Day 2878 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Revelation 3:17 NIV

I don't know that I've ever had a thought come from so far out in left field as this one. I was awoken in the middle of the night by something that I had in no way whatsoever been thinking about before. And that is seriously strange as I do so much thinking every minute of every day that I'm not used to a thought surprising me! But it just felt like something I was supposed to think about, supposed to talk about. So here we go...

Why is it that we value that which is worthless and devalue everything that actually matters?

See what I mean? We've been talking about love, honesty, truth, the calling to share the Gospel despite the world's insistence that we don't. Where did that come from?

But, oddly enough, it actually does fit. Recently we've been discussing fear and vanity and worry and this constant pressure from the world around us to sit down and be quiet about our faith. And for the most part, we see a people more than willing to play along. We see people fading into the background of life. We see faith in some areas becoming an afterthought. We even see some who claim a title of Christian speaking messages that placate the fallen preferences of a highly perverse populace.

Why is that? Why are so many succumbing to fear and doubt and ridicule? Why this constant hesitation to wear our faith boldly for the world to see regardless of what it means we face in response?

And here's where that altogether random thought meshes seamlessly with all we've been talking about lately: All of this fear and doubt and trepidation stems from this overvaluing of societal pressure and expectations. We have sadly learned to care far too much about who the world wants us to be and far too little about who God calls us to be. We're far more worried about making people like us than we are about making God proud of the way we live.

And in that truth we find the undeniable reason for all of this confusion and consternation that we see manifesting within our lives of faith.

It's because we've learned to value what doesn't matter and devalue what actually does. We spend so much time in this world, focused on this world, living like this world that this world and its wants and ways become our wants and ways as we inevitably grow to see this sphere as our home. We have fallen for one of the biggest lies there is, and we've done it in the most disgraceful and disgusting way possible.

And that lie is that humanity has the power to determine something, to define something, to control something. We hear that message constantly, and we see people living like it’s true. But the reality is that God alone created the universe, and no matter what our human arrogance may tell us, all of this works as He designed it to work. And just because we think we can change His creation and redefine His truth does not make it so.

We have allowed our ears to become tuned to the popular messages of the world. Not that we agree with all of them, but that we at the very least agree that they have some kind of power or authority or passing success and therefore must be legitimate. We find our eyes being lured into actually thinking that the more stuff we have the more value our lives hold. Not that we necessarily want a bunch of worldly junk cluttered around us, but we at least want something to hold up and show the world to prove that we're worth something.

We let our minds become entangled in this mess of lies, not because we actually believe them, but because we find ourselves surrounded by a vicious horde that does believe in them and we simply want to welcomed and accepted while we're here. We give our hearts over to following the well-worn paths of a society happily wandering further and further from God and His Word, not because that's the direction we think we should be going, but because we've learned to find immense value in camaraderie and companionship as being a lone wolf is no longer seen as having much benefit in this overly socialized society.

My point is that we, whether we call ourselves Christians or not, whether we're actually aiming for Christ's example or not, whether we actually believe in a singular truth or not, have watered down our existence in order to feel more at home in this place. And in order to do so, we’ve settled for adopting this world’s definitions and expectations of basically everything.

We say we’re rich just because we have a bunch of things we can touch. We say that we’re powerful just because we share the messages that those we think are powerful are sharing. We say that we’re popular just because our social media accounts show a number of followers that affords us this sense of social accomplishment. We paint ourselves up to look pretty. We paint our lives to look perfect. And all the while, it’s all just covering the true condition of our fallen souls underneath the façade.

But all along the way, what we don't see is that while we seem to be gaining ground within the world around us, we're constantly shedding little bits and pieces of ourselves in order to make it happen. We're letting go of our true, unique, priceless identity in order to be redefined by a world that only accepts those who look and sound and dress and walk and act and believe like everyone else does.

We are eventually forced to even let go of truth, or at the very least become open to giving it a little bit of extra latitude in order to continue agreeing with the design that man is continuing to make all so that we can, at least on the surface, be seen as an ally rather than an outlier.

Thus we find all of this nonsense we've been talking about lately. It's spawned from this desire to fly below the radar of a world filled with air defenses aimed at anyone who dares point to God and His undeniable, unavoidable, unrelenting and indivisible truth. The world has made it perfectly clear that they see no worth, no value, no purpose, no point in God's design. And so, if we're going to make friends here, we're going to have to waver on our faith more than we should ever possibly consider.

And sadly, that's exactly what faith has become to many. It's this expendable idea that sounds great, offers incredible hopes and joys and promises, and actually brings some true value and meaning to life, but considering how it just isn't highly welcome down here, we have to agree to tone it down a bit. We have to keep it fairly quiet. We eventually relegate it to something we only talk about, think about, actually practice behind closed doors so that the vile and vicious world around us doesn't see who we really are and what we truly believe all because we know they won't like it.

But, what is the end goal in all of it? What is the grand prize in this effort to live a life that makes the world proud of you? What is it that we hope to gain by gaining the world and watching our souls ebb away in the process?

I think the problem is that we've actually become products of a world system designed to convince people that life here is all that matters. We buy into the idea that there's something to find, to have, to hold, to gain, to glorify in the confines of this globe that will give us and our lives indisputable value. We allow ourselves to adopt the common mindset of materialistic misadventures and social deconstruction all because that stuff is simply the status quo that makes the world go.

And if we want to go with it and maintain this semblance of success and acceptance, then we just gotta look and live like everyone else.

And in all honesty, that may be our biggest problem of them all. It's not the weaknesses we allow to fester under this facade of strength. It's not the fear masquerading as confidence. It's not even this foolish pursuit of possessions that are passing away. It's that we wake up every single day and give ourselves over to a life of comparison. We compare everything we have, everything we want, everything we believe, everything we are with everyone around us. And when living life only looking at what everyone else has that we want, we'll only see what we lack.

And when we become convinced we’re lacking, we realize that we’re not as rich as we always thought we were. And in that moment of sheer reality, we choose to either get to work to fix what’s lacking in our hearts, or we choose to ignore what’s lacking inside by continuing to pile up things the worldly say will give us meaning.

Sadly, we live in a world filled with people who think they've made it. This is a society that actually seems to believe that truth is subjective, lies are harmless, success is found in dollar signs, and our worth is determined by how many friends we have. We see a million people flaunting their fame, their following, their success, their prized treasures and their treasured preferences as if that's all that matters in life. And when we agree to play the game so that we feel like we're on a team, pretty soon all that stuff will matter to us as well.

This world yells that it doesn't need anything. People scream about how they don't need anyone's approval, but they get mad when you disagree with them. Folks yell about how great they've got it, but complain about how life isn't perfect. Society continues trying to redefine words and ideas and even truth itself, but refuses to realize that we're not the authors of life. This is truly some sort of circus in which people just read the lines and perform the dances but have no idea what they're actually accomplishing in the process.

Friends, by point is that there needs to be a disconnect between us and a society that's adamant on losing its mind. We have to pull back from the flow that's pulling us away from God. We have to stop looking to the world to help us figure out how to live and what's important and what's needed and what's true because this place left the definition of all those behind a long time ago. In a world that not only denies God, but actively mocks Him, we probably shouldn't waste so much time trying to fit in!

This world thinks its rich. People think they've got it all lined out. Society is running full speed with all these selfish ideas and sinful ideals, and there is no stopping it until it slams into reality at the end of the road. This place has no desire to let God be God. It has no desire to let His truth be truth. It simply will not let His design be what it should be, because humanity has grown too arrogant to consider the possibility that we're not kings.

That's the true beauty of our faith. It humbles us to finding the truth. It allows us to see things from a much different perspective. It reminds us that treasures aren't made by human hands but formed by a faith placed in the hands of our Father. It teaches us that there's more to life than what we can see, more to be held than what we can hold, and more to learn than we can ever possibly know. And for us to miss out on the true limitlessness of our faith is one of the saddest things possible in life.

This world will happily tell everyone the way to be happy as society thinks they know what happiness is. But as long as we place our happiness in things that have no value, our lives will also have no value. We can't keep prizing this way of life that limits us to this world and what it can offer. God didn't create us to seek value in a world made of dirt. He didn't put us here to carve out a home amongst the rocks. He definitely didn't give us minds to imagine our own ideal design. Our hearts aren't to be wasted lusting after hollow hope in hopeless hearths.

He created us with this innate realization that there is more than what's around us. If society wants to define wealth based on stuff, fine. We don't have to. We know that true wealth is what we have inside, not what we pile up around us. Because what's inside can never be taken from us, what we stack up in the effort to fill our lives definitely can!

So please don't value things that have no worth. And even more importantly, don't devalue the things that this warped world says are pointless. Our faith may be silly, foolish, worthless in a place built on this idea that humans can define truth, determine worth, and dictate life. But if we let go of what our faith is and what it offers, then we are the ones who will suffer because of it.

This world is filled with naked souls covered in fancy clothes. It's jam packed with people who need nothing yet have nothing. All because society has become able to ignore the built-in limits in the limitless journey into selfishness and sinfulness. And if we truly believe in the Gospel, we should know that. We should know that gaining the whole world will leave us with nothing. We should know that just because we have something doesn’t mean we have anything. And we should never be willing to let go of the knowledge that life doesn’t consist in the abundance of possessions but in the flourishing of a faith that isn’t bound to this soil.

To sum it rather short and sweet: To this society, the sky is the limit. But in our faith, the sky is just the beginning! Please don't settle for less just because everyone else is in a rush to do so.

#LeaveNoSoulUntold