Another month has come and gone, and life continues to turbulently flow by (I’ve been trying to study for a Fluids exam that is tomorrow). That description of this semester seems to be about the most accurate depiction, though. I feel like an extremely small particle with a very high velocity rushing through a long pipe with various constrictions, corners, and turbines. Thankfully, the Lord has been giving me energy (like a pump), and I continue flowing through this craziness of classes, homework, meetings, projects, quizzes, and exams.
I decided to take a little break from school and read a few of my family members’ blogs this morning. Aunt Kim’s post about dream homes made me stop and think about my current dream home. It’s not a huge, fancy hotel or mansion as it was several years ago. Instead, it’s a place where guests can be welcomed and a family can live. I like the simplicity of some homes I saw in Cameroon. They had a covered/enclosed area to visit with people and then an enclosed area for the family to sleep, eat, and talk. (That reminds me of the first “books” I wrote. I would record events on family trips, which would often involve lots of eating and talking, as well as some sleeping, of course.)
Anyway, I think I can summarize my dream house as a little home that can be used to make much of Jesus. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 15:16, “Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and turmoil with it.” As long as we have the Lord in our lives, the other things that we “possess” do not matter. We don’t really own them anyway, as everything we have, including life and righteousness, is a gift from God (James 1:17). So, I challenge you to seek to own little and make much of Jesus in your life. Share the good that He is doing in your life; don’t dream about more/better goods (stuff) for your life.
Our time here on earth is so short, and I “urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” (1 Thes. 5:14) Set your eyes on our great God, encourage others to do the same, and ask Him to make His dreams your dreams for this brief life.
The idea for this summary of “making much of Jesus” comes from Steven Curtis Chapman’s song “Much of You”:
How could I stand here
And watch the sun rise
Follow the mountains
Where they touch the sky
Ponder the vastness
And the depths of the sea
And think for a moment
The point of it all was to make much of me
Cause I’m just a whisper
And You are the thunder and
I want to make much of You Jesus
I want to make much of Your love
I want to live today to give You the praise
That You alone are so worthy of
I want to make much of Your mercy
I want to make much of Your cross
I give You my life
Take it and let it be used
To make much of You
And how can I kneel here
And think of the cross
The thorns and the whip and the nails and the spear
The infinite cost
To purchase my pardon
And bear all my shame
To think I have anything worth boasting in except for Your name
Cause I am a sinner
And You are the Savior
I want to make much of You Jesus
I want to make much of Your love
I want to live today to give You the praise
That You alone are so worthy of
I want to make much of Your mercy
I want to make much of Your cross
I give You my life
Take it and let it be used
To make much of You
This is Your love, oh God
Not to make much of me
But to send Your own Son
So that we could make much of You
For all eternity
©2004 Sparrow Song / Peach Hill Songs / BMI / Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing
Loni, Ashley, and I love your 1st paragraph, John! hehe Don’t study TOO hard. 🙂
Your blog made me so happy. I just get on my knees and please Jesus.
John,
I enjoyed reading this. Amen! I agree!
That’s a great song! I felt very much the same way about homes after being in Rwanda. The style there is quite similar to what you described in Cameroon.
I was surfing the net in search of this song and stumbled across this blog. How moving and how eloquent are your words. You describe almost identically what I’ve been going through and my feelings of pain and joy. This blog is the most encouraging writing I’ve read in a very long time. I don’t usually provide feedback on blogs, I only read them but this one being so heart-felt, I felt I had to. I am encouraged in my walk with the Lord as I have read your experience.
Thank you for taking the time to write what must be so very personal to you and sharing it with others.
Sheryl
First of all thank you for a such wonderfull topic, well i have to say it is difficult for me to say if i agree with you or not. I will read it for a second time and let you know what i think
I don’t even know you, but we WILL meet someday. I too was searching for the words to this song and I found this blog. This is my 1st response to any blog, but with tears streaming down my face I felt compelled to respond. I Praise God from the innermost of my being for having given you the words to say. These words are an answer to my prayers for the last several months. You see I have made my 2 grown children my “god”. Last fall they were “sold out” to Christ. But one now has left GOD and embraced an “alternate lifestyle” because he knows he can’t have both, and the other one because of hard economic times, is having to loose his home and uproot his family for cheaper,smaller living. And he has been crying out for God to “prove” who HE is, by providing a “miracle” in his situation. I’ve been crying out to God for a miracle to bring the boys back to Him!!! That would be the greatest miracle! Anyway Thank you!