i was thinking about blogging today for some reason and as i pulled up this account i felt drawn to check my "drafts" file... these are those uncomposed or unfinished thoughts and musings that for one reason or another have never gotten cyber time for anyone's eyes but my own. some are fully composed and have just never been published, others just a phrase or word that captured a moment of my life and was left in the broken pile of my own memories.
memories are such a good thing. like mile markers in life that tell the story of where we've been and beacons of light shining out in the darkness of a mirky future screaming for the direction we hope to go. as i sit on my couch this sunday afternoon, our laundry is hanging outside, mostly old t-shirts and such, mostly mine. some are serious event markers: my green "you are loved" shirt from MD, or my "drink coffee do good" shirt from creation, or the "god of this city" shirt reminding me of his kingdom... mile markers in a life of trying to follow god, i'm realizing very quickly though that memories and momento's of this life are just that... memories and momento's.
i gave a talk at our Nexus gathering a couple weeks ago about coming to god with the very best that we have to offer. coming to the king of creation with excellence in humble worship. how many times i fall short. how many times i come to him with the leftovers of an over busy, over tired life that uses it's first fruits on everything and everyone except the one who deserves it. so many times i am guilty of being a man like the ones the prophet isaiah and later jesus would refer to as so shallow and broken. it's really a condition of the heart. how often do we give god lip service but then live lives that seem so far from the glorious reality of the men and women he's created us to be? memories are built on moments in time, and each moment not captured for the very best aspects of worship with my life are wasted ones. but what is worship? can the mundane, the dull, the overwhelmingly bitter moments of our lives not be full of worship? real life doesn't offer us a "draft" option, there's no test runs. each moment is the only one we really have, and that in itself is a tremendous gift from a gracious and loving god. 
i recently heard excellence defined as ; "the very best we have to offer, with the tools we have at our disposal, in the time frame we've been given." does that mean that everything has to be done perfectly? every moment specifically crafted to such the most marrow possible from the bone... b/c i don't know about you but i don't think i have the mental where-with-all to make that happen.
i think it's far less burdensome than all that. hebrews is one of my favorite books for many reasons but not the least of these is the fact that there are passages like 10.19-25 where the writer reminds us of our standing with God once we've accepted the gracious gift of Christ. this passage reminds me that we are able to approach God's throne room in glory knowing that we stand in perfection before him...
WHAT!? seriously! clearly god missed something here, because i'm fully aware of the broken mess that i am on most days and he's not wanting this junk in his throne room... man i love jesus, because he's standing there saying, nah he's clean!
so if we can enter the throne room of the almighty like that, then what the hell (excuse me, heck) are we doing bringing our second best? he's already provided the tools and the time to bring our best now it's up to us to use them for his kingdom. when are going to get off our spiritual butts and realize the gravity of the life that JESUS died for us to live. sorry if your mental picture of me at this point is one of a guy standing on a soapbox screaming in the mist of a city street corner but if anything, that mist is my own spiritual walk sometimes.
c'mon folks, this is an open audition to live lives that are radically genuinely different. not some pushed and pressed christianity that you can find in any church pew or on the shelf at your favorite book store. it's not some downloadable, programmable life program that only takes a setup and then runs itself... no this life is requires our absolute best. our devotion to god, if it's sincere and true should leave our life wrecked for the things of His kingdom. so the question is, what's holding us back? what do we need to nail to the cross of christ in order to approach the throne of God with confidence, in the perfection of excellence that God desires from us?if all this were not enough one more passage has gotten a hold on my heart. it's 2 corinthians 9.6-8. generally it's used to talk about money and rightfully so but i think we can also find a spiritual principle. i talk to people all the time that say, "why don't i feel like i can connect with god" or "why does my spiritual life suck so much of the time?" my usual answer is "well, join the club..." with a smirk and twinkle of my eye. BUT i've been so drastically wrong, why have our spiritual walks been so lazy? so lack luster and boring? because we've not been generous with the work we've put into them! are we cheerfully giving to god the firstfruits of our lives or are we holding with tight fist onto the gifts that he's given us?
he says in this passage that God will provide all that we need when we give it over to him and i have to believe that that includes spiritual blessing and strength. may we never forget that god is GOD and we're not! he's the one who supplies every breath and every heartbeat, he's also the one who breathes and the heavens take their shape. he's big enough to deal with your schedule and greatly desires to shower us with spiritual blessing the closer we draw to him.
My friends, may we approach the throneroom of the almighty with the confidence of excellence... and may the God of all glory fill us with all that we need to do every good work. there are no "drafts" in this life, only one step in front of the other each day... may your next step be richly blessed.
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