you to believe that you are (of course) their friend, their groupie, but then, all of the sudden, they ditch you. They ignore you. They still say you're their "friend," but you know the truth. They leave you singing, "Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?"

It's very frustrating, isn't it?

And that's how Jesus feels about us sometimes.

Think about it. At some point in his/her life, almost every Christian finds him/herself saying Jesus is his/her friend, but not really acting like it. We all still like the idea of being a Christian, but we lose faith in Jesus, feeling like "how could we need someone we can't even see? Is He even real?"  Then, like the flaky friend, we don't spend time with Jesus anymore or invite Him where we're going. We hate to admit it, but we kinda decided that our friendship was never real.  Our faith--well, we wouldn't say it exists. We're officially doubters, even though there was definitely a point where Jesus revealed Himself to us.  When we doubt after Jesus reveals Himself to us, that's when He gets frustrated. It's not out of anger, but it's out of love. He wants to be our friend because He loves us, yet we aren't feeling it. It leaves Him singing,"Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends?"  Except when Jesus asks this, it's a rhetorical question, because He definitely knows what's happening on our end of the friendship.

Now, this doesn't mean we're just all going to Hell. Some of the best Christians go through this at one point or another. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that every Christian goes through this. Way back 2000 years ago, when the disciples were trying to heal this demon-possessed boy, the father of the boy had to go to Jesus because the disciples just couldn't do it. When Jesus heard that His disciples couldn't do it, He said, "O unbelieving and perverse generation... how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here" (Matthew 17: 17). He was frustrated. It hurt Him to know that His disciples, who had been seeing Him and talking to Him face to face, didn't have enough faith to heal a boy. But this was also Jesus asking a rhetorical question, because He knew how long He'd be on earth with them and He knew that their faith wouldn't always be up to par. He still loved them despite this. Actually, I think one of the main reasons He's saying this is to show that we need Him more than He needs us.

It's to show that sometimes we will be those flaky friends of fake faith, but we still need Him and should go to Him in those times.

The disciples could SEE Jesus with their own two eyes, yet they still had issues with faith and trusting in the reality of their friendship with Jesus. So, they needed to rely on Jesus to heal the boy--to do the job they were called to do. The job they could do if they had enough faith (see Matthew 17:20).  Even if we're horrible friends of Jesus, He wants us to go to Him, and like He did for the disciples, He'll pick up the slack. He'll do what we were meant to do. He might get frustrated that we can't love Him so much that our faith just comes naturally, but His love will still be constant.

He still wants to be your friend.

He wants to be your friend forever.

[Cue "Why Can't We Be Friends?" here]

How's your friendship with Jesus going?

Do You Want That Perfect Life?

"I want that friend. I want that dress. I want that appearance. I want that grade. I want that position. I want that acceptance. I want that happiness. I want that fulfillment. I want that life. That perfect, perfect life.

"But I don't have that.

"God, why don't I have that? Don't You love me? Don't You want me to have joy?  Isn't that one of the fruits of the Spirit?  It's what we get as Christians, right?"

Silence.

"I'm very unhappy, God. Where are You? I thought You were real. Get over here, Lord. What are You doing? I want Your joy."

"Follow me."

"Well, I know that, God.  I am a Christian. That's kinda what the word implies.  I'm already doing that.  But I'm just really antsy trying to get that life You wanna give me."

"Follow me."

"Ok, this isn't funny.  I am following You.  But I need to feel filled up, You know? Of course You know.  Why are You playing coy?"

"Follow me."

"Lord, I think we're getting disconnected because You just said the same thing three times after I told You that that's not what I need.  I've already got that.  But I need You to make me a little more perfect. Oh, and You know that prestigious title that that girl has?  I think I'd be a better Christian with it.  And please hear me and stop trying to tell me to follow You when I already am.  I'm really just asking for that good life, You know."

Silence.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?"
Matthew 16:24-26