Shift happens...

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." Ecclesiastes 3:1

I don't know about you but sometimes I forget that there is a time for everything that happens here on earth. Especially when it's time to move from my comfort zone. Change can be frustrating, aggravating, stressful, and uncomfortable. However, change can also be a breathe of fresh air.
Why is it then that most of us avoid change like it's the plague? Could that be a curse of the sin we're born into? We like things to stay the way we like them rather than embracing the freedom God offers. In fact, some of us are so stuck in the way we like things that we can't even think about buying our underwear anywhere else except "Kmart on 400 Oak Street in Cincinnati". (Yes, that was a Dustin Hoffmann quote from Rain Man.) 

You might have noticed that shift happens is awfully close to the phrase sh*t happens. One of the words means "nonsense, foolishness, crap". The other means "change or move". Hopefully, you're able to guess which is which. 

The past few weeks I've been circling over the first church, the first followers of Christ. What was it that made them want to profess Jesus as their Lord and follow Him even to death? Were these people a bunch of religious fanatics, had they been brainwashed, or was there something more to their passion and dedication?

Well, first of all, that's more than I can cover in one blog. But the simple answer is shift. They shifted from an earthy mindset to a heavenly mindset. That didn't mean they no longer suffered pain or heartache, it simply meant that they processed it in a new light. They began to understand "this too shall pass" was more than an empty phrase your neighbor told you when things turned to sh*t. It was a lifestyle that could be embraced through Christ.

God would be their God. Not because they were a people that He choose like Israel. Not because He was the God of their ancestors- Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. But because He took their place in an awful punishment, out of love for them, before even knowing if He'd be loved in return. 

God, help me embrace the shift that you have for my life. Help me not to become so wrapped up in the things of this world that I lose sight of your will and your kingdom. You are God, not me. Your will be done, not mine. Lord, ignite a passion inside of me that burns away my selfish desires. Ignite a passion for you that consume me from the inside out. That cleanses me and flows out of me. Amen.