Recognizing Him

My wife, Angie wrote this great post on the LeaderTreks International blog and I wanted to share it with you and take a day off of writing.

In Phillippians, Paul takes a look at his life, all the things he’s accomplished, and he sets a focus going forward…He wants to “KNOW HIM.”  Paul lists all the reasons that from a worldly focus he would be considered a spiritual giant, only to label them rubbish in comparison to Knowing Him.

Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with Him.  Phil: 3:8

So, if knowing Him is so important, how do we do it?  There are a lot of ways, the Bible (foundational!), prayer, listening to the Holy Spirit, immersing yourself in community.  But there’s one way I want to challenge you with today, because its often the first thing to go when we get busy.  Its this…simply recognizing God and the thread of His story running through your life.

Here’s what I mean by this.  In Chicago our winters are long, dark, and drawn out.  So at the first sign of spring, we all bolt outside and take it in like kids in a candy shop.  Its all we can talk about, and even enemies will smile at each other as the sun makes its first appearance.  The buds start to appear on the trees, and little seedlings begin to pop through the frozen earth.  Everything is new.  The dead of winter is over, and new life begins to pop up and take form.

The idea of “new” is a huge theme in Scripture.  From God’s “new mercies” (Lamentations 3:22-23), to our own lives as the “old has gone and the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). So what if we stopped to recognize this thread of the God’s truth weaving itself even through the changing seasons?  What if we paused for a moment, and let our joy for Spring and fresh air, overflow into the joy of being a new creation.

Stop for just one moment today and recognize the thread of God’s love and God’s truth running through your daily life, your ministry, your surroundings, your relationships.  And grow in your knowledge of Him.